The Background

In order to know where I stand and where I'm headed, I'm taking this opportunity to sum up my history with the sport of cycling.

Age 2: Learned to ride tricycle, promptly fell off and cut chin open.

Age 6: Started riding bikes with the neighborhood kids.

Age 11: Watched Tour de France for the first time (half-hour recaps on ESPN, with Bjarne Riis winning and Jan Ullrich, his teammate at Telecom finishing second). Began riding the 4-mile route to school once a week.

Age 12: Topped 40mph for the first time while riding down the only steep hill in my neighborhood. Also experienced high-speed wobble for the first time. Broken elbow and wrist, road rash everywhere. Stopped riding to school.

Age 14: Got my first road bike; it was a bright yellow, bottom of the line Giant. Several months later, had said Giant road bike stolen out of garage.

Age 19: Decided to buy a bike (red Specialized Allez Elite) to help my roommate Reuben train for Habitat for Humanity's Habitat Bicycle Challenge. His trip: 4,000 miles over 60 days, from New Haven to San Francisco in the summer of 2007. Our training: one month of rides 10-20 miles in length.

Age 20: While I had been the stronger rider during our brief training sessions, when Reuben came back, he came back STRONG! I could not comprehend that he had ridden more than 100 miles in a single day, and he'd done it multiple times. Though I'd been a regular follower of cycling for three weeks of July for the last ten years, this was the moment I decided to become a cyclist.

Since that time:

2007: LA River Ride Century (DNF @ 20 miles after snapping crank off...learned I have some high-end power), Tour of Borrego Springs Century (DNF @ 72 miles due to a full day of 20mph headwinds), Tour de Foothills Metric Century (Finished the 62-mile course, but only just, and experienced first cramps while cycling).

2008: Tour of Palm Springs Century (Finished in 7:15, exhausted and sunburnt), San Diego Century (DNF @ 65 miles, having not properly prepared), Inland Express Century (Finished in 7 hours flat), Tour of Borrego Springs Century (Finished in 7:15 and, along with the 190 other brave souls who came back, got revenge on the desert wind in what was to be the last year of this event).

2009: Tour of Palm Springs Century (Finished in 6:40, feeling nowhere near as tired as the previous year), Breathless Agony (Reached the top in 8:48 after experiencing simultaneous cramping in quads and hamstrings beginning on Damnation Alley...OUCH!!!), Road the entire 70-mile Santa Ana River Trail from Redlands to Huntington Beach and back in a single day, Pedaled 350 of the 450 miles coastal miles from San Francisco to Malibu in five days on a family-supported trip.

2010: Tour of Palm Springs Century (Finished in 5:35 and just in time for a USTA Men's League tennis match, but was given a default when my opponent didn't show)

In summary, while I rode bikes in my youth like most kids, my experience with the world of endurance cycling has only just begun. I hope that I can inspire, encourage, or otherwise affect those that stumble onto this blog by sharing my experiences with this uniquely challenging sport.