Competitive sport is challenging, demanding, time-consuming and draining, but nearly all the time, the rewards are worth it.
This year, my reward for sticking through the tough times was a three-month trip to the sunny east coast of the United States with a great team full of good mates and, most importantly, my bike.
The NZ Cycling Project is New Zealand's most prominent professional-level cycling team offering domestic cyclists the chance to spread their wings.
Created and managed by a good friend of mine, James Canny, the team goes under the banner of L&M Group-Ricoh NZ Racing in respect of those generous enough to help support our collective goals.
The trip was the culmination of a huge amount of planning and preparation.
It would feature five of us - myself, James (Wellington), Grayson Napier (Nelson), Scott Thomas (Christchurch) and Tim Chapman (Dunedin) - spending three months based on the east coast, and a total of 25 days of racing.
We were loaned a 1995 Subaru Legacy with a five-bike roof rack which was the perfect size for us, just.
In the time we were in the US, we clocked up an extra 10,000 miles (16,000km) on top of its current 180,000.
Drives that we would never dream of doing in New Zealand to get to a race became the norm.
On our first weekend, we drove five hours to a race in the morning, raced for two hours in the 35degC heat and drove five hours home.
Accommodation in the US generally throws up a few surprises and this trip was no different.
From spending our first night with the five of us in one room, to staying in a student flat reminiscent of Dunedin's finest, to a log cabin in the woods of a Vermont ski resort, to a four-bedroom apartment on the 47th floor of the Heritage Apartments overlooking the Chicago waterfront, we certainly had some memorable nights.
Racing-wise, the trip was a massive success. We realistically could not have asked for much more, with eight appearances on the podium and two individual wins as well as countless other top 10s and prime wins.
We quickly established a strong reputation among the American peloton and often got responses of dread and disappointment when the other teams found out what races we were doing.
For me, the trip was not just about the racing and getting results as on previous trips.
Rather, it was an opportunity to take on a leadership role as team captain.
Being able to pass on my experience and knowledge of racing and living as a pro overseas to the guys, and then seeing Grayson and Scott standing on the top step and watching Tim develop into a top-level international cyclist, was incredibly rewarding.
I am thankful for the chance to be a part of such an innovative and exciting project for New Zealand cycling and look forward to helping the team grow in the future.
In the meantime, watch out for more young Kiwi cyclists with the black and white colours of L&M Group-Ricoh NZ standing on the top step with a big smile on their face.
