Being a professional cyclist: A life on call

An elite cyclist is a peculiar being. One must be fit. One must be committed. One must be willing to sacrifice. But above and beyond everything else, one must be flexible.

Yes, of course you want to be flexible to reach those handlebars down low, but flexibility in respect of your racing calendar will serve you far better.

In a perfect world we would sit down at the start of the season with our coach and our team directeur and we would set out our pathway to glory.

We would peak for two or three big races, we would use other races as a perfect lead in and there would be no surprises along the way.

There would be no injuries. There would be no dilemmas in our personal life. Everything would go to plan.

In a perfect world.

Back in the real world a rider can look at their proposed calendar and identify a few blocks where their big races will come.

There might be a few events that the team may or may not get invited to, from which there will be a team that the rider may or may not get selected for.

The kind of stress free, black and white world of ‘You will be racing XYZ on the first of July’ is something reserved for very few riders.

Brad Wiggins or Cadel Evans might enjoy this luxury, but they are the kings and the queens of the game. We are the pawns and we are thrust into battle when and where we are told.

It’s not easy, but it’s our job and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rewind to the beginning of last year. In the Huon-Genesys team we had just finished racing nationals and our calendar of upcoming races was looking bare.

As the Australian domestic season was devoid of any serious racing until June last year, most of the stronger domestic teams were looking to Asia to get their racing fill.

In the space of a week we went from having no races in Asia to what appeared to be a veritable cycling Contiki tour.  We had invites to races in Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and India.

Instead of a few months of steady training at home waiting for winter to slowly sneak up behind me, I now had a round the world ticket and a vaccination list longer than my attention span.

But it’s never that simple.

Once I had my mind settled, my goals outlined and my legs pushing both pedals with a fierce intention to meet those targets, it all changed again. I had been switched from the team going to Korea to the team racing a local race in Tasmania.

Given my penchant for obscure places and obscure food, the prospect of missing two weeks of lodging in bizarre Korean ‘Love Motels’ and not having any fermented spicy vegetables to eat left me rudderless for a short while.

But I know what you’re thinking, suck it up son. So I did.

All in all, it was fine, as I had plenty more overseas adventures to keep me going.

Then the race in India was cancelled. Two and half weeks of expensive hotels, outrageous cuisine and eye opening experiences were now off the list.

At this stage my selection for following events was unknown. In these situations it is difficult to summon the motivation at times to be at your peak form, for a race you are unsure you are actually doing.

You feel as though you need to be physiologically and psychologically ready to tear shreds off your opponents, but also ready to deal with the possible let down if it turns out you’re not in fact racing.

As riders we can be upset, we can be disillusioned, but there’s one thing we’d all never want to be; the team manager! Imagine how hard it is for them.

We all know that riders cannot be at their peak for the entire season. We all know we want to swap between riders as they come in and out of form throughout the season depending on injuries and other commitments in their life.

It’s not possible, however, to instruct just six riders to be on the top of their game for that big event that is just around the corner. A team always needs reserve riders as a backup card.

Ideally for the manager they would like to have their full cabinet of riders all ready with all guns blazing at any one point. A raging war chest with which we could crush all comers.

But riders get injured. Riders get sick. People lose motivation. People have other commitments in their lives. Every best laid plan is chopped and changed to suit circumstances.

That’s why we, as riders, have it easy. Sure, it’s hard to focus yourself at times. But it’s only you.

All you have to do is keep your head down, your eyes on the ball and your fingers crossed. When your time comes, you let your legs to the talking and the rest will follow.

I am not one hundred percent certain where my next race will be, but I do know that I owe it to my teammates, my manager and myself to be fit and ready.

So excuse me, but I’ve got some training to do