a cyclist at my gym asked me if I wanted to join a cyclist team for the spring/summer. The team does various races in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Anyone here on a team or cycle in general?
what are your opinions on the sport?
thanks
Love it! Though I’m not racing now, I will get back to it in a couple years.
Competitive cyclers typically don’t have the outward “look” of a T-man when wearing street clothes, but rest assured, these guys have balls of concrete and are amazing athletes. But remember that those big slabs of fast-twitch muscle fibers that weightlifters strive for aren’t ideal for an endurance athlete. Personally, my goals lean towards lookin’ good nekkid, so no cycling for me (besides, those saddles hurt my bonch and are linked to erectile dysfunction-NO THANK YOU!). But if you wants to cycle, then you wants to cycle, and I’ll respect any athlete who works hard at their sport. Have fun!
Cycling is awesome! I always cycle in the hills, I love the scenery and the solitude. It is also a great cardio workout and brings out the vascularity in my legs.If I ride intensely for just over an hour,it does not hurt my size or strength at all. Much more than that though and my efforts in the gym start to suffer.
Of course, if you were to specialize in criteriums, you could put that strength and “big slabs of fast-twitch muscle fibers” to work for you. If you’ve seen pictures of Ken Carpenter or Kurt Harnett, you’d probably take up track cycling in a minute. Those guys are freaking huge.
Brider, what are “criteriums”? Are those like sprints for cyclers or something? Forgive my ignorance; if it has wheels but no engine, I’m clueless :).
Track cyclists are notorious for drug abuse too, then again so are road cyclists (I’ve never seen so many athletes get busted in such a short amount of time). Hill climbing on a bicycle will give intense burning sensations, gotta to be good doesn’t it? 
Guys (and ladies),
One thing to note, in regards to the ED problem, that there is a seat that is designed with a split in it. This style of seat is meant to limit the blood flow problems caused by too much saddle time.
Having raced both cycling (long distance) and triathlon for YEARS, I’ve found NO problems at all with conventional (and even minimalist) saddles. I have, however, heard many men complain of those split saddles having a fairly hard ridge right where they don’t want it. Saddle selection is a VERY personal (and not always quick) process. It is to be expected that you will have some soreness from a new activity (i.e. saddle sores), but numbness isn’t one of those things. I’ve found saddle tilt to have more of an effect than actual saddle design on numbness (and presumably nerve damage).
My cajones have thanked me profusely ever since I bought one of those split saddles,(I use a Velo Plush,haven’t tried the more expensive models,this one works fine).My girlfriend also uses split saddle and loves it.
We played around with the tilt on the old saddles to no avail.