Originally Posted by agoodale

I've enjoyed racing in SoCal with my local team for the last seven years. Lately though I think racing with the team has been holding me back from improving and getting better results. So, I'm thinking of quitting the team and racing unattached next year. Crazy?

My reasoning goes like this:

I'm a strong rider but not the "go to" guy for my team in any race. I'm also a good teammate. So, I block, chase down breaks, and bury myself for leadouts on the last lap. For that reason I end up with a bunch of DNFs or DFLs.

Also, I can only race 2 weekends a month. My team (and SoCal in general) is full of guys who are formal national or state champs and race every weekend. I feel those guys deserve the support of the team since they are putting in the time.

I get respect from the team for what I do but my personal results are becoming a little depressing. I figure that if I freelance for a year I can find out where I really stand and then rejoin a team later with some, hopefully, better results on my resume.

Anyone else ever quit to go solo for awhile?