Originally Posted by
FinkFloyd
Thanks for the advice - hopefully I'll be in a position to be reporting back from track league meets soon!
@
carleton, @
bmwjoe, @
e17blade - do you mind me asking how old you were when you started? I'm 32 now and have not been cycling long (2 years, roughly); it's something which it is possible to feel self-conscious about at Manchester when the wee academy kids, who are looking to be hoovered up into the British Cycling machine, come hooning past. I imagine it's similar to skiing, when you tiptoe down your first red run only to be overtaking by a bored-looking seven-year-old who's going backwards and picking his nose at the same time.
I think you may be over-thinking this
I was 34 at the time. Fat, drinking, out of shape, etc... Not 'athletic fat', more like 'he probably shouldn't take his shirt off in public' fat
Training and racing really did turn my life around in terms of diet and exercise. I had been naturally lean and fit through high school and college but then after that, I (falsely) assumed that I would continue to be that way. Between a sedentary job programming and money to be able to eat fast food as much as I wanted and drink as many beers as I could handle, I was in a vicious spiral downwards. I still loved bikes and rode them, but I didn't ride enough often enough to offset the bad diet.
I'm stronger now that I've ever been, including being a HS athlete and a "social athlete" (competitive intramurals, pickup basketball several days/week) in college where my competitors and rivals were often scholarship athletes.
Back to track...I came into the sport having never ridden more than 7 miles in a single day. Most of the times it was from bar to bar on my sweet Bianchi Pista Concept (seriously).
You'll be fine.