# Help Parents want me to get a job after school.



## CyclingSAM (7 May 2009)

Well as some of you are aware in my other topics, that i want to go for the Tour De France.. Well my parents want me to get a job after school and i dont want a job because i want to full time cycling.

Im stuck on what to do.

Training for Tour De France = Life training and no time for job.

Any ideas on what to do and what to say to parents?

Later on they want a talk about it, about me getting a job when i leave school.

And i dont want to talk about it because i know i dont want a job.

Im guessing my parents dont take me serious enough for how much i want to do cycling when im older.


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## zimzum42 (7 May 2009)

I assume you mean after you have left school, not in the evening after school....

Even if you are going to ride the tour, ou will likely have to get a job for some time, you don't turn pro overnight

start riding with a club that is properly involved with racing, and go to everything you can. If you have what it takes, you'll get noticed and be on your way, and will be able to give up the job cos you're getting offers from pro teams.

Oh, and move to the continent, learn french, and steer clear of doctors with syringes with stuff you don't know what it is in them!


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## Banjo (7 May 2009)

Hi Sam Great to hear thast you are so dedicated to your aim of being a top cyclist.

Difficult to know how to say this but consider that it would only take a very small injury to finish your proffessionall cycling carreer then without anything to fall back on you would be up pooh creek minus a paddle.

With your determination Im sure you can succeed but there are no guarantees and many are dissapointed .

Listen to your parents and consider work or carreer training that you can fit in with your cycling training.

Good Luck whatever you choose to do.


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## gavintc (7 May 2009)

Get over yourself. Where does the food on your table come from, where does your smart clothes come from? Santa? Your parents are completely correct, if you do not get an appreciation of the value of money or the value of work, in my opinion, you do not develop as a young adult. 

How long was your last evening cycle?


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## Joshgav (7 May 2009)

Go and work for a gym that gives you use of their facilities. Then you can ride before work, train in the gym during the day and ride after work. If you are that dedicated it shouldn't be a problem for you.


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## RedBike (7 May 2009)

Start off by getting yourself some sonsorship. You'll need to start banging on some doors (so to speak) to get it. 

Once you've got that in place it will show your parents you're commited and you've got the potential. Then they'll probably let you get a part-time job. Something that will still let you get out on the bike training.


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## montage (7 May 2009)

I'm willing to bet on whether you will make the TdF or not based on the following question:

Have you joined your local club yet?


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## Lisa21 (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> And i dont want to talk about it because i know i dont want a job.
> 
> Im guessing my parents dont take me serious enough for how much i want to do cycling when im older.



WTF!!!!! Ask everyone on here and I bet 90% "dont want a job!!"
The reality of it is that you will have to get a job so as you can eat,pay rent etc-you cant expect Mum&Dad to keep you forever!and if your that keen on cycling you will just have to work your training around your working hours. Sorry if I sound harsh but real life has a habit of getting in the way a lot, as you will find out.Many professional sportsmen/women come from a sporting background and already have a foot in the door of their chosen sport.Anyone going into it from the outside needs a skill to fall back on -as its already been pointed out one injury and it could be the dole queue.Well done for the dedication and certainty of knowing what it is you want to do...mix a bit of reality in as well and you could go far.

Nag over


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## dodgy (7 May 2009)

Yes, the questions I also want to see answered, because they always seem to be ignored by young Sam:

1. Have you joined a club yet?
2. What's your weekly mileage?
3. What is your time in a 10 mile TT?

If you can't answer, or evade the above questions, concentrate on getting a job.


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## Randochap (7 May 2009)

Real life has a way of derailing youthful dreams.

I sincerely hope that is not the case for you. When I was a young lad in the UK, my most fervent dream was to ride in the TDF, just like my hero Tommy Simpson. I rode with the local club and learned at the wheel of the town's star cyclist.

Then my parents decided to move to Canada. 

There went all my connections and my new home was bereft of a cycle racing scene.

Soon, however, I got a job in a bicycle store and could afford the dream bike I never had in the UK. I took that bike on great adventures into the vast, mountainous land my parents had brought me to. I forgave them for uprooting me and severing my roots in the UK cycling community.

I never made it to the Tour de France. In fact, I didn't race much more, until I entered a few "masters" races decades later. But I did become a competent mountaineer in the great mountains of Canada and US.

Bicycle riding became the main training area for those adventures and also a vehicle for tours into and through remote places. As I reached my forties, I discovered "randonneur/audax" cycling, which sprang from the events pre-dating the Tour de France and are still run under the original "self-supporting" expectations of early racing.

I would not change anything because my cycling "career" is exactly where I would have it and I would not want to have lived anywhere else but where I am.

I have some advice: Why don't you try to get on at a local bike shop. There you will see that bicycling is a business. It relies on sales of a product. If you are lucky and talented enough to find a spot on a team, you will become a walking advertising billboard for products and services. Your purpose will be to give a reasonable return on investment. If you don't "perform," you'll be out of a job.

So try to gain a footing somewhere it is reasonable to expect: at the local bike shop (LBS) and with your local team.

There you will soon find out if you have what it takes to make it any further.

And even if you don't, you will have learned some valuable life lessons that will help over the long term.

Of course all this depends on whether you are:
Coachable (listen to elders/teachers)
Capable of unflinching honesty with yourself.


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## fossyant (7 May 2009)

If you don't work, you'll not get that flash bike, travel expenses. etc.

I had a mate in our club who 'doled' it for many years trying to 'make it' - yeh he was pretty quick, but not head and shoulders above the rest of us..... he didn't make it, and had no qualifications.

GCSE's are useless mate ! Get a part time job, keep studying for a 'proper' qualification....


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## Joe24 (7 May 2009)

gavintc said:


> Get over yourself. Where does the food on your table come from, where does your smart clothes come from? Santa? Your parents are completely correct, if you do not get an appreciation of the value of money or the value of work, in my opinion, you do not develop as a young adult.
> 
> How long was your last evening cycle?



Im with you on this, and Lisa21 and Dodgy.
You need to get into reality. Someone in my cycle club is semi pro i think, or something like that. He gets bikes, mechanics, support and all the rest. Hes been riding since he was very young and has cycling in his family.
You may be very good, may. But if your not cycling alot now and racing, it will be a long time before you can just cycle and not work, thats if you make it to that point.
You may just end up being very good, you may just get so far and not get no further.
If you think you can leave school and be pro as soon as you leave, then well you will be lieing on a sofa and doing some riding, with your parents supporting you until they decide to kick you out, and at that point you wont have anything.
When i finish 6th form( got those grades there just in case) my plan is to work. If i dont like work i can go to uni. I would love to be a cycle messenger, or a post man on a bike, that is probably going to be the only way i could get paid to ride a bike.
Oh, and that rider i mentioned up there, has been riding since he was young, and went to college/uni i think. He doesnt work now i dont think, but he might have finished


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## rich p (7 May 2009)

This is a piss take, surely?


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## Lisa21 (7 May 2009)

maybe???


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## Sh4rkyBloke (7 May 2009)

I think he's Bonj, AICMFP.


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## Dayvo (7 May 2009)

rich p said:


> This is a piss take, surely?



Possibly, rich. 

But this definitely is! 



Joe24 said:


> When i finish 6th form( got those grades there just in case) my plan is to work. *If i dont like work i can go to uni.*


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## Joe24 (7 May 2009)

rich p said:


> This is a piss take, surely?



No. This guy really is serious about this. He put a post in the health bit a while back. He does 2miles on his bike a week, and did an hour a night on a excersice bike, and he said he wants to do the TDF.
Check it out, i wont put anything else on. I dont want to be seen as spoiling a kids dreams or as harsh.


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## Joe24 (7 May 2009)

Dayvo said:


>



I dont actually like work now, well actually, getting paid to stand around not doing much isnt bad.
What i ment was if i dont like having some crappy job, then i can go to uni and get a degree with the hope of getting a better job. If you get me blud


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## CyclingSAM (7 May 2009)

Joe24 said:


> No. This guy really is serious about this. He put a post in the health bit a while back. He does 2miles on his bike a week, and did an hour a night on a excersice bike, and he said he wants to do the TDF.
> Check it out, i wont put anything else on. I dont want to be seen as spoiling a kids dreams or as harsh.




2 miles a week? I do around 75 :

I do 2 miles to school and back, then do 10 miles in the evening i do this 7 times a week.

Plus i go on the exercise bike so probably another 30 odd?

Im going to start cycling in the morning before school the 10 mile route i do in the evenings meaning it would work out about 29 miles a day, doing that for 5-7 times a week is around 170-210 miles a week.

Im not in a club yet, i would like to join a club before the summer hoildays by then i should be good enough to win races


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## pedaling (7 May 2009)

I'm a teenager too. Most of my friends, the vast majority, have jobs. Those who don't have either relatively wealthy parents/ grandparents/ relatives who will sub them. This, however, is unlikely for most teenagers. And if you don't have such relatives, tough shoot, frankly.

Face up to the fact you cannot always rely on your parents. My parents made me get a job. They also noticed that with a job and boyfriend my grades were slipping so they let me give it up after a while. But I did do it, for several months, and I saved some money up so I didn't have to be so reliant after all.

I'm not expecting you to _want _to do it, or like it - what I think you ought to do though, is to face up to the reality that you need to learn to do some things for yourself. Like earning money. At least give it a go. If you hate it, pack it in once you've earnt some money.


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## garrilla (7 May 2009)

We've all said this before Sam, your dream is great and I really hope you make it, but you are so far off being even a cyclist that races let alone becoming part of the professional elite. You will need to take your head out of your ass before you can even get into the cycling position. If I were you I would plan my life around NOT becoming a pro-cyclist but work as hard as possible to try and make it a reality.

Are you too thick to go to college?


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## CyclingSAM (7 May 2009)

Hopefully aswell when i get my turbo sorted ill be aiming for 40 miles on that aswell a day.

Along with the 29 miles on the road.


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## CyclingSAM (7 May 2009)

pedaling said:


> I'm a teenager too. Most of my friends, the vast majority, have jobs. Those who don't have either relatively wealthy parents/ grandparents/ relatives who will sub them. This, however, is unlikely for most teenagers. And if you don't have such relatives, tough shoot, frankly.
> 
> Face up to the fact you cannot always rely on your parents. My parents made me get a job. They also noticed that with a job and boyfriend my grades were slipping so they let me give it up after a while. But I did do it, for several months, and I saved some money up so I didn't have to be so reliant after all.
> 
> I'm not expecting you to _want _to do it, or like it - what I think you ought to do though, is to face up to the reality that you need to learn to do some things for yourself. Like earning money. At least give it a go. If you hate it, pack it in once you've earnt some money.



I use to work in my family job a greengrocers for 5 years! 9-14 i left to cycle more.


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## 4F (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> 2 miles a week? I do around 75 :
> 
> I do 2 miles to school and back, then do 10 miles in the evening i do this 7 times a week.
> 
> ...



Sam, you really need a wake up call here. 170 - 210 miles a week and you think you are going to start winning races in the summer ? A lot on here do that just commuting week in week out. 

Listen to your parents, get a job, join a club and take it from there.


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## pedaling (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> I use to work in my family job a greengrocers for 5 years! 9-14 i left to cycle more.



Well... you can't spend all your time cycling. I'm sure you can find some way to make money or have a part time job. Most people do. And if your parents are adamant they want you to get a job, then tough shoot, as I said. Their house, their rules. Just get on with it. I don't see the big problem really.


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## garrilla (7 May 2009)

Sam,

did you join a club yet?


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## CyclingSAM (7 May 2009)

garrilla said:


> Sam,
> 
> did you join a club yet?



No.



> Im not in a club yet, i would like to join a club before the summer hoildays by then i should be good enough to win races



If i was in a club now id only be able to go at the weekends because of shitty school


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## Dayvo (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> If i was in a club now id only be able to go at the weekends because of shitty school



Contacts, mentors, training, discipline, routines, committment, dedication. All are necessary, and probably more so than just talent and a dream.

Join up! NOW!


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## Randochap (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> If i was in a club now id only be able to go at the weekends because of shitty school



Generally, that's when clubs hold events -- when people are free from work and other life's obligations.

You seem to have a lot of excuses and very few logical plans to get you where you claim to want to go.

You will find that the most valuable skill in racing is not so much brute strength --no one cyclist is strong enough to hang in a peloton alone -- but tactical sense.


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## jimboalee (7 May 2009)

Sam is NOT me.

What can I say?

Get some quals. Go to Uni. Then get a job.


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## Joe24 (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> 2 miles a week? I do around 75 :
> 
> I do 2 miles to school and back, then do 10 miles in the evening i do this 7 times a week.
> 
> ...



Alright.
So what TTs have you done? Any races?
You might be fast on your own, or near fast, and think you will win. But when your in a group and your not sure how to ride in it, you will be ****ed. You wont be able to work as a group, wont have any tactics straight off.
Im doing about 200, 10 of those is a TT, 60-70 or sometimes more is on one day riding in a group. In holidays ill do 2 long rides that are 60+ miles, and try and do about 250miles in the weeks i have off, sometimes i do more sometimes i do less.
Also, if your riding 7 days a week, you probably arent training right. You need your rest days. If your not doing GCSE PE then you probably should do, if you can. Take rest days.
Its not about how much you do, but the quality of training. I could go out and just ride for 30 miles, and get abit from it. Or i could go out and do 25miles, or 30miles, hard-ish with some interval trainings sometimes in there, and i get alot more out of it.
Im doing less miles now then what i was last year, but im getting better TT times, and im fitter and faster.
Oh, and riding inside on a turbo will get you fit, but it doesnt compare to riding on the road.
There are people in my club that will do lotsof miles on their turbo each night, and id do less on the road, but would still be fitter. They also felt the cold more.
If your not getting out on the road and doing some good training in this weather, your mad.
Same with if you see its raining and decide not to go out at all, and just go and do abit on your turbo/excersice bike


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## gavintc (7 May 2009)

Just had a look at the BC Website, there is a youth series racing at Dartford Park called Summer in the Park. Racing on a closed circuit with only riders of your own age group. The next race is tomorrow night 8 May. You should check out the BC site and target a race, train for it and see how you compete against your own age group. The only way you can improve is to give yourself a realistic target.


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## ianrauk (7 May 2009)

Why not? The majority of clubs would welcome you with open arms

Quote:
Originally Posted by *garrilla* 

 
_Sam,_

_did you join a club yet?_



CyclingSAM said:


> No.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



In a previous post you said you do 10 miles in the evening. So why can you only cycle with a club at the weekend?

As OP's have said you should get your head out of your arse. Listen to your parents and to those on here. You get nothing for nothing in this world. You can't expect to become a professional cyclist overnight. A professional group wouldn't touch you with a bargepole with your lazy attitude to work. 
If you are serious, you would have joined a club by now and already competing, winning or near to winning junior races. You expect to be winning races without even experiencing a race enviroment. I tell you what mate, your first race.. you are going to get beat good and proper. But perhaps that is a good thing.
Get you head out of the clouds, knuckle down at school, get a job and get wise.


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## Crackle (7 May 2009)

I'm afraid we have our very own Walter Mitty.


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## RedBike (7 May 2009)

> Im going to start cycling in the morning before school the 10 mile route i do in the evenings meaning it would work out about 29 miles a day, doing that for 5-7 times a week is around 170-210 miles a week.
> 
> Im not in a club yet, i would like to join a club before the summer hoildays by then i should be good enough to win races



This must be a wind up surely?
If you are serious then i'm afraid it's time to stop living in dream land. There's not a chance in hell with your current training your going to be winning races by the summer. Its qustionable of you'll be able to keep up in a beginners race.


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## buggi (7 May 2009)

Dayvo said:


> Contacts, mentors, training, discipline, routines, committment, dedication. All are necessary, and probably more so than just talent and a dream.
> 
> Join up! NOW!



Sam... listen to what people are telling you. You need all these things, not just miles under the belt. remember the saying "train smart". it's not just about how fast you are, but working as a team and tactics. you need to learn to ride in a peleton and all the unspoken rules that go with it. you need someone to coach if you even want a slim chance of making it to the top. before you get to semi professional you need to get your CAT 1 racing under your belt, so you need to join a club pronto. You're not even gonna get a look in if you aren't in a club... where do you think pro teams look for new talent??? they don't find it out on the lonely road hun... professionals rise up through the ranks

Stop putting it off and get down there at the weekend. As said by someone else, the clubs are "out of hours" because most of the members work 9-5 so they do evening and weekend riding. 

and it's not true that you can't get the miles in if you work. i work 22 miles away, and i cycle there and back a couple of times a week. so get a job a few miles away and use your bike to get to work. 

the sad fact is, your parents can't keep you (or they don't want to and who can blame them) and you need back up... and money... how do you think you are going to afford equipment, travel and accommodation? It doesn't mean you have to give up your dreams, and if you are really as dedicated as you think you are then you will work it out. that's what everyone else has had to do. 

so first thing you have to do right now is stop being so shy (because i presume that's why you haven't already) and look up your local cycling club on t'internet right now and phone the contact number and speak to someone and arrange to go on their next ride out. Hurry up coz its already 9.40 pm.


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## Dan B (7 May 2009)

I dunno, I had when I was his age

... pocketa ... pocketa ... pocketa


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## dellzeqq (7 May 2009)

well, I'll not name him and save him some embarrassment, but we have one teenager on this forum who does 200 miles a week during the week, plus a shedload of miles at the weekend, some of which is with a road club, and he's also got time to do his A-levels, and, as far as I can tell, is heading for good results before heading off to uni....

So, Sam, what now?


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## peanut (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> Well as some of you are aware in my other topics, that i want to go for the Tour De France.. Well my parents want me to get a job after school and i dont want a job because i want to full time cycling.
> 
> Im stuck on what to do.
> 
> ...



Your parents want to know that you have some sort of plan for your future. 
They want the best future for you as do all parents.

If I were you I would draw up a 5 year plan with your goal at the end.

Year 1 could be cycle round Europe or across the USA as a year out providing that the following 4x years show some sort of plan and structure and goal at the end of it.
ie year 2 local tech college on a foundation art course 
year 3,4 & 5 University 

You could decide to do a number of constructive things as part of your cycling year for example a photographic blog or aim to write a book of your travels OR work in a kibutsk or at a US summer camp etc . 

Maybe you could do a sponsored round Europe ride for a local charity ? 

As long as your plan has some structure and a realistic goal at the end I'm sure your parents will support it.


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## Will1985 (7 May 2009)

Err - aren't you 13 or 14? There's plenty of time before you need a job, even if you quit school at GCSEs. Languages will be very important...

Oh yeah, and the Tour is just one event in a massive calendar of races globally...


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## CyclingSAM (7 May 2009)

Im 15, nearly end of year 10.


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## montage (7 May 2009)

Sam, the fact you have not joined a club is dissapointing.....as this is the single most important piece of advice that has been given to you.

Also, GCSEs matter, do them and do them well. School/college can be done well and you can do alot of cycling - I have just about balanced that!

I have been doing between 150 and 300 miles a week (I work in 4 week cycles, 1 week easyish, then up it next week, then up again the next etc). I am also at college, which believe me, is a hell of alot harder than GCSEs... I didn't work hard for my GCSEs and came of lucky, fluking my way to alot of As.... I continued this attitude into A levels and ended up flunking them, so I changed my subjects and decided to give it another go. Ontop of this I was fairly into running, and seriously training for the Royal Marines. I was niave in thinking that I would just end up in the marines no matter what, so A levels weren't that important (thought I could just get three Cs and get through officer training....pffft..)

I am now repeating my first year...and working f&cking hard. I am aiming (and on track) for 4 A's ..... training for the marines AND doing all this cycling. Like you, I would like to aim big in cycling, but realistically, am I willing to give EVERYTHING up for it?....aswell as my ambition to join the Marines....I doubt it.

Ok...so why am I now working so hard at college when it appears to be pointless? Well for a start, I would like to go to uni....more life experience ...hopefully more cycling, especially if I choose a uni near a velodrome).... *fall back plan *.... Lets say I loose a leg tomorrow - goodbye marines dream, goodbye any cycling ambitions....but goodbye life?...No...I plan to have a cushty degree and A levels beneath me so that I could build an alternative life should that be the case.

What will you do if you loose a leg?
What will you do if you simply are not good enough?

My advise, chase the dream, but be a realist.



and join a mother****ing club ffs. now.





Good luck


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## barongreenback (7 May 2009)

SAM - I'm new to this cycling lark, having moved here from the fine world of running. The advice is exactly the same. You don't join a club to win races straight away, you join to benefit from their training and experience. It sounds like you've got real determination and you probably think we're a bunch of old farts that don't understand your dreams. However, until you join a club we can't take you seriously. Please don't think people are being patronising - it's just very, very good advice.


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## bonj2 (7 May 2009)

Sam - two pieces of advice:

1) Step up your cycling by joining a club and stepping up the training to aim for being a top cyclist, but convince your parents you are going to go get a job as well, and actually do.
Then they are much more likely to support you in your cycling than if you simply rely on that as a profession. You've got to treat cycling as a hobby until it's completely obvious that it's more than that - and by 'when it's obvious' I mean when the £££ are actually rolling in - but up until then you can be as serious a racer as you want by training and competing in your SPARE time.

2) Enter some sportives (or one, to start with). They effectively ARE a race, but you don't have to be a member of a club, you don't have to be a certain standard to enter, you'll get valuable experience of group riding, and more importantly it might be a bit like a taster of what riding a stage of the TdF could be like - possibly as close as you'll get at the moment anyway.
They're normally about £20 to enter. I've done two now and they're such good fun I've entered a load more.
What's more you can pretty much guarantee that you'll be neither the fastest nor the slowest there.


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## dodgy (7 May 2009)

barongreenback said:


> It sounds like you've got real determination



I beg to differ!


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## garrilla (7 May 2009)

A link to the Bristish Cycling site on getting into Road Racing http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/roa/road_gettingstarted.asp

It has some good links that explain the various categories of licence and what you have to do to get a racing licence. It also has links to the point systems for building up the licence.

It also has a link that will help you find a club.


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## Black Sheep (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> No.
> 
> 
> 
> If i was in a club now id only be able to go at the weekends because of shitty school



welcome to life, 

the people in the club most likely fit it round work.

get up early, go ride, come home from school, go ride, do homework, go ride, repeat.

a friend of mine does this and is doing quite well both at school and with his cycling. sponsored by kinesis i think, he gets enough kenesis bikes anyway


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## rich p (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> Hopefully aswell when i get my turbo sorted ill be aiming for 40 miles on that aswell a day.
> 
> Along with the *29* miles on the road.




Call me cycnic but that precise number indicates to me 

(or aspergers or twat)


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## snorri (7 May 2009)

CyclingSAM said:


> Well my parents want me to get a job after school and i dont want a job because i want to full time cycling.


The evils sods.
You get this sort of thing from some parents SAM, they want to be living the idle life while you slave your guts out. Get on to the Cruelty people, that'll give them a shake-up 
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/


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## Crackle (8 May 2009)

rich p said:


> Call me cycnic but that precise number indicates to me
> 
> (or aspergers or twat)



I did wonder with the careful choice of information and the selective quoting but ignoring other stuff, whether it was our very own Simoncc.


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## jimboalee (8 May 2009)

CyclingSam.

Your last post on this thread was timestamped 22:27 yesterday.

What are you doing still up on your computer at half past ten at night?

Get some sense.

You are still at school. You are still learning. 


I bet your shoe size is 7.


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## I am Spartacus (8 May 2009)

..if all else fails send a tweet to Lance A... he wasnt exactly a model teenager either........and he may cast some friendly advice back...


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## jimboalee (8 May 2009)

I work with some blokes who have teenage sons.
They get their sons in Junior soccer teams. Get them 1:1 coaching and tactical training.

Then Monday comes round and they are F'in and blinding that the team coach didn't pick their lad to play. "How is he going to get spotted if he doesn't get a chance to play?" they complain.
Maybe because he's not good enough, me thinks.

The difference between these blokes at Jaguar and your parents is :-

There are £500,000 pa salaries in football, and next to bugger-all salaries in cycling.


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## Will1985 (8 May 2009)

I am Spartacus said:


> ..if all else fails send a tweet to Lance A... he wasnt exactly a model teenager either........and he may cast some friendly advice back...


Lance had already been winning national triathlon events for three years by the time he was 15/16...


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## I am Spartacus (8 May 2009)

Will1985 said:


> Lance had already been winning national triathlon events for three years by the time he was 15/16...



indeed he was.. 
maybe thats the key to success.. a bit of a rough ride in those teen years.. no pun intended


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## ChrisKH (8 May 2009)

Will1985 said:


> Lance had already been winning national triathlon events for three years by the time he was 15/16...



....and Charly Gaul had trained as a butcher before he attempted any of the serious rides in Europe. It's all about getting the right balance. If you are already entering and winning senior races, that's one thing but if you have yet to try that side of things, you would be silly to give it up for a dream of becoming a professional rider. 

I used to have a friend who fancied himself as something of an axeman (guitarist), spent his life practising the guitar and ignoring his schoolwork. Told his careers advisor he was going to be a rock star so academic work (except music) didn't matter. He never made it as a rock star and he had nothing to fall back on.


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## youngoldbloke (8 May 2009)

jimboalee said:


> CyclingSam.
> 
> Your last post on this thread was timestamped 22:27 yesterday.
> 
> ...



- what's the problem with size 7? - and remember CyclingSam should be in school now, so we must wait for todays' post school contribution from him .....


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## jimboalee (8 May 2009)

Sunday 22nd June
BSCA NATIONAL CIRCUIT CHAMPIONSHIP EM
inc BSCA EAST MIDLANDS REGION CIRCUIT CHAMPIONSHIP EM 
[CD: 07/06/08]
Darley Moor 
1000 
U8/U10/U12/U14/U16/O16 
£5•00 No EOL
£6•50 National + Reg No EOL 
Chris Mottram 01629 734 996
Parkside, Station Road, Darley Dale, MATLOCK Derbys DE4 2EG​-------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the notice off Solihull CC's website noticeboard in 'Youth development'.

Notice the age brackets. U8 = Under 8 yrs old.
Do you get the message now?

BSCA is the British Schools Cycling Assoc.


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## Ant (8 May 2009)

When I was a wee lad back in the late 70s I used to occassionally play football in the street with another young lad. I say occassionally bacause I never really liked him. Thought he was a bit of a git to be honest.

One of the reasons I didn't particularly like him was his attitude to football....it was just a game to me and all the other kids, not to him. He took it so seriously. If you took the ball off him, or went past him, he'd treat it as a personal insult and virtually tackle you to death to get it back. He couldn't stand being on the losing team, and would get all worked up about it....it was all a bit too serious for this lad. I've no doubt I had more natural talent at that age than he did, but it was just a game to me, a bit of fun after school.

That lad went on to play for Liverpool and I didn't.

The point I'm trying to make, in a long winded kind of way, is that to reach the top of your sport....or many professions for that matter, you need more than just talent (although you won't go far without any) you need a certain mental attitude, a certain focus, drive and determination...Bloody mindedness some would say. I don't think you can learn that, you've either got it or you haven't.

I don't know you at all Sam but I have to say that from the tone of your posts it really doesn't look like you've got that mental spark to reach the top. You just sound like a whiny teenager with a bit of a dream....as most of us once were.

I hope I'm wrong because crushing a dream is a terrible thing; but if I were you I'd listen to the guys on here and get serious and join a club....and listen to your parents too. If you've got the drive and determination I've spoken about then you can and will do it. If you feel you can't do it and just keep thinking up excuses then quite frankly you simply haven't got what it takes to get anywhere close to the TdF.


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## Angelfishsolo (8 May 2009)

+1 


rich p said:


> This is a piss take, surely?


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## got-to-get-fit (8 May 2009)

Sam.......

your dream is fantastic, it really is. If its what you want then move heaven and earth to get it.

However dreams take sacrifices and it does not sound like you have made many so far.

swimmers are up at 5am doing 100 lengths of the pool before school
Beckham used to stay behind after training with his youth side and practice on his own until it was too dark to see the ball.
Cyclists join clubs, compete, ride in the depths of winter and the heights of summer...every minute on the bike counts.

What have you done to kick start your dream?
You seem to be clocking up some miles but in reality i do more than you on my commute 5 days a week and then i ride extra at the weekend.....and believe me on that mileage im never going to make the Tour.

As usual there has been some excellent advice diepensed on this subject and you would do well to listen to some of it.

School isnt shoot its just that its a reality check to your dreams.

I really hope in a few years im watching you breakaway from the peleton on Mount Ventoux but to get there you are going you have to dig deep .....be prepared to give every ounce of your being to that dream and never loose focus. Hard work = success.

On the subject of school, every sportsman i can think of stayed on to get at least their GCSE's. Its just one of lifes essentials, why do you think soccer academies insist that their teen talent still maintains a good grade average whilst training for the club?

Besides without a proper education how are you going to count your Pro-Cyclict earnings 



Go for your dreams young man, but dont forget the basics along the way. 

Finish school, join a club, race, put in plenty of miles, get a job to pay for your travel and bike gear, get noticed and get signed........see you on the Telly.


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## fossyant (8 May 2009)

You'll find most of the GB's Tallent squad on various academic courses, including University...they work round it, you can too.

Plenty of top amateur cyclits with full time jobs, families etc. Go to College & University and get an education - it's hardly hard work..... Fit cycling in around it - you've all the time in the world - no real 'other' pressures...

Finishing school and bumming about won't get you anywhere - you need to get in a club, get training, get racing and get spotted. But you'll need to be good enough, and that doesn't take overnight - you need experience.


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## Arch (8 May 2009)

I've decided I want to be an astronaut. I can tell the moon from Orion, so I'm going to eait until I know I can also identify Casseopiea, then I'm going to invite NASA to employ me. In the mean time, I shan't waste time working, Im going to stay home and watch repeats of The Sky at Night.

SAM, I have next to no interest in sporting cycling, or much knowledge about it, but I know a bit of good advice when I see it. JOIN A CLUB - see if you're really as good as you think you might be, and then get on with it.

Don't end up chasing this idea so far you end up unemployable. I wouldn't tell anyone they MUST go to college, or Uni, if they had a talent in some worthwhile field that didn't need it. But you appear to be utterly unproven so far, and until you get out and get yourself tested against others, you come across as pretty emptyheaded. Don't wait until you think you can win. If everyone waited to do something until they thought they were expert, no one would get anything done. Clubs are there to help you get better, not just to let you prove how good you are.


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## Arch (8 May 2009)

fossyant said:


> Finishing school and bumming about won't get you anywhere - you need to get in a club, get training, get racing and get spotted. But you'll need to be good enough, and that doesn't take overnight - you need experience.



When I worked for Company of Cyclists (public tryout roadshows with loads of different types of bike), we used to have a certain kind of kid that came to roadshows - the sort that rode everything round the circuit at full tilt, and then skidded to a halt (or hit someone). My colleague used to do a great pisstake routine about how the force was strong in this one, and we must take him with us to become a cycling Jedi. Then we'd chuck them out. The kids (and adults) we respected were the ones who listened to instructions (esp the difference between hub abd derailleur gear changing), asked pertinant questions and didn't arse about trying to look big, when they didn't have a clue.


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## Arch (11 May 2009)

Perhaps SAM should enter that open stage when he's old enough - L'Etape? See if he thinks he could do it day after day...


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## Will1985 (11 May 2009)

Arch said:


> Perhaps SAM should enter that open stage when he's old enough - L'Etape? See if he thinks he could do it day after day...


 Minimum age is 18 - it'll be too late by then.


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## gavintc (11 May 2009)

Well there has been deafening silence from him about his new found club or his first attempts at a junior race.


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## Sittingduck (11 May 2009)

Sam

Get your head down and get your GCSE's. Then get a job to help fund cycling and keep the parents sweet! Enjoy your cycling and just see what happens in the future... It's good to have dreams.

Best of luck with it all,
SD


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## Will1985 (11 May 2009)

Now we've closed that one, Arch wants to know how to become an astronaut!!


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## iLB (11 May 2009)

Will1985 said:


> Now we've closed that one, Arch wants to know how to become an astronaut!!



arch needs to join a club


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## Sh4rkyBloke (11 May 2009)

Arch said:


> I wouldn't tell anyone they MUST go to college, or Uni, if they had a talent in some worthwhile field that didn't need it. But you appear to be utterly unproven so far, and until you get out and get yourself tested against others, you come across as pretty emptyheaded.


So what are you trying to say, Arch? Come on, don't sit on the fence now.


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## TVC (11 May 2009)

Sam, prove to us your not a Troll, join Thanet RC.


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## Joe24 (11 May 2009)

I dont really think your taking this young man serious enough. Hes obviously more of a serious cyclist then most on here and by the summer he will be able to wipe the floor with all of us, and be up there with the pros.


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## Sh4rkyBloke (11 May 2009)

Joe24 said:


> I dont really think your taking this young man serious enough. Hes obviously more of a serious cyclist then most on here and by the summer he will be able to wipe the floor with all of us, and be up there with the pros.


FACT.


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## Andy in Sig (12 May 2009)

Get the GCSEs. Get A Levels. Do something like Sport Science at university. Fill in the rest of the time by doing as much cycling as possible. If all that looks like too much effort, then I suspect that you lack the necessary motivation.


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## jimboalee (12 May 2009)

So Arch wants to be a star traveller eh?

Its a bit more tricky than riding an Audax. For a start, it's three dimensional.
You have to know where your pulsars are.

And another thing to remember, the 'landscape' is moving


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## Sh4rkyBloke (12 May 2009)

jimboalee said:


> So Arch wants to be a star traveller eh?
> 
> Its a bit more tricky than riding an Audax. For a start, it's three dimensional.
> You have to know where your pulsars are.
> ...


Technically it's moving on an Audax too, as the Earth revolves on its axis, and around the Sun, and the Milky Way around the... etc. etc.


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## jimboalee (12 May 2009)

Sh4rkyBloke said:


> Technically it's moving on an Audax too, as the Earth revolves on its axis, and around the Sun, and the Milky Way around the... etc. etc.



Yes, technically you are correct, but, and it's a BIG BUT, a bicycle's wheels usually ( and I use the word 'usually' in a relative kind of way ) stay in contact with Terra Firma.

Unless however, you have packed you frame with too much Anti-G.


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## Angelfishsolo (12 May 2009)

_I think I want to be a champion MTB'er. I have ridden a few technical routes and have passed my Level 1 Support Riders Course. I am almost 40 years old but as I have set my heart on it I will do it!!!!!_ ......................_*Meanwhile back in the real world...................*_


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## Angelfishsolo (12 May 2009)

I am sure I read somewhere about racing teams using Helium in their tyres instead of plain old air............ Enough of that and who knows................Then again maybe I dreamed it 


jimboalee said:


> Yes, technically you are correct, but, and it's a BIG BUT, a bicycle's wheels usually ( and I use the word 'usually' in a relative kind of way ) stay in contact with Terra Firma.
> 
> Unless however, you have packed you frame with too much Anti-G.


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## Black Sheep (12 May 2009)

Angelfishsolo said:


> I am sure I read somewhere about racing teams using Helium in their tyres instead of plain old air............ Enough of that and who knows................Then again maybe I dreamed it



helium molecules are much smaller than oxygen and so escape through the imperfect seal of the inntertube rendering this almost impossible to do although it does get joked about and possibly has been tried.


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## Angelfishsolo (12 May 2009)

I was just looking on goggle and came to the same conclusion. It is interesting to note the some racing cars use Nitrogen because.............- 



Improved comfort of ride
Improved safety
Increased fuel savings
Improved life of tyre
Nitrogen has long been the accepted gas medium for filling aircraft tyres, racing tyres and heavy mining and construction vehicle tyres. Nitrogen is used for safety reasons and to ensure that tyres are always at a constant pressure. Compressed air, the traditional medium for inflating car tyres, contains both oxygen (21%) and nitrogen (78%). 
The rubber tyre is like a membrane, through which oxygen permeates three times faster than the nitrogen. The result is that the oxygen slowly leaks out through the rubber walls, and the under-inflation leads to higher tyre wear with a consequent decrease in safety and comfort, and higher fuel costs.


Pushing tin said:


> helium molecules are much smaller than oxygen and so escape through the imperfect seal of the inntertube rendering this almost impossible to do although it does get joked about and possibly has been tried.


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## Black Sheep (12 May 2009)

surely if the oxygen is leaking out that quick then the tyre's rubber is degrading and ought to be coming up for being replaced?

this is under normal road use btw the high stresses of racing and aircraft don't apply


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## arallsopp (12 May 2009)

Hello. Can you help? 
I want to be a serious employee, but I keep going cycling. 
I have joined an office, and use the computer every day.
I've even used my laptop in the evening.


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## Black Sheep (12 May 2009)

arallsopp said:


> Hello. Can you help?
> I want to be a serious employee, but I keep going cycling.
> I have joined an office, and use the computer every day.
> I've even used my laptop in the evening.



i'm afraid its an addiction 

help is available but you have to want to be cured.


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## Arch (12 May 2009)

I really did want to be an astronaut, when I was about 6. Before that I wanted to be a jockey for a while, but decided that was out, on the logical basis that I couldn't ride a horse. It never occured to me, it seems that I could learn. (Later, much, much, later I did, and discovered I'd never have had the courage for racing anyway)

The thing that worried me about being an astronaut though, was the G force on takeoff - in the Tintin book, it made them all pass out. I can;t remember what I decided on after that, but by the time I was doing O levels, I'd decided on being a vet, but A levels proved to be too big a jump, dedication and result wise. Currently, I'm sort of an archaeologist, but only on paper, and sort of an editorial assistant, since that's what I actually earn money at.

I'm still hoping one day I'll really know what I want to be when I grow up. At nearly 40, I'm running out of time.


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## arallsopp (12 May 2009)

Arch said:


> I really did want to be an astronaut, when I was about 6. Before that I wanted to be a jockey for a while



Blimey. When I was 6 I wanted to be a fire engine. 
Or an airport.

The footage documenting this last wish is pulled out with surprising regularity at family dos.


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## Arch (12 May 2009)

arallsopp said:


> Blimey. When I was 6 I wanted to be a fire engine.
> Or an airport.
> 
> The footage documenting this last wish is pulled out with surprising regularity at family dos.



An airport! Fantastic!

How many runways did you aspire to?


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## arallsopp (12 May 2009)

All of them, I think.


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## garrilla (12 May 2009)

Is anyone else worried that we've not see Sam for a few days? I worried that he's out there doing the Miles.

This guy came to mind. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wo...-Queensland-To-Sydney/Article/200904315262859

"I rode from when I woke up to when I went to sleep," he explained.


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