Hiya all

I currently am an regular road bike rider and I work out nearly 20miles a day & I have not begun to RACE.

I am moving to CALIFORNIA to do my graduate studies.

I have taken a serious & inspirational decision to become a PRO RACER.

I would like to know how an amatuer(Ride but not getting paid for it.. )

How do I begin my career in CYCLING(how to select races?) and when can a person claim to be a PRO racer?


I need your help on my path to a racing career !!

the short answer is that if you're already in graduate school and not racing its too late (even TOm Danielson was racingat an elite college level as an undrgraduate).
To call yourself a pro, you need a pro license. Toa ctually be a professional bike racer, you need to be faster than 99.999% of the people posting here including a decent number who have raced for years.

Unless you're a genetic freak, you can't go from 20 recreational miles a day to professional racer at age 22.
Forget about being a pro. Think about becming the best bike racer you can be. In the .000001% chance I'm wrong, you'll eventually rise to that level.

So, 1) fin the fast local group rides, hang out with those guys, 2) ride a lot, 3) after you've done a few fast group rides, enter your local crit, 4) buy a few books, EEdy B's book on bike racing, and books by Csrmichael or Friel on trianing.

Sorry if this is harsh, but you've got to get a clue.

You have some pretty high aspirations. Riding 20 miles a day is nothing, start logging 400+ mile weeks to build your base. Start riding with the fast club rides in your area (and with the cycling team at the university you're attending for grad school). Then if you're hangin with them, start some Cat5 racing. Then if you can be winning Cat 1 races in the next 2-3 years, you might be able to be a pro racer.

Get off the internet and start training, you have some hard work ahead of you.

according to pedex all you have to is become a bike messenger and you're a pro

He still has a chance to condition himself.
For the next two years - ride 30,000 miles/yr. No jokes.
Easy miles, hard miles, intervals, sprints, climbs, etc... with regular rest.
Hone in on your cornering/descending/drafting skills - ie. following fast group rides everywhere.

By then you should be able to blow through Cat5 and 4. From there - you'll REALLY know if bicycle racing is for you.

-simplyred

ummmmmmmmmmm, k, i'm just curious what led to your "serious and inspirational" decision to "become" a pro racer?

merlinextralight speaks the truth. If any of us were gamblers, I don't think we'd bet that you were going to ever be a pro cyclist.

That doesn't mean you should be discouraged, though. Not becoming a pro cyclist doesn't make you a failure unless you set an unrealistic goal.

Follow merlin's advice and see how it goes. Try a couple races and see if you even like it. Then, when/if you're a Cat 5, loving it, and doing well, look to upgrade. And if, years down the line, you work your way up to Cat 1 and you're putting in some strong results, then I'm guessing that the necessary people will take notice (although I'm 100% unfamiliar with the process).

Set some realistic goals, like "don't get shot out the back in my first race," and just have fun. Statistically, if you do all your riding with the idea that you're going to become a pro, I can almost guarantee you're in for some serious disappointment.

Lol

Go pro in the field you're studying for graduate school, you'll make more money than pro racing.

you'll have to start as a cat 5 and upgrade through the categories racing with a local team. once you start racing it will become very clear if you have what it takes or not. if you're doing well and producing consistent results as a cat 1 or 2 then it'll be time to start shopping for an offer.

heck, even if you don't make it as a pro, amature racing is a hell of a lot of fun without all the pressure.

Very true. An alternative to improving one's fitness and winning races is just to horribly loosen the definition of "pro" until it includes you.

Mike Engleman was a real good pro for awhile in the 90s, a great domestic climber. He didn't turn pro until his 30s, I think. The current elite national amateur champ, a local from my area, Matt Cooke, is 27 and didn't start racing until 2 years ago. He also won the cat 1/2/3 Clarendon Cup, the Green Mountain Stage race, and the most challenging road race held here each year. Now I don't know about Matt, but Engleman was a great runner beforehand. The list of people who start racing at 22 or 23 and make it is pretty short, especially if they have no sport to cross-over from.

Oh and I forgot Pascal Herve, who turned pro in his early 30s. Of course he was riding for Festina so that explains that (he was doping).

WhoooHooooo I am a pro now!!!!

See how easy that was?

LOL..It never goes away!

Most insightful post ever!

This has got to be a joke post.

let me try....

okay, once after a race my GF bought me breakfast. Hmmmm...that's basically compensation, right? compensation for racing a bike! which, bear with me, means i was paid to race. holy cow!! becoming a pro cyclist is really easy!

Here are the steps to become a Pro Racer:

I've been at this about 1 year so far, so

1) Ride lots - as much as you can and even more
2) Find group rides. If you're not the strongest guy there keep riding with this group until you are, then find a stronger group.
3) Get a USCF license. https://www.usacycling.org
4) Do your Cat 5 races, if you're dominating these races, get a coach and upgrade to Cat 4.
5) Cat 4 to Cat 3 should only take 3-6 races if you're really good and placing in the top 3. If you're not dominating Cat 4 the likelihood of going pro is about 10 million to 1.
6) Spend 4-8 races in Cat 3. If you're not consistantly in the top 3, the liklihood of going pro is about 1 million to 1.
7) Upgrade to Cat 2.
That's as far as I've made it so far.

I plan to really build a strong base this winter and next year I hope to move up to Cat 1 and try a couple stage races against the domestic pro teams (Toyota United, etc.). That will be the true test. If I can't hang with those guys I'll go back to racing in the local 35+ races and just have fun.

Even if you do go from Cat 5 to Cat 2 (or even Cat 1) in your first year the chance of becoming a pro racer are still very very slim. I have no plans to quit my day job......yet.

Good luck!

PM

ps, what part of CA are you moving to?

Ive used this same technique for my definition of "FAST"

While I get the senitment, 30,000 miles a year is 100 miles per day x 300 riding days per year. That's 6 days a week, every week, all year. Perhaps a slight exaggeration?

Wanna be a pro? Start out by purchasing a Motobecane from Bikes Direct.

what school will you be attending? Collegiate racing is a good way to get your feet wet in racing without the huge cat 4/5 fields.. The season is short from Feb thru May for college racing.. Once done you can go into uscf racing and have some racing experience..

LOL... The amount you save off retail on the purchase is technically like them paying you to ride, so yes, that'll work too.