Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Domo Arigato


Mongo's been recovering from what turned out to be a pretty punishing Monday group ride. Though I'm all healed from the crash, I've had a bad cold dancing around my sinus and chest cavities for about two weeks and my riding has suffered because of it.
The Monday ride is a super-fast drop ride. Mongo is usually near or at the front, so getting dropped is never a concern...that is unless I'm doped up on Benadryl and Claratin, with a pound of phlegm in my lungs.
In cycling as in life, excuses carry little weight, so you either put up or shut up. That's exactly what Mongo did.
After barely hanging on for most of the 30 mile ride, Mongo used the skills he learned as an S1 Keirin Pro, back in Osaka in '89, to weave through the congestion and traffic that had slowed near the end and launch a furious sprint.
...After nearly blacking out and coughing up a rib, my sprint came to a premature halt a mere football field or two from the finish and the peleton swallowed me up. Had I been healthy...

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