Who WOULDN"T sign on???
This is aimed more at the Lance, Trek, Radio Shack, JB detractors than anyone.
Suppose, just suppose that you were offered a job with The Shack pro team. Any job
with them. From being Lance's or JB's right hand man or rider to the lowest laundry folder / gofer.You would be paid fairly well, maybe very well, travel with the Pro Tour, have one or two or three of those tags / I.D. cards hanging from your neck that allow you access to be just about anywhere, see Europe, the USA, the world for that matter, have most everything paid for(hotels, etc.), find out what's really going on in pro racing, meet most of the "guys". That kind of stuff. Who among you, other than frenchfighter, lord knows he wouldn't do it, might have to actually touch a Trek, wouldn't JUMP at the chance to do something like this???? Or would POUNCE be a better word??? I know I would leap at the prospect of it.
Suppose, just suppose that you were offered a job with The Shack pro team. Any job
with them. From being Lance's or JB's right hand man or rider to the lowest laundry folder / gofer.You would be paid fairly well, maybe very well, travel with the Pro Tour, have one or two or three of those tags / I.D. cards hanging from your neck that allow you access to be just about anywhere, see Europe, the USA, the world for that matter, have most everything paid for(hotels, etc.), find out what's really going on in pro racing, meet most of the "guys". That kind of stuff. Who among you, other than frenchfighter, lord knows he wouldn't do it, might have to actually touch a Trek, wouldn't JUMP at the chance to do something like this???? Or would POUNCE be a better word??? I know I would leap at the prospect of it.
0
Comments
-
Would have to be well paid, and my other half would have to be on board, but I have no moral objection to it.Not climber, not sprinter, not rouleur0
-
-
Do yo know of how his can be done?
And what better way to derail the Shack than from within. Imagine Lance comes down to the hotel reception to make his way to the start of the final TT to find all the team cars are missing
0 -
no chance.
it may seem like a glamour job but working non-stop all day at races etc.. is hard grind. It’s not as if they are going to say, “ok son, you had a tough day today, I know we are about to launch a massive attack tomorrow in the Alps, but you can down tools and take off on Lances Trek for a few hours to enjoy yourself”.
saying that....I wouldn't mind the James Bond type Q-Job for some of the teams. I reckon I could come up with some interesting delivery devices or transport options i.e. portable refrigerator unit concealed in the legs of the massage table.0 -
intothe12 wrote:no chance.
it may seem like a glamour job but working non-stop all day at races etc.. is hard grind. It’s not as if they are going to say, “ok son, you had a tough day today, I know we are about to launch a massive attack tomorrow in the Alps, but you can down tools and take off on Lances Trek for a few hours to enjoy yourself”.
saying that....I wouldn't mind the James Bond type Q-Job for some of the teams. I reckon I could come up with some interesting delivery devices or transport options i.e. portable refrigerator unit concealed in the legs of the massage table.
I'm guessing you're right about the hard, daily grind. Still what a great life experience to
be there for all the big(and small) events. Seeing it all from a whole other perspective.
If you really love cycling, well, what could be better.0 -
The (sad) reality is that there are very few positions within a pro team that will give you the money, access and lifestyle you speak of. Many support staff get paid as close to minimum wage as the team can get away with. Even on an actual race, many soigneurs and mechanics will be lucky to see any actual racing.
Sounds fine in theory. In practice, you'd be better off doing an "ordinary" job with better pay and conditions and buying your own ticket to the races.'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
dennisn wrote:intothe12 wrote:no chance.
it may seem like a glamour job but working non-stop all day at races etc.. is hard grind. It’s not as if they are going to say, “ok son, you had a tough day today, I know we are about to launch a massive attack tomorrow in the Alps, but you can down tools and take off on Lances Trek for a few hours to enjoy yourself”.
saying that....I wouldn't mind the James Bond type Q-Job for some of the teams. I reckon I could come up with some interesting delivery devices or transport options i.e. portable refrigerator unit concealed in the legs of the massage table.
I'm guessing you're right about the hard, daily grind. Still what a great life experience to
be there for all the big(and small) events. Seeing it all from a whole other perspective.
If you really love cycling, well, what could be better.
Dont get me wrong, if lance picked up the phone and said "we need you for one season", I might go, "ok lance, I'm not a big fan of you, I'm not going to put up with your prima donna bullsh*t, but as I lke the sport, I'll do it" one year max, but if it was your career, forget it.0 -
LangerDan wrote:The (sad) reality is that there are very few positions within a pro team that will give you the money, access and lifestyle you speak of. Many support staff get paid as close to minimum wage as the team can get away with. Even on an actual race, many soigneurs and mechanics will be lucky to see any actual racing.
Sounds fine in theory. In practice, you'd be better off doing an "ordinary" job with better pay and conditions and buying your own ticket to the races.
Wasn't there a job posting on Monster recently for a mechanic for the new Sky team - at something like £55,000 a year? Hardly minimum wage....0 -
Pokerface wrote:LangerDan wrote:The (sad) reality is that there are very few positions within a pro team that will give you the money, access and lifestyle you speak of. Many support staff get paid as close to minimum wage as the team can get away with. Even on an actual race, many soigneurs and mechanics will be lucky to see any actual racing.
Sounds fine in theory. In practice, you'd be better off doing an "ordinary" job with better pay and conditions and buying your own ticket to the races.
Wasn't there a job posting on Monster recently for a mechanic for the new Sky team - at something like £55,000 a year? Hardly minimum wage....
Fine for head mechanic, but if you're the poor muppet jet who jet-washes bikes you might be on a third of that and a considerably longer than 40 hour working week (regardless of what the ad says)'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0 -
0
-
I would rather work the 40hrs a week at home, then head to france for the summer and stand on the side of the mountain.0
-
I reckon it would be a good thing for a few weeks/months to see things from a different perspective. I'd do it for free for a few races (Flanders/ roubaix/Giro/Tour etc) but imagine the hard work, grind and missing the family would soon take the gloss off if you did it all year, every year.If suffer we must, let's suffer on the heights. (Victor Hugo).0
-
I'd not want any kind of job in cycling.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0
-
If I was paid enough to sit around all day tinkering with bikes...well, I'd be in heaven. That's just one reason why I loved (and want to go back to) working in a bike shop. My girlfriends not so keen as it would mean she wouldn't see me much again....
FCN 3 or 4 on road depending on clothingjedster wrote:Just off to contemplate my own mortality and inevitable descent into decrepedness.
FCN 8 off road because I'm too old to go racing around.0 -
dennisn wrote:
Seriously, REALLY???? I mean, you seem to follow it so closely. Of all the people on this forum I would have picked you to be ready at a moments notice. :? :?
That's what I get for thinking.
Watching cycling and popping onto forums is what I do for fun. I'd prefer to not have my leisure activities be my job.
I'd imagine being a cycling journalist can be soul destroying at times, especially when you know "stuff" that's not out there.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
i would join to learn their dirty secrets then expose them and profit....
if I discovered there were no dirty secrets i would just make up some sh1t anyway because I'm a diehard hater"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
Pokerface wrote:Wasn't there a job posting on Monster recently for a mechanic for the new Sky team - at something like £55,000 a year? Hardly minimum wage....
I bet it's close to minimum wage if you turn it into an hourly rate, especially during stage races when my understanding is that they do little other than tend to bikes, eat and sleep. They get the bikes out in the morning and make sure they're ok for the riders, they then follow the race, get back to the hotel and then work into the night prepping them for the next day. Loooooooong hours in demanding circumstances - Willy Voet reckons that many of the back up staff take (or used to take) amphetamine/ Belgian mix etc to keep going, especially during Grand Tours.Take care,
Steve.0 -
mididoctors wrote:i would join to learn their dirty secrets then expose them and profit....
if I discovered there were no dirty secrets i would just make up some sh1t anyway because I'm a diehard hater
You are :twisted:0 -
Yeah but why The Shack, you can ask this questioon about any team, even like, Fuji Servetto.
Same drugs policy .......... 0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Yeah but why The Shack, you can ask this questioon about any team, even like, Fuji Servetto.
Same drugs policy ..........
Just posing a question, but you're right. What difference would any specific team make. If you really wanted to do it, would the team or the personnel on that team actually make much difference?
Can't remember who said it but "there are Captains of industry who would give up their
jobs to wax ski's on the World Cup tour". This may sound like an off the wall statement
but there is some truth to it. Once again I'd do it for a season just for the experience.
I like the idea of it because it's so completely different than what I do now. I'd love to be a ski bum for a winter or so. Maybe I will when I retire.0 -
dennisn wrote:This is aimed more at the Lance, Trek, Radio Shack, JB detractors than anyone.
Suppose, just suppose that you were offered a job with The Shack pro team. Any job
with them. From being Lance's or JB's right hand man or rider to the lowest laundry folder / gofer.You would be paid fairly well, maybe very well, travel with the Pro Tour, have one or two or three of those tags / I.D. cards hanging from your neck that allow you access to be just about anywhere, see Europe, the USA, the world for that matter, have most everything paid for(hotels, etc.), find out what's really going on in pro racing, meet most of the "guys". That kind of stuff. Who among you, other than frenchfighter, lord knows he wouldn't do it, might have to actually touch a Trek, wouldn't JUMP at the chance to do something like this???? Or would POUNCE be a better word??? I know I would leap at the prospect of it.
Its not as glam as its seems Dennis. Most guys who work for team barely see the races. Only if you are lucky enough to be the DS or second DS. The only others who see the race are the mechanics sitting in the back of the car. But they have a tough job...All day cramped in the back of the car then all evening washing bikes... Long transfers etc.
The pay is relatively poor too... Oh... and the hotels most teams stay in are 3* at best.
Best jobs on the circuit are paid journo jobs...**************************************************
www.dotcycling.com
***************************************************0 -
Back in 1989, I think, I stepped in and did a dogsbody / drivers job at the Kellogs Tour (I was the boyfriend of the team principles babysitter at the time - did everyone follow that tenous connection)
I didn't see any racing (at all), didn't speak to any riders other than on my team, didn't get to drool at any other bikes than on my team (didn't even get to clean them), got scared $hitless driving alongside crazy European team drivers between staging points, ate average food in cheap hotels, got little sleep............I could go on.
Despite being a great tale to tell in the pub (embelished of course) I wouldn't do it again for love nor money. Glamorous it is not, but some people obvously thrive on it.Cobbles are all very well but I'd rather be riding towards the South of France0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Yeah but why The Shack, you can ask this questioon about any team, even like, Fuji Servetto.
Same drugs policy ..........
fuji-servetto
WGAS"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
mididoctors wrote:TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Yeah but why The Shack, you can ask this questioon about any team, even like, Fuji Servetto.
Same drugs policy ..........
fuji-servetto
WGAS
Again, the same question can be asked of The Shack.
Miaow0 -
emadden wrote:dennisn wrote:This is aimed more at the Lance, Trek, Radio Shack, JB detractors than anyone.
Suppose, just suppose that you were offered a job with The Shack pro team. Any job
with them. From being Lance's or JB's right hand man or rider to the lowest laundry folder / gofer.You would be paid fairly well, maybe very well, travel with the Pro Tour, have one or two or three of those tags / I.D. cards hanging from your neck that allow you access to be just about anywhere, see Europe, the USA, the world for that matter, have most everything paid for(hotels, etc.), find out what's really going on in pro racing, meet most of the "guys". That kind of stuff. Who among you, other than frenchfighter, lord knows he wouldn't do it, might have to actually touch a Trek, wouldn't JUMP at the chance to do something like this???? Or would POUNCE be a better word??? I know I would leap at the prospect of it.
Its not as glam as its seems Dennis. Most guys who work for team barely see the races. Only if you are lucky enough to be the DS or second DS. The only others who see the race are the mechanics sitting in the back of the car. But they have a tough job...All day cramped in the back of the car then all evening washing bikes... Long transfers etc.
The pay is relatively poor too... Oh... and the hotels most teams stay in are 3* at best.
Best jobs on the circuit are paid journo jobs...
I realize it's not a s glam as some might think. But to the true fan - what an experience.
And if it's so terrible why would people do it?0 -
TakeTheHighRoad wrote:mididoctors wrote:TakeTheHighRoad wrote:Yeah but why The Shack, you can ask this questioon about any team, even like, Fuji Servetto.
Same drugs policy ..........
fuji-servetto
WGAS
Again, the same question can be asked of The Shack.
Miaow "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
Nothing kill something you love quicker than doing it for a job, besides the fact i would be fired because im hoplessly under qualified for any of these positions. As everyone esle has said its a thankless job and funnily enough has little to do with cycling, they wash repair machines etc they dont get to sit down and relax while enjoying the racing. Now if i could be a journo then maybe but as Iain said that might just open your eyes a little to much :roll:Take care of the luxuries and the necessites will take care of themselves.0
-
richard wants a baum wrote:Nothing kill something you love quicker than doing it for a job, besides the fact i would be fired because im hoplessly under qualified for any of these positions. As everyone esle has said its a thankless job and funnily enough has little to do with cycling, they wash repair machines etc they dont get to sit down and relax while enjoying the racing. Now if i could be a journo then maybe but as Iain said that might just open your eyes a little to much :roll:
I'm not so sure. I like my job(can't say I love it), and I'm pretty good at it. Don't make tons of money but at least I'm not depressed about going to work in the morning(well, maybe a little because I have to be up early). As far as thankless jobs go, I would say that, for most of us, the only thanks we get is a paycheck. Nobody pats me on the back on any kind of regular basis(I'd rather have more money anyway). I just think it would be a great thing to do. Even if you're the lowest of the low and only trusted to fold and deliver laundry it has to be exciting, the travel, meeting new people all the time, that sort of thing.
Being on the "inside" for a change.0 -
If Radioshak were the ONLY ones to offer me a pro-contract? Hell, yes I'd take it. Beats developing Computer Accounting Software any day!! I'm happy to be the guy that drives the car from the stage start with the rider's clothes etc to their next hotel destination.
But if several teams offered me the same job; I'd probably have to say no to Radioshak. Sure, they probably pay better than most other teams, but they would also expect a better quality of workmanship too! Imagine making a mistake that directly affects LA??
I'd rather work for Milram. I reckon their levels of expectation would be so low; you could get away with doing a half-baked job the whole season and I don't think they would care.0
