No question about it, I looked up to Zooey. Not Travis.
I didn't do this friendly Keirin for him. I did it for my sister.
She had her life together, I wanted that. This was my chance to do that.

The objective was simple, the task was much harder.
5 rounds and whoever had the most points at the end wins.



The guys I competed against were regulars at the velodrome.
Liam Abrams, Shane Perkins, Andre Yeldlin, Theo Spencer, and Stefan Ward.
A few of them even went on to make a living as track cyclists in the USA.



I'll never be certain but I think they were taking it easy on the newbie
during the first round, I won the first sprint by half a wheel over Shane Perkins.

As we geared up for round 2 I got boxed in by Stefan Ward.
One of the aforementioned cyclist that went on to have a good track career.



I took 3rd as Shane Perkins and Andre Yeldlin stormed away.

Heat 3 saw Andre Yeldlin go on a solo run, the rest of the guys made me chase.



I couldn't catch him, but I managed to keep everyone else behind me.

By the 4th round my legs were giving way, I was struggling to keep up.



Theo Spencer took advantage to claim his 1st heat win over Liam Abrams.

The final heat was nearly the same as the last round; I couldn't keep up.



Shane Perkins had the endurance to beat everyone in the end.



I did manage to recover a little bit to pip Andre Yeldlin on the line for 5th.

I was extremely satisfied with 3rd place. Especially looking back and
knowing that Perkins and Ward went on to have successful track careers.
Also that man that finished last, Liam Abrams, a pretty good rider himself.

I quickly found out the hard way why he performed so poorly that day.
Over the next few weeks I had to deal with a stomach virus he passed my way.

Despite the encouragements,
I couldn't help but feel slightly hesitant.
The Mont Ventoux had taken its victims before.

But then again, for a rider my capacities,
today was the day to really prove it. So I started
the Ventoux climbing challenge with a definite plan!

The relatively small way to the foot,
I spend in the belly of the peloton.
The riders at the front would be
reeled in before the climb,
I was certain of it.



As soon as we hit the legendary mountain,
it became obvious soon enough
who was the strongest.

Sastre, who had been in the form of his life lately,
Justin, wearing a special jersey for the occasion,
Me, who caught up just in time after a flat tyre.



Justin and myself were looking at each other too much,
Sastre took advantage. It was a smart move,
neither myself nor Justin would
close the gap for
the other.



Right before we hit the famous "bald" part of the Ventoux,
I had a hard time. Luckily I was able to hide it from
Justin, otherwise he would've left me there.



Sastre took an amazing victory on the slopes of the Ventoux!



I edged out Justin on the top, having found a second breath.
A second place was pretty good and I was already
100% certain of competing in the
Champs Classic.

Training is never fun nor advised when you're sick. I felt bad for Joseph.
On the one hand I knew I couldn't push him to his limits, it would kill him.
Yet, on the other side of the scenario, I knew he was running out of time.

Rumors of a new cycling league had been circulating around the media.
Something big; it was going to be the resurrection of sports after the war.
All the famous races, professional teams, and the best part - paid salaries.

At the time nobody really believed the rumors but it sure did sound promising.
That was going to be the promise land. How was I going to get Joseph there?
He could barely finish a lengthy training ride, let alone a professional try-out.



During those two weeks when Joseph was fighting that stomach virus,
I sat down and mapped out a course of action. A training checklist.
Anything I could think of to help my son reach his fullest potential.

Over the next few months I put that plan into action.