A Step Into Racing
Sometimes you need a push – big or little – to kick you out into the wild. And a push is exactly what I needed.
Hey, Im Dinar I´m 17 and currently on my 2nd Session Racing. I've always thought to myself what are my biggest motivations and why I continue to pedal hard. Sometimes it's hard to correctly pick motivations but other times it comes easily.
It all started when covid bombarded the country, we were all stuck on the couch watching TV and eating chips. The boredom came to a point where I really really needed something else to do. I kept seeing teens on bikes roaming the city, and that's when I knew I wanted a fixed gear. A fixed gear is a bike that runs on 1 gear and has absolutely no brakes. The brakes are your legs – yes it's breathtaking. A bike without brakes brings heart racing motivation that makes it fun.
I met many many guys (some better than others), but I created even more friends. It created a sense of community knowing I could go out and escape life for a bit, having the time of my life. From riding early in the morning to see the sunrise to going to Chinatown to see the sunset: the best-fixed gear memories you could get. However, it came to a point where riding for fun was fun, but the community was slowly dying down. Before you knew it, some guys were selling their bikes and moving on. They were changing chapters in life, which made fixed gear riding lonely. I needed something new to do with my bike. This is when I started to become interested in racing.
I saw a shop (BFF Bikes 😘) that had consistent group rides so I joined one of thier amateur rides on a fixed gear – I had a blast! It was the best thing ever, even if they looked at me weird for doing it on a fixed gear. I later asked if they had a team. They, unfortunately, didn't but the wonderful staff – that later became my dear friends – gave me connections to xXx Racing. I saw that they would have a fixed gear crit, which I thought was cool, but I was too scared to do it. A couple of days later xXx was giving discounts to anyone who would do the fixed gear crit. Then Sonia (now my coach) DMed me saying that she would do it with me, which gave me a sense of security.
Here I go. I was convinced. I remember this day clearly as the day it happened. I had no idea what to do, so I ate some hard boiled eggs and arroz hoping it would keep me fueled enough. I rode the bus to Montrose about an hour early. It was so cold and windy and I was in short shorts and a black jersey. When I arrived I had no idea what to do so I kept asking for help. I felt like such an intruder and I felt like I was in the wrong place, but nope, I was at the crit for sure. Before I knew it I was getting help to pin my jersey and I had just 5 more minutes to prepare before the race.
Even before the gun went on my heart was racing. It kept beating and beating, faster and faster. When the race began I instantly got dropped – I had no idea how to corner or how to properly climb. When I tell you I struggled during this race, I truly struggled. This was truly something I've never done but I'm doing it. Before I knew it the leaders passed me and I felt the worst. But I wanted to prove the people that talked down to me wrong and show them that I can actually do something better in cycling.
The more I pushed myself into the racing world the better I got and got more comfortable if felt being on the bike. Your first year of racing is going to be the most important. What skills and feelings are you going to take from your first year to your second? I first dipped my toes into racing to see if it was something I would really do and that's where everything started. I started to create connections by finding a good team and having a bike shop you can trust to get your bike race ready. But, more than anything, I was creating friendships. Finding people that will push you to your max and people you can ride with and explore cycling/racing in depth.
Some people ask me what keeps me going during long crit series. I just did 4 Days of ToAD (Tour Of Americans Dairyland) all over Wisconsin and I learned needed things every day that I would adapt to the next day of racing. I raced ToAD for the first time this year and it didn't go as planned but it was good enough for me to make the best out of the worst. It is better in my mind to not get as disappointed. Having overall goals before the race is always good to try and stick with and overall give your biggest efforts. For me, debriefing with friends is always good to explain your flaws and see how you can correct them. For this race, taking advice from my coach was the greatest help I could get. And sometimes that's all you need to become a better racer is to know your flaws.
