So here we go... Fully supported and loaded with my carbon fiber weaponry, I am sitting in a trusty NWA plane awaiting takeoff from Minneapolis/St.Paul International to my first destination of this sure-to-be-epic world tour. Okay, it's not a "world" tour, but the assault upon Hong Kong and mainland China in the form of the "3rd Edition of the Tour of Hong Kong Shanghai" might as well be as hotly contested as battle for a swing state, because it's going to take a lot more than a village in order for me to race bike in China. I'm scheduled to leave the country from San Fransisco in less than 25 hours and I don't have a VISA yet!
I am thinking to myself, "Did I really realize that I was sitting in an exit row or not?" The only thing I know for sure is that, at this moment in time, I am not in control of my own destiny.
How on earth did I even get to this starting point? At the beginning of October, having just returned from Mello Velo's back-to-back stellar tours in Provence, I was exhausted to say the least. Mentally and physically drawn out; satiated and satisfied with the year of riding. So when first asked by Ray Alba, my Director Sportif and surrogate father in NYC, if I was in "form" enough to race in China in a couple of weeks, thoughts immediately turned to the not-so-positive affects of a month of culinary delights (straight-up gluttony) and luxurious libations (only locally produced product, of course). Sure, I had easily churned out over 1,600 km in 26 days all the while capturing a massive trophy in a race, yet I wasn't a single pound lighter than when I left!
Regardless of form, when Ray Alba asks you a second time to join the effort in the People's Republic, you really have no choice in the acceptance of the mission. I was honored at least, foolish at best. I knew he knew my strength on the bike, and although I am not the stand-out leader of the squad (Thank Gawd!), my expertise will surely be expected to come in handy for the team's top dog, a Dominican firehouse in Lisban Quintero who raced in last year's edition of the Tour (what's "tour" in Chinese?
But there was no retreating now. "Once more into the breech, Dear friends, Or close the wall up with our English dead!" I'm off to The City by the Bay in order to secure a rush! rush! VISA to race for seven days in China, starting Sunday. I miss my home and loved ones already and the plane hasn't even left the ground! In the final moments of stillness as the planes lines up for the sprint into the sky, it's a simple prayer to keep the rubber side down. The powerful roar.... Airborne and out.
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