So i am a 24 year old who has just started racing CX and can not wait for the road season to start. I recently had my hours cut down at work that does allow me to ride and train more how ever I obviously have less money. I train hard and am keeping up with the Cat 1-2 guys on our team during our weekend long rides. My question is how long do I chase this dream of riding professionally. Should I work more and train when i can, or should I keep training hard and wait for the road season to come and see how this year goes?
Training to be a pro
- Thread starter jumpman860
- Start date
Don't take this the wrong way but based on your post the only reason you're thinking of going pro is because your normal work hours have been slashed which allows you to train more.
What if your work hours had been maintained? Presumably you wouldn't be thinking about a pro career?
To turn pro takes many qualities : ability/fitness, luck. But most of all it takes a lot of mental fortitude to carve out a professional career.
Based on what you've posted, I think you need to try to decide if you have the required fortitude - as well as the other qualities - to carve out a career.
You are a bit old. If you are only keeping up with Cat1 guys, you are a long way away from making a living as a pro.
How long have you been riding?
At your age, it doesn't matter how talented you are, chances are you've missed the boat when it comes to winning teh tour de france.
That said, if you have a decent talent, commitment, the right level of bloody-mindedness, and an ability to live on minimal finances for years, then it could happen for you.
I say, right now, give it a go, its only a year. You won't be pro by the end of this year, but you should be in a position where you can answer some brutal questions by the end of teh 2012 season.
Pro riders tend to either have a massive weapon (sprint, climb, TT), or an ungodly ability to absorb physical workloads the rest of us can't. By the end of the coming season you'll know if you have any/all of these attributes. At your age you are going to need to 'shine' to make it, but hell give it a go!
At your age, it doesn't matter how talented you are, chances are you've missed the boat when it comes to winning teh tour de france.
That said, if you have a decent talent, commitment, the right level of bloody-mindedness, and an ability to live on minimal finances for years, then it could happen for you.
I say, right now, give it a go, its only a year. You won't be pro by the end of this year, but you should be in a position where you can answer some brutal questions by the end of teh 2012 season.
Pro riders tend to either have a massive weapon (sprint, climb, TT), or an ungodly ability to absorb physical workloads the rest of us can't. By the end of the coming season you'll know if you have any/all of these attributes. At your age you are going to need to 'shine' to make it, but hell give it a go!
Keep training. Since 1st January I will be a professional cyclist in a French team. I stopped cycling for five years because of an injury. For 7 years I wass a teacher. Now I'm 31 and have just signed a contract. Don't give up. For the training visit my blog: mybikecoach.blogspot.com
It will be official since tomorrow but the team will be called Veranda Rideau U. It's a continental team based in Normandy.
Jean Nuttli started training on an indoor trainer when he wa about 24, lost 120 lbs, trained for 7 hours a day and became a world class TT specialist. He had sponsorship that he begged for so he could train. He had little or no apparent athletic ability.
A lot of seemingly impossible thing are possible if you got the mental toughness and dedication.
A lot of seemingly impossible thing are possible if you got the mental toughness and dedication.
It is hard to know what jumpman860 wants from professional cycling. If the riders with contracts you know are not doing it for the money, could you tell us why they are doing it?
$10K a year to ride 2 centuries a year. I could do 2 centuries for that pay.
what is your cycling or other sports history, for how long have you been biking seriously ?
difficult to tell if you can still become a Pro, but you can train like them and even spend a month or more in Europe riding for example Belgian kermesses,
i would also focus on your local scene, you can have some very good races in your own area and have some fun there,
what about college, do you have a degree ?
This is some good advice - training rides with the local elites is one thing, but if you are not smashing the competition in local races, pro cycling may not be in the cards. It's likely to take 7-10 years of structured training to reach full potential so depending on when you started maybe there's still a shot. There are pro's who race to win the Tour, and those with slightly less talent who ride to support that guy. All of them excelled on their local scene.
Smashing people in Cat1 races is a completely different thing than just keeping up with your guys on long weekend rides, unless your weekend rides are in 53x14 and 13 at 27+mph.
Chase the dream as long as you want. If you've just started you'll have no other option than to work your way through the ranks and go from Cat 5 to Cat 1 (presuming you're in the US). Set yourself intermediate goals and don't let the dream fade until you've given it everything you have, have sought the advice of those that can really help and still can't make the break to the next llicense Category up.
It doesn't take money to train. Graham Obree was a great example of that but you still need money... If you're fairly new to the sport then you might not be able to put in 20 hours a week hard on the bike because you don't have that depth of training and endurance yet. If you have a fair degree of natural talent you'll quickly progress past Cat3 - if you don't then the Pro ranks are likely not for you.
If you are still Cat5 or will be when you get a road license, consider taking a clinic or two to help get the required 10 races (or 10 points) out of the way faster, especially if there are some pre-season clinics or "training races". This will let you get on with amassing points in higher category races sooner in the season. Stick to the longer road races that attract big fields as there'll be more points on offer for upgrade. If you really do have the "legs" to be a Pro then you'll not have to worry too much about tactics until you get to Cat1/2 races as cracking skulls, especially going up hill, on Cat3 should be a fairly easy task.
