Hanging On: Figure It Out

Signed, sealed, stalled, misled and delivered - the hopeful racer learns the tough lessons of the pro-cycling contract process

By Phil Gaimon

Since September, I have sent hundreds of emails and made dozens of phone calls to twenty different cycling teams I was hoping to ride for. This may sound absurd, but there's a reason for it.

One of the first things that people ask me about bike racing is how a rider gets on a team, and they're usually surprised to learn that it's not that different from finding a regular job (not that I've ever had one), except there is much less money involved, there are only about 50 people in the country who make a living at it, you only really work on weekends, but you never get a day off, etc. Also, I estimate that half of the pros in the U.S. make salaries of $15,000 or less (stay in school, kids), and many get no salary at all.

My team search began with a resume full of personal stats, goals, and results, emailed to everyone I could think of. The first offer was from Sakonnet, my previous team, who wanted to keep me, but couldn't give much other than equipment, clothing, travel, and other expenses (pretty standard for amateur teams). This ended up being one of the best offers I got, but here's where the timeline issues come in: every team has its own arbitrary deadline between June and November, when it intends to finalize its roster. This date is completely unrelated to the actual deadline of December 1, when a team's final roster must be submitted to the UCI.

Sakonnet wanted its roster completed by October 1, but I was still awaiting decisions from several professional teams who said they were interested. At the Univest Grand Prix, the TV announcers said that I deserved a pro contract, and I agreed with them (they also said that I looked like Jonathan Vaughters, so I shaved my sideburns). Unwilling to forfeit a potential pro ride for an amateur team, I made the call to FiordiFrutta to cover my ass. They would definitely be a step up team-wise, and the offer was better than many pro riders get. In addition, they would hold my spot until the UCI deadline in December, so I would not have to turn down any better offers. Score!

From October 1 to November 31, I contacted the pro teams weekly to ask when they would have their decision. Each week, I waited by the phone like a teenage girl hoping for a call from her prom date. If a team got in touch with me at all, it was with an apology and a promise to have an answer next week. Some teams finally gave a "thanks, but no thanks" via email, and one turned me down by text message. Most of them just stopped returning my emails.

On November 30 (at the buzzer), I received a call from a new team, a well-known amateur squad that planned to go pro. All the sponsors were signed up except one, and they would fax me a contract in the morning.

In the end, I guess finding a team comes down to reputation and who you know, just like any other job. It turns out that I don't know anyone, and vice versa, so that fax from the new pro team never came. I called the team, but there was no answer, and the deadline was up. I know that may feel like an anticlimax, but that's life. FiordiFrutta 08!

Have a riding story you want to share? We want to hear it. To contribute to the Changing Gears reader blog, e-mail David.L'Heureux@Rodale.com.