How far down the list of potential British Olympic cyclists do you think you are?
In other words, how many cyclists (of your chosen discipline - road/track/MTB) who are better than you would have to be injured/dead/locked in the toilet before Dave Brailsford gives you a ring?
I reckon I must easily be in the top 10,000.
[And let's ignore any realistic discussion of qualification criteria...]
It's only pushing pedals around and around, . . . . I should be there, . . . I've been shockingly overlooked! 😀
Ed Clancy is in our cycling club and I'm getting my track acreditation next month so I should be at least top 10. 😀
I'm pretty good at hanging onto cars going uphill and then letting rip down the other side so fairly close, I'd say
if i roll myself up into a small ball he has promised me a ride as a bottom bracket bearing.
My Dad is an old climbing friend of David Brailsford's Dad and I can ride a bike. I must be in with a shot
I bought Malcolm Elliot a beer once, surely I'm lead out for Cav.
I'm probably the highest ranked clean rider
Well I'm ranked 38th Expert at this moment, there's 60 elites, 2 Olympic positions, so theoretically I'm 96th in line, ignoring the vets/masters who are actually far quicker than me 🙂
There is a reasonably prolific poster here who's within 5 places!
Right, on that basis I'm promoting myself to top 1000.
I'm happy to take lots of drugs so must be in with a shout?
If it means I would have to ride THAT 'mountain bike' course I'm happy to be near the bottom of the list 😉
These days, a long, long way off 🙁
I reckon I'd be in the top <however many mountain bikers there are in the UK>, easily.
🙂
apparently mum was the village bike (still got no idea what that means) but that makes me 50%bike so i've got to be in the top 3 or 4 surely?
I was riding with Malcolm Elliott a few years ago and when the road started going uphill i stayed on his wheel for all of about eight seconds. Dave, if you're reading this, yes i am free in August next year.
there's 60 elites
That all? Wow.
So if I come say 20th from 100 in Sport at a British XC.. hmm.. only have to kill a few hundred people.
The question is though how many people are better than Expert or Elite racers but don't race?
lol at philconsequence
Unless they make pushing down DH courses an olympic sport, pretty far away!
The question is though how many people are better than Expert or Elite racers but don't race?
Personally I reckon fewer than you think! There will inevitably be a few, but I can't see [i]that[/i] many people being dedicated enough to train for hours, but not want to compete. Certainly the case with top of Expert/Elite I reckons.
Ok not cycling but nearish; our marathon runner, Dan Robinson, runs past my house twice a day like a rocket. I did beat him in a race in the summer. Ok it was our kids school duck race down the stream. gotta put me up there ish?
Although on Molgrips point there must be a lot of road racers who either were, or would be, very handy MTB racers. Ross Creber, Scott Thwaites and Ian Wilkinson spring to mind straight away.
i can think of 1 or 2 riders that dont race and could hold there own in expert at least and have beaten some elites in very long races .....
and its not me thats for sure- id be lucky to beat my rear wheel across the line at the moment !
Personally I reckon fewer than you think! There will inevitably be a few, but I can't see that many people being dedicated enough to train for hours, but not want to compete
Yeah and it's not just fitness, it's race adaption and craft too.
Most people who ride loads for the hell of it without racing of some kind as a goal would probably get many miles in but not push themselves to the extend you need to to be really good at racing, so they'd maybe do well in endurance stuff.
But yes you'd have to put all the Cat 2 and above roadies above me too, and probably much of cat 3 🙂
1 as my mates is mates with a olympic gold medal winning cyclist - I have met him a couple of times.
Me it would require a lot of deaths for me to even get close even when I was young and tried harder.
think iv got more chance if i buy my private island and call it great brytain - as long as its flat - haha
And here I was thinking that this thread was going to be some kind of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon dealy.
I'm in the top 99%
No of uk MTBers - 3 + 1 = My position.
in other words i`m in the middle of our peleton of 3.(usually)
Base it on enjoyment Podium finish. 😛
Dave B's dad, John was my head of department at Bangor Normal college. I once went for a ride with him and other son .
John used to organise annual traing sessions with our dept and the Falcon racing team. Didn't some of them ride for the Uk at some point?
well i was tenth in the rankings till last week in expert so that makes me 70places away....but of course dc would be the closest within 10 places for the mtb...then again i can beat the bottom 15 ranked elites so?
I can think of 3 that would be doing bloody well in elite, if not winning, but dont currently race XC.
Mrs BS is the Soigneur to the GB MTB Team so I reckon that makes it 1 person away for me?
Nick Graig drinks in my local, and I can easily drink him under the table... and when I used to live in Bristol I drank in same pub as Oli.B and could drink him under the table too... so guess my skills qualify me to take a role on the team?
bikerbruce - Member
well i was tenth in the rankings till last week in expert so that makes me 70places away....but of course dc would be the closest within 10 places for the mtb...then again i can beat the bottom 15 ranked elites so?
Well I'm currently ranked 27th in Sport so miles away, but then again I can beat last weeks' 10th ranked Expert so....? 😉 😆
I went to school with Peter Keen - I'm sure he'd put in a good word for me 😀
There is a reasonably prolific poster here who's within 5 places!
Ahhhhh you guys! You're too kind, you know I dont like to shout about it.
Ah Mattsccm, so you were also a "Basil's Boy"? 😉
ok lee...less of the chit chat...rankings wise 😉
I can think of 3 that would be doing bloody well in elite, if not winning, but dont currently race XC.
Presumably they used to race though? Otherwise how do you know. I really struggle to believe there are professional standard athletes out there who've just never tried racing. Maybe at a Scottish XC or sommat, but I can't see anyone turning up to a race for the first time and worrying the top 10 in an Elite NPS.
Yeah agreed Njee. Anyone can talk a good race but until you've actually pitted yourself against Oli, Liam, Fletcher, etc then I just don't believe it.
One trained specifically for one race and won it, another raced very successfully many years ago but does different disciplines and distances now and the other went down the road route.
I have absolutely no idea. But if I somehow qualified for the downhill world cup, my average run time would have made me 76th at Fort William. Which would have made me 22nd Brit. So, it's only the fact that downhill isn't an olympic sport that's stopping me from goign on a 21-man killing spree then embarassing the country 
37 for me! (based on Nat Champs result...)
The question is though how many people are better than Expert or Elite racers but don't race?
Personally I reckon fewer than you think! There will inevitably be a few, but I can't see that many people being dedicated enough to train for hours, but not want to compete. Certainly the case with top of Expert/Elite I reckons.
Don't know. There's always a fell-runner/triathlete/rower/etc who seem able to surprise us all, maybe they ride MTBs for fun or as a bit of cross-training and are merely infrequent competitors. Unlikely to be Liam/Oli/Lee Williams quick, but still some fast ones around.
Used to run for my university and our running club used to borrow some rowers for big events as a couple of them were faster than we were!
I'd have to ensnare 207,877 riders in my cheeseburger smorgasboard trap in order to get into the Olympics. Then I'd buy rounds the night before and make sure I drank less than the rest so that they all had killer hangovers on race day, to become King of the Biking People.
nick - there are some up here who have dabeled in racing - done VERY well - as in decimating most of the field .... then just decided they dont like racing.... occasionally dropping in to remind them selves how much they hate XC racing
others used to race but just got bored - but occasionally come along and show folks how its done ....
fairly sure i know who SBZ is on about
Yeah I wasn't specifically questioning it, my 2 comments were unrelated really, a continuation of my thought process!
As I said I can imagine someone turning up and doing well at a Scottish/Midlands race, but can't imagine very many people who've [i]never[/i] raced doing very well in an NPS (for example). There are obviously a few people who would, who either have history, such as those SBZ is on about, plus those I mentioned: Ian Wilkinson etc, or other sports folk.