Can anyone become Pro cyclist?

Number 9 said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

Yes! Just look at crit-pro!
If you got someone to pay you $1 to throw your leg over the top tube
(or a mixte, like crit-pro), your a pro. You might not make much more
than that dollar, but you can call yourself a pro (again like crit-pro).

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

Yes, pretty much anyone can make money cycling.

routebeer said:

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

Yes, pretty much anyone can make money cycling.

Make money? I thought being pro meant paying to ride. Are you sure
about that?

J was pro in high school -- messengering -- T

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

Quoted message said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

Of course, what a ridiculous question. The euro-pros are all rejects
from soccer. They get cut from the soccer teams and only take up cycling as
a last resort. Look at Tyler Hamilton, he couldn't make the grade on his
college ski team, so he took up cycling. How 'bout Greg LeMond, he wanted
to be a freestyle skier, but wasn't good enough to win, so he did something
easy like cycling. Look at Lance, full blown cancer, and he becomes the
Apollo of the Tour de France. Have you ever done local group rides, and
seen some old fart, that can't even run around the block, leading the group
ride like some superman. The sport is full of rejects, so of course you can
win, maybe even dominate, if you have some average athletic ability. I know
of this 60 year old guy that dominates 1200 K ultracycling events, and they
asked him what was harder a marathon, or a 1200 K endurance ride, and he
said hands down, the marathon. There are thousands of examples, but in
short, I would compare it to bowling. Once you master a few skills it's a
piece of cake. Don't be fooled by the rbr folk, they know the score, but
they'll try to dazzle you with misdirection.

P.S. Throw the cigarettes away, that's the only thing I had to do, to be at
the front.

I like your style Callistus that made me laugh, rejects=winners. Good
outlook.

thanks

"Callistus Valerius" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

Of course, what a ridiculous question. The euro-pros are all rejects
from soccer. They get cut from the soccer teams and only take up cycling
as
a last resort. Look at Tyler Hamilton, he couldn't make the grade on his
college ski team, so he took up cycling. How 'bout Greg LeMond, he wanted
to be a freestyle skier, but wasn't good enough to win, so he did
something
easy like cycling. Look at Lance, full blown cancer, and he becomes the
Apollo of the Tour de France. Have you ever done local group rides, and
seen some old fart, that can't even run around the block, leading the
group
ride like some superman. The sport is full of rejects, so of course you
can
win, maybe even dominate, if you have some average athletic ability. I
know
of this 60 year old guy that dominates 1200 K ultracycling events, and
they
asked him what was harder a marathon, or a 1200 K endurance ride, and he
said hands down, the marathon. There are thousands of examples, but in
short, I would compare it to bowling. Once you master a few skills it's a
piece of cake. Don't be fooled by the rbr folk, they know the score, but
they'll try to dazzle you with misdirection.

P.S. Throw the cigarettes away, that's the only thing I had to do, to be
at
the front.

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I like your style Callistus that made me laugh, rejects=winners.
Good outlook.

Really, all he is saying is that cyclists are triathletes who can't run or
swim. In that sense bicycle racing is sort of like the special olympics,
except without all the damned hugging.

--
Bill Asher

Number 9 said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

To answer your question seriously for a change: no. You said, "average
ability." Quite simply, the pros breathe better than "average" people.

But, "anyone" can train themselves to ride as long and hard as the pros
do. They just won't be as fast.

--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"You American workers haven't seen an increase in real wages since the
1970s... But are you rioting? No. You're voting for Republican
candidates who give people like me tax cuts. You know what? I think
that's your way of saying 'Thank you.'" - Stephen Colbert

sure,

I don't think it's physically that difficult to join teams like
Flanders or Jartazi where a rider doesn't even make 1500EURO a month
(bruto); without prize money.
OTOH i really admire those guys' mentality. They don't have those
giant training camps, no sunny preparation races like Qatar, they don't
make a lot of money, hardly win a race but they keep on going.
Ofcourse they're in an excellent possition to sell races.
I think the mental side makes the difference wether you can become a
pro or not.

Quoted message said:

Really, all he is saying is that cyclists are triathletes who can't run or
swim. In that sense bicycle racing is sort of like the special olympics,
except without all the damned hugging.

--
Bill Asher

--------
exactly, a special olympics without the hugging. Instead is what you get is
arrogance and pomposity on a scale that is so huge that I can't even think
of another sport where the participants even come close to those in
pro-bicycle racing. They attack their fans (freds), and then they are
surprised when they have none.

Number 9 said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

imho, there is a common belief that a person's *physical* characteristics
determine how far he/she can go in bike racing. That is the wrong way to
look at it. If a rider can put in 20-30 hours a week of quality training,
for 4-6 years in a row, I think it is possible to reach at least the bottom
of the domestic pro level. And please don't think I'm trivializing it. Quite
the opposite actually, the mental strength and commitment to train that hard
is huge. It's that mental ability to train hard and smart that separates
cyclists.

Here's the difference in a nutshell... The lower cat wannabe sits down and
writes up a training plan (or pays a coach to do it), but ends up riding
less than planned because of wind, rain, wife, kids, work, beer, you get the
idea... The pro-destined rider does the opposite, almost always sticking to
the plan and even going further, seeking out extra hills and headwinds,
because he knows that successful racing is all about training. imho.

Mark Fennell said:

Number 9 said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

imho, there is a common belief that a person's *physical* characteristics
determine how far he/she can go in bike racing. That is the wrong way to
look at it. If a rider can put in 20-30 hours a week of quality training,
for 4-6 years in a row, I think it is possible to reach at least the bottom
of the domestic pro level. And please don't think I'm trivializing it. Quite
the opposite actually, the mental strength and commitment to train that hard
is huge. It's that mental ability to train hard and smart that separates
cyclists.

Here's the difference in a nutshell... The lower cat wannabe sits down and
writes up a training plan (or pays a coach to do it), but ends up riding
less than planned because of wind, rain, wife, kids, work, beer, you get the
idea... The pro-destined rider does the opposite, almost always sticking to
the plan and even going further, seeking out extra hills and headwinds,
because he knows that successful racing is all about training. imho.

I think there's a point you're failing to address, that being that
those folks who have the will to train as you described do so because
they HAVE the physical ability to benefit from the training and are
receiving sufficient feedback to make the continued training
worthwhile. Those without the inate physical ability will not get the
feedback required and will not continue the training as required.

Of course, we all know someone who has gobs of inate ability who just
can't bring themselves to commit to the training required to truly
excel. That's a different story, though.

Callistus Valerius said:

Quoted message said:

Really, all he is saying is that cyclists are triathletes who can't run or
swim. In that sense bicycle racing is sort of like the special olympics,
except without all the damned hugging.

--
Bill Asher

--------
exactly, a special olympics without the hugging. Instead is what you get is
arrogance and pomposity on a scale that is so huge that I can't even think
of another sport

How can you tell if you've been rejected from all those nicer sports?

Steve

where the participants even come close to those in

Quoted message said:

pro-bicycle racing. They attack their fans (freds), and then they are
surprised when they have none.

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

Couldn't agree more.

RVD

Number 9 said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

Of course. They just can't make a single $ doing it.

William Asher said:

"Number 9" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I like your style Callistus that made me laugh, rejects=winners.
Good outlook.

Really, all he is saying is that cyclists are triathletes who can't run or
swim. In that sense bicycle racing is sort of like the special olympics,
except without all the damned hugging.

Actually it is the ironman length tri that requires no talent whatever, only
training time. Bike racing calls on some inate talent, mostly stubbornness, but
some athletic ability.

Ron

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Really, all he is saying is that cyclists are triathletes who can't run

or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

swim. In that sense bicycle racing is sort of like the special olympics,
except without all the damned hugging.

Actually it is the ironman length tri that requires no talent whatever,

only

Quoted message said:

training time. Bike racing calls on some inate talent, mostly

stubbornness, but

Quoted message said:

some athletic ability.

Ron

Ironman's don't involve drafting, so you do have to have athletic
ability. Drafting takes none, as you already know. I would say stubborn,
in the way that they don't want to lose the draft, as then they would be
exposed as an athletic dunce. Have you ever seen the ones that drop out of
the peloton, for whatever reason, and they're all alone? They don't look
like much. The only racer I've seen that tries to use his athleticism, is
Chris Horner. And critpro called him an ASS CLOWN for daring to do
something athletic.

Quoted message said:

Here's the difference in a nutshell... The lower cat wannabe sits down and
writes up a training plan (or pays a coach to do it), but ends up riding
less than planned because of wind, rain, wife, kids, work, beer, you get

the

Quoted message said:

idea...

or in another nutshell.......they have lives.

"Callistus Valerius" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

--------

exactly, a special olympics without the hugging. Instead is what you get
is
arrogance and pomposity on a scale that is so huge that I can't even think
of another sport where the participants even come close to those in
pro-bicycle racing. They attack their fans (freds), and then they are
surprised when they have none.

We have not heard your opinion of Kirsten Gum's breasts lately.

Quoted message said:

Thanks for that serious opinion Raptor. I was referring to the "basic" Pro
cyclist. This includes the guy that rides in the race to break the wind
for the winner, and bring food, etc to everyone as well. I get the feeling
you mean "top" Pros. Please revisit.

"Raptor" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Number 9 said:

Assuming average ability, and proper training, can "anyone" become a
professional cyclist?

To answer your question seriously for a change: no. You said, "average
ability." Quite simply, the pros breathe better than "average" people.

But, "anyone" can train themselves to ride as long and hard as the pros
do. They just won't be as fast.

--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"You American workers haven't seen an increase in real wages since the
1970s... But are you rioting? No. You're voting for Republican
candidates who give people like me tax cuts. You know what? I think
that's your way of saying 'Thank you.'" - Stephen Colbert