Can I make cycling my livelyhood?

[Duncan T]

I know it might sound like a daft question, but I don't see my current job going anywhere (call centre monkey) and just wanted to know if it'd be possible to become pro and race for a few years. I'm not in the best shape at the moment, but if I can find 4 to 5 hours a day to train, would it not be impossible to make it? If it isn't, how would I go about it, and what would I need to be looking at achieving in the short term before I jack this in and go at it full time? Oh, I'm 29 by the way.

[Robh]

You need right genetics, determination & luck....Good luck with your ambition.

Found on the web :-

There are several factors that affect your chances of becoming a professional cyclist. Far easier said than done, though.
There are many different types of cycling on a national, and international level - and some are far more accessible to others. At the amateur to the semi-pro level, you'll likely have to compete in at least 2 different disciplines :
cross country racing (mountain biking) and road racing (which has a sub-category of time trials).
I would suggest that you begin by entering a local race first to gauge your fitness. Go to your nearest bike shop and speak to the employees there about races in your local area. In most areas I've been, the cycling community is quite friendly and are more than happy to help you out.
A word to the wise, though. Don't talk about going pro before your first race...or even before the end of your first season, for that matter. go to the races, and push yourself to the point that you want to die. when others see you suffering, they'll become more inclined to help you out. Thats the start. I could write a book on this, but I'll just outline the rest in basic steps.

1. Talk with people who are in the cycling community - they're a valuable resource.....find out what gear you'll need to get you going, and where races are being held, etc..
2. Gain experience by joining as many races as is physically good for you. Any sport (especially cycling) rewards experience, and rewards hours trained....provided you train smart -- (for more on training, visit a personal coaching website and consider a subscription. I suggest googling the carmeichel training site - he's the guy who coached LA to win all of his tours...great guy. great staff. smart training).
3. Once you and your coach feel that you have a reasonable amount of training and experience and fitness, you'll want to test yourself on a higher level. I'm from Canada, so for me, that'll be something an Provincial, or a national-level circut race. If you place well at these, you'll get noticed by the right people...ESPECIALLY if you've been on the scene for a short time.
4. There is no fourth step. Once you get to the point where you're doing national level races, wherever you may live, you'll know just as much, if not more than myself about what you'll need to do to turn pro. I wish you the best of luck....In all likely hood, you have a long and arduous road ahead of you with many hundreds of hours of training ahead of you -- not to mention empty pockets (you'll see what i mean by that second part quite soon).

Keep your rubber side down, and the best of luck to you !

[Toks]

[quote="Dunk@ruck"]I know it might sound like a daft question, but I don't see my current job going anywhere (call centre monkey) and just wanted to know if it'd be possible to become pro and race for a few years. I'm not in the best shape at the moment, but if I can find 4 to 5 hours a day to train, would it not be impossible to make it? If it isn't, how would I go about it, and what would I need to be looking at achieving in the short term before I jack this in and go at it full time? Oh, I'm 29 by the way.

[Colin Steadman]

deffo a wind up

[Duncan T]

It's not a wind up, I am being serious, but thanks for the vote of confidence. If you could give me some pointers on cycle couriers that would be a great help thanks Marco. Is it possible to go straight from 4th to 1st cat in one year? My understanding was that it was that you could only go up one category each year. That's why I thought my age might be a bigger issue.

[Stu Merckx Man]

ive heard about a few people go from 4th to elite in one year. or isit an urban myth? anyone else heard

[Robh]

[quote="Stu Merckx Man"]ive heard about a few people go from 4th to elite in one year. or isit an urban myth? anyone else heard

[Tony]

By 'pro' - I assume you mean a full-time rider? If you've got the funds behind you, you could do that tomorrow. If not and as you state that your job is a job not a career, can you cut down your hours to increase the amount of training you can do?

You'd need to post a whole lot more about your current levels of fitness, health, diet, what finances you can afford for racing and bikes and amount of racing you have already done before even knowing where to suggest you start. What do you already know about cycling, racing, etc? What level do you really want or expect to get to?

Realistically you could have a lot of fun being associated with the cycling community in some capacity or other and develop yourself in to a strong rider and competitor. Local elite standard could be achievead - but anything beyond that is increasingly unlikely.

[Toks]

[quote="Dunk@ruck"]It's not a wind up, I am being serious, but thanks for the vote of confidence. If you could give me some pointers on cycle couriers that would be a great help thanks Marco. Is it possible to go straight from 4th to 1st cat in one year? My understanding was that it was that you could only go up one category each year. That's why I thought my age might be a bigger issue.

[Tony]

Stu - I've not heard of anyone going from 4th to Elite in one year.

Some riders can get fixated about points-chasing/licence category status and race week-in-week-out in lots of small field criterium races (or on the track) to rack up points as quickly as possible. If you've got a good sprint and a reasonable engine, it's perfectly possible to rack up the points seriously quickly in these sorts of races.

Amongst the stronger rides everyone knows whose-who. There's real elites or 1st cats (or even 2nd cats) who can mix it up at the sharp end of a proper open road race and the 'comedy-elites', etc. who can't!

Don't fret over points and licence category. Train for and race in decent events and everything else will look after itself!

[Robh]

You can rent a powermeter from here :-

http://www.cyclepowermeters.com/powerme ... l-24-c.asp

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[Phil S]

Tim Elverson went from 4th to Elite in a season.

[quote="Tony"]Stu - I've not heard of anyone going from 4th to Elite in one year.

[tel]

The guy that ran Linda McCartney, went from 4th cat to Elite in one season and rode the Tour of Britain the next season.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

so did Gethin Butler.

I don't think Brett quite made it in one year, but was damn close, then got a huge bundle of points in the winter series at Hillingdon, so effectively started the next season as a 1st.

Back to the original question. In the 80's a guy who owned a bike shop (I forget his name at the moment) decided to sponsor himself and went out and bought himself a pro licence, being a one man team (UCI regs etc were different then). It was quite embarrassing to see him getting dropped very quickly but he seemed to enjoy the atmosphere etc.