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Hard Knocks

Sometimes bike racing is the most demoralizing sport there is. Just about the time you start feeling confident and good about yourself, the pack pulls away and drops you on the climb. You consistently place in the top ten as a Cat 5, and suddenly you find yourself in the bottom tear of the Cat 4s. I’ve been racing TT’s now for over 5 years, and I am pretty fast when it comes to smoking the other tri geeks. Today I learned that this speed was all an illusion as I put up my personal best lap times at Fiesta Island to take a sad 18th out of 24 people. I got beat by people that had never ridden a TT bike until today. It’s a bittersweet sport, but at least I know what times I need to post the next time around to build my ego to a respectable level.

It’s a school of hard knocks, but for some reason I keep suiting up and getting out there. Just about the time I do well enough in the Cat 4s, I will be set to upgrade and get slapped around a bit in the 3s. I doubt it will ever end. Now on to tomorrow’s road race.

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