“We never saw him before but he whupped us all…”
It seems like bike racing is popular enough, urban enough and accepting of such a wide range of strengths that the subject-line occurence isn’t all that rare.
Any good cases you know of?
The other outdoor sports I’ve done don’t really get that “unknown guy slays all” effect. In XC skiing and canoe racing it seems like everyone knows everyone. It seems like talent in such sports doesn’t move or travel that much.
I suppose you can always get the hotshot “just passing thru” syndrome. But I’ve hardly ever seen it except in cycling.
Also some of the sports are so skill-oriented that surprises are VERY rare. Even among people you know, no one moves
up that fast. It takes years.
But in cycling you can have a beginner racer who was a heckuva lumberjack, fireman, bricklayer, runner, tourist, commuter, motocrosser, and they might just blow off the front—kneesocks, fenders, tennies and all—and leave everyone with dropped jaw.
What’s the highest level of racing you’ve seen this happen?
(I recall reading about the Tour de France of the old days when they allowed tourists to ride the route at the same time.
Tourists would sometimes lead the race, or win stages—or come close to it, with big feats that threatened the leaders and stole the spotlight.
