Joe saw that I was dedicated, working through my injuries and wanting to improve. After a couple of rides he asked me to join the team. Initially I was uncertain, I did not believe I was strong enough, fast enough or even experienced enough. However, my wife thought it would be better if I rode with people rather than riding solo, so I joined the team.
Shortly after joining the team, I began to train as I had before the accident. I was feeling good going into my first race, Independence Valley Road Race, and very excited. I believed I had been working hard and thus I would be able to earn a good result...Well, that did not happen.
If you have ever raced, I am sure you know there is a major difference between riding hard and training to race. I had done lots of hard riding, thinking I was training. After about 3 miles I was dropped on the first climb. There is nothing worse than having to race in the cold, wind and rain, all by yourself. In the back of my mind I wanted to abandon the race, but I made a commitment and knew I had to finish. My wife was there waiting for me, and it was a GREAT feeling when she reacted as if I had won the Tour de France. Somehow I managed not to finish last, but was way behind the winners.
My second and third races had the same results, and I was really beginning to wonder if I should just stop racing. I finally had a confidence building breakthrough at the Ravensdale Road Race...I finished with the lead group, in 18th position. It was at that moment I knew I had been bitten by the bug. Over the remainder of the season, I only had one other good result, I finished in 9th place at the Mutual of Enumclaw Criterium.
I am now in my second season of racing, but I am still a Cat 5 racer. I have yet to meet the minimum race requirements in order to move up to Cat 4. I have already done the Independence Valley Road Race, and have seen vast improvement. Check out the race recap at: http://teambonney.blogspot.com/
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