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Straight Outta PROvo...

Blogging is so '06. Blog-quitting is this years' blogging.
The Funniest Bit of Cycle News I Saw Today
from cycling4all.com Daniel Holt (Usa) = neo (former Team Bling Bling) will join Team Nerac/outdoorlights.com. Total riders now 15 (thanks Torsten) Former Team Bling Bling??? Anyway, since this team (not Bling, Bling, but Nerac) was discussed at length here; I thought it was appropriate to post here. Also, this guy rode fRedlands with us last year, sort of. Team Bling Bling should register as a pro team, but they need to update their name as "Bling, Bling" is over, over. They could register as Team Crunky Crunk and the Crunky Bunch, or is that over too? I am not what you call "down" with all the lingo.
Posted: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 6:25 PM by Ryan Barrett

Comments

thage said:

I wish they would post salary figures like they do for other pro sports. For example: "Daniel Holts signs a 1 year contract with Nerac for a free bike and a box of twinkies". So lets say he has a great year and asked for a doubling of his salary. Is that TWO boxes of Twinkies?
# February 1, 2006 11:52 AM

Ryan Barrett said:

Here's the thing though: You're a young guy coming up and your choices are:
a) Continue to ride with an amateur team who gives you less than a box of twinkies and "a deal" on a bike, entries, and maybe some travel.
OR
b) Ride for a small pro team and get, a bike, a ton of clothes and stuff, the chance to do all the big races, and the chance to ride with some guys who maybe know what they are doing (the last part definitely does not apply to all the small teams).

What are you gonna do?
# February 1, 2006 12:12 PM

thage said:

One of our riders Seth was offered a position with a southern pro team this year. At first we were very excited about having our first graduate turn pro. I then talked to Burke and Jeff who both spoke to Seth and talked him out of it. If you are 20 and have talent, why should you turn pro for nothing. As Burke explained it, you set your market value. You will now be known as a "free" rider. If you have a break out year and a "big" team notices you, they know what you cost last year. You set your market value at zero. Also, if you are still at a young age, turning pro with a small team will only become a barrier. Instead of racing to get results to hopefully become a "true" pro, you are busting your ass to get your team leader in position. And on one of these small teams, that result is hopefully a top 10 in a big race. HOPEFULLY. I WOULD turn pro at 20 with a bigger team. The knowledge you would gain from a Scott Moniger is priceless. But if your top rider is Eric Murphy. I say pass. Also,some of these young kids are asked to turn pro and they don't go to the big races. They are ghost riders to meet the UCI criteria. Now if you are 25 and someone offers you that. I say go for it. Because useless you are relatively new to the sport (ie. a phenom), you have topped out and a free bike,clothes and entry is the best you are ever going to get. So Seth turned down the pro contract, he was picked up by a local outfit that will be giving him everything the pro team was, but he gets to race for results. Hopefully, next year he will get a "real" offer. Still not bad being offered your first pro contract at 20 and after only racing 1 1/2 years. I wish I had that talent!
# February 1, 2006 4:49 PM

Ryan Barrett said:

Alright, as usual, we mostly agree. I am taking it on the idea that the team actually can win some good races. I was in a pretty similar position with NetZero, but we raced every race to win... and for the budget we had were very successful. A pro team without at least 1 or 2 NRC winners is useless. I also agree that a guy who hasn't been top 10 in a single NRC shouldn't be "pro". Where I disagree is that guys shouldn't turn pro because they don't get to ride for themselves. Learning from pros is where its at, and riding for them is how you get good. How much improvement did all those Webcor guys make when they brought on Horner. Answer: Quite a bit; 'cause they had someone who knew what he was doing and who would put them to work day in, day out... they got strong as hell. Of course, there are those who would say he brought "something else" to the team, but people say that anytime someone gets better fast. Oh and I couldn't disagree more with the part where you say that at 25, you have topped out. Guys don't start getting good 'til they are 30... For real, that is an old school mentality. You don't start slowing down 'til you are at least 40 (ignoring desire to have a "normal" life).
# February 3, 2006 9:11 AM

thage said:

This is of course an old school mentality. I'm old damnit!! Again, we agree to disagree. I stand with Burke and Jeff on this one and agree that the smaller teams are not the best route for a young rider. Assuming you have confidence in your ability to get placed on a bigger team in the future. As for the 25 yr. thing. My point is that there are not many riders you can think of that did not have a fair amount of national success prior to the age of 25 that made it Internationally. If someone went from a local/regional scene to International after the age of 25, I would be very suspect.

Do you consider these guys a pro team or a Cat. 1 team?
http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=Teamsdetail&discipline=ROA&continent=AME&teamscategory=AME&teamstype=CTM&teamnameid=1325&l=ENG

or these guys:
http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=Teamsdetail&discipline=ROA&continent=AME&teamscategory=AME&teamstype=CTM&teamnameid=1293&l=ENG

# February 3, 2006 11:54 AM

Ryan Barrett said:

But, but, but "Continental" teams aren't considered "pro" by the UCI anyway.
We didn't really disagree, it's just your idea of making it means "international" where as I pretty much thought any joker who made an actual living (ie- not living on prize money, and or ebay) doing it had made it.
PS- please stop name dropping Burke and Jeff. They are free to put me in my place themselves. hahaha.
# February 6, 2006 10:21 AM

Ryan Barrett said:

oh yeah, and for the record i never argued that there are not teams registered that suck balls. There are and always will be. I could point out that Jittery Joe's (or JFJ as they were then known) and Colavita were pretty lackluster when they first popped out and are now legit domestic teams, but I guess you'd say they shoulda stay am. until they got good??
# February 6, 2006 10:33 AM
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