Last Saturday one of our teammates showed up to the 6 AM ride and announced that he had to head back home to help his mom with setting up his son’s gradation party. None of us harassed him although it was a first. Why? The reason can be found in the time we left to ride – 6 AM. We leave that early because most of us usually have some type of family commitment. Many times we get home after a ride to find the family still in their PJs, and I find that OK because I never feel like I am choosing cycling over my wife and kids. Some people have no trouble leaving their family for two to three hours almost every day to train for STP. I can’t make the choice or feel like it would be a wise one for me. Does that mean I only get to train once or twice a week? NO – it means I ride my trainer twice a week, ride Saturdays early, and before church on some Sundays. I try to ride four times a week for my own sanity, and I want to make STP enjoyable enough so that I want to do it again.