I'll chime in here since I have been racing for the better part of 15 years and have been racing Cat1 for 14 of those 15. I dont want to sound harsh but riding every other day isnt going to cut it. Averaging 20-23 mph isnt going to cut. Races arent at all about average speed unless you are time trialing. Once you get to the pro level, half the races I do are pro-am, its intense beyond comprehension. Racing is about sustained bursts. Can you go 30mph for 5, 10, 15, 20 miles? In most pro races time trials are averaging 30+mph for 20-40K. Can you sit in the saddle and spin up to 40 mph on a flat road? This is what the last two laps of a crit are like. Can you bang handle bars in a pack of 150 riders, who are as good or better than you, at that speed and not get nervous or crash? If you cant then forget it. Pro cycling is a full contact sport. Its elbows, knees or what ever to find a hole during a sprint. It takes much more than just riding fast. Tactics take years to learn and more years to master. It takes years of racing to develop your body to sustain day in and day out efforts. Top amatuers and pros have to train every day, like or not. Hours apon hour on the bike until you literally wish you didnt ride a bike. Could you ride your guts out everyday for a week straight and still recover? Not to scare you away, but realistically, you should be in your late teens asking this question. Who knows you may be gifted, but until you race and win races, no team is going to invest in you.
You've got to be joking! Enter some races and see what you're looking to do first.If you are good enough to be a "pro" don't worry about what you should do,people will notice you and it will go from there.Worry about entering a race first! People have no idea how hard it is @ that level.I've seen very good Cat. 1s get blown out in pro level races in the States,let alone Europe!
Thats because Boardman averaged 35mph over 56kph. Most flat pro time trials are 30mph+ for the winner In each and every pro race I've done. We mock what we dont understand.
You can't swim until you get your feet wet. I teach racers to get into some races just to feel their speed with your legs. That way you get to know by feel in relation to your fitness just how fast your competition is and how much you need to develop. Next, learn everything you can as fast as you can. You should be thinking development, physically, mentally, and tactically, for the first few years, minimum. Over the years, I have talked to quite a few pro's and never met one who hadn't be in at least some kind of high level fitness sport for at least 10 to 15 years. If you already have a pretty high level of fitness from something like marathon running, it will still take at least a few years to get to the pro ranks. Training for bike racing isn't something you do in a few months or even a few years. Even weekend warrior racing requires at least three to five years of fitness development to be good. Most of the guys winning the races for even cat 3 amateurs have been racing for at least 5 to 6 years. I have heard from a number of cat 3 amateurs who have been racing over ten years and still have not won anything at that level. This is something you just say, 'I really want to do this' and put in the training time, one pedal stroke at a time until you get there. Try it, see if you like it, and, if you do, put together a plan.
BTW How can you tell when it is time to go pro? If you can race hard at and off the front of the peloton with the pro's and still consistently place, then it is time to go pro.
