The darker side? Cycling? Sadly, yes.

Pro cycling looks glamorous. We see those riders looking so fit and trim, wearing their team\’s kit, pedaling along on gorgeous bicycles in a tight pack at incredible speeds.

Go beyond that enticing surface, and it\’s less glamorous. A pro cyclist\’s job is to ride. Like any other workers, pro riders have days when the thought of going to work makes them feel like this kitty here.

They sometimes have crashes. They get injured. It can get nasty; just look at pics of crashes that occur during pro cycling races. Above and beyond the physical wear and tear involved in pro cycling, there are even darker aspects of the sport.

Pro cyclists aren\’t immune to depression, despite all the feel-good endorphins that come with riding. They\’re under a lot of pressure to perform well. Failure to perform up to expectations would, I guess, result in a rider losing his/her spot on the team. Considering the years of grueling training and sacrifices required to get on a pro team at all, wouldn\’t losing that coveted spot be devastating?

A team might be dissolved overnight, which adds the stress of job insecurity. Unless a cyclist is a mega-star, the pay might not be so great. Forty thousand a year? That\’s more than I make, but it\’s not much in these times!

I\’d better not dwell on it too much. It gets too depressing. I don\’t need to get caught up in the darker side.