I was struck down by a rare form of arthritis at 29 which all but crippled me for the next two years. After a lengthy run on medication the arthritis receded, and it was time to get off the bench.
A few mates had been into cycling for some time, and several of my family are mad keen, so in December 2010 I rolled into Total Rush in Richmond and bought myself a nice new shiny red bike (carbon fibre and all!) and started going out for rides.
Being a competitive cat, within a few months I was doing 140-kilometre organised rides like the Otway Classic and Kinglake.
Then I started doing the Saturday morning Rush shop ride, and before I knew it I had signed up with a club and started Criterium (Crits) street racing, and I am just about to start Winter Road acing.
I can honestly say that I have fallen madly in love with cycling, and at 32 have found my retirement sport. The fact that I have also dropped 23kg is a nice little bonus. And yes, the legs are waxed!
I highly recommend cycling as a sport to consider taking up but also following. Cycling is a massive sport in Europe but is rapidly growing in Australia.
Personally, my interest went up when I actually took up cycling. I ride and race with people from the age of 16 up to 60 (the 60-year-olds usually beat the 16-year-olds in the Crits).
That’s the great thing about cycling, it caters to everyone. You only need to see Beach Rd in Melbourne on a weekend morning to see the diversity.
Being a bigger guy, I love watching the one day classics like the Pairs Roubaix, where the big Belgian pigs, the true hard men of the sport, smash across sections of paved roads covered in mud and dust for 250km at blistering pace.
The trophy is a pave (one of the cobbles), and your name put on a plaque in a shower room built long before anyone reading this was born.
Watching Tom Boonen drop the hammer with 55km to go and leave the entire field, including his teammate, for dead is one of the most epic moments of sport thus far in 2012.
Prior to buying a bike I had a passing interest in the sport, watching the Tour de France, aided by Lance Armstrong’s domination of what was primarily a European sport.
Fast forward to 2011 and the stars have definitely aligned for Aussie spectators to get engaged.
Cadel Evans’ epic win at the 2011 Tour de France has made him a household name and I think the whole of Australia will be keeping an eye on the 2012 Tour (hopefully with a nice bottle of red to accompany them) to see if he can make it a double.
Australia also finally has a team and it is a team in every sense of the word. Most teams just ride for one guy. GreenEDGE is made up primarily of Australians and they are all mates so they will ride and support one another.
GreenEDGE is in its first year of pro cycling and are having a massive one. They have far and away exceeded their own expectations and those of commentators and past champions alike.
Furthermore, GreenEDGE have some serious talent in their roster.
Simon Gerrans has been in great form. Simon won the National Jersey (something that is highly coveted in Australian cycling circles), took line honours at the Tour Down Under, and then pulled out a huge finish to take Milan San-Remo (MSR), one of the biggest one-day races on the calendar.
Matt Goss won the 2011 Milan San-Remo and was a very close second to sprint sensation Mark Cavendish at the 2011 World Champs. Matt will be the key sprinter in the upcoming Giro D’Italia and Tour de France for GreenEDGE.
He has started to find some form at the Tour of Turkey, coming second by 0.0008sec to fellow Australia Mark Renshaw only days ago, and had four second placings during the Tour of Turkey. A win is not far off.
At 24 Cameron Meyer might not be a household name but given his size and massive power I get the feeling it is only a matter of time. Jump onto Wikipedia and have a look at his achievements to date.
His recent effort at the World Track Championships in Melbourne had to be seen to be believed. Expect huge things from this man in years to come. He has the ability to win a yellow jersey and is the kind of rider you build a team around.
Adam Freier wrote in his weekly column that rugby needs a voice. What he meant by a voice is that rugby has a story to tell. It has characters, a plot and even narky critics who will say if it is worth going to see.
Cycling definitely has a story, one that is well over 100 years old with plenty of controversy and characters.
There is some truly epic racing coming up with the Giro set to commence on the fifth of May, and I encourage all to check it out, with Eurosports covering every stage live and SBS covering eight stages.
Until next time, clip in!
Fancy a wager on your favourite sport? Head on over to PlayUp for great odds and friendly customer service and pick a winner. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Tadej Pogacar has won a drama-packed Tour of Flanders, winning in a breakaway with Matieu van der Poel second, Mads Pedersen third and Wout…
Women are not allowed to compete in the Tour de France. However you choose to re-read that sentence, the fact remains: the most famous…
The jam-packed month-by-month quiz full of 2022 sports trivia!
Australian Grace Brown has won silver in the women's time trial, the first event at the world road cycling championships.
