My first year as a pro cyclist
In our guest blog this month, 22 year old Welshman Luke Rowe reflects on joining British pro cycling outfit Team Sky earlier this year. The British Cycling Academy graduate has been spending his first full season getting used to life as a professional cyclist, and takes on his biggest challenge yet in the Tour of Britain...
Making the jump this year from amateur to professional was pretty cool. When you join a big pro team the whole lifestyle and package around it is a big step up – you get a lot of extra luxuries, which is nice! It’s not just the racing which is different, it’s the whole lifestyle, and I’m really enjoying it.
The biggest change for me has been living at home. When I was an academy rider it was really strict in terms of where you have to be and when you have to be there. Being a pro gives you a certain freedom. It’s like you’re growing up and you can do what you want to do. I chose to live at home. I really like it, but I think next year I’ll maybe look to get abroad somewhere like Girona.
On a typical race day I’ll get up, have a pretty big breakfast – often pasta and rice to get plenty of carbs on board. Then it’s onto the bus, where it can be anything between 5k and 100k to the start of a stage – which makes having such a nice team bus vital. We normally try to get to the start an hour beforehand. We get ready and get a bit pumped up with some music. A stage can be anywhere between 160 and 200+ km – over a variety of different terrain and weather conditions which you have to adapt to. Then after the race it’s back on the bus and back to the hotel for a massage. Sometimes I’m sitting down to an evening meal as late as 9.30pm. Then I’ll go back to the room, maybe watch an episode of Band of Brothers with Michael Barry, and that’s pretty much my day.
When you’re an amateur you’re doing it because you really want to. When you’re a pro it’s your job and it’s what you get paid to do. I still enjoy riding my bike 99% of the time but on that one day when you’re not quite motivated, and the weather isn’t great, I think you’ve just got to look at the end goal and see what you get out of it if you do knuckle down and train hard. That what gets me through the cold, miserable Welsh weather!
This year I’ve already done the Ardennes Classics – they’re historic races so that was pretty special. I’m looking forward to getting stronger and stronger as the season progresses. It’s all about trying to improve and learn from each and every race.
Find out more about Luke on the Team Sky website or Follow him on Twitter.
