*heart*

Cycling is such a huge part of my life, and I've certainly met a lot of people through it. Probably one of the main reasons I am always so excited about the race season is that it is such a great, fun group of people. And every year, it grows, with more people getting involved and more people who I could hang out with all day on the side of a race course.

The Women's fields are bigger - this year, we've had up to 18 at a couple of races. 18!! Such a great field, and excellent, fun competition. Love it.

My first season, the main thing I learned was that results were not nearly as important as just participating. I was doing it for fun, but the consistency and dedication paid off - I think I did all but one race, and got 2nd overall in the series. Since then, there are a lot more local races, but they don't all count for points in the series. I want to encourage participation and dedication, so I decided to pull together some prizes. The only eligibility requirement is starting all races in the series. I posted my idea, and was really happy that a number of people came forward with further offers of prizes to donate to the cause. Such warm feelings for this crazy awesome sport!