Life has taken a few more twists & turns since I last wrote a blog. I have been back to Australia, back to America, back to Australia, back to America, to Europe and then back to America since November. The travel, although fantastic, was beginning to take a toll on my body and inevitably my training. Hence, I have now found myself somewhere that feels like a home away from home and I am excited to have been here for three weeks straight! I’ve settled down in wonderful Traverse City, in far Northern Michigan. If you would like to hear how I ended up here, lend me your ear one day and I will tell you a long, beautiful story. To cut a long story short, I followed my heart & my smile. Following this charter has made me feel truly happy, alive and motivated.
Some people think the far north is a crazy place to live. But I love it here! The incessant snow and freezing temperatures are a real novelty for this bloke from a sunburnt country. Each morning there’s the excitement waiting to see how much snow I get to shovel off the driveway with my brand new shovel in my brand new snow boots! Most importantly however, I feel grounded, warm and included by the people here. From travelling the world I have found that where the people work hard they are often the friendliest, most genuine & down to earth people you will meet. Mere existence is hard work in Michigan, each day begins with the back breaking snow shovelling I mentioned to access your car, then driving is a struggle and often ends in a snow bank where everyone offers a helping hand to help each other out. The community is bound to each other, as up here, we need each other to survive. Staying warm requires work, chopping firewood, scraping ice and creating ingenious ways to exercise is also hard yakka.
It’s all training…
The temperature has not exceeded 0 degrees centigrade the entire time I have been here and it is not looking like doing so anytime soon. My job, is hence more challenging but not impossible in these conditions. I need to be imaginative and thrifty with my training, it is possible indoors and out. One thing it creates for me is MORE motivation and drive, I am hungrier than ever to race and prove what hours upon hours on a home trainer can do! Then I get to compliment that with yoga and spin classes at the gym. Then more shovelling, snowshoeing and fat tire bike riding. That said, the open road beckons also, as I will spend the next 10 days in Southern California for some miles on the open road in preparation for my first race in Taiwan in March.
I am lucky to lead a lifestyle where I can follow my passions and my heart as they are so closely intertwined with what I do for a job. It is still bloody hard work though as is anything that is worthwhile in life. This also makes Traverse City a good fit for a professional athlete. As athlete’s have to work very very hard to ply their trade. Today I spent 3 hours looking out a window sweating bullets on a home trainer. Tomorrow, I will do this for 4 hours then go to yoga. This ‘hard yakka’ element of our trade is often overlooked by those who see us sipping brew’s at coffee shop’s or smiling picture’s on social media outlets. Athletes face a lifestyle often dictated by discipline and pressure, creating a unique set of circumstances for the mind and body to operate under. Many moons ago in Sydney I worked as a volunteer for a suicide prevention telephone counselling service, answering phone calls from people who were struggling to see the purpose in their lives and were often on the precipice of ending it. Hearing such harrowing stories puts life into perspective and has helped me realise the importance of being true to yourself in life. EVERYONE has their own drama’s along their life pathway, and there is ALWAYS help available somewhere from someone. In some places and some areas of life this help is more available than others however. Having been an athlete for more than 14 years now, I know that sport, in particular cycling is one area where this kind of psychological/mental comfort is hard to find and have. Many professional athlete’s live with a sense of constant pressure and anxiety about their next performance or contract. An athletes worth is often emphasised as being inextricably associated with their performance on the road or track. This can and has cracked many a soul, I have seen it happen around me. I have felt the cracking and frustration in the past myself. I am lucky however that I ride for a team that emphasises more than just results. This is not the case for most professional’s however. What frustrate’s me, is that there is little to no support available for an athlete suffering with the commiserations that can accompany an existence so focused on a single domain. Athlete’s are constantly told to ‘toughen up’ and are consistently reminded that they should be eternally grateful that they do not have a “normal” job. An unusual occupation such as our’s come’s with unusual circumstances that are difficult for the general populous to understand. I would love to see set up an avenue of psychological and mental support for athlete’s. Sport’s psychologist’s exist in some organisations but are often used in manner’s to hone performance and focus rather than emotional reassurance or comfort. This is one other dream I have for our sport and I could write about this for pages upon pages, I will spare the reader of my long rationale but would always love to chat to anyone about it. I know so many athlete’s would benefit from this, as I have always said: Smiles on faces, win the races:-) One thing I know to be true.
Hence, having found my home away from home, my love and my smile, I hope the winning races part happens next. I have an exciting year ahead and my team is going from strength to strength. I will keep working hard and keep life in perspective. I love hearing other’s perspective, so please shoot me a mail with any news or thoughts from anywhere. I need more emails to read while I am sweating waterfall’s on my home trainer.