Pedal Power

I may never become a professional cyclist – in fact, at age 31 I think I can safely say that my time has probably passed – but I still take the bike out for a charge through open country at least once a week, and have taken part in endurance rides for charity as well as amateur competitions. It is something that I have done since I was about as tall as the wheels I use now – the cycling, not the competitions! – and cycling has become an indispensable part of my life. If I had to give up tomorrow I could, but the mere thought of doing that just makes me shudder. Yeah, I’d live – if you can call that “living”. My real favourite thing to do on a bike, though, is to take it into the rockiest terrain I can find, and test myself against nature. I don’t always lose.

The spirit of endurance is something big to me. I’ve always got a kick out of testing myself to the limit, and once I have approached and reached that limit I get an extra boost of adrenaline which takes me on a bit more. I always sleep well on those nights, because my body demands it. Considering what I have just demanded from my body, I feel the trade is fair. My wife says I have thighs like tree trunks. She’s from LA, though, so I don’t suppose she saw many real trees growing up except on TV. Still, it’s a nice ego boost. It also makes me harder to tackle on the rugby field (again as an amateur – I’m a perfectly handy fullback, since you ask, but I’m not waiting on a call from Robbie Deans).

My standout memory from the perspective I get over a set of handlebars is one from about four years ago. I was competing in a race across 80 kilometres with some pretty steep climbs thrown in. The field was pretty handy – I’d raced against some of these guys before and usually placed in the top ten. Some of them I knew quite well, one of them was best man at my wedding 18 months ago. When you’re in a race, though, there is no point in pretending you’re there for any other reason than to grind them into the dirt if you possibly can. On that day, I did. I won, by about 20 seconds. What can I say? I was in a leading pack and saw that half the guys around me were showing signs of fatigue. Had I not attacked when I did, I’d have placed fifth in a sprint finish or something.

I still put that win down to staying hydrated as much as anything. It’s not that the day was particularly hot but cycling 80 km in any conditions will take it out of you. I always remember to fill two hydration packs before a race, and on that day I timed my drinks well. Sometimes that’s all the difference there is between winning and not.