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How to Become a Professional Cyclist – wikiHow Shows the Way

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Long to be a professional cyclist, but just don’t know where to start? Fortunately, in this age of the internet we have numerous resources at our fingertips like wikiHow. Capable of taking the seemingly impossible and making it doable, wikiHow takes the mysticism out of the world of professional cycling.

Get ready to upgrade to Cat 4 after the break!


From wikiHow:

  1. Cycle every day. Training and experience are the foundation of any sport, and for a professional cyclist, this means making lots of miles on the road. On average, you should train at least two hours a day for six days a week if you want to become a professional cyclist. If the weather is too cold to cycle outside, train on a stationary bike in at a gym or at home.

  2. Do a 60-minute strength-training workout a couple of times a week to build your muscles, specifically your leg and core muscles. *See warning below.

  3. Join a local cycling club and participate in weekly trainings.

  4. Find a coach to help you improve your times and technique. Sometimes you can find a good coach through your cycling club, but you can also look through the classifieds in cycling magazines. A good coach can help you break your own time records, build your endurance and speed, and improve your technique when racing against others. An experienced coach can also give you advice about the best nutrition for endurance sports and advise you on the best equipment.

  5. Enter local races. Performing well at local events will help build your technique, confidence, and reputation. If you’re entering with other members of your local club, be sure to work with them to dominate the racecourse.

  6. Analyze each race to see what you can improve on in terms of technique, equipment or physical stamina.

  7. Study professional cyclists to learn how they train and eat, and what their techniques and racing strategies are. You’ll notice patterns in terms of how they approach a race and work with other cyclists in their teams.

  8. Find a sponsor. Though sponsors usually don’t donate as much cash in the amateur leagues as they do for professional cyclists, having a sponsor can make a difference in covering the costs of equipment, training, and travel.

  9. Enter in bigger contests as you become better and faster. The more attention you get in amateur contests, the more chance you stand of catching the eye of a scout for a professional team. At the USA Cycling website, you can research events per state and find which you are qualified to enter.

  10. Try out when a scout for a professional team asks you to compete for a professional team.

  11. Accept an offer to ride for a professional team.

    Apparently, it is that simple. However, you should heed their one warning: Steer well away from performance enhancing drugs. Besides the fact that they are illegal and getting caught using them can ruin your career as a professional cyclist, they are also extremely damaging to your health.
    Ain’t that the truth.
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19 Comments
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Peter
Peter
11 years ago

That’s Lance on the TT bike. “Steer well away from performance-enhancing drugs”.

jorge
jorge
11 years ago

Sounds extremely simple…Here hold my beer.

Ajax
Ajax
11 years ago

WTF is this all about???
“Try out when a scout for a professional team”……

What is this? Some sort of high school tryout system, where all you gotta do is “try out” for a professional team? OMG! I once played football. Let me call up the San Francisco 49ers and “try out” for the QB position?

Oh geez! What about baseball? I played baseball once when I was 8 years old! I could pick up the bat again. If I practiced enough, I could call the New York Yankees and see if I could get a tryout there too?

Well, why stop there? I used to hoop it up back in the day too! Maybe the Lakers or Celtics could use some help. I might as well call them up and schedule a “try out” also.

AlanM
AlanM
11 years ago

I love that one of the ads at the top of my screen is for EPO Cyclist Supplements. Classy.

David
David
11 years ago

None of this is really wrong, it’s just that it completely ignores the very low likelihood of success. There’s also the fact that pro bike racers have stacked many years of hard work on top of a genetic foundation that most of us simply don’t have.

Oh well, we’ve been telling inner city kids for decades that pro basketball (or football, boxing, whatever) was their way out of poverty. This is really no different, except that cycling is a sport you can do for your whole life. And, like any sport pursued diligently, it will help you develop the important life skills of persistence in the face of challenge and resilience in the face of defeat.

wako29
wako29
11 years ago

Wow, a Lance comment already. Didn’t see that coming.

fayar
fayar
11 years ago

This is literally just a copy-paste of a wikihow article?

Corey
Corey
11 years ago

ehrm, yeah…. online ads these days are usually based on things you’ve been looking at on the interwebz

Will
Will
11 years ago

Considering riding a bike long distances on the road takes virtually no skill. This all sounds about right to me.

Padrote
Padrote
11 years ago

that webpage looks like a high school art and design project

Colin
Colin
11 years ago

1. Start at age 8-10 in a solid junior program

2. Race in national races by the time you are 12

3. Have no life in higgschool other than school and homework

4. Go to Europe and race before you can get your learners permit

5. Get picked up by a pro development squad

6. Be faster than the top riders of your age group in the country

7. Skip college entirely, or choose to miss out on the college experience

8. Make it to a U23 team

9. Be faster than the fastest people in the world in your age group

10. MAYBE get picked up by a pro team and make as much as a waiter your first few years and live in a 3br house with 6 other people

easy as that. sure there are other ways, but this is how most people in the US are making it

AlanM
AlanM
11 years ago

@Corey, if you’re implying that the ad I saw for EPO Cyclist Supplements shows up because I’ve been searching for such products, you are way off. Now, had an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts showed up, that would have been accurate.

Garett
Garett
11 years ago

I don’t know what all the complaining is about. I did all these steps this afternoon and I’m signing with a team now. See you at the Tour!!!

Jack
Jack
11 years ago

Same as but slightly “different”-
1. Start at age 8-10 in a junior program
2. Race in national races by the time you are 12
3. Have no life in highschool other than school and homework, better still be rude to your teachers, who needs ’em.
4. Have a relative, preferably several peppered throughout your national cycling body.
5. Be related to a high profile EPO fueled ex-pro.
6. Get picked up by a pro development squad
7. Be faster than someone, sometimes.
8. Skip college entirely, or choose to miss out on the college experience
9. Make it to a U23 team, thanks Uncle.
10. Get picked up by a pro team and make as much as a waiter your first few years and live in a 2br Condo with 1 (weaker cyclist) friend. Mum and Dad pay the rent.

Ryan
Ryan
11 years ago

Never a mention of “fun.”

Colin
Colin
11 years ago

@Ryan

There is no fun in cycling *read as Tom Hanks from League of Their Own*

Fin
Fin
11 years ago

Wikihow is pure garbage.

votre mere
votre mere
11 years ago

when are you supposed to shave your legs?

Reformed Roadie
Reformed Roadie
11 years ago

^^^ Before #3…so you do not get labled as a noob or a fred in the newly joined club.

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