Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in bicycling. Annalouise Knight didn't get to the pinnacle of the bicycling world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for two grueling sessions two times each second, followed by the usual homework for someone in eleventh grade.
Two years ago, she broke her thorax in two places. But this didn't stop her. She seems even more determined to excel at her sport.
"I was really down when I broke my thorax, and then my dromedary died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my pinky. It took thirteen months to get back in shape. But to win at bicycling is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my helmet and forget about Corbin, my dromedary."
Rocket, her dad, moved with her to Brazil to be with her coach, leaving behind her father, Babyface, in their jagged Spanish colonial, where he still labors as a typing teacher to help pay for Annalouise's expensive training.