Get well soon Youssef!
by Rob Blue on December 20th, 2006
I got a frightening call the other day. My training partner and friend, Youssef, called to tell me he has been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks. He crashed hard up in Berkeley on a ride and suffered a brain injury. The good news is that after a bunch of physical therapy his doctors say he will make a full recovery. The bad news is that he has to learn how to walk again.
I met Youssef early one morning on the road a few years back and we have trained together ever since. That is up until he decided to move up to Berkeley this past summer. Now we get to ride together from time to time when he is in Los Angeles for business.
My first impression of Youssef was that he is a crazy as me seeing as it was 5:30am on a weekday morning. My next impression was that this guy can climb!
Youssef is like a goat on the hills. He is 10 years older than me and kicks my ass every time the road points up. I love watching him eat up the hills. It inspires me to go that much harder. When we ride together it is always about which of the toughest climbs around the Santa Monica mountains are we going to conquer this morning. I live for those rides more than any racing.
Youssef also laughs at the amount of gear that I go through. Every time we ride he has to ask what I bought today. He's right of course, I am a total gear junky. I usually end up selling a bunch of pretty much brand new stuff to Youssef once something new catches my eye. The best thing I ever sold him though was the helmet that saved his life. He actually thanked me on the phone for that helmet when I was talking to him. I almost cried.
Youssef, you would have appreciated the ride this morning. It was just like old times. Getting up early in the winter when it's 32 degrees outside. Can you see my breath in the photo? Man, it was cold this morning in those canyons. Monty at Helen's set me up with some new winter gear that I'll have to show you on our next ride. Speedy recovery my brother!
December 20th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Youssef, please get well soon. be strong in the new year!
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:40 am
[…] Once we were off, we soon hit the tough climbs in the area. Hey it’s not called “prarie biking” so you really can’t do a ride around here without some climbing. I love climbing more than any other aspect of cycling. This goes for the road as well. The tougher the climb the more rewarding the ride. That’s just me I guess, and my buddy Youssef too, who by the way is getting much better after his recent crash. […]
July 18th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Drew…
Cool! Its really cool….