Originally Posted by pedex

yep

No sag wagons, full traffic, no trainers, no mechanics, no sponsors, no "season", no excuses, no time off, no glory, no team, no performance enhancing drugs, just the relentless pressure to perform no matter what........pretty simple really. While im sure pro racing is tough, I know from experience riding for a living isnt a joke either. Days like today when ive got 35lbs of paper on my back and a dozen places to go and its 20F degrees outside you'd have a hard time convincing anyone that does it that its easy most of the time. Its pain and suffering on wheels. The career messengers I know are tough as nails, and deal with things most people wouldnt even consider trying. While I fully understand many rec riders diss messengers as less than pro, or not equal to pro racers, funny how many change their tunes when they run into one of us in person on the street. Its part of life and human nature. Still, most pro racers retire, I wont, and havent, it doesnt end. Am I as fast as an elite pro, nope, not even close, but I am as fast as some of the domestic pros and many amateurs, even at my age LOL.