cat 3

After a few years as a cat 3, despite my continual lack of training, I started to place. I was becoming a cat 3 sandbagger, but again, hadn't won a race yet. Still, I was having fun, especially because for the first time since 1994, I had a full team to race with, and I became good at leading teammates out for the sprint, or whatever other work was needed.
In 2004, my teammate Dan convinced myself and Christian to go with him to race in Belgium. He had raced there the year before and loved it. In 2005, Christian and I raced there. The experiences of racing in Belgium made me a better racer, even if I didn't train much more.
Finally, in 2005, I won at the Philly 2 Day.
In 2006, I had a breakout season. I rode more than ever. Most racers probably ride 4-6000 miles in a year. I rarely hit 2000 miles, but in 2006 I was close to 6000. I won several races, sprinting from 400m, from 1km, even from a break (I am definitely not a break rider).
I upgraded to cat 2 just in time to do the Mt Holly - Smithville Invitational race. This was a big time race for us, racing with the pros. Too bad I would crash and break my hip.