Life as a countdown

In life we should  go through every day with a pre-set goal, something to reach for, something to achieve. This is what enables us to stretch ourselves and to inspire the people around us.

Ever since I was a little boy, I have set myself very high goals. At the age of about 10 or 11 I had already decided I would become a professional cyclist. I realised very soon that it is not one big step but a million little steps that get you there, and every step is a goal and has a countdown.

My first big “countdown” came as an U10 rider doing my first National Championships in Kimberly in 2001. The last two weeks leading up to the race were nerve wracking but the days went by and I started dealing with the nerves and managed a 6^th place in the time trial.

After that another big countdown was my first ever tour, 15 years old doing the National U16 tour in Harrysmith, counting down for about two months, fully focused on the tour and doing all the right things in preparation for the big event. Two weeks before the start I broke my hand in two places after a bit of an accident, I had surgery and was in a plastercast until the day before the start of the tour (it was meant to stay on another 3 weeks). I raced over the rolling hills around town and through the  Golden Gate park with a broken but bandaged right hand, bagging a 4^th place in the criterium and 6^th overall in the tour.

The biggest countdown of my young career came before the South-African National Championships in 2012 held in Nelspruit. For three months leading up to the race, everything I did, I did with the Championships in mind, every kilometre  that I rode, I rode for the Championships, focusing on the time trial event. The big morning came 1st of March 2012, easy light breakfast, just enough to last me an hour at full pace.  I won the U23 silver medal and came 8^th overall.

That concluded the 11 year countdown to my first ever SA Championships medal, it was the ride of my life J

Through this journey I have learned that you can achieve so much in life, not just your career, as soon as you set yourself a goal and have something to work towards!