I've been interested in cyclesport from the 50/60s. And everything I've seen and read about them makes us look puny.
I'm not trolling. When it comes to speed, they weren't much slower. Distances seemed much greater and equipment wise.....well?
And I'm talking amateurs here as well as pros. If you delve into that era you'll be amazed at what they did on heavy equipment and very often fixed.
Nearly at my point.
I'm just old enough to remember the older riders moaning about being short changed if we only did 100 miles on a Sunday. And since the kilometre came along we have somehow craftilly turned the 100 miler into 100 Km...nearly half that.
So my point/s is this. Are we lazier? is it because we choose to do less, but do it faster? do we work longer? has modern technology freed us or enslaved us? or is it image, are we no better than track suited JJB enthusiasts and kid ourselves that if we look like we're doing something...we are?
Talking to an old fella today (with good credentials) he would ride 160 miles to a race, do the race (which were often 100 miles plus) and the hitch hike home.
