Chris Abston
Primary Discipline:
Masters 45+, Road Cat 2
City Of Residence:
Livonia
Favorite Race:
My favorite race is Le Tour de Mont Pleasant. I really like the idea of 3 days of racing in a row with a different discipline every day. I would like to see more of these types of races in our area.
Biggest Accomplishments
I am only going into my 3rd year of racing so I don't have a whole lot of experience but I guess it would be my first year of racing. I went from Cat 5 to Cat 3 in 4 months and just earned a Cat 2 upgrade.
Advice
Well, as I said, I am very new to this sport so I don't think I have much room to give anyone advice. So that being said I would have to say make sure you have the self discipline and work ethic to be able to push yourself beyond the limits when nobody is looking so you can achieve your goals. Along with that I would say you should look for a team that has a wealth of experience to learn from and, last but not least, if you have the ability to afford a coach you should hire one.
If I'm Not Competing...
My wife and I just purchased some new kayaks so we plan on spending some time on the water on those hot summer days. We also like to go rollerblading. Other activities I enjoy are golf and playing softball and basketball.
One Thing You Don't Know About Me:
Some people have asked me "where did I come from?" because I am now 47 years old and I just started racing. Well back when I was 16, I registered for a crit race in Port Huron. Now mind you, I didn't have a bike to race and I didn't know what a crit was but I wanted to race in it anyways. So I ventured out and bought a new "10 speed" and trained for a month or so by myself with no guidance other than my heart and determination. So race day comes and I show up looking like a "FRED" ( t shirt, running shorts). I didn't know there was cycling clothes you were supposed to wear. I didn't care, I just wanted to race. So the gun goes off and I take off like a jack rabbit. I never saw anyone the rest of the race and cruised to an easy win. I didn't touch that bike for 17 years until I started to do touring rides and then started racing 2.5 years ago. And here I am making up for lost time.
