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It seems like every week there is another guy who has been fighting an illness for the past week. I can't remember who it was that didn't eat or ride all week because of food poisoning. (I'm not even talking about COVID.)
I think they said Cooper Webb was sick at round one.
I hardly ever hear about guys in NFL or MLB being sick.
I think they said Cooper Webb was sick at round one.
I hardly ever hear about guys in NFL or MLB being sick.
But in team sports, if you are sick and only feeling 90%, your teammates can pick up the slack, and you may not have diminished results.
So it would probably be better to compare motocross to other individual sports where optimal fitness and endurance is critical, and they are competing on a weekly basis for 6+ months per year. I can't even think of another sport that might compare. Maybe Formula 1? But I don't follow that.
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Being in shape is good for your health. But being an elite cardio/endurance athlete is not something your body was built for. It is too much. Something has to give. The fact that Moto athletes are showing compromised immune systems simply means they are training at the elite level.
But do i think being behind someone all race running a fuel that has shit in it that can kill you if you inhaled it alot, is probably not a good thing for the riders. And if they are running copper seats, copper dust is terrible for your immune system as a human, and id say 99% of those teams are running a soft valve seat made with copper influence, that makes dust as it gets clapped.
Something to think of, electric bikes may clear some of this up.
People will know what im talking about that have ever been behind someone in a race running leaded fuel with copper valve seats. It has a chemical reaction and causes your shit to start burning, eyes, nose, throat…… alll of it.
But these guys normally eat really clean, so I have no idea what the whole food poisoning thing is. It baffles me.
I don't think I've had food poisoning ever in my life, and I eat sushi, rare red meat, etc. all the time.
Fucking dirt.
These guys go on a dirt taste test tour of the entire country from January through September and we’re scratching our heads at the occasional “flu-like symptoms” (really, that’s PR speak for I had explosive diarrhea all week or I threw up every meal I ate for 2 days). It’s a wonder they aren’t sick every week.
If you get roosted, dirt is going in your mouth and sinuses, and eventually your stomach. It’s just part of the sport.
I have power meters, Garmin Fenix watch, Garmin 1030+, I use the Garmin connect app and analyse all the metrics I can. (I enjoy it)
Now, Im aware Im not an elite level athlete, and im aware this data ive got may not be the most intricate system ever.
But.... with seven years of data and experience I can see exactly what is working, not working, when im fatigued, rested, on form, off form, I can see if my training load is low, high, ideal, I can see if im getting enough or too much anaerobic exercise & enough or too little low aerobic exercise, I can see if im sleeping enough- the data is plentiful and most of all, I feel the effects of making adjustments if I can see something is off.
I struggle to believe these pro riders and their trainers are not analysing these numbers with a closer eye than I am, so WHY does it appear they are training themselves in to illness and even EBV.
I know even for me, that If I have an easier week, what I give up in 'fitness' numbers, I certainly gain back with 'freshness. Freshness in the muscles and freshness in the mind more importantly.
I agree with Rob Beams.
This is a fact.
Yes some athletes are prone to it but this is mainly around balancing training and recovery correctly.
Not sure where you got your info from on World Tour. But I will help you correct it:
You not allowed motor homes, there are team buses and these are used for transport or riders to and from hotels to the start and transfers during Stage races. They have showers in them etc so riders can recover quicker post stage.
They are not withheld from public.
The hotels are booked by the organisers of the events and races, multiple teams will share a hotel so when 4 teams of for example 40 staff are at a hotel the hotel is pretty full. There isn’t a lot of space for public.
We eat alone or with team cause it’s how things are done. It’s tradition as it’s a unified group. However across the table is often the other team.
Travel - how do you think riders get to races? They fly so they constantly at airports and on planes.
Just cause a motocross rider is sick doesn’t mean that is cause they training at a elite level, it’s means load and recovery is often wrong and they in a overreached or acute state of fatigue and not allowing adaptation from load to happen.
Motocross in general is probably one of the most un scientific approach training in sport. As advanced as the bike tech is and goes, training does not follow.
Appologies for pissing on your post but corrections needed to be made.
Athlete is fatigued - but claims EBV and has bloods done.
EBV is often dormant and not active and yes shows up in a report cause it will for the rest of their natural life but isn’t effected at all.
The amount of times I’ve been given blood reports to comment by riders and trainers in USA - cause they cannot read results - and there is a negative but then you read in news they have it cause they over done and cannot get results.
Main concern is that as I have said training balance is not correct this leads to reduced ferritin, Iron and so forth levels but all that is needed is correct diet, rest and they good to go.
Pit Row
How many people are in and out of that hauler, and how many of the crew spend their nights in bars?
They tend to date from a limited pool of Pit Tootsies. (BMXA reference there)
Plus everything already mentioned.
Another huge contributor that most don’t know, and it hasn’t been mentioned in years, is the dust that they continuously breath is pretty polluted from bikes constantly being on it.
Regarding cycling, I raced at an elite level for 20 years on the road. Yes, cyclists get sick a bit more than the average person. A rolling peloton is quite a little incubator, there is a lot of snot and spit flying and this can even be the source of some post-race dust-ups. Also, racing on the road in the rain, you are literally ingesting whatever is on the road. I remember doing an early season race in the rain and a farmer had moved his flock of sheep from one side to another, the road was literally covered in sheep fur and shit. Another time, a cyclocross race in Vancouver where the course was covered in goose shit and it was raining. A legendary MTB race in Squamish one year had massive amounts of riders afflicted with Giardia post-race.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7165523/
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