The Roots of Cycling in my Family

This was my first road bike, it was way to big.

My family has been a cycling family ever since my dad got into cycling at 14. He rode with his brother which also is a big cyclist and he started riding harder and racing against the local competition. At his first race he was instantly dropped and got last place but he kept on riding and trying more and more races. He also got a job at his local bike shop to pay for all of his gear (which can get very expensive in cycling.) After years of riding and some wins, he got pretty good and took a trip to Belgium to bike race on the rough cobblestones. He never really had any good results there, but when he got back in America, he started winning mountain bike races.
After mountain biking for a little while, he took a pretty substantial break from racing (a few years) and then got his interest back again. He had many phases of on and off racing but his most successful phase was in his late 30's where he won the state championships and had the opportunity to go to nationals. He didn't end up going and never really did race out of state aside from going to Belgium, but he had many successes in his home state of Virginia.
My mom is also a cyclist but she prefers the section of cycling with suspension and knobby tires. She was initially introduced to cycling by my dad and she continues to ride as much as possible now. She wasn't big on racing but she did get third place in her first ever (and last) race. She rides probably around once a month due to being to busy.
Nowadays, my dad doesn't ride much but he is my coach for bike training. He teaches me what I should be practicing, eating, and doing so I can have the best chance to win. He also provides me with all of his old jerseys from when he raced and with his nice bike for racing. He also got me and my sister into cycling at a very early age. I got my training wheels off around three, so I've been able to ride for a long time. I rode once every few months for a few years until I picked up other sports. I thought of biking as a hobby and I didn't ride all that much. Once I had picked up other sports, I didn't ride much at all. (Until now)

A ride at one of our local trail systems, Preddy Creek. I was about 7.