Life is not easy as an upcoming Pro and that is true for road cyclists and mountain bikers too. 26-year old Alex Ryan races Pro MTB and cyclocross and he let us peek into his life.

The 5'6" tall and 130 pound lightweight Alex Ryan likes to play with anything that has wheels

Ryan still lives with his parents and preps breakfast in the morning before heading to work.

There is time for checking out the news on TV and the internet on the computer while devouring the breakfast.

A bit of playtime with his dog Abbey is usually also possible.

But eventually Abbey has to go in and Alex on the road.

The moto is not really the way to go to work, but shows the bike handling skills he has.

Time though to get rolling as the boss is waiting for him.

Alex Ryan has about a 12 mile commute on roads that are very popular with cyclists in the area.

During the day Alex works at Mock Orange Bikes in Winston-Salem, NC and handles whatever is served to him.

At lunch time Alex prepares a special burrito, versus going out and just grabbing lunch. More so about money spent versus special dietary needs.

It is fun to read about yourself and see a big spread with your picture in CX Magazine while you eat your lunch.

The bikes you work on in a shop are indeed diverse and it really does not matter much.

After work it is time to play and work out.

Alex Ryan loves riding stairs, or better said pump hopping them.

With the UCI Gateway Cross Cup coming up in St. Louis, MO this weekend Alex Ryan and fellow Pro Travis Livermon packed up the Mock Orange shop van to drive to St. Louis. A 10 hour fun adventure.

Two bikes for each athlete and lots of other gear make the trip to St. Louis.

Last minute preparations in the home of Travis Livermon before heading out of town. Booger the dog belong to Megan, the girlfriend of Livermon, and they two will come.

Time to leave town and Alex Ryan and Travis Livermon look ready.

Below is a video from BikeHugger.com that shows Alex Ryan in action at CX Nationals earlier this year - pump hopping the steps instead of running them.

All pictures © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com