This post was originally posted for Conquista Cycling Club
& can be found here...
I grew up in rural Australia where a bike serves no real
purpose other than getting to school and back. As a kid, I rode my BMX around
town and preferred playing team sports such as soccer (aka football), cricket
and rugby. I had no idea what the Tour de France was, and for me, the most
important feature of a bicycle was not how aero or light it was, but if it had
stunt pegs on the back so I could ‘double’ my friends. After high school, I let
myself go. I was overweight and had taken up the bad habit of smoking. I
relocated to the city to study and moved into a shared house, which included a
triathlete. One Saturday, we were sitting on the couch watching a triathlon on
television when my girlfriend made a remark about a triathlete's physique as he
ran out of the water. Being slightly offended and highly competitive, I made a
bold claim and said 'I could do that.' It was quickly met with laughter.
I guess it was out of spite, but I quit smoking, sold my
car, purchased a road bike and within three months I did my first triathlon.
After a couple of years battling away in triathlons, I began to realise that I
actually hated running and was not a natural swimmer. I was frustrated that I
couldn’t be as competitive as I wanted to be, so I decided to try my luck at
cycling.
At 21 years of age, I was a relative latecomer to the sport
of cycling. I didn’t know any cyclists and knew very little about the sport, so
I really threw myself into the deep end. The learning curve was steep, and I
have several embarrassing stories of doing things the ‘wrong’ way, like when I
purchased and rode around in a wind-vest in the middle of summer because I
thought it was a short-sleeved jersey. But I’ll save those stories for another
time…
I started at the bottom, riding and racing with my local
club team before getting the opportunity to race in National Series events. I
was progressing and racing for a domestic team in 2009 when I was diagnosed
with type 1 diabetes while at a National Series race. I was told that endurance
sport and diabetes was a very difficult combination and that I would need to stop
for a while. I was devastated and in my mind, I had already sold my bike.
Fortunately, I had some good friends who were not going to
let me mope around and I was back on my bike within two days. Riding and racing
with type 1 diabetes was another steep learning curve, and it was a few weeks
before I took to the start line again. At the end of 2010, a friend of mine
managed to put a good word in for me and I was able to race my first UCI race
in China for a Continental Team. I trained my butt off for the race and came
away with a good result and received a contract offer for the following year.
This year marks my fourth year racing with Team Novo
Nordisk, a Professional Continental team comprised entirely of athletes with
type 1 diabetes. During the season, I’m based in Girona, Spain and race around
Europe, Asia & the Americas. Although racing and competing is my job, I
genuinely love being active and outdoors. My favourite training ride is one
where I can forget about heart rate and power zones and just go and explore the
world.
At 34 years old, I’m truly the oldest guy on the team. In fact, I’m
older than the team doctor and even the team’s CEO! I like to think that this
gives me a slightly different viewpoint on life and racing, and hopefully I can
share some of these ‘behind the scenes’ stories.
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