What's your career?

[roadpacker]

garbage man

[TheSingleGuy]

I'm a teacher - middle/high school - mostly science.  I love my job, it can get a bit intense during term time or exams, but overall I only work half of the year - HALF!!!  Can't complain about that.    Last week was "Outdoor Education Week" at my school - I spent four days whitewater canoeing and camping under a dazzling array of stars with a fantastic group of girls - one of the standout experiences for me as a teacher so far.

I tend to concentrate my "fun" into the holidays, but still manage to ride 2/3 times per week during term (shorter rides, close to home, but still very lucky I can do that).  As someone above mentioned, the only bummer is that if an event doesn't fall during school holidays, it's pretty much impossible to do it.  Small price to pay, though.

[Lughnasadh]

Hi Vivalavelo,

I also work in a laboratory environment as an R&D Project Leader for an in-vitro diagnostics company in the UK.

It pays the bills with enough left over to buy bike stuff and the holidays are pretty good (37 days a year) with a very steady Monday to Friday, 9 -5 type work week it is easy to plan weekend trips.

Plus I live around an hours drive away from the Scottish Cairngorm Mountains with some spectacular routes and trips so I have easy access to all the riding I could want really although nothing as epic as the tour divide and the likes!

Good luck with the soul searching. I always live by the motto that you only live once so don't waste it away collecting regrets!!

[bmike-vt]

self employed, (unemployable, really). designer, sometimes craftsman of heavy timber buildings.
www.mikebeganyi.com

primarily a dad right now, business is taking a bit of a back seat as we navigate 2 kids starting school.
but, still working what some folks call 'full time' - just in off and odd hours.

and, volunteer vp on a non profit board. that takes it out of you!
www.tfguild.org

after righting that all out it makes perfect sense why my bike time is down over the last 4 years.
hmmmm.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Is underemployed a career?

[mbeardsl]

Only if you really stick to it.

[2WExplorer]

"I wanna wear olive green, keep outhouses clean, shake hands with mother nature
I wanna dig post holes, I wanna whip weeds, I wanna meet the public's needs.
I wanna be a park ranger"
25 years and counting down to retirement from Minnesota State Parks. I'm also an EMS instructor and Christian Missionary to the Sioux Nation.

I did retire from the in 2015 after 27 years, and am back working part time in Emergency Medical Services administration and training. Plenty of time for fishing, biking, bikefishing, taking the grandkids fishing and backcountry fishing on my Cogburn.  

[ridebikeme]

I own a  small bike shop, and love it. Although I will also say there are challenging times, and it's extremely hard to find time to get away for very long. There are a couple of times during the year, mid September until the weather turns too nasty and March that I can actually get away a bit. Like some others have mentioned, there's also the challenge for funds, as you know bike shop owners certainly do not get wealthy or rich, but every profession has its challenges . At the end of the day, I feel very fortunate to be able to go to work each day and truly "love my job."

[Deathgrip]

Director of Engineering & Design for a small Ornamental Railings company. Lots of freedom, great money, but it consumes me as I also oversee project management. Ready for a change - interviewing with four firms in Denver this coming week... Wish me luck. I'd love to make a change to a more balanced career and have time to bike more.

[mbeardsl]

Good luck!

[Coop]

When I was 30 I decided to become a firefighter.  I couldn't be happier.  I'm not getting rich, but my kids think I'm cool (and I get to ride a lot).  

[mtn_cyclist]

 I'm a 3rd grade teacher in Western Colorado. My district goes to school 4 days a week (Mon-Thur.). I live near: The Colorado Trail, Kokopelli Trail, GDMBR, and many roads, trails, and tracks in the mountains. My son and I did our maiden voyage bikepacking trip on the Kokopelli trail this weekend.

[speedycog]

Freelance graphic designer. I've been doing it for almost 2 years now and I'm really glad to be working out of my house. The only down side is that I don't really get time off unless clients stop coming in. So there's not a lot of time to get out and ride. Plus I have 6 young kids which tends to be fairly time-consuming. My 2nd oldest is *almost* old enough that I might be able to take him out for a s24o, but he's not quite there, equipment-wise. It'll come.

I'd love to supplement the freelance income with something less time-intensive so I can get away from the desk more often. I'm kicking around the idea of an online bikepacking gear store (http://d.pr/AuAX) to, if nothing else, finance my hobby.

[ROADHOG]

Animal behavior research, communications. Working with birds, the bike allows bird ID of me wearing a dayglo baseball cap thru and around town n country. I've made a number of original observations or discoveries because of the bicycle platform.

One of my grackle friends is outside whistling YES THAT'S RIGHT.

[asatrur]

Software configuration manager, which is a cross between QA and development.

[ArkTrekRider]

Firefighter/EMT 24hrs on 48hrs off. Own a powder coating business that I do on my days off

[Smo]

Custom bikepacking gear maker!  That's the new one, which is quickly starting to take up a lot of my time.  My other job is as a part-time math teacher for a community college, which is a great schedule - I only work two days a week, the rest of my days are flex time.  The overall pay isn't too great, but the pay-per-hour is quite good, and I get loads of time off.  My sewing business is pretty flexible, so I can take 3 and 4 day weekends pretty much whenever I want. 

[moxnix]

Retired (2010) Marine, still work for Uncle Sugar in Germany.

[Hadfield]

I work for the sheriffs dept. No shortage of work.

[chrisx]

I know a guy who had his house robed after responding to a thread just like this one.
In April, he let the Internet know he had a good job.
In may, he let the internet know he had a $5,000 bicycle in his garage.
in June, he told the whole wide web he would be out of town for a few weeks, to race on a gravel road from South to North for a few weeks.
In July, he returned home to an empty house.