Up until two years ago, Cycling was a sport only my dad participated in. Almost every weekend, I was asked if I wanted to go on a bike ride, only to reply with an unenthusiastic "no". At that time, I was fully committed to hockey, spending an entire Saturday and half of Sunday either in Oakland or at a regional tournament with my hockey team. Each weekend, I left my house at 8AM, only to return around 5PM.
I also ran high school track and cross country. In the spring of 2003, I fractured both of my tibias while running track and was sidelined from running and hockey for almost two months. In the summer of 2003, I began running cross country, only to have another injury put a stop to my running. My parents brought up the suggestion of cycling to train for hockey and cross country while I was unable to run. I started to ride with my dad and began ascending Mt. Diablo up to the junction.
Two weeks later, my friend Tyler and I entered a metric century ride in Napa with my parents and a couple of their friends. From that moment, I was hooked. Over the next week, Tyler and I started riding more often and eventually entered the San Ardo Road Race. Even though we had no idea what we were doing, it was still a lot fun. I still get a laugh from the video tape of Tyler and I hanging onto the back of a peloton during our first race.
I first came in touch with Tieni Duro at the Giro di San Francisco. Tyler and I attended the race to watch the Juniors. After the race was done, I walked over to one of the Tieni Duro riders to find out where the team was based and if I could join. I was then introduced to Jason who cordially invited Tyler and I to come riding with the team sometime.
By the summer of 2004, I decided to give cycling a try, putting my 10 year stance with hockey on hold. I have had the bug for cycling ever since and continue to love riding my bike.
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