King of Sports

Under the circumstances it’s been a very positive start to the year. It’s hard to explain but I’ve come out of the dark weeks of December more inspired and motivated than ever before. During the last month I’ve become to know a great deal more about my father’s past through speaking with his old team mates and friends which has greatly contributed to this feeling.

Understanding his achievements in light of his disabilities (not that he would ever admit to them) has inspired me the most. Looking back at old photos of Dad competing against able bodied men, and getting consistent results, it does make me wonder how he would have fared with today’s Paralympics cycling. At the funeral it was an honour to meet so many cycling greats from the 1950’s and 1960’s and out of a day of mourning came inspiration, talking to cyclists in their 70’s who still get under the hour for a 25 mile TT.

To the untrained eye, the hotel where refreshments were served after the funeral would have appeared to be full of old people. But closer up you could see life bursting out of the room, friends exchanging experiences and banter, contemporaries looking wide eyed at legends and the humbleness of champions.

I’ve never really had any ambition in work, but talking to inspirational people such as John Woodburn, Geoff Wiles, Wes Mason, Stan Brittain and Ray Booty for the first time ever I’ve felt an ambition growing, to simply be fit and healthy into my old age. For this to be a reality it obviously requires an immediate lifestyle change.

Through this whole experience I’ve looked on my own life and lifestyle with different eyes. Last year was my most active but only until the autumn, where I soon fell back into what has been the norm for most my time in Brighton – late nights and lots of drinking. I’ve known it’s needed to change for a long time and now this has been the catalyst. It’s a rare opportunity to start a new year in relative good shape and I’m committed 100% to laying the ground work in 2009 for a year of competing in 2010. This will start with working on diet, nutrition and a training plan for the next few months, followed by sessions at the track to improve handling, technique and sprinting.

I’ve been reading an old book of my Dad’s for training advice and though it is over 40 years old it has strong messages regarding cycling in general. These following paragraphs could not sum up my thoughts regarding cycling and its effect on my life better:

King of Sports by Peter Ward

To the younger riders I would say: learn to like cycling for itself, for the beautiful country side you can see, for the good companionship and for its health, economy and peacefulness. From the elation you feel at the view from the top of a big hill you have climbed to the scalp tingling speed of the descent. Cycling can be all fun, all adventure. It can bring personal achievement and fitness that can never be found in a stuffy car or on a noisy motorcycle.

Not enough thought is given to the subject of fitness in later life. Many of the forty plus cyclists give the answer. Their healthy lungs and supple limbs are a glowing example to many of their short winded, lethargic contemporaries.

The path to success is there for everyone, but only those with courage will continue alone in the dark, only those with intelligence will chose the correct turn at the crossroads, and only those with stamina when the going is hard will arrive at the summit.

What is the reward, and is it worth it? To have an object in life is to live. No humdrum routine for the would-be top individual. For the ambition to become a top athlete and to that end to develop the body and mind is, in my opinion, far superior to becoming a top business executive suffering from the many ailments that are often compatible with overwork of the mind and neglect of the body.

The essential clean living, correct eating and exercising required to get to the top gives a man the appreciation of the true values of life, for few true athletes are concerned with keeping up with the Jones’s.