Born Again!

I never stopped being a 'cyclist' I just stopped riding my bike! How did that happen?

I started my fourth decade as an unfit eighteen stone former bike rider who could not go out with his non-cycling mates and not get dropped while still feeling like inside I was that lad who "Raced a bit when I was younger"
It took me a couple of years to get my head around the work/life balance that would allow me to get back on my bike, there had been years when I had hardly touched my bike but in 2004 I managed to log 3842 regular miles a couple of times a week.  The following year as the weight came off I accumulated a better 8297 and my weight came under fourteen stone the target I had set myself to start racing, I raced from mid season, improved from a 4th cat! to a third and there seems to be the word 'Bunch' in my results diary allot! I did a short 59' for '25' and inside 23' for '10' but the battle was over and the war had begun. I did 9345 miles in 2006 for my first attempt at the BBAR and the subsequent (2007)13,318 - (2008)13,777 - (2009)12,723  were my big mileage years as I pounded the roads five and six days a week in the search for greater fitness and faster times. But in the last couple of seasons (2010)10,647 - (2011)10,885 has seen me doing less but more quality (more rest days) in an effort to refine my training

A brief line up of my BBAR certificates from the past five seasons, I have decided to take it a bit more easy this year so I thought this would be a good time to reflect on what I have done over the past few seasons. All above 25mph for the combined best '50' '100' and 12 Hour ride of the year, a couple of Age related Gold medals for the National 12 Hour
In the VTTA competitions I'm still woefully uncompetitive (too young!) on the 3 distance ('25' '50' & '100') competition but crept up the 4 distance ('25' '50'  '100' & 12Hr.) attaining 5th this year to go with 8th (2010), 9th (2009), 7th (2008) and 12th (2007)

2011 - 16th Position - 1:47:52/3:52:20/281.63m

2010 - 19th Position  - 1:50:38/3:47:39/259.85m

2009 - 11th Position 1:48:04/3:46:20/276.50m

2008 - 15th Position - 1:48:34/3:45:55/263.43m

2007 - 18th Position 1:51:31/3:51:11/267.33m

I have one other for 2006 (my first) - 23.428mph for 55th position 1:58:03/4:09:08/249.45m but I think five years in the top twenty in the country is something to be proud of as I enter my fifth decade. I still plan to do a bit of racing but with the BBAR there is a committment to train at a level that can become a little tiresome and the need to  travel and race every week also takes the fun out of being a 'born again biker'.