Sorry, I don't speak Spanish. I don't read the 41 much anymore, either. A friend pointed me over here. It's long. You have been warned.

Encouragement first, story later. You have all of the ingredients for a successful comeback. You have competed at a reasonably high level in this stupid sport and have also done well in another. You have been injured, burned out, and quit. You know your limits, you know what it takes, and you seem to have the desire to do it again. So look deep inside and decide if you want to do the work to get back there. You will also have to invest in some new equipment and gear. That in itself can be a great motivator. Get kitted up. Set realistic expectations. Get in as much base mileage as you can this year, and commit to a good structured training plan in the offseason. If you haven't already, get hooked up with a club that has a number of elite level riders that you can work with. You can try quite a bit of what you need to discover on group rides, with nothing at stake except your pride. Most of all, listen to your body. You will need more rest than you did back then. Be very wary of burnout, and don't sweat not completing intervals, or taking days off your plan if things aren't going well. The worst thing you can let yourself do is to burn out and quit again. If you find that it's not for you, that's different. That choice should come from a happy place.

Now, the story. About nine months ago I popped in here an asked the very same question, just worded it a little differently as I hadn't raced again. I was a Cat2 rider back in the eighties. I rode on teams with riders who would become national champions a few years later, in P/1/2 fields where there were very very few, if any, Cat1's. It was all Pros and Cat2's. I became a good, not great, regional level rider, winning my share of podiums. I had a bad accident at a training crit where a backmarker cut across my path in a full tilt sprint, sent me head first onto my leather helmet, knocked me out cold for 20 minutes, during which time I had full body seizures. I was cleared to race again by the ER and a cat scan machine, but I had trouble in subsequent years with fatigue, heat stroke, and short term memory loss. I finally had had enough of the two-a-days and racing against the kids and year-rounders only to struggle to finish in the field. Sound familiar? So I quit. Cold turkey. Didn't ride the bike for decades.

Fast forward to two years ago. I was what you said you abhor, a fat middle aged man with heart problems. My cholesterol was 235. I'm 5'10" and my weight was 173lb. My doctor misdiagnosed me during a routine physical as having a heart attack. I wasn't, but that ride in the back of the ambulance scared the crap out of me, as my father died of congestive heart failure. I spent some time with a nutritionist, changed my diet, joined a gym, and started a nice workout regimen. I dropped 10 pounds fairly quickly over the course of about a year, but my knees and hips started to bother me. It got to the point that the pain was 24/7. The next step involved taking my last remaining bike down (I had sold all the sponsor's bikes decades ago) off the hooks and surveying the damage. It didn't take long to realize that vintage equipment is adequate for racing but modern equipment has its advantages. I parted out the vintage bike, bought a brand new modern bike, and started riding. It was humbling at first. It's no fun being the last guy up the hills when you're used to leading. But I kept riding, as much as possible, for as long as possible, with the goal of losing weight, getting into shape without excessive pain, and maybe, just maybe, getting back into racing. I joined a local club and starting doing group rides with them and with another shop. Slowly, very slowly, the base started to come back, and I wasn't the last one up the hill anymore. I started commuting in the fall as well to maximize riding time. By the end of last year, I knew I wanted to race again, but I wanted to try for reinstatement instead of going through the Cat5 shuffle. I called USAC. They suggested that I obtain a license as a Cat5 and request an upgrade as soon as I had my license in hand. I wrote the regional upgrade coordinator a nice email with my racing resume, my notable teammates, and a few key finishes, requesting an upgrade to Cat3. She got back to me within 24 hours, request approved.

Now I had to spend the offseason getting into Cat3 shape or risk getting dropped. I bought a used trainer, powermeter, and the Training and Racing with Power book. I put myself on a 16 week FTP improvement plan. It was very hard work, but between the plan, meter, and encouragement from some newly made friends, I dug deep and sweated it out. I got my weight down to 138-140lbs. I set realistic expectations for myself. I know it will take several years to get my legs back to where I can be competitive in all forms of racing (see my sig). I still feel that way today. There are holes in my power profile that can be easily exploited, but I believe time and hard work will take care of that. But that didn't mean I wasn't ready to try racing again.

I entered my first comeback race on March 6th in Bethel, CT, in the Masters 45+ field. My racing age is 54. My goal was to stay in the field and not get dropped. I wound up finishing 12th on a brutally cold and wet day. That one race gave me the confidence to race again. I knew I could hold my own in a Masters field. Since then I've done eight races total, with a high finish of 3rd (lapped the field) and the rest no worse than in the field. Three of those races were 1/2/3 or P/1/2/3. I'll do the Masters race first for results and the second race for training and honing skills with the best. I'll probably do 2-3 races a month for the rest of this season, but I'm not going to burn out. My family will always take precedence. I'm not interested in upgrading, either. If it happens, it happens. I just want to enjoy it. Masters racing in New England is very tough. That's what makes it so rewarding, especially since most of the top riders are much younger than me. I will always be able to hang my hat on that. Nobody can take that away from me. Yet for as much as I enjoy racing, I enjoy riding with groups even more. It's not all about winning all the time. When I line up, it is. When I roll off with the group on a nice sunny day, it isn't. There is a balance now that didn't exist then. I think this is what helps me do well at both. Setting realistic expectations, knowing when not to push too hard, and making sure to enjoy every moment on the bike.

Good luck to you. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat.

Then.

In the maroon and white MBRC kit. Next to me is Cat1 Tony Chastain. Tony won the Stowe Road Race every year I was in it. I could give him some trouble in the crits.



Off the front in what I believe to be Haverhill, MA, but I'm not 100% positive. If so, I went with the Czarnecki brothers, Matt and Mark, and finished fifth.



Now.

Last weekend at Bethel, blue and white kit. My best finish there, 9th M45+. Marking the race leader Carl Reglar. He is a diesel. Crazy winds.



Same race. Trying to get the leader to go. Failed.