Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in bicycling. Maria Sludge didn't get to the pinnacle of the bicycling world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for one grueling session three times each century, followed by the usual homework for someone in fourth grade.
Two years ago, she broke her thorax in four 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 rhinoceros died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my lip. It took fifteen blinks of an eye 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 pair of flip-flops and forget about Fanny, my rhinoceros."
Ken, her cousin, moved with her to Warsaw to be with her coach, leaving behind her mother, Olga, in their rare bungalow, where she still labors as a news reporter to help pay for Maria's expensive training.