what kind of athlete (other than a motorcycle racer) would you think make the best motorcycle rider and why? i think a boxer would make a good bike rider. muscles built from repetitive motion, lots of cardio, good reflexes, and endurance. wonder what they do that they never get arm pump while holding those gloves up for 12 rounds?
if you could be any athlete......?
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Reesknight
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Ditto on the gymnast. Great balance and strenght. Have you ever seen the arms on those guys on the rings! Not that I would ever watch that sort of thing. :eek:
dirt bike dave
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Since several top motorcyclists have gone on to succeed in auto racing, my guess is there is some overlap in skills. I think race drivers would have the best chance of making the switch to 2 wheels.
IMO, it is not endurance, strength or flexibility. Instead, it is a natural ability to sense and react when your machine is close to its limits. The best are born with this ability and instinctively make rider inputs to operate safely. Sort of a whole body version of hand/eye coordination.
If you have less natural ability, you can't tell where the 'edge' is, so your sense of self preservation makes you back down, no matter how fit and strong you are.
IMO, it is not endurance, strength or flexibility. Instead, it is a natural ability to sense and react when your machine is close to its limits. The best are born with this ability and instinctively make rider inputs to operate safely. Sort of a whole body version of hand/eye coordination.
If you have less natural ability, you can't tell where the 'edge' is, so your sense of self preservation makes you back down, no matter how fit and strong you are.
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SpeedyManiac
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- Aug 8, 2000
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I would have to go with BMX or Mountain bikers. Most motorcycle racers can become good car racers, but not usually the other way around. They would be alright, but I think people from other sports would be better.
Reesknight
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Upon further consideration, speed skiers would probably make a good crossover. Balance, endurance, line choice, body positioning, strength, speed, racing either against the time of others or while they're on the course at the same time, and sometimes jumps and moguls. :aj:
Downhill skiing doesn't require endurance nearly in the same levels as motocross. Their runs take maybe 2 minutes at most. Also, it does require you to be a damn sight bulkier than MX, where being small and light (to a limit) is a definite advantage.
I would say soccer is pretty close to MX physically. Long games (2x45 minutes), constant varying effort (in the top levels they are not able to stand around catching their breath, but obviously there are sprints and lower intensity periods, just as in different parts of a track).
I also think it's unfair to include guys like mountain bikers in this. Obviously they would have the initial advantage because of overlapping skills. I don't think car racers would have any advantage in MX if they are not injured or old MXrs in the first place (Marcus Grönholm, JJ Lehto, Kimi Räikkönen, all MXrs, although I don't think Kimi got very far in MX due to focusing on karting so early but Grönholm (2xWRC champ) and JJ(F1, ALMS, DTM etc.) both were pretty good racers but got injured).
