Originally Posted by urbanknight
meh, for me by age 16 I was constantly going off the back and in crits they often pull you out when you get lapped so they don't have to worry about keeping track. Driving an hour to run the first 15-20 minutes of a race and then pack up and go home wasn't fun anymore. My body couldn't handle the training to get faster, so I figured it just wasn't for me.
And that's the part about road racing that discourages some new participants. It's not like road running where you just get your time at the end. Once you're out the back door, your race is often over.
Many of us started out that way. I'm not sure if it has as much to do with your body handling the training to get faster. For me it was mostly in my head. My body can generally handle whatever my head tells it to up to certain physical limits. Let's put it this way - I got faster than I thought I would by just sticking with it. But if you HATE it, what's the point? Cycling is supposed to be fun. Nothing wrong with not racing, not at all. I'm just saying that I enjoyed it even though I was never very good at it compared to some of my friends.