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Monday, June 21, 2010

I Gotta Clear Something Up!


So do you all remember Chris Hong? Last year he made my list of Top Five Mutant Bodies of the Tour of the Gila. Well right now, my hat is off to Chris, and his Exergy teammates, because the guy just won the Elkhorn Classic. He did so by spending 100 miles off the front of the race in a breakaway, and still having the suds to maintain (or even build) his lead over the field up the final eight-mile climb, overcoming a 1:45 deficit and vaulting from 16th overall to first. Chris Hong climbs up hills like a mountain goat riding an elevator in the Burj Dubai. So this leads me to the question: exactly how much does Chris Hong weight? When I first asked Chris' teammate this question last year, I heard an even 100 lbs. If this were true, it would mean that when I go uphill I am carrying the equivalent of an entire extra adult male rottweiler. This is the best case scenario. So:


 

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However, if you head over to Oregon Cycling Action, and read their coverage of stage one, you'll see that Hong now weighs only 90 lbs:
 "Chris Hong, Exergy’s 90-pound climber who had been drafting in the wings all day, took over and set a blistering pace that caused a split in the main field."

Now we're getting into strange territory. If this is true, it means I weigh *ahem* more than twice as much as him. Think about that.
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So is Chris losing weight? He seems faster than ever, so it's not out of the question. Could he eventually crack the 80 lb. barrier?  How fast would he go if we got him down to 60 lbs? I can see the headlines now: "Chris Hong, 50 lb Wonder, Averages 37 mph up Mt. Ventoux." Anyway, I started the day in second place by a mere five seconds. Thanks to my teammate in the breakaway, I got a free-ride most of the day, and got to really unload on the final climb. I was able to crack the race leader and leapfrog him, but my efforts were too little, too late; Hong had already flown the coop. However, considering how well Exergy rode, I'm pretty happy with second in the GC. Nice work Chris; see you next week. 

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