Would you turn pro?

[martin smith]

As a follow on from the 'salary of a pro cyclist, Would you, if you had the ability to turn pro but not be a top road rider earning 6 figures, swap what you have now for life as a pro cyclist? so perhaps world track medals and a TDF stage league and have to have another career lined up afterwards.

I couldn't care less how serious the replies are, i'm just making conversation.
_________________
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

[JONNO]

Me mum wouldn't let me, or I would have.
_________________
I was being chased by a police dog last week, and made the mistake of trying to escape through a little tunnel, over a see-saw and through a hoop of fire. It finally caught me as I was weaving in and out of some sticks.

[Richard]

If I could follow the Roger Hammond Programme - decent degree from Brunel then turn pro and be as good as he is - then yes. The bloke's intelligent enough to have been able to earn more in a "normal" career than going down the Collstrop route but he knows he has an education to fall back on.
Top 3 in Paris Roubaix, respected professional, top 10 in the cyclo-cross Worlds, top 3 in Gent-Wevelgem, multi-national cyclo-cross champion and did it all without any help from the BC / BCF in the early days. Shining example to everyone else
_________________
The internet is possibly the greatest bitch fest on earth. Expect anything than relentless ridicule for no good reason and your expectations are set way too high

[martin smith]

always looked like a very hard and unreliable way to earn a living to me. obviously i'm in a minority here.

could explain why i'm not very good of course
_________________
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

[Zippy]

Can't think of a better way of spending a few years of your life personally.
_________________
We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing - Tommy Lee

[RoCkET]

if i thought i could have a good career then yes . i would not want to be come a journeyman domestique changing teams every year for penuts. but then again ... getting paid to ride your bike

Possibly a Keirin racer in Japan though , thatd be cool

What Hammond did was good although perhaps he stepped up to old? do you reckon it is still possible to do what he did. how many people are traveling to Belgium at the weekends?

[Joursans]

Dunno really. It looks like an awfully hard way to make not that much money - but then I am a bit of a wimp and have a reasonably good job. There seems to be a lot of danger and hardship compared to the life of riley that your average footballer must lead.

Back in t'olden days I suspect the sport was very much an opportunity for those from poorer backgrounds e.g. rural France, to earn a bit of dosh which they might otherwise have struggled to but I'm not sure the rewards since then have increased at the same rate (other than for those at the top of the game) as much as general economic prosperity. Those that do it today do it as much for the love as commercial reward compared to those in the past - mebbe. .

Despite all the slagging that pro cycling gets I still look upon your average pro as vaguely "heroic" compared to most other sportsmen who I mainly consider to be lucky bastards.
_________________
I tell myself I will not go,
even as I drive there.

[DNAse]

There's a guy called Flavio, manages a coffee shop near me. He was a pro in the eighties and second KoM Giro d'Italia 1984. Now he's riding local events for fun. Don't think he regrets much, has plenty of great stories to dine out on, huge respect from all the local cyclists, in fact he's become a local legend! Money cannot be everything...
_________________
"Train?! Training is for people with no natural ability!"

[one man army]

It is a tough way to make a living but if you manage to get some qualifications behind you before you start, you still come out the other end 'young' in relative terms so could still have another long career ahead.

If you play your cards right, all sorts of other opportunities can open up such as media work etc

so, yes, I would
_________________
Rap's Rambo! One Man Army had it with your mumbo jumbo

[Billy Boy]

I wouldn't, much too much like hard work.
_________________
"Well done, you are 100% absolutely without a shadow of a doubt spot-bollock-on correct." - Tucker

"Eating is not for wimps" - coal miner

"most of us don't have your brilliance." - John McC

[Rich Hill]

[mattr]

[Matteo]

[Holly]

Could I loiter around David Millar more often?
_________________
"You've gone on fire. You've gone on fire. I tell you what we'll do, we'll try again and this time try not to go on fire."

[KJ]

Are the potential rewards for women equal with the men. No.

So as a woman you'd have to really love your sport to turn professional.
_________________
'You are a free woman. You will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, de-briefed (that you should be so lucky ) or numbered. Your life is your own.'

[team welwyn]

[Fluffy]

[team welwyn]

[Billy Boy]

[Lillywhite]