Broken

Injury is almost a given when you partake in a sport that pushes the body to the limits.  We know this, we sometimes talk about it, but we choose to do what we do anyway.  Everything has a graduated scale, and when it comes to injury it is no different.  We push our bodies to limits that break and tear-down, and then we have to recover.  This is normal, well... probably not so normal if you are on the outside looking in, but trust me I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

A good friend of mine, and teammate took a nasty spill in the race last Saturday and broke his collarbone.  When I say broke, I am talking about doing everything possible to a bone short of poking it through the skin kind of broken.  He is one tough Mother...shut your mouth...I'm just talkin' about Shaft.  No, really he is my pick to walk down a dark alley and come back in one piece brand of tough.

He has surgery scheduled for tomorrow, and I just wanted to mention him in the blog.  A micro-tribute to a teammate that is missed.  It is a giant void to not have him on team rides.  He has always been a constant, sometimes a little late, but a pillar of the team. 

I had the privilege of racing with him in Mineral Wells a few weekends ago and it was a boost for me to look back at one point in the race when I thought I was all alone, and then there was a black and white jersey coming up behind me.  When I saw I had help, he and I took over the front of the chase group and went to work. He got fifth, and I have a race that I will never forget.

Mike,  Thank you for everything that you do, and everything that you have done.

Heal quick, heal strong, I'm ready to go to work.