Originally Posted by
sstang13
I get to worked up when I go to a race knowing that if I don't start winning and doing good than there's no way I'll ever have a chance at making it anywhere in my cycling career. Such as you said you wanted to become a pro, so do I, but that's just the dream I have and being at a critical time in my life where I still have a great opportunity of racing in more elite categories, it's what keeps the fire in my belly burning, but it's also what stresses me out the most when racing and after failing to even complete a race with the pack. I know a now first year U23 who raced in Belgium in his 2nd year Junior, cleaned up there and signed this year with Lotto, so the opportunities are very realistic.
Dude, forget about turning Pro. First, as you point out, you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Just race, have fun, learn.
Second, in all candor, there's virtually no chance you'll ever race as a pro. The vast majority of racers never will. And the people that do have a legitimate chance of being sucessful pro's identify themselves very early by showing an ability to ride away from other lower category amateurs. If after a season of hard training, and half a season of racing you are consistently getting dropped, even by first time racers, the odds are extremely high that riding as a pro is an unrealistic expectation.
It's possible I'm wrong, and you'll be a late bloomer. If you start getting results, and moving up, you can worry about that then. For now, forget about turning pro, focus on doing the best you can now, and have fun.