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Health & Fitness

A Journey Into Competitive Cycling: A New Journey On Two Wheels

I have traded in the hardwood floor and volleyball for pavement and the open road...

Hello.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Bongay. Most people in the area know me as "Coach Mike." I have spent the last 10 years coaching high school and club volleyball in the East Bay. Most recently I spent the last five years coaching the boys varsity volleyball team.

Growing up I was introduced to team sports at a young age. Playing CYO A Team basketball and being an all-star little league catcher and pitcher.

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But once I reached high school, I decided to try something new and play volleyball. It was a sport my "Coach Dad" knew nothing about. It would be the first time in about eight years he wouldn't be my coach.

Flash forward 13 years. With about 25 seasons of coaching volleyball under my 28-year-old belt, I was ready to challenge myself once again. What would I do? What is something that I wasn't used to? Something that I have never really done? Better yet, something I didn't really know anything about?! Welp, it was riding a bicycle, competitively of course!

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Don't get confused though. A person like myself who overly invests himself in anything he does wasn't looking to go down to Target or Costco to pick up a decent sticker price bike. Growing up I was always in the coolest sneakers, best training clothes, and nicest baseball glove. My dad always had a "lets do this the right way" attitude toward sports. I wouldn't say I was spoiled, but I made sure I did the yard work and cleaned my room and took care of the responsibilities. This had allowed my father to gift me with the luxury some young athletes don't have.

However, my budget as a young father and husband living in the San Ramon Valley wasn't quite matching up to purchase for a "Lance Armstrong Tour De France" set of wheels. It would be a journey of buying and selling of different bikes on Craigslist over a period of a few months and three bikes until my brand new full carbon Specialized Road Bike would be mine!

Stay tuned for what will be a blog about my first big ride and the training and the reason behind why I ride!

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