I'm back to riding a lot, but I did have a break a few years ago. I was racing XC, but had limited success in that sport. It started out as a hobby, but I was taking the results too seriously, so I was started to get burned out on that. Right when I was ready to give up racing, I got pretty sick and that kept me off the bike for a couple months. After all that, a member of my immediate family got hit by a car and was seriously injured. That pretty much killed any inclination I had to get back on the road bike. Once all that happened, I started devoting my spare time to a side-business I was running. Also doubling down on a drinking habit I had...I did manage to start to get out for MTB rides that next summer, but my health wasn't very good(by my standards.)

Finally after a couple years of not riding, or very sporadic riding, I realized that I needed to take my health more seriously. I got back on the bike, lost a bunch of weight, and cut the alcohol back to a very moderate level. I stopped really having a fear of road riding, was able to rack up some decent hours, and even got back into racing.

After much reflection, I realized all the ways that I'd been holding myself back in racing before. Starting in 2024, I addressed all of my deficiencies and was able to have some success in XC and gravel racing that I could've ever thought possible. I've been able to increase my fitness even more in 2025 and am racing the pro/open classes now. However, the biggest improvement hasn't been a racing related goal. Rather, it's the fact that I really don't care too much about the results. I just enjoy riding and training so much, that the racing has become more about the community/social interaction around the event. Before, it was a struggle to hit my weekly cycling goals...now it's something that I have to remind myself to not exceed.

TLDR version: partly illness, partly an inciting incident, and partly just lack of interest. However, I'm all better now and live to ride.