Never To Late To Learn
I believe that we can always learn no matter how long we have been on this planet and having just come home from my 9th World Para Cycling Road Championships I thought I would touch on 2 lessons I have learned in this last year.
1. You don’t have to be on a podium to be a winner.
These last 8 months have been tough ones! Probably the toughest I have been through since I started cycling. After my crash in January and subsequent shoulder surgery I wasn’t sure I could come back to where I was. I was actually having doubts for the first time in my life about continuing on with this crazy idea of racing internationally. But with the help of an amazing team around me I struggled on in those first few months.
My comeback to racing was slow and it showed in my results at the first two world cups in Italy and Belgium. But then something happened in Belgium! A young Swiss girl (in another category from me) and I had a chat at the hotel. I congratulated her for winning her road race and when she asked me how I had done I laughed and replied that I did okay but that I was racing her compatriot (who was winning and winning well) she replied with a tone of contempt “Well you’ve had your time”. Without hesitation it hit me and I replied, “Well I’m not f#$king dead!” She didn’t know what to say and ran up the stairs.
This was probably the best thing she could have said to me because it lit a fire in my belly and I came home from the trip with a desire to leave no stone unturned, to be in the best shape I could possibly be for the World Championships. For the next 2 months I worked my butt off…literally! I lost 6 kgs, was lifting weight equal to the weight I was doing before Tokyo and was holding power on the trike I hadn’t done in a couple of years.
My Time Trial race in Scotland was the best race I have had since Tokyo (where I won Silver) and when I finished I knew I couldn’t have done anything more. I had come 5th in the World and I was only 10 seconds off 4th place and 45 seconds off Bronze. I have come to realise that I was a winner on the day. I had achieved more in those last 2 months than I had expected and on the day there were just athletes faster than me.
I have always said that the number attached to us should not define what we can or can’t do and I stand by that. In saying, that I am 36 years older than the Bronze medal rider and 30 years older than 4th place. So hey that’s not too shabby for an old chick!
2. It’s wonderful to be a mentor to others
After the World Cup in Belgium in May I had a chat with a 26 year old trike rider from Denmark, Emma and I told her that she had the ability to win the Road Race at the World Championships. She smiled at me and said she wasn’t sure and I told her that she had to believe in her abilities, that no one was unbeatable and that I believed she could. I had seen so much progress in her over the year.
Well at the World Championships with 500 metres to go she took off from the other riders and crossed the finish line first. She had won her first World Championship stripes! After the race (of which I was 5th again) I went to see her. She opened her arms and put me in a big bear hug, had a few tears and said, “You said I could do it, thank you”. I told her again that all she had to do was believe in herself.
I felt like I had won that race with her and I could feel her excitement on winning her first world title…I remember that feeling! I couldn’t help but feel proud of her and I was loving the feeling that I could help her in my own little way.
Emma winning the Road Race
I may be at the end of my career but I will continue as long as I can because I believe it is important to show the new and younger riders that anything is possible if you believe in yourself. I may never see the podium again but I love racing and I have fun (I may not feel it while the pain of racing is happening!).
However, I also love the fact that I can help the new riders even in my own little way and I love showing people of my generation that we can mix it with the younger ones!