Life in the fast lane with no brakes.

It sure has been a very long time since I last posted here. A lot has changed and I guess now is a good time to sit back and collect my thoughts and reflect on all that happened this past spring and summer.

For starters I took up racing. More specifically I took up track

racing. There is a velodrome about 5 miles away from my house (Marymoor Velodrome WWW.Velodrome.org.) Being so close I would normally pass by and look at the track on my daily commute (Note: while of my fixed gear bike.) I decided (with a lot of encouragement from the owner of the local bike shop) to race. I figure that I already had the basic bike and all I needed were some new pedals, tires and a race license from USA cycling.

After racing a couple of races I was hooked and was doing well. I wanted more and was racing on a weekly basis; and twice a week once I got to Category 4. I quickly got an idea as to what I thought that I could do and established some goals.

Goal #1: Keep an eye out for teams that were performing and looked like a good match for me. I noticed three good teams that seemed like a good match for me and were interested in me. It is pretty easy to talk to potential teams and teammates when you are in the infield at the track and races are going on (there is no crossing the track during races.) I found my match in Thumbprint racing and am now on their roster for 2011.

Goal#2: Go from Category 5 to Category 3 in my first season as a racer. I knew that this was going to be a real challenge for me and this kind of feat was normally reserved for the special kind of racer. I think that I needed that kind of challenge and motivation to race. I would only gain more motivation when people would tell me things like "you can't do that," and I would respond by saying "just watch." I didn't make this decision just because I could; I knew that I had the power and mental ability to do this. As it turns out; I was right, and made it to Cat 3 just a little past half way into the season. This was an incredible feat and I knew that I had just done something special. I had just gone from no race experience to racing with the big guys on Friday nights in "The Show."

I had an amazing first season made possible by will and determination and a ton of help from friends, family and the great racing community. I am now actually training (yeah I didn't do much of that) this winter and will see what I can do with more strength and structure.