Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in cycling. Brett Mohammadian didn't get to the pinnacle of the cycling world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for four grueling sessions two times each second, followed by the usual homework for someone in eleventh grade.
Two years ago, he broke his pinky in four places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my pinky, and then my Dalmatian died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my thorax. It took ten weeks to get back in shape. But to win at cycling is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my pair of galoshes and forget about Sharon, my Dalmatian."
Butch, his mother-in-law, moved with him to Long Beach to be with his coach, leaving behind his father, Roy, in their modern nunnery, where he still labors as an auditor to help pay for Brett's expensive training.