The First Bike I Really Loved: Cannondale CAAD8

After a rough childhood, my Cannondale helped me heal. [ view in [browser](. add bicycling@email.bicycling.com to your address book ] [Bicycling.com]( FOLLOW US [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [You Tube]( [I Was an Angry, Pudgy Kid With Asthma. Then I Got a Bike.]( The day of 2010 Collegiate Road Nationals, on May 7 in Madison, Wisconsin, I woke up to 35 degrees and pouring rain. When the race started, with a 55mph downhill, I almost put a hand up for the support car because I thought my headset was loose, but it was just my shivering that was shaking the handlebar. The weather was so miserable that guys dropped out in the neutral start. By this point, my beloved Cannondale CAAD8 R5000 was about six years old. It probably had 40,000 miles on it, the paint was bubbling, and there was a dent in one chainstay. I’m a Cat 2 on the road, but I never thought of myself as able to compete on a national level. But that bike was something I believed in, almost to a fault, because so many things in my life up to the point I got it had been out of my control. I was not an athletic kid. I was a pudgy little bowling ball with asthma. I lived with my grandparents because my mom had me when she was 19 and didn't know how to be a mom. I have no idea who my father was; Mom had a bunch of different boyfriends and there was a lot of yelling and fighting growing up. Eventually one of those boyfriends turned into my stepdad. He wanted nothing to do with me. When I was about 7, my grandparents asked if I wanted to live with them. I didn't hesitate. I was attached at the hip to my grandpa. He knew anybody and everybody. I always joked that if he talked to the wall, the wall would talk back. I'd spend weekends hanging out with him, hitting up yard sales and helping friends with projects. One day, on a trip with him when I was 14, we stopped in a gas station and I saw an issue of Bicycling with Lance on the cover. My grandfather bought it for me, and I became obsessed with cycling from that moment on. It seemed so futuristic and cool—no one at my school was doing it, so it really felt like my own thing. That summer, I saved money from mowing my great-grandfather's lawn and bought a mountain bike. Weight started to melt away; I think I lost 40 pounds that summer. I did my first races and got annihilated, like dead last. Still, I loved it. I could see myself getting better as I kept at it, and that progress was addicting. There are very few things where the work you put into it is what you get out. [READ ON]( [bicycling.com]( [This 4-Move Circuit Will Blast Your Legs]( This lower body-focused series will take your legs to the limit. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [Achy Back? Release the Tension With These 4 Exercises]( These bodyweight moves will work wonders for your spine. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [The Best Fitness Trackers and Smart Watches for Cyclists Who Geek Out on Data]( From one that passes as a run-of-the-mill analog watch to a super-charged tracker that could sub in for your bike computer. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [This Is the Best Time to Eat Dinner to Boost Your Heart Health]( When you eat may be just as important as what you’re eating. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( [Wake Up Feeling Sore? Try This 5-Minute Mobility Session to Start Your Day]( Stop rushing through your morning and start your day right with these three moves. [Read On]( [bicycling.com]( ©2019 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019 [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Notice](