Putting the 'Family' back in the pain!

I only raced one time this year and finished DFL too. But despite that fact 2014 will go down as the most successful race season for me yet. It was obvious to me decades ago I would never make a living racing a bike. Despite that fact I have trained and raced countless hours because I enjoy the sport so much. And like many others out there I have an insatiable need to punish myself with that perfect balance of joy and torture that only a bicycle can produce.
However, it now seems that all my persistence is paying off in other ways. My girls have been swimming competativley since they were very young, and despite my desires I have never pushed cycling too hard on them. But the last two years have changed all of that. They, on their own, have both decided that bike racing was what they really want to do in their sporting lives. You can't make anyone love this sport, and its definitely not for most people. But when someone discovers its beauty for themselves then its almost impossible to pull them away from it.
The opportunities now are incredible for young riders these days. High school and collegiate cycling is starting to boom, even here in this part of the country. Sydney just signed to race off road with Union College in Kentucky, and Gillian got picked up by the Prochain team for 2015. What an amazing opportunity them! These colleges let these students literally live the pro life while attending school. If I totaled up every dollar of prize money and the value of every free bike I have ever received it still would pale in comparison to the total of my daughters cycling scholarship. I had always dreamed that the bike would pay off someday but I had no idea it would be from my kids.
And now in true 'Merican fashion, I can live vicariously through my children and talk about my glory days from the sidelines.