Too late to make it big?

[montage]

I would suggest that "burning off hard looking seasoned cyclists in club runs" may not be your best tactic. You probably have a lot to learn from the seasoned cyclists, and you may just be antagonising people by charging off ahead when you're on a club run.

If your club really isn't challenging enough find one that is.

They all start putting the hammer down towards the end of the run... I was just playing along but what you have said is true, Just going to jump into the deep end and enter as many upcomming races as possible. After todays ride I really really want to go pro - at least that way you don't have to clean your own bike!

 

[asterix]

If you have the fighting spirit and the right pain threshold, you can do it.

Can I have your autograph now, just in case?

 

[Will1985]

They all start putting the hammer down towards the end of the run... I was just playing along but what you have said is true, Just going to jump into the deep end and enter as many upcomming races as possible. After todays ride I really really want to go pro - at least that way you don't have to clean your own bike!

Lots of clubs will do that, especially if it means being first in the queue at the café! In my experience, that means you were probably doing 45km/h+.

Can I suggest having a go at a few time trials as well? You need to figure out where your strengths lie - as a climber, sprinter, TT/endurance specialist etc...so that you can optimise your training.

 

[montage]

Lots of clubs will do that, especially if it means being first in the queue at the café! In my experience, that means you were probably doing 45km/h+.

Can I suggest having a go at a few time trials as well? You need to figure out where your strengths lie - as a climber, sprinter, TT/endurance specialist etc...so that you can optimise your training.

Hmm i believe that being fairly tall (6'2), therefore heavier would naturally put me into the TT catagory (though I'm sure that logic could be wrong)...and I do fair better in the flats, though hill climbing is more enjoyable in a perverted kind of way.

On the note of TTs, "evens" is 25 minutes right (for 10m)? Should anything less than this be a pat on the back and anything more call for a slap on the wrists? I think that sub 25 mins is a realistic goal if I had a TT within the month...a nice flat one that is...but I am wouldnt place alot of money on it.

 

[RedBike]

I think 30 mins is evens for a 10 mile TT.

A lot depends on the course / condtions but should hang your head in shame if your not under 24mins on a quicker course.

24mins is 25mph average. This is whats required to achieve 'evens' on a 25mile TT.

 

[Dave5N]

I have just began cycling (roughly 4 weeks ago, though commuted every day on a mtb previously) after being given the choice of being given a road bike or car for my 18th birthday. Of course I chose the obvious - the bike . After mincing about on my new felt z65 for a few weeks I joined my local cycling club and realised that I seemed to have a certain knack for cycling, burning off hard looking seasoned cyclists in club runs - favourite of which being run just under 70 miles avg about 22mph. Being extremely motived about cycling I began to read up on professional cycling, and a distinct pattern hit me immeadiately. All of these cyclists had been superchildren from the day they stepped out the womb. Can anybody think of impressive cyclists that began their careers relatively late?

Thanks for reading

Rebecca Romero?

 

[montage]

hmm evens for 10m is 20mph but for 25 miles it is 25 mph?
surely if anything it would be the other way round :S this is an odd affair indeed..

 

[Dave5N]

Have you actually raced yet?

Might be worth doing a few before you give up the day job...

 

[fossyant]

Many of the pro's do come come from a good 'gene pool'... certainly takes certain sorts to ride a bike, and be able to suffer.

I started at 16, from just riding paper rounds. Could keep up with the good lads on club runs, but waited till I was about 17-18 until I started racing. Did OK.... finished top 25 in most 120 field TT's... tried a few road races, but mainly TT'ed..... couldn't have afforded to fix my best bike if I crashed it on road races though...no rich parents - it was all my money......so still have my 'best bike'.....

I've raced against Chris Boardman and Graham Obree (needless to say they both battered the whole field).... but our club got Best 'non-sponsored' club at a hill climb - Manc. Wheelers with Chris won it for them, but he said "well done lads"...... all about competing !!!

Support is the key, especially if you are not from cycling family, like me....so club mates...share race travel costs etc, have a go, get involved....take advise....

What's happened is though, although not originally a 'family inherited thing' my son is naturally into cycling, he's pretty nippy for his size, and totally at home on his bike...I can see him racing at some point.....

Keep at it, try racing, maybe get spotted..... there are a few Olympian cyclists that weren't from cycling families.......good luck, train hard, listen to advise....

 

[montage]

cheers for that post fossyant - inspiring

 

[Twenty Inch]

Been thinking about this a bit more.

The common factor in all success is the amount of commitment that you can bring to the sport. For cyclists, a lot of that commitment has come about because cycling offered opportunity for money and lifestyle that otherwise they wouldn't have ever seen. Tom Simpson was a butcher's apprentice iirc. A lot of the great French, Spanish and Italian cyclists were escaping lives of grinding rural poverty. Lance Armstrong comes from a deprived background. In his autobiography, he talks of training in winter downpours, as he knew that to win the Tour, he would have to want to cycle when no-one else wanted to.

Conversely, I've heard it said of David Millar that he comes from too comfortable a background to become a great - that he knows what else there is in life and can't bring the commitment to cycling.

Don't know whether this helps you or not, but it might be food for thought.

 

[Dave5N]

How old is your lad, Fossy? Never too young to start racing!