Selling my track bike
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Not finding structured training (specifically TR) sooner in my life.
I have had 3+ years of gains and will always wonder where I could be if I had found it prior to that time.
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Spending too much of my life doing self-destructive crap (eating poorly, smoking cigarettes, etc.) instead of riding bikes.
So, not starting sooner is my biggest regret.
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+1
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Stepping away from competitive cycling too early. I had a handful of US national championships and UCI world top 5’s in BMX when I was in my teens. It was announced as an Olympic sport two years after I stopped competing. That’s bothered me a bit the last 10-15 years, seeing old friends/peers train and compete on the Olympic team.
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All of this.
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Yeah, I wish I had discovered it earlier, spent way too much of my 20s overweight and getting running injuries. Started riding at 33 (39 now) and just wonder how much better I could have been if I had started much sooner
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This. I smoked a pack per day for 13-years, starting cycling 5-years ago and I’m 38-years old now, will probably never get out of cat-4 and it’s levels of fitness.
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Not starting sooner. Been at it for 3 years now.
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Not starting competitive riding sooner. I wish I would have started back in college, or earlier than that even.
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Wishing I showed the enthusiasm I do now back when I was 11. Wanted to be fast but didn’t put in any work. Sometimes I ponder how different my life would’ve been had I got right into it but it’s a lesson learned, I’m glad I’m starting now rather than later
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+1
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I often wonder how awesome it would’ve been to have a program like TR when I was younger. I raced BMX and HATED training. I used to do 30 second sprints dragging a car tire. That was torture.
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This is a bit of a tangent, but I think youth (up to 12), junior (13-18?), young adult (19-24?) are each their own special consideration. I am happy that I didn’t have excessive structure in any of those time frames. But I think 24+ for sure (and likely down to 19) are good times to really dig into what something like TR offers (at least on a small scale). Prior to that, keeping it fun (and less structured) seems to be the best, unless a person is set to get into the elite level. But for most of us average weekend warriors, it may not matter that much?
I wish I would have hit it hard around 30, with what I actually started at 40. Now at 45, I think that extra 10 years could have been interesting. Still, I could have burned out or done something else entirely. Interesting to consider at least.
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Very true about youth/juniors. I never felt overwhelmed by training, just misguided. I put in endless hours of track time because it was fun, but never followed a program. Living in the midwest, I also had a pretty big offseason compared to my southern/western competition. I road for some big companies like Diamondback( mid 90s) for a few years. I imagine now these teams are providing their athletes with programs to follow. Not sure if I would’ve followed said program…but who knows.
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Spending too much money on equipment and not enough time on training would be mine.
Do I really need a new bike every year?! Probably not.
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Not getting actively involved in the local cycling scene sooner. I spent several years riding mostly alone and not really engaging with folks on the local group rides I did do only to belatedly discover cycling was giving me access to a ton of super friendly and really cool people.
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- Previously guilty…
- Currently guilty…
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I spent a lot of time riding road and MTB before I was 20, then left it for 25 years. Happy to be back on again, but I regret that I was away from it for so long. I enjoy it sooo much, that I just don’t know what kept me away from it.
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Not having a track bike is my reget.