You look at people and think they live completely different lives than you because of the way they look, dress, eat. How much they travel, what they do for a living, who their friends are, how much money they have...

But the truth is we all have hopes, dreams, aspirations, love, opportunities.

We all know happiness and we all know struggle. Don't pre-judge a person because at heart, we are all the same and just trying to live our lives!

~ Quote by Markesa Yeager



Thibault: The son of a hero. Expected to do great things.
Joseph: The son of a villain. Expected to be a nobody.

When separate worlds finally collide... exceptions can no longer co-exist.

It all happened so fast. Way to fast. Now there I was,
staring at the television screen blankly. Unsure of my next move.
No team wanted me and Travis had been taken away for reasons undisclosed.

I wanted to quit right then and there. Go back home, my real home: Kansas.
But, I couldn't. I didn't have any money, Travis had been looking after me.
There was only one way I was going to get myself out of this mess.

It was the same reason that got me into all this trouble: Cycling.
Sure there were other options: fast food, retail store, etc.
But I figured I had come this far, why give up now?



Open try-outs was the answer. I had to work my way onto a team.
I gathered up all the money I could find laying around the apartment and
headed north to Bishop, California for a PT try-out with UnitedHealthCare.

I never fancied myself as a climber, so Union Valley terrified me.
But it was the only try-out nearby so I at least had to give it a go.



If anything, I came away with a new jersey for my efforts.



Kazu Kumagai and Johnny Kidd opened the attacks.

Kumagai risked a lot to travel all the way over from Japan but
it did pay off for him in the longer run, he got signed by UHC.
Kidd would sign the dotted line with HP Pro Cycling a few weeks later.



Meanwhile, back to me. I knew the climb was going to kill me.
So I attacked 10 kilometers out, just hoping to get a good head start.



Shortly after, however, my move was countered and over taken by
Ryder Fields and Nathan Harris.

Fields, a 1st round draft pick by SpiderTech was in the area
and UHC allowed him to ride with us to show us what
the top competition was going to be like.

Harris, a 30-year old trying to prove he had the legs to keep up.



I have to tip my cap to Harris. He stuck with Fields all the way to the top.
Surrounded by teams after the race, he eventually agreed to terms with HP.



The breakaway men of Kumagai and Kidd took 3rd and 4th, respectfully.



5th? Me! My tactics worked. Too bad I found out later that the scouts kept saying it was a fluke and they were convinced I would be a terrible teammate.

So, a good result and I had nothing to show for it.
A week later I got word of another try-out... another chance.