My dad owned a road bicycle and I watched the occasional stage of the Tour de France with him, but relative to those involved with the sport I knew nothing. It was at a hockey game where my dad discovered the National Cycling Centre Hamilton, a youth centre club based in Ancaster Ontario. When he told me of his findings I wasn’t totally opposed to what he was saying but definitely nervous. I spent some time reflecting on my past and eventually came to the decision that I would go with my dad to check it out. Regardless of my decision I remained anxious of going. Walking into a room full of strangers, who are part of a world you know little about was hard for a shy 12 twelve year old boy.
I mustered up the courage to get on an indoor computrainer for a ten minute race against the other kids already enrolled in the developmental program. To be honest I had know idea what I was doing, I wasn’t familiar with drop down handle bars and didn’t know how to change gears. Oddly enough I managed to win the race, on my first time on a road bike. For those 10 minutes my body hurt like hell but when I finished I felt amazing. I decided to pursue the sport of cycling and keep riding for the summer to come, and I loved