Dec 7, 2008

Olympic dream?

Every cyclist, at one point or another, dreams unfounded dreams of winning the Tour, out-sprinting Boonen or winning olympic gold. I know I have. At Mines, I knew a guy who fell so in love with the idea of cycling glory that he dropped out of school, started riding his bike every day and got a job at a bike shop. I'm not sure if he made it, but you must admire his resolve. The hope of going pro drives hundreds of otherwise well intentioned people to give up on a career and follow the NRC races around the country, hoping that they'll get the chance to make 25 grand next year and share living space with a half-dozen other sweaty athletes.

Well, two years ago ESPN granted such a wish to Kathryn Bertine. They charged her with finding a way to get into the olympics and writing about it. You can read about her exploits here. Things get interesting around parts 7, 8, and 9, where she enters her first qualifying race.

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It snowed for the first time last night, so no riding for me today.