Oh yes, any fool can ride a bike on a nice day when they’re feeling good, fresh and fiesty.

But when you’re shot, just hanging on to the wheel in front, every last half pedal turn is agony, and the bunch engines are turning the screw. That’s different…

Or when you’ve made it into the break to find out that you’re the weakest there, you either go through, or they take it in turns to take you off the back. That’s when it counts…

Like when fate has forced your hand and you’ve taken it on with 5kms to go. All of a sudden it’s like your tyres have gone flat and your riding uphill in porridge against a headwind going no where. That’s when you ask yourself…

Maybe you’re climbing, right on the limit, just staring at the block of the rider in front. Almost at the top, you know there’s gonna be a surge. The rider in front clangs up a gear, gets out of the saddle and kicks. Then you just know…

Any fool can ride a bike 😉

“if you suffer enough you suffer the most, then you will win. That doesn’t only mean the pain in sport, it means the things that you give up in life generally. You have to make sacrifices to be that successful, whether it’s not going out to parties, not drinking, not eating certain foods! Suffering is definitely there, but it may not always be physical soreness, and pain, it can also be heartache. But I think if you can handle it, push it and give it out and take the most pain then racing is easy. And the more you can suffer in training, sometimes you will experience more pain than competition, and if you can do that, it makes competition even easier.” – Article in sports journal by Dr Phlip Moore