So, what is the difference between Oz's A-graders and "the pro's"

[flyingdutch]

Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

My cuzz is a decent A-grader despite age and (lack of) training catching up with him, and i realise how far ahead he is to me (OK. he grew up cycling and speedskating and went to 3 winter olympics and was oz no.1 before retiring and handing the mantle to steve bradbury) so can anyone (firsthand knowledge would be sensational!) let us/me know what is 'THE' difference between the grades AND making the jump to 'the show' as it was called in baseball. my only reference. i made it to double-A grade in US 'farm' minors and the majors just seemed so close yet SO far away. seems like a world away now...

F"tell-im-ees-dreamin"Dutch

 

[aeek]

Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

Oenone Wood was at the sharp end of (men's) B Grade Kingston Crit, an 800m rectangle. A grade would have been better training but a whole lot less fun.
Not the PRO you were after I know.

 

[Hitchy]

Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

My cuzz is a decent A-grader despite age and (lack of) training catching up with him, and i realise how far ahead he is to me (OK. he grew up cycling and speedskating and went to 3 winter olympics and was oz no.1 before retiring and handing the mantle to steve bradbury) so can anyone (firsthand knowledge would be sensational!) let us/me know what is 'THE' difference between the grades AND making the jump to 'the show' as it was called in baseball. my only reference. i made it to double-A grade in US 'farm' minors and the majors just seemed so close yet SO far away. seems like a world away now...

F"tell-im-ees-dreamin"Dutch

Dutchy, dutchy, dutchy.......obviously you hurt more than your shoulder when you came a cropper!.......however, if we assume by 'Pro', you mean making a reasonable living soley from racing your bike?......then the average Aussie 'A' grader is about a gazillion miles from being in a position to do that, or be good enough to do that......there be a F*** of a lot of competition from about a gazillion other guys, for every sprint prime, every crit place, every place on every team that has any chance of winning anything. At the very least, you need a f*** of a lot of talent, a f**** of a lot of luck......& it doesn't hurt if you start with a f**** of a lot of money behind you (either your own or a personal benefactors!)......man the chances of any Aussie making it overseas are enormous. Thats why the guys that do are 'cycling gods'........couple of examples....Chris Bradford, one of the top 'A' graders going around in Vic, won everything worth winning....currently has a pro contract with Wismilak (I think thats how you spell it?), in Indonesia....back here at the moment, racing for bucks (again) in local events.........Will Walker?...won last years suntour......only a kid, but currently racing for 'food' with Rabobanks continental team...perform or get cut!......& maybe if you do perform, just maybe, we might take you on again!....tough, tough way to make a quid...thats why so few make it!

As for 'you' going up the grades.......not impossible.....but you neeed to devote the time to do the training. I'm sure Carl will have plenty to say on this point. The gap betwen D & C isn't a huge leap....nor the jump between C & B.......B to A is a real quantum leap though,

Hitchy

 

[ritcho]

Dutchy, dutchy, dutchy.......obviously you hurt more than your shoulder when you came a cropper!.......however, if we assume by 'Pro', you mean making a reasonable living soley from racing your bike?......then the average Aussie 'A' grader is about a gazillion miles from being in a position to do that, or be good enough to do that......there be a F*** of a lot of competition from about a gazillion other guys, for every sprint prime, every crit place, every place on every team that has any chance of winning anything. At the very least, you need a f*** of a lot of talent, a f**** of a lot of luck......& it doesn't hurt if you start with a f**** of a lot of money behind you (either your own or a personal benefactors!)......man the chances of any Aussie making it overseas are enormous. Thats why the guys that do are 'cycling gods'........couple of examples....Chris Bradford, one of the top 'A' graders going around in Vic, won everything worth winning....currently has a pro contract with Wismilak (I think thats how you spell it?), in Indonesia....back here at the moment, racing for bucks (again) in local events.........Will Walker?...won last years suntour......only a kid, but currently racing for 'food' with Rabobanks continental team...perform or get cut!......& maybe if you do perform, just maybe, we might take you on again!....tough, tough way to make a quid...thats why so few make it!

As for 'you' going up the grades.......not impossible.....but you neeed to devote the time to do the training. I'm sure Carl will have plenty to say on this point. The gap betwen D & C isn't a huge leap....nor the jump between C & B.......B to A is a real quantum leap though,

Hitchy

All true and wise words indeed.

Another way to look at it is when the Euro pros turn up in summer for a bit of R and R, they leave the regular A-graders in the tyre smoke (if Heffron Park form is any guide). My inference is that pros are "quite a lot" faster than your average A-grader... not that A-graders are average.

Ritch

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:17:35 +1000, flyingdutch
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that
>i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the
>mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade
>and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

When some pros race at Glenvale over summer, there's not
much difference at all!

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:17:35 +1000, flyingdutch
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that
>i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the
>mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade
>and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

Another reference point for this, Aaron Salisbury races A grade here
(Vic) and is currently riding in Belgium as an amateur. (If you were
at the last aboc dinner you would have heard him talk about it ),
the difference between our A grade and the European amateurs
is pretty significant too. He wins a lot of crits here but his best
result over there was a few top-20's from memory. Aparently there's
a lot of doping in the European amateur races too.

 

[flyingdutch]

Dutchy, dutchy, dutchy.......obviously you hurt more than your shoulder when you came a cropper!

tell me about it...

As for 'you' going up the grades.......not impossible.....but you neeed to devote the time to do the training. I'm sure Carl will have plenty to say on this point. The gap betwen D & C isn't a huge leap....nor the jump between C & B.......B to A is a real quantum leap though,

Hitchy

bwahahahah. i wasnt inferring i could move up! (like i said i reckon Cgrade would be my ceiling) jeez Dgrade seems like a big ask at the mo... i just wanted to know how **** i really am

it went thru my head last night as i rode home that maybe racing isnt for me...
stupid head, gotta stop listening to heem

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:59:49 +1000, flyingdutch
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Hitchy Wrote:
>> Dutchy, dutchy, dutchy.......obviously you hurt more than your shoulder
>> when you came a cropper!
>>
>
>tell me about it...
>
>Hitchy Wrote:
>>
>> As for 'you' going up the grades.......not impossible.....but you neeed
>> to devote the time to do the training. I'm sure Carl will have plenty to
>> say on this point. The gap betwen D & C isn't a huge leap....nor the
>> jump between C & B.......B to A is a real quantum leap though,
>>
>> Hitchy
>
>bwahahahah. i wasnt inferring i could move up! (like i said i reckon
>Cgrade would be my ceiling) jeez Dgrade seems like a big ask at the
>mo... i just wanted to know how **** i really am
>
>it went thru my head last night as i rode home that maybe racing isnt
>for me...

Remember how you felt after collecting that envelope?

 

[flyingdutch]

Remember how you felt after collecting that envelope?

yeah, yeah. its just i cant even sit on a wheel at the moment without contemplating what's going to go wrong. time thing, i guess...

 

[Bruce Dickson]

flyingdutch wrote:

> (snip)

Here in Brisbane every year they have a crit at Southbank where the
local A graders race a few of the Aussie pros, there is also one at
Noosa and The Gold Coast. They are usually in November so the pros
aren't in top form and I'm sure the local guys would be peaking. The
pros always put in a good showing but don't always win it, they
certainly don't make the local A graders look like D graders. That's
only a 1 hour crit though. I think the big difference is the length and
huge number of races in Europe. It's usually only after a few years of
racing as a pro that a good amateur starts winning if at all.

Bruce.

 

[Shabby]

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:17:35 +1000, flyingdutch
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that
>i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the
>mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade
>and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

When some pros race at Glenvale over summer, there's not
much difference at all!

Except that the pros are in the off-season, here for the Bay crits. Baden and friends turn up to Glenvale to show their support for where they started (Baden etc). Everyone in A grade wants to knock off the big guys, whereas they really don't care if they're racing well in January.

The bay crits sort out most of the A graders, and that's in the off season. any of the A graders who had the goods would be off pursuing it, not working nine to five and training their asses off to be A grade.

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 09:37:40 +1000, flyingdutch
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Carl Brewer Wrote:
>>
>> Remember how you felt after collecting that envelope?
>
>yeah, yeah. its just i cant even sit on a wheel at the moment without
>contemplating what's going to go wrong. time thing, i guess...

You'll come good soon enough!

 

[Carl Brewer]

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 10:20:56 +1000, Shabby
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Carl Brewer Wrote:
>> On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:17:35 +1000, flyingdutch
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along
>> that
>> >i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the
>> >mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then
>> A-grade
>> >and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????
>>
>> When some pros race at Glenvale over summer, there's not
>> much difference at all!
>
>Except that the pros are in the off-season, here for the Bay crits.
>Baden and friends turn up to Glenvale to show their support for where
>they started (Baden etc). Everyone in A grade wants to knock off the
>big guys, whereas they really don't care if they're racing well in
>January.

You misunderstand

I meant that when pros are in A grade, then a grade is very
close to "pro".


>
>The bay crits sort out most of the A graders, and that's in the off
>season. any of the A graders who had the goods would be off pursuing
>it, not working nine to five and training their asses off to be A
>grade.

You're not wrong!

 

[tony f]

"flyingdutch" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>
> Perspective and reality being a nasty thing and me knowin all along that
> i might only ever be able to sneak a Dgrade win and maybe 'be in the
> mix' in C grade i started to wonder how far 'up' B-grade, then A-grade
> and the pantheon of bein a PRO is?????

Quality and hideablity of performance enhancing drugs?

Tony F
no, not cynical at all
well, maybe a little bit

 

[aeek]

a PRO wins with a broken pelvis
" I was able to retake the lead and the overall win on the final stage, something that with hindsight is either psycho, tough, or both."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2005/diaries/john/?id=john0518

whereas your local rider (FD) gives up when he's still got one good shoulder.