Thursday, October 29, 2009

About Me

So, first post.  Always the hardest place to start.  

My story is as follows: I am a twenty-two year old college student and musician who has always had trouble keeping fit.  After a tumultuous year (getting laid off, starting back at college, and surviving off a dead-end job), this past August I got the idea of becoming a cyclist.  After a few rides, I decided to train for the road race segment of the St. Augustine Cycling Festival, which at 26 miles was some obscene distance I could never travel.  Come to find out on race day that the Category 5 (beginner) riders had been absorbed into the Category 4 (amateur) riders and would be racing their nearly 40 mile course.  September 12th came much too soon, and my unprepared self suffered a bonk and watched in terror as my left leg cramped up solid as a rock.  I was able to limp through one 13 mile lap, but could go no further.  The experience was very educational, and I got bit hard by the racing bug.  I promised myself I would be ready for the first race of the next season, which looks to be on January 30th, 2010.

I discovered through much research that the bike I was riding (a LeMond hand-me-down) was much too big for me, and looked into getting a better fitting bike.  Champion Cycling here in Jacksonville, FL got me a great deal on a 2010 Felt F95 in orange.  I'll post pics of it soon.

We're still fighting fit issues with the bike, but I'm having a great time riding the Felt.  I've gotten much more comfortable riding, and have since put 240 miles on the bike in the past month.  I'm gearing up for some longer, out of the city rides (from here to St. Augustine, most likely) and want to be able to pack in some heavy miles before January.  I plan to keep this blog updated with my trials and tribulations as I train to become a bicycle racer, with the aim of becoming a Cat 4 this upcoming season.  I hope you enjoy the read.

-Daniel

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