[ixnu]

Many "recreational" athletes push themselves harder than olympic competitors. Their bottleneck is talent and they attempt to overcome this with drive and determination often against others with similar attributes. Many sink into unhealthy habits in an attempt to just hang on to a weekend group ride or to qualify for Boston.

I was shocked to learn that many weekend warrior friends have sophisticated doping regimes just to stay competitive on group rides. I'm not sure there is an answer.

[bootload]

"Many "recreational" athletes push themselves harder than olympic competitors. Their bottleneck is talent and they attempt to overcome this with drive and determination"

I would re-label talent as "genetics". [0] There is a genetic profile of people who have the advantages of speed and endurance over mere mortals. [1] Then there is the rest of us. With respect to "drive and determination" I agree. Taking into account age (youth is another measure of fitness), no amount of training, preparation, conditioning or pharmaceuticals make up for this genetic deficit.

Reference

[0] For example the relationship between ACTN3 and sprinting: "Top sprinters may have key gene" (2003) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3183119.stm

[1] "Physical Performance Predictors of Success in Special Forces Assessment and Selection" http://dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a245729.pdf

[jessaustin]

Isn't that what GP meant? What else would "talent" mean in this context?

[nradov]

Beyond the doping, some Strava.com users take insane risks chasing "King of the Mountain" awards on segments. If they don't have the legs to win on climbs they ride the descents in a reckless manner, risking crashes and car collisions. And this is purely for bragging rights.

http://road.cc/content/news/84948-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-ag...

[stouset]

As someone who has KOM'd a ~10 minute descent in a heavily-trafficked area of the French Alps (adjacent to Alpe d'Huez), I'll say the experience of doing so was sobering. I hadn't set out with an explicit intent to beat the record, but I love descending and was just having a phenomenal time of it. When I uploaded the ride and learned that I'd gotten the fastest time, something sort of clicked that maybe I didn't need to push things so hard and so fast. Surely some component of doing that was skill, but another unknown component was recklessness.

I've never descended quite so aggressively since.

[jeffwass]

They're not only putting themselves at risk.

Strava cyclists have also killed innocent pedestrians by sprinting through red lights in their attempts at bragging rights.

http://road.cc/content/news/89218-us-cyclist-who-killed-pede...

[cmahler7]

I had kids on my high school football team taking roids just to make varsity. Meanwhile on my team at the D1 level there were guys who barely lifted weights and looked like greek gods.

The same thing can be seen programming as well. Some people struggle for months to do basic things while others take to it like fish to water.

People don't like talking about how much genetics impacts things because it ruins the "you can be anything you want to be" BS

[TheCondor]

> competitive on group rides.

Hahaha, made my day! I know it's true, but it never stops making me laugh. I bounce between preferring "cat-6" and "cat-nothing" to refer to those guys.

The bigger problem is likely not solvable, I mean if you want to dope to win a race that isn't actually a race, we probably can't make you right. And to be clear, those people do have problems, they werent loved enough or something. Larry Bird described it best in his book, you can practice, you can select the shot perfectly, you can square up perfectly, and then you can release the ball perfectly, that's all you can do. The ball either goes in to the hoop or it doesn't and he sounded remarkably at peace with it all, which is shocking for how competitive he was conceived to be. Maybe that's easier when you've won everything like he had. I've raced bikes and it's very fun, at times very stressful, but mostly fun, when you're getting paid I understand the motivations are different but I find it hilarious when folks cheat to win nothing, it's like that cringe stuff that is sort of funny because it's so sad.

[wnevets]

It's probably the same or similar reason people cheat in online video games.

[durkie]

they should just take up mountain biking instead, cause then you're still biking really hard, but winning isn't totally about who's a bigger genetic freak, and chance and technique have a much larger role in your performance.

[gerbilly]

I found mountain biking to be less about "I'm going to ride this trail faster than you" and more about "I'm going to ride this trail 'better' than you."

By better I mean with more finesse: a good challenge for example would be riding a tough trail without ever putting a foot down.

Mountain biking also adds an interesting element less present in road cycling, the need for traction control.

Pulling off a tough mountain biking climb involves controlling traction, over loose crumbly soil or roots and rocks. If you try to just mash it the rear wheel will only spin out and you'll blow the climb.

It's not necessarily the guy with monster quads who will be the best at mountain bike climbing, but the guy who can feel where his rear wheel is at all times, and how much traction it has.

[taneq]

Then you just need to be freakishly brave or skilled instead of having freakishly high ATP generation or whatever.

[runamok]

Considering many Olympic runners run 100+ mile weeks I disagree. I have also run on a division 1 cross country team as a walk-on and I saw friends push themselves to the point of passing out across the finish line. That being said weekend warriors often do push themselves very hard.

[pg314]

100+ mile weeks are not that hard. It all depends on how fast you run them. There's a world of difference between running them at 8 minutes a mile and 5-6 minutes a mile. I've run multiple months of consecutive 100 mile weeks, but mostly at a gentle pace. I wouldn't call that pushing myself.

I do agree that many Olympic runners have a gruelling training regime though.

[deepnotderp]

The solution may be more doping and genetic engineering.

As cynical as it sounds, people who're motivated like this are not going to just give up overnight on something they've worked incredibly hard for several years, even decades. I've personally experienced some of this...

[coldtea]

>As cynical as it sounds, people who're motivated like this are not going to just give up overnight on something they've worked incredibly hard for several years, even decades.

As cynical as it sounds, if they drop dead from a heart attack (or come close), they will (just give up overnight).

[InclinedPlane]

The answer is obviously to be less competitive. Relax, you don't have to "win" everything, just do your best and enjoy the experience.

[projektir]

The way society is currently set up, this answer doesn't make much sense. Look everywhere you see, competitiveness and drive is encouraged, top athletes are worshiped and paid zounds of money, and the importance of genetics is quickly swept under the rug.

It doesn't really make sense to tell people to be less competitive when pretty much everyone and everything else tells them to be more so.

[obmelvin]

But how do you know what is your best? Some people (myself included) believe that you can push the human body and mind to do anything you want.

I'm aware this isn't quite true, but in a large sense I truly believe I'm capable of learning anything given enough interest. And probably time

[white-flame]

Another answer is to get a coach, who can hopefully step back and see if you're doing more harm than good to yourself, instead of just lone-wolfing it.

[jimhefferon]

I am a way-not-competitive runner. Jogger, really, since 1971. One marathon a year to get me out in the winter, best finish 4:30 (I am 58). No one ever said, "Uh oh, Jim is in this one, I'd better up my game."

But I had ablation at 43. So it is not clear to me that it is about pushing beyond boundaries.

[watwut]

I could not really enjoy activities that way. If I had to do something "just to enjoy experience", I pretty soon lost interest - there was no point in it for me (I mean I could still do it to be with friends, but not for activity itseft).

[chrisbennet]

Bingo.

Be your own man and control your ego. Life is sooo much better when you do something for joy, not because you feel compelled to impress someone else. "Look ma!" is for kids (and now, Presidents apparently).