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Rachel Atherton hit by a truck training

Akula_7

Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
917
0
Ha, yep, I just got that email.
The only problem with it though is that trying to tell a world champion how to train, along with her brother who is also a world champion.
"Oh, I would listen to your advice, but these rainbow stripes are just so awesomely loud that I can't hear you."

Just because they are world champs doesn't mean they can't be better athletes, as a world class performer if you are sittin there thinking to your self that your doing the best you can do with out constantly looking to improve then your ****ed.....who's to say that Rachel wouldn't be 25secs up on the rest of the field if she was trained by James.....Raw talent can get ya a lot of places, look at RC, he was a good bloody rider, then Aldon Baker came along and everyone else was arse fcuked! Who knows.....i'm going skiing!
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
Just because they are world champs doesn't mean they can't be better athletes, as a world class performer if you are sittin there thinking to your self that your doing the best you can do with out constantly looking to improve then your ****ed.....who's to say that Rachel wouldn't be 25secs up on the rest of the field if she was trained by James.....Raw talent can get ya a lot of places, look at RC, he was a good bloody rider, then Aldon Baker came along and everyone else was arse fcuked! Who knows.....i'm going skiing!
the only way they could be louder is if it were a rainbow skinsuit ;)

Ha, yep, I just got that email.
The only problem with it though is that trying to tell a world champion how to train, along with her brother who is also a world champion.
"Oh, I would listen to your advice, but these rainbow stripes are just so awesomely loud that I can't hear you."

But they must be doing something right if they are champs. :clue:

Quit riding that trainer's jock, he's on a big enough soap box as is.
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
Just because they are world champs doesn't mean they can't be better athletes, as a world class performer if you are sittin there thinking to your self that your doing the best you can do with out constantly looking to improve then your ****ed.....who's to say that Rachel wouldn't be 25secs up on the rest of the field if she was trained by James.....Raw talent can get ya a lot of places, look at RC, he was a good bloody rider, then Aldon Baker came along and everyone else was arse fcuked! Who knows.....i'm going skiing!

Easy.
They have a trainer.
They are world champions.

He has athletes.
They are not world champions.

And to use your moto scenario, this would be like Kevin Windham's trainer telling RC what he is doing wrong.


He may be right, but............stripes.
 

jon-boy

Monkey
May 26, 2004
799
0
Vancouver BC
Fernadno Alonso (Formula 1 driver for those that only know Nascar) has been training extensively on a road bike this winter and has shed 4kg (9lbs) over his weight last year. That's a lot for a skinny guy that was already supremely fit. Those guys are some of the fittest out there as the loads they put thier bodies under in the cars are ridiculous. Apparently Alonso was out doing training rides with a pro-road team. So yes, road bikes can be good and you can use them for interval training too!
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
Anyone else think it's weird for James to simply assume Rachel was doing base cardio miles just because she was on a road bike? Road bikes are good for other types of controlled training too. Just sayin.
I thought I read that they were doing some kind of short time trial. In general though it seems like the MTB folks use the road bike mainly to accumulate base miles which, in his opinion, is largely a waste of time for DH.
 

nowlan

Monkey
Jul 30, 2008
496
2
Im currently doing a 20 Week program from James. Hes easy to talk to, the program is wicked and I really do 100% feel its going to improve my overall strength and power on the DH bike.
I really dont understand how anyone that races or rides DH could not say that putting some miles on a road bike will help you with your overall fitness. I was kinda surprised by that email as well but hey everyone is entitled to an opinion.
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
Im currently doing a 20 Week program from James. Hes easy to talk to, the program is wicked and I really do 100% feel its going to improve my overall strength and power on the DH bike.
I really dont understand how anyone that races or rides DH could not say that putting some miles on a road bike will help you with your overall fitness. I was kinda surprised by that email as well but hey everyone is entitled to an opinion.
I'm doing the 12 week thing and it's been great...I won't really have a chance to prove that on the bike for another couple of months when it's not so darned cold out, but I feel much stronger than before on the trainer and my previous lower back problems have almost entirely gone away. James stuff makes good sense and there's clearly a lot of thought behind all of it.
 

ska todd

Turbo Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
1,776
0
I think this is a case of "It's not what you say, it's the way you say it."

Sure, he may be right in some of his physiological assessments but, the way he presented it made him come off like a douche. Trying to use a rider's crash/injury to directly benefit your business is doubly-douchey. His statement about Aaron Gwinn was a bit out of line. If Gwinny isn't on the podium and Gee is, will he issue a public retraction and eat his crow?

The Athertons obviously know something about training. They are World Cup winners, podium athletes, oh and they won some World Champs too. They are also supported by Red Bull, who happens to provide some of the best athlete training out there. Perhaps I'm a bit of a traditionalist but there is an amount of courtesy afforded to those who wear the arc en ciel.

Oh, and would it be wrong if they were just out for a road ride for fun or is that not "core" enough? Skinny tires can be fun folks.

-ska todd
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Oh, and would it be wrong if they were just out for a road ride for fun or is that not "core" enough? Skinny tires can be fun folks.
Seriously. One of the issues I have with this nonsense (meaning James) is the way in which it makes regular riders think about riding. Races become the reason, shuttles and fun days become "training" and going out for a ride on a nice day shows you that you are inept. Please. Road riding is fun and, just throwing out my non-scientific nonsense here, probably won't hurt your DH abilities. I was fit last year for DH riding, got a really good result and felt less tired than usual. Why? Because I stopped spending time in the gym, spent more time riding outside (mostly on the road) and had more fun. Guess I'm a clown too.
 

nowlan

Monkey
Jul 30, 2008
496
2
Ahh I just re read his blog. I dont really see what the big deal is. Im not protecting the guy, im doing his program and its not like he can take it back or anything. My thoughts are this, it comes off as a way to promote himself using her injury. However I think hes just stating that their are other ways to help you with endurance training other then road riding (Which I agree with). But what im trying to say is that obviously every single person that reads the forums on any site to do with biking knows about her injury and how it happened, and some people might take away from it that hey, I must go plug many miles on the road bike now cause she was doing it, and I think hes just trying to say that its not the only method.
Maybye im wrong but I refuse to jump on the trash people cause everyone else is bandwagon.
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
Seriously. One of the issues I have with this nonsense (meaning James) is the way in which it makes regular riders think about riding. Races become the reason, shuttles and fun days become "training" and going out for a ride on a nice day shows you that you are inept. Please. Road riding is fun and, just throwing out my non-scientific nonsense here, probably won't hurt your DH abilities. I was fit last year for DH riding, got a really good result and felt less tired than usual. Why? Because I stopped spending time in the gym, spent more time riding outside (mostly on the road) and had more fun. Guess I'm a clown too.
Not trying to turn this into a debate about James, but his main thing seems to be focusing on better movement patterns and accomplishing more in less time without killing yourself. The dumbell-based program that he offers takes ~35 minutes to do 2 to 3 times a week. He's always advocating fun, interesting ways of staying fit and improving your fitness without the drudgery of spending hours accumulating "base miles". If you enjoy it, I doubt he'd take issue with it...but there are a lot of people who force themselves to grind out miles during the winter because they think it will help their DH performance.
 

nowlan

Monkey
Jul 30, 2008
496
2
what did he say about aaron gwinn?

Hopefully when my newest client Aaron Gwinn gets on some World Cup podiums this year, after not having logged a single base mile, people will start to realize that there are better ways to approach training for downhill racing.
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Not trying to turn this into a debate about James, but his main thing seems to be focusing on better movement patterns and accomplishing more in less time without killing yourself. The dumbell-based program that he offers takes ~35 minutes to do 2 to 3 times a week. He's always advocating fun, interesting ways of staying fit and improving your fitness without the drudgery of spending hours accumulating "base miles". If you enjoy it, I doubt he'd take issue with it...but there are a lot of people who force themselves to grind out miles during the winter because they think it will help their DH performance.
Fair enough. I can understand that. I just don't consider riding a bike "drudgery" for the most part. If I did, I'd have picked a different sport by now. I just feel like the guy's attitude saps the fun out of cycling (in all its forms), not to mention the fact that he sounds like a douche by using someone's mistake and accident to try and sell something.
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
Fair enough. I can understand that. I just don't consider riding a bike "drudgery" for the most part. If I did, I'd have picked a different sport by now. I just feel like the guy's attitude saps the fun out of cycling (in all its forms), not to mention the fact that he sounds like a douche by using someone's mistake and accident to try and sell something.
I don't consider it to be drudgery either, but I think the idea is that, if you're going to do something specifically for the purpose of training, you might as well be as efficient at it as possible. As for his marketing...well, it rubs me the wrong way as well at times, but he seems like an ok guy and I always learn a lot reading his stuff, so maybe I'll just accept the douche thing as part of the cost of business.
 

46chief

Monkey
Jun 12, 2007
296
0
Road riding is dumb, road riding w/o a helmet is dumber.

Bouncing off the windshield after hitting a pickup on the road and surviving is probably the luckiest streak of luck she'll experience

Heal up Rachel.
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
It is a bit weird to mention it. That would be like the SFBC mentioning riding in SF is great because Rachel was hit in SC.
 

JohnnyC

Monkey
Feb 10, 2006
399
1
Rotorua, New Zealand
Fair enough. I can understand that. I just don't consider riding a bike "drudgery" for the most part. If I did, I'd have picked a different sport by now. I just feel like the guy's attitude saps the fun out of cycling (in all its forms), not to mention the fact that he sounds like a douche by using someone's mistake and accident to try and sell something.
I totally agree, mixing it up is what keeps riding interesting, the more different types of riding you can do, the more motivated you'll be to keep riding your bike. Part of the reason they all do so well is that they ride a bit of everything so sayin they shouldn't be riding on the Road is just stupid.

Anyone know of any current downhillers this guy trains?
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I totally agree, mixing it up is what keeps riding interesting, the more different types of riding you can do, the more motivated you'll be to keep riding your bike. Part of the reason they all do so well is that they ride a bit of everything so sayin they shouldn't be riding on the Road is just stupid.

Anyone know of any current downhillers this guy trains?
Well, Gwinn and Houseman are two.

Again, I don't think it was so much the idea that someone would enjoy road riding, it's more the idea that you need to log a ton of base road miles to be competitive at DH that he was questioning.