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Old 04-27-20, 11:01 AM
  #5  
carpediemracing 
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Tariffville, CT
Posts: 15,405

Bikes: Tsunami road bikes, Dolan DF4 track

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Happier ones.

My mom died from cancer in Aug 2003 (okay, that's not happy). She was diagnosed in 2000, moved into my house almost immediately (she preferred to be treated in the US, my parents were abroad at the time). In early 2003 my parents moved into their own house, where I grew up, as sort of a "return to home" for my mom. In July 2003 she asked me when the state championships were - I'd won the gold the prior year (on a total fluke, tbh) and she was wondering when I'd be defending it. I told her that I wasn't really focused on that for now, that I promised I'd win that and my own race series for her "after", meaning after she passed. At that time it was very close, and she deteriorated very quickly immediately after. When I finally dared to get on a scale I was about 215 lbs (I'm 5'7"). I was so round that I didn't recognize myself in a picture taken in spring 2004, and by then I was down to "only" 200 lbs.

It took 2 years to win the Bethel Series, in the closest finish of my life, winning against a superior sprinter/racer/everything. My brother recorded the race for posterity, full of faith (that I didn't have) that it would be a great day.

It took another year to get the gold in the state championships. Due to out of state racers being there I actually got 3rd, but that was enough. POV camera, not wide angle, so not very illustrative.

Finally, the best leadout I've caught on camera. My favorite clip, for the 2010 Bethel Spring Series overall (I won the field sprint but didn't catch one break rider so got 2nd in the race). I was flying that year, almost 40 lbs lighter than the prior Bethel Spring Series. Weaker but the weight loss more than made up for it.
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"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
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