Tour de France - Floyd Landis - MX rider

[robwbright]

Don't know how many are following the Tour this year (I hardly have - the "no Lance factor", I guess).

Anyway, ESPN magazine did a piece on American Floyd Landis (who is apparently in 1st place in the tour as of today).

I suppose most of you knew this, but Landis rides MX (he was pictured with his sweet RMZ450) and hangs with Ryno.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features.php?id=features/2005/floydcamp

Incidentally, Floyd is also a former Mennonite (the Mennonites are the "progressive Amish", as the ESPN article referred to him.).

He's tough, too:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=cycling&id=2517374

"Elite cyclist Floyd Landis has Tour de France fans and even many physicians stumped.

How can a guy whose hip is falling apart hop on a bike, let alone be a contender in this most grueling challenge?

His degenerating condition has crumbled the ball of his hip joint so that it no longer fits neatly into the socket, his doctor says. The irregular-shaped bone has ground down surrounding cartilage, and arthritis has set in.

It's the same kind of injury that shortened the career of former baseball and football star Bo Jackson.

For mere mortals, the pain would be excruciating and they'd be begging for a hip replacement. . .

Pain tolerance separates elite athletes from the rest of us, said Dr. David Prince, a sports injury specialist at New York's Montefiore Medical Center.

"If you or I were to undergo what he's experiencing, we would go nuts and probably have the surgery that night," Prince said. "For the average person, on a pain scale of 1 to 10, this would probably be a 50."

 

[VintageDirt]

I'm calling bullshiit on the pain part. All other things being equal the guy with the pain will be the slowest. Floyd's hip probably doesn't bother him when he's pedaling or he wouldn't be leading the tour.

 

[robwbright]

I'm calling bullshiit on the pain part. All other things being equal the guy with the pain will be the slowest. Floyd's hip probably doesn't bother him when he's pedaling or he wouldn't be leading the tour.

Perhaps all other things aren't equal. Perhaps he's stronger than the others. Perhaps his team is better. Anyway, since they only ride at 100% speed for an average of a few minutes a day, in the long run tactics and teamwork are as important or more important than the individual skill (except in the time trials, etc . . .)

He can grit his way through 120 miles at 75% speed and then he can really grit it out at 100% speed for the last 5-10 miles.

But then again, you may be right - but I doubt it.

 

[VintageDirt]

Perhaps you are right, but I doubt it too. The pain, if present, would be there during every pedal stroke during every ride no matter what percent effort. What about the effect it would have on his training? World class athletes are close to equal, it's the small things that separate them in the end.

100% speed for a few minutes a day? They ride over a hundred miles everyday of the tour and every day leading up to the tour. Maybe you are right though, he's just stronger than the other's and his team is dragging him along for the ride. Yes, I'm sure you're right now that I think about it.

 

[dirt bike dave]

I almost posted yesterday about the pain part as well.

I know one person who went about 3 years with a die-ing/dead hip joint before eventually having it replaced. She was a middle aged woman and she was able to walk, work and function daily without pain medication. She did use a cane the last six months or so before the hip replacement. You could hear the dead hip grind bone to bone. It very gradually got worse, but even at the end she was not in 'agony'.

Landis is a stud, no doubt, but he is not 'immortal' no matter what the doc says.

Personally, the most pain I've been in was when I shattered my patella into 8 pieces. I guess the doc would call that a '10' on the pain meter. Yet Landis can ride a Tour while experiencing a '50'? Yeah. Right. The doc quoted was a little over dramatic. But if he had not been, he would not have seen his name and business mentioned in the article.

 

[ellandoh]

doc shouldve said 11 then we could just go with it and he could still make the paper:)

 

[Tony Eeds]

You guys really believe the reporter quoted the doc correctly ... :rotfl:

Floyd is good, real good. We could end up with an All American Podium ... that would ROCK and be a fitting start to a new era of cycling ...

 

[06yz]

We could end up with an All American Podium ... that would ROCK and be a fitting start to a new era of cycling ...

Those frogs would really hate us then. :nener:

 

[Red Mamba]

I'm calling bullshiit on the pain part. All other things being equal the guy with the pain will be the slowest. Floyd's hip probably doesn't bother him when he's pedaling or he wouldn't be leading the tour.

Ask Chad Reed about riding with pain. :yikes: