In 2004, I had been riding my mountain bike abundantly on the various trails of Mt. Tam. I also heard about somebody named Lance and was amazed at what he had accomplished. I told my parents I had a desire to join a racing team. They did some research and found that Tieni Duro was the best fit.
In September of 2004, I came out for my first Sunday ride to Sunol, a good 50 miles of pain. Despite the difficulty, I was inspired by the older riders and the many dedicated coaches and continued to show up to the Sunday rides.
2005, 2006, and 2007 were developing years for me and I just got my feet wet during that time with racing. In 2008, I had a breakout year and qualified for junior nationals. 2009 granted me more success including top 10s at Sea Otter and placing well in Cat 3 races. My success in 2010 has been the culmination of hours in the gym and hours of training alone. I have already won three races so far and placed well at junior nationals. I also accomplished my season-long goal of upgrading to a category 2 racer.
Tieni Duro has given me ample experience and taught me so much during my six years with them. I could not have asked for a better focused program. The coming years look good for the team and I hope to keep riding and racing and bask in the glory with the talented riders we have coming up now.
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