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“Normally I would start the season at about 178 pounds,” Lance Armstrong stated in a recent interview.  

When I saw the statement, I was more than a little surprised.  I would have guessed his off-season weight was closer to 170, and his Tour-weight maybe down to 160.  

That Lance drifts up to a natural-weight closer to 180 in the offseason sounds so surprisingly….normal.

In fact, most of the guys I ride with tip the scales between 170 and 185. 

Sure, there are anatomical anomalies out there:  guys six-feet tall and one-fifty dripping-wet with team-fit jerseys loosely draped over their skeletons, or 190+ pound “big men” with big motors under the hoods.  

But among the Cat 4/5 guys I ride with, the vast majority would fall in the Lance-class, weight-wise.  

The distinct difference between us and Sir Lance, though, is that he rides at the absolute top level of the sport, and makes the necessary sacrifices to win there.

“I would usually start the Tour at 164 pounds,” Lance elaborated further.  Doing the math, he drops 14 pounds every year between October and June, knowing that every pound shed means less girth to carry over the Alps and Pyrenees as he’s chasing down featherweights anxious to pedal for the clouds.

So we’re not exactly the same, Lance and I. 

The last time I saw 164 I was doing 10K runs every time I got off the bike.  When my knees began protesting the rigors of running, I gladly let it go and devoted myself to the bike.  Even though I get in a lot more miles now, and go a lot faster than I used to, and do a lot more interval-training on hills and time-trialing to push my performance — my weight seems to float unfailingly between 175 and 180.

Honestly, if I want to “Cat up,” I need to drop a minimum of ten pounds, and preferably fifteen.  My climbing has improved a lot this year, and I can get even stronger, but shedding five or six kilos would undoubtedly add some further pep-and-pop to my climbing-abilities, and help keep me from getting tossed out of the main group when land slants upward.  

Making the task harder, is that I’d need to do it during a time of year when I’m riding less than average.

To drop weight in the Spring isn’t as challenging:  We’re getting out on the bike more often, and staying out longer, and the calorie-burn increases.  But during the winter it’s a lot of one-hour intervals sessions rather than two and three-hour club-rides, and it’s a lot of time indoors where calories are stacked and waiting on the shelves to help wrestle the boredom of gray wet days. 

Of course, if you’re Lance, you go to Girona or Santa Rosa or wherever, and you ride all you want.  Or, you run marathons.

“I’m at 168 pounds…so I’m a full 10 pounds lighter than (my early season weight).  I’ve done enough training to get my body weight to where it should be,” Armstrong said in the interview, “probably in much better shape than I ever have been in October.” 

Good for you, champ.