Trial de le France

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 In the middle of the race, 9 days in
It’s getting dark, the sun is melting away on the horizon, and instantly the
temperature begins to drop. Jim is losing his perception of the road and where he is.
He only knows that he is somewhere between Saint Etienne and Mendes, France. Yet
he is vividly aware that he is slowly closing in on the first place cyclist, who is almost of
legend where he came from. They called him the bastard grandson of Lance
Armstrong. While no one knows this to be true, he flies down the road like he has
something to prove. But this isn’t what Jim is thinking about right now, for he could
only think about one thing now, winning. It seemed like he was making incredible
progress, coming around the bend for the last 5 miles of the stage, and a lone biker
came into view. Oscar Jacobson was slowly coming into sight as Jim was getting closer
and closer, but Jim couldn’t help but notice the strange circumstances of the situation.
It appeared as if something odd was going on and whatever it was, it was unnatural.
A heavy weight was lingering in the air, and something just felt wrong. Jim
realized something very critical, there was no way that anyone in the world could make
this much progress on Oscar Jacobson, no one had ever gotten this close, especially not
a young biker who had barely even qualified for the race. Where the hell are the other
cyclists? Jim wondered, curious about Mae So, and where he might be right now. Jim is
coming up on Oscar now, about 50 yards away. Time seems to be moving slower now,
30 yards, 15 yards. Oscar’s arm sticks up straight in the air, Jim is confused now, for a
reason he is still unsure of. But that confusion quickly turns into pure terror as the
front tire of Jim’s bike nearly explodes, catapulting him into the bushes off the road.
What the hell just happened… Jim ponders what happens but his thoughts are cut off as
he slowly drifts out of consciousness.
12 Days Earlier
 It’s the day before the race, and Jim is in his room. The hotel room is fancy,
much fancier than Jim is used to, he pauses, thinking about that very idea. Why does it
feel too fancy? He wonders, after all, I’m a top cyclist in the world, right. He smiles, it was
the first time he acknowledged that even if he was only ranked 2nd to last out of the
198 cyclists, which gives him rather poor odds to win the competition. He frowns again
thinking more and more about the race. All of a sudden, there is a loud banging
coming from the hotel room door, “Ouvre la Porte! Ouvre la Porte!” Jim breathes a sigh
of relief, as it is only Andres, his trainer, most likely coming to tell him the results of
the other cyclists. Andres is a stocky man, short and wide, but not fat. He kept his hair
greased back on his head, and spoke with a thick French This makes him frown again,
he opens the door. Andres burst into the room like a madman screaming some
nonsense in French that probably doesn’t even make sense to people who speak
French.
“7 cyclists just got kicked out for positive steroid use!” Andres screams at me in
a thick French accent. “They want you to race in the next row up!” What he means by
this is that Jim will get to start in a better position than he was supposed to.
“That doesn’t matter much Andres, I’m still one of the worst.” Jim replies, still
frowning, nothing seemed to make him happy.
Andres Dupuis was an excitable man, but unfortunately with a bad reputation.
He was involved in an intense court case with the last cyclist that he was training,
Oscar Jacobson, by far the best road cyclist of our time after he tested positive for
steroids. Andres, according to Andres, was “falsely” blamed for being solely
responsible for the incident, allowing Oscar to continue. Once thought of as the best
coach in the world, Andres Dupuis is all but forgotten, along with his coaching. But he
was still an undeniably good coach, as young James Shepherd, called Jim for short,
qualified for the Tour de France as a 21-year-old.
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter Jimmy? The position is everything.” Andres
made sure to draw out the word everything like eh-Vuh-ry-ting. Exaggerating his
accent to get the full effect. Andres also grew noticeably smug as he called him Jimmy,
a name he had been calling Jim since they had first met. “Jimmy, you got a shot here,
don’t blow it!” Andres announces. It takes a moment for Jim to take in what Andres is
saying, for he is mainly focused on how loud Andres can talk. But when he finally takes
in the news, he smiles.
“Well thanks for the news Andres, have a good night,” Jim says as politely as he
can.
“Au revoir,” he replies, not screaming for some reason. Leaving James Shepherd
all alone for the rest of the night. Well, it looks like it’s just me and you now. He
ruminates to himself. And he tucks himself into bed once and for all for the night. And
before he turns out the light, he just has one more thought. Tomorrow, I will race. And
he smiles as he turns out the light.
 The sun burns as Jim opens his eyes in the morning. It’s race day and Jim gets
himself out of bed quickly. After getting himself ready for the big day he leaves his
room to meet up with Andres for a final meeting before the race begins. As Jim gets
down to the lobby, Andres is waiting for him already.
“Good day.” He says simply, keeping everything light. Jim acknowledges his
statement with a curt nod and they leave the hotel together. They get into the back seat
of a brand new Range Rover, and the driver leaves immediately, taking us to the
starting line of the race. As the car pulls up to the start, anxiety fills the air. Stepping
out of the car, Jim can feel the nerves and the “butterflies” in his stomach. I guess it does
feel like butterflies. Jim inquires to himself. Andres wheels up Jim’s bike and pats him on
the back, his way of offering good luck. As I set my bike up on the line, Jim’s hands
started shaking, he had never felt anything like this in the past. He wondered why this
was happening now, but really, he knew exactly why. He was one of the lowest-ranked
cyclists in the biggest race in the world. Jim looked his opponents up and down. He
looked to the right and the person next to him had the biggest smile on his face. This
made Jim smile and he asked the racer what his name was.
“Mae So,” he replied, “how bout you?” Jim responded by telling Mae his name.
And they made small talk for a brief minute before the referees ordered the cyclists to
get into position. After a couple more minutes the ref began his cadence. Jim was all
alone from this point on. The ref begins.
“On your mark!” he begins. Once again the butterflies take flight in Jim’s
stomach, making him grimace. But the anxiety soon turns to extreme focus, as the
racers get ready. “Set!” The ref continues his cadence and the racers prepare to blast
off. The sound of the blank as the referee shoots the gun immediately washes away all
anxiety. The cyclists begin pedaling hard, as fast as they can, while still being cautious
of the other bikers surrounding them. Now begins the 23 days of racing the best
cyclists on the planet.
Jim looked behind him, he had passed several bikers in the first hour of cycling
and was making decent progress. He was coming up on Mae So now, the biker he had
met at the beginning, Mae was losing steam quickly at this point.
“Mae! Mae!” He called out, getting his attention, “It’s Jim!” Mae So turned around
to look at Jim and he spoke.
“Oh, Jim,” he responded, “How would you like to work together?” Would Mae
mean by this to offer a riding partner for the bulk of the race? As partners, they could
support each other by blocking the wind and motivating each other to keep pushing.
The greatest cyclists ever, like Lance Armstrong for example, all had one.
“Sure, why not?” Jim replied, trying not to sound enthusiastic. But he was, he
never thought he would have a riding partner, much less in the first few hours. They
talked as they rode, for it was only the first of 23 days. They made their plans devised
for winning the whole race. And as they approached the first rest stop they were
excited for the days ahead.
Andres was waiting there, at the rest stop, already prepared to give him some
food. After Jim and Mae ate, they got ready to go to sleep. Jim and Mae decided to do
everything together from now on.
The new friends woke up early the next morning to get a jump on the
competition. It was chilly, even for a July morning they had to layer up for the ride. As
they began their tread down the long, windy road, there was silence. Nothing but the
birds and the sound of breathing as Jim and Mae barreled down the road. Out of
nowhere, like something out of a movie, there was a loud noise, it was the crack of
lightning. It had begun to rain about a mile up the road, and it was looking dangerously
slippery up ahead. Another lightning bolt slams into the ground so close that Mae So
nearly crashes.
“Mae!” Jim calls out, only getting a thumbs-up back from him. That can’t be good.
Jim thinks to himself, Mae always responds. As worried as he is now, he calms himself
and focuses on the challenges ahead, because there will be plenty from now on.
Jim lays in bed recalling the thunderstorm of that night, wondering what
obstacles he might encounter tomorrow.
Andres bursts into Jim’s room, he is holding a pan and a long wooden spoon,
banging them together. He wakes up, startled, and notices that Mae is already with
Andres, and they are laughing together. At this moment Jim lets jealousy pollute his
mind, and he isn’t exactly sure why. As they ride together that morning, Mae is back to
his talkative self, but Jim hardly even acknowledges him. Mae begins to question why,
as they come upon a fellow racer. The racer looks back, clearly noticing their presence,
and begins to pedal as if his life depends on it. Jim and Mae look at each other, and
without exchanging any words, they both take off after the racer. And as stupid as it
might be to waste your energy towards the beginning of the race, they can both admit
to themselves that it’s worth it. A sudden jolt of exhilaration brings Jim back to life
from his jealous trance as he puts his balls to the wall in this epic chase. As they
approach the other racers in front of, they begin to join the chase. About 12 people are
going asras they possibly can down the road. For a second, the men get a glimpse of
Oscar Jacobson cruising down the road before he disappeared on the horizon. He was
moving at a pace faster than most of the other bikers could go, but it looked as if he
was not even trying. As the race continues, the wind pushing up against Jim’s face
becomes nearly unbearable. His energy is depleting too fast to keep this up for much
longer. But like a superhero there to save the day, Mae So rides up to him from right
behind. It’s too difficult to talk at this time so Mae uses hand signals he motions for
him to take the lead and Jim to fall back behind him. Jim quickly agrees, thankful that
Mae has given him this chance. The rest of the 12 bikers follow suit and form a line to
block the wind. And as they ride the remainder of the way, the bikers almost resemble
a flock of birds helping each other make it through another day. Jim mouths the words
“thank you” to Mae and is able to make out his response.
“That’s what partners are for.” Those words stick with Jim as they pull into their
final rest stop before a longer, much needed break. Jim and Mae finished the day of
racing with huge smiles on their faces. Not only did the pair pass up 12 to 15 people on
their way, but they connected in a way they haven’t before. As Jim lay awake in bed
smiling, thinking about exactly that, he couldn’t help but overhear something coming
from outside.
“I don’t know, isn’t that illegal?” He heard someone say.
“No, no, just frowned upon.” Said the second man, in an accent that Jim was
unaware of. “It will make you much faster and stronger, a better biker.” The second
man talked fast and his words were scattered as if he was really trying to sell it. Just
then, a loud crack came from a couple campers away. It was likely just a bike falling
over, but whatever it was, it scared the two men and they ran off to safety. Jim
immediately felt a sense of disgust toward the cheaters, for he had always been taught
to never cheat. But as he thought about it as he slowly drifted off, a sudden thought
made its presence quite known in his mind. I could cheat to win, he thought, and then
he fell asleep.
Jim woke up in a pool of sweat, his body completely soaked through. As he sat
up quickly the dreams from the night before flooded his mind, giving him awful
memories, but they quickly disappeared as his body began waking up. Jim stood up
and began getting dressed, but something caught his eye as he walked past the
window. He stopped in his tracks and his heart rate spiked. Deep down Jim already
knew what it was but he would have to check it to be sure. Jim quickly walked out of
his room and past the makeshift kitchen. Andres sat there quietly, eating away at his
waffles. Jim looked straight ahead and made his way outside the camper. Near the
window, it just sat there. Jim looked it up and down and proceeded with caution to pick
up the bag. He brought around the side of the camper to try for some privacy, and
luckily no one was around. He opened the bag and his eyes grew wide, he knew exactly
what it was. Performance enhancers. He dropped the bag and ran inside, for he
couldn’t even process what was happening. He immediately went into his room and fell
asleep again, this time for 12 hours. They had a 3 day break so he was able to rest up
before he raced again.
Day 9:

Jim was already awake when Andres seemingly busted down his door
attempting to wake him. Jim got up and immediately laser focused on the upcoming
racing that would commence soon. He could hear the faint screaming of Andres in the
background trying to get him to listen but he couldn’t bring himself to pay any
attention.
 “You listen to me right now ______, I’m your trainer, you ____, Goddammit!”
Andres was screaming his heart out now. Before Andres could say another word,
however, Jim was out the door and on his bike. He was already pedaling before he even
realized what was happening, but there was no time to think now. Just focus. He
thought to himself and approached the starting line. Mae was waiting for him there, a
huge smile on his face. Jim grinned as he approached the line, for Mae had always had
that effect on him. Jim zoned out again, and before he knew it, the sound of the
gunshot rang. BANG! It startled him so bad he took off, flying down the road once
again.
This is how most of the day went. Jim zoned out at a dangerous speed, and Mae
tried so desperately to help his friend, but had little success. Jim is out too far ahead
now and begins to pace himself far ahead of everyone else, except one man.
It’s getting dark, the sun is melting away on the horizon, and instantly the
temperature begins to drop. Jim is losing his perception of the road and where he is.
He only knows that he is somewhere between Saint Etienne and Mendes, France. Yet
he is vividly aware that he is slowly closing in on the first place cyclist, Oscar. But this
isn’t what Jim is thinking about right now, for he could only think about one thing now,
winning. It seemed like he was making incredible progress, coming around the bend
for the last 5 miles of the stage, and a lone biker came into view. Oscar Jacobson was
slowly coming into sight as Jim was getting closer and closer, but Jim couldn’t help but
notice the strange circumstances of the situation. It appeared as if something odd was
going on and whatever it was, it was unnatural.
A heavy weight was lingering in the air, and something just felt wrong. Jim
realized something very critical, there was no way that anyone in the world could make
this much progress on Oscar Jacobson, no one had ever gotten this close, especially not
a young biker who had barely even qualified for the race. Where the hell are the other
cyclists? Jim wondered, curious about Mae So, and where he might be right now. Jim is
coming up on Oscar now, about 50 yards away. Time seems to be moving slower now,
30 yards, 15 yards. Oscar’s arm sticks up straight in the air, Jim is confused now, for a
reason he is still unsure of. But that confusion quickly turns into pure terror as the
front tire of Jim’s bike nearly explodes, catapulting him into the bushes off the road.
What the hell just happened… Jim ponders what happens but his thoughts are cut off as
he slowly drifts out of consciousness.
Jim wakes up suddenly and jolts up from his cot. He was surrounded by doctors
and nurses going about their business. But he can’t help but notice his trainer, Andres,
and his mother sitting there, both with anxious expressions.
“Everything’s fine.” Jim can hear the doctor speaking to his mother. “He just
needs rest now. And at that moment, Jim is flooded with relief. The thought of going
home brings an indescribable amount of joy to him, and for the first time since Jim can
remember, he cries. He cries tears of joy to the point that his mom rushes over,
concerned for her son. Jim can barely muster the last few words before he goes asleep
again, this time, happy.
“I love you mom, let’s go home.” He hears his mother begin to respond but it’s
as if someone had turned out the lights, for everything had faded away.