I like to believe that it's never too late to start something that people say you're too old for. In April, 2010, I finally got myself back in the bike saddle after some 15 years out of it and I now race competitively here in Perth, Western Australia. Through this blog I hope to be able to share my journey with others.
My initial intention was to regain the health and fitness of my younger self but this has lead me to competitive racing with Perth's local Masters Cycling Club and, in 2012, has me competing amongst the highly competitve open classifications.
Hailing from York in regional Western Australia (~100km east of Perth), my younger years revolved around Australian Rules Football and I played a number of years for my home-town club (in reserve-grade and A-grade). Cycling was a small part of my training regime and included a number of solo highlights between York and Perth and return (Greenmount hill was a killer on the old steel-frame Indi). My participation in football was terminated abruptly in 1992 (age 20) with a fractured vertibrae in my lower spine which I suffered during what was to become my last involvement in competitive sport for some time.
In late 1995, I was keen to find fitness again and began trying different things that my back injury would agree with. Cycling seemed to be an increasingly popular recreational activity in Perth with a growing number of people riding around the scenic Swan River circuits and it seemed to provide the least affliction to my back injury (which I find odd considering one's posture on a road bike).
Unfortunately my return was short lived before the back injury flared again and prevented me from progressing any further and I was relegated to the sidelines with the old steel-frame, Australian made Pro-Tour road bike I had picked up was put to rest.
Roll on 2003 and the purchase of an old Diamondback DBR 8-speed road bike sparked another attempt to get into cycling but by this time the personal motivation was at an all-time low and the attempt was again short-lived with yet another bike sentenced to a life in the shed (albeit not permenantly).
By early 2010, the fitness was all but gone, a weight of 100kg was knocking on the door and keeping up with two children (ages 7 and 9 at the time) was becoming a tough exercise. A hospitalising health scare in April of that year and a change of office location was seemingly the spark needed to get the motivation pumping and the DBR was dusted off.
Lake Herdsman became the scene of some of the worst suffering I had ever experienced since injuring my back. It was 8km from my office car park, around the lake and return and I felt like I was dragging both my lungs all the way for many weeks. But I was determined to get through it this time and after 4 weeks of hard riding (so I thought back then) I was beginning to feel the reward and was prepared to look at riding between home and the office (20km one way) but I needed a new horse!
On June 1st 2010, I acquired a new steed and the Giant TCR Advanced 2 Composite was now in the stable. The difference between the old butted-alloy frame of the DBR (now sits perfectly on my indoor trainer) and the full carbon-fibre outfit was incredible and was more than enough motivation to keep improving. My rides were getting longer and more intense and on June 11th, 2010 I managed my first ride with an average of 30km/h - even if it was only for 19kms. By the end of June, my weight was down from 100kg to less than 80kg so there was definitely something worthwhile about this sport.
The concept of riding in a group was still foreign to me and quite literally the idea scared me. However, I felt the time was right to give it a go and prove to myself that it couldn't really be that bad if so many other people were doing it. On September 25th, 2010 (after much researching with whom to ride), I fronted up down at Garland Cycleworks, South Perth (now my LBS) and joined the beginners group with their illustrious leader and groups co-ordinator, Simon Bell who informed us that we would be tackling Kings Park. HILLS!! I hadn't ridden up a hill for years!
Obviously I survived and found the experience to be very motivating. Simon was a great lead and teacher for this "inexperienced" rider but he immediately "encouraged" me to join the next group. I lasted one ride in there before being ushered into the next group and so on. Why was I being pushed up the group list so quickly? "You're too strong," was the reply. I couldn't believe it, I'd only been riding a few months!!
Group riding was great and I was a regular appearance with group 2 from December, 2010 to March, 2011 but was seemingly avoiding ventures into the Perth hills. I knew this had to change and January 26th, 2011 there was no escaping the excruciating climb up Welshpool Rd. My completion of this torture was very satisfying (even if I was nearly the last to get there) and the feeling of achievement was addictive and more hills rides were on the cards.
The fitness was the best it had been in years and the weight was now at a stable 80kg but something about all this cycling was nagging at me. What was the next level? On May 12th, 2011 (happy 39th birthday) I figured it out - racing! Three days later and zero preparation, I was lining up in a C grade event at Herne Hill in Perth's Swan Valley with the West Coast Masters Cycling Council. I was so nervous before the race I nearly exploded. Then came the call "Aren't you supposed to be wearing B grade numbers?". Dennis was a familiar face from The Garland Crew that seemed to help settle the nerves and I completed my first race in an acceptable 9th position but I had no idea what I was doing or how to ride these races tactically.
The learning curve was extreme for this novice racer but pretty soon I had accumulated a number of minor placings and two wins in C grade and the bite was permenant. July 24th, 2011 had me promoted to B grade in which the trend continued with a 4th place in my first B grade race closely followed by another two wins and some minor placings and a finish to the 2011 Road Race season with a 9th overall (across all grades) in the Rose Preedy Season Points competition (season results here).
The season's achievements culminated with a taste of the A grade ranks at the 2011 Golden Spokes event held by the South Perth Rouleurs Cycling Club at Champion Lakes in Perth's southern suburbs. A flat course and brutal introduction to A grade racing and it was here that the decision was made to make it my goal to be more competitive at this level and my first and current coach, Brad Hall, was engaged shortly after.
Brad instantly earnt my respect and provided me with training programmes that answered everything I had asked for. His coaching and advice has transformed my ability on the bike from an average rider to a much stronger race contender and I feel my goal of reaching a more permenant Masters A grade birth is certainly within reach much sooner than I had hoped.
Of course all of this cannot be said without acknowledging my beautiful wife and family for providing me with the support and encouragement that has fueled my willingness to continue riding, training and racing - even if they do complain about the sudden lack of cooked breakfasts on Sunday mornings.
My postings in this blog start from my first race of 2012 and I will attempt to post reports on my racing and my training progress as often as possible. Feedback from fellow riders on my emailed reports has been encouraging and this blog is the result.
Enjoy!
