Finally Going to try to this blogging thing/intro to Cycling

HELLO WORLD, this blog will mainly contain topics related to my favorite hobby of cycling. Notice I use hobby because A. I do not get paid to ride my bicycle B. I'm definitely at the age where trying to PRO is absurb due to my lack of experience and just entering the sport C. I feel when you have a fulltime job cycling, basketball, etc are all hobbies.

So many of you may know how I got started into cycling and others may not. Well for those that do not know. Here we go.......As cliche as it may seem I had often heard of the great Lance Armstrong. To the non cyclist he was one of, if not the only cyclist known in the mainstream U.S media. Beyond Lance I didn't really know much about cycling other than it looked pretty cool seeing all those guys riding in the peleton when I did see highlights of the Tour De France. So thats my association from a mainstream level. Now to the actual connection. So back in 2001 I met my Godmother for lunch in old town St.Charles but she had to make a quick stop by the bike shop down there ( I believe it was a Touring Cyclist). She was picking up her new FUJI road bike. At the time I was still in college (equal I had no money!!!) so I couldn't believe how much she was spending on a bicycle for crying out loud. So with that said several years past and I had gained the freshman 15 at college, along with the horrible choice of foods at all times of the day. I was ready to try something different. I had played basketball and baseball, but never tried I new sport, something totally different from my past. With that said I told my Godmother I wanted to go on a few rides with her and her crew. So a friend of hers let me borrow an older ride, with the shoe cages, andI proceeded to go on a few 20 mile journeys with them at a blistering 14-15mph
:-) After those rides I found myself wanting to go faster and be a bit competitive at this. So the gentlemen who loaned me the bike would attack at certain points and I would counter. Those were my first days getting the juices flowing. By this time I thought ok let me check out how much purchasing one of these bikes would cost me. So said gentlemen who loaned me the bike who I know will refer by name Larry, had some ties at the local Touring Cyclist. After reading a number of reviews and negotiating a deal so I could get pedals and shoes all in one swoop I owned my first road bike a FUJI Roubaix PRO. This purchase was made keeping in mind I'm not spending to much just in case I get tired of this new sport and hang it up after a month or two. So I had my wheels, now I was really in business, I would go on group rides with Larry and my Godmother but the pace they were pushing just wasn't what I was looking for. I mean hey at the time I was 23 years old and pedaling around at 14 to 15 wasn't doing anything for me. To speed things up I would work on letting them get gaps in front of me then catch them or I would try and do the loop two times versus them doing it just once. Ok that thinking was alittle wishful but hey it was something to push me. I met several young gents who sold me my bike and they said I should try the Touring Cyclist BiAthlon. Biathlon.........hmmm I wanted a challenge and at the time knew nothing about the local cycling scene in StL. So I was in. The race was a 4.5 mile run and 20 mile bike ride. My strong point I knew going in would be the running portion. So everyday afterwork I would run 2-3 miles and cycle 10 miles. Finally working my way up to days where I would run 5 and cycle 30. With that said I spent the summer of 2005 working towards my first race. In the mean time I heard about another style of racing, criteriums. So I also put that on my calendar as a first for me that summer. The day of the Biathlon came and I was feeling pretty good at the number of people that I actually beat on the running portion. So I was feeling pretty good when I was hopping on the bike to head out. I only had one water bottle (total beginner move) so I was very very dehydrated at times on the bike during the 20 miles but luckily at like mile 10 or so they had feed zone where they were passing out water bottles, which turned out to be my saving grace. As I approach the final hill my legs were in explode mode and I was going that slow changing gears my chain fell off and down I went. Several other riders helped me up and back on the bike I went for the last 400 yards. Crossing the line was a pretty good feeling knowing I had trained pretty hard and put up some decent numbers. To my surprise my numbers were such that I WON the 20-24 year old catergory!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall now I believe I was somewhere around the top 50 I believe. So the competitive career started with success. I was on a pretty good high heading into the Soulard Criterium. This event is where I met Adam (fellow HuB rider). He gave me a few pointers and wished me luck. He also told me about the training crits at Carondelet on Tuesdays. But back to the race, not sure where I finished, I know it wasn't with the main group nor did I care. My goal was to just get my bearings in that style of racing and finish. So I finished with a few first timers and that was my first crit. From there I found myself at the Tuesday night crits and getting familiar with some of the faces on the local scene and them with mine. So my first summer of cycling found me doing 2 races and anxcious for the next season ( I missed the Gateway Cup my first year because I had one more semester of college to complete)



So lets fast forward things to season number two. Now I knew about the StL biking site and most of the group rides that were taking place. So I started doing the Monday night St. Charles ride, Tues Crit, Thurs St. Charles, and Saturday morning Big Shark rides. Also mixing in the races on the weekends when they took place. I must say I feel like I really got my legs on the Monday night ride in St. Charles. I can't count the number of times I got dropped from the lead group, then the second group, and rode solo back or with a few other fellows I met who were just getting there legs going. Needless to say at the end of the summer I was right with the lead group and contested for the sprint finish. Also sometime during the middle of the summer I was asked by several teams if I had any interest in riding with a particular gang. Adam was the first to ask if I would want to come to the Hub group ride on Wednesdays and chat with Ron. So on my first ride that Wednesday after talking with Ron The Hub welcomed me to the groupo. Really from here the rest is history. Just been riding and enjoying wearing my black,yellow,white and green Hub kit where ever I go.

So with that summed up, thats how I got into cycling and I definitely enjoy riding my bike whenever I get the chance. I'm definitely a fair weather rider. You won't see me when its below 45. Very thankful for everyone that I have met these last few years cycling especially my HUB TEAMMATES.



PEACE