If you take one look at the current cycling scene in Australia, noticeably on the track, it is obvious that there are numerous athletes who just seem leagues better than everyone else. World Champion at 19?? Yeah no big deal...It seems that to make an impression back home, it is now necessary to win multiple World titles! (Don’t get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from their performances!!! To be the best in the world is not an easy thing to do!!! and to do it multiple times?? that's insane.) Every year times are getting quicker, technology is getting greater and all in all everyone just seems to be getting better.
I would love to get into the head of riders like Mick Rogers, Fabian Cancellara,Jens Voigt Lance Armstrong and figure out just what makes them tick.
One thing I have learnt over the years is that to be an elite cyclist (or any elite sportsperson for that matter) you have to be committed, dedicated, passionate, organised and have a clear head space, just to name a few. Being an elite cyclist is a full time job. Training hasn’t finished when you jump off the bike after a hard day in the saddle... oh no...You still have to get food into you, have a shower, stretch and if the session was hard enough, sit quietly in the foetal position in bed whilst you recover.
I was fortunate enough to have a chat to professional cyclist Rochelle Gilmore of the Lotto-Belisol cycling team whilst she was down here training before heading over to Europe to start her season and she was generous enough to let me in on some of her secrets for success. Whether it is getting all of your cycling gear all set out the night before so you are organised for the next day’s training session or you are religiously logging every detail of the days ride into your training diary, I’m sure that there is way more to becoming a successful athlete that meets the eye and that everyone has their own little secrets that work for them.
In my opinion, the main key to becoming a champion cyclist is passion and a clear head space. You got to love what you are doing, otherwise why put yourself through that crippling pain??? In addition, you got to love to hurt. In most races it seems as though the person who wins is not only the strongest out there, but they also know how to hurt themselves the most. Another key is to believe in yourself. You genuinely have to believe that you can win, because if you don’t no one else will! Some pros (most noticeably during sprinting) will put themselves at incredible risk or do things which seem blatantly stupid jut to be able to cross the line with their hands in the air because they believe they can win.
Having a clear head space is also another useful thing to have when trying to be successful. Sure, that is not always possible, things pop up uncontrollably all the time – that’s life- but being able to put those things aside and learning how to deal with them is probably one of the most beneficial things you can learn to do. When you are training, you can’t be finishing an assignment or worrying about what is going on at home because of exactly that -you are out training. There is nothing you can do about it until you get home, so don’t stress about it! (Easier said than done, but that’s just the facts)
So although it helps to be genetically gifted, and i’m taking nothing away from the success our athletes are currently experiencing, but there are other little things you can do to ensure that you give yourself the best opportunity possible to achieve your potential. After all, it’s not one giant step that does it, but lots of little ones.
In other news, i’m finalising plans to head over to Europe to race at the end of June – more details to come :) but I can’t wait! I am also going down to Geelong next week to do a bit of a training camp, taking myself out of Canberra so I can get away from work and concentrate on what I really want to do – ride my bike :)
Until next time
xx
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