Cycling is something quite spectacular. Traveling to vast, unknown paradises you never knew existed. Roads and back roads on your doorstep that hold hidden treasures and then extending the ever-extraordinary places by travelling all over the world to do what I love the most. Riding my bike.
As many people know, I was in an accident that not only nearly ended my career but also my life. Nearly dying is one thing, nearly dying doing something I love makes it harder to come to grips with the situation I’ve been put in. The first thing people ask me is usually: “Why did you get back on a bike?” And I’ve never really thought about it. I’ve never thought of it as a crazy thing. I mean, I’ve always ridden my bike and it’s all I want to do and so, as I lay in my hospital bed fighting for my life, I didn’t think of the worst. All I thought about was when I’ll be able to ride again because in my mind nothing was severely wrong. I had no idea the struggles that lay ahead of me!
The driving force behind my motivation to keep pushing on is the positivity every milestone I accomplish radiates to those that follow me and my story.
Now, I’m not a professional anymore. However, I believe it’s still one hundred percent possible for me to get back there. It’s going to be harder than ever. Starting over. From scratch, with internal damage that will make it incredibly difficult for me to overcome. At the moment I’d classify myself as “normal” and all things considered, it’s amazing and an absolute blessing. However, I know I have so much more to gain. The hardest part of all my rehab is unfortunately not behind me. I thought, once I could ride again it’ll all be second nature and all the power I had before would just come back because I’ve done it before. I was sorely mistaken! Making the jump from a “normal” cyclist to “elite” or “pro” cyclist level is a massive jump. This is now becoming the most challenging obstacle I’m facing. My “normal” has now become my “new normal”. I am nowhere near where I used to be.
The driving force behind my motivation to keep pushing on is the positivity every milestone I accomplish radiates to those that follow me and my story. I love the messages people send me and I love hearing about how I positively affect people’s lives. Cycling as a professional has always been my dream. There is nothing I can imagine myself doing other than cycling. Now, my main “why” is to be the change in the sport I want to see. A positive influence to those that follow me and more importantly I want to be a rider that shows you can get to the top level of the sport with pure GRIT, DETERMINATION, HARD WORK and NEVER GIVING UP no matter how hard life gets and no matter what obstacles life throws at you.
I’m just a young man, or boy – however you’d like to see me – who loves riding his bike and loves to race. And I want nothing more to ride and race my bike around the world. I want to meet and learn from incredible people and continue to grow and develop into the best professional I can possibly be. I firmly believe in not accepting where you are in life when there is room for improvement. The catch is, there is always room for improvements. Sometimes the biggest gains are to be had with the small things.
I hope to continue to grow and move forward. My goal is to be professional in 2020. I’ve got a big challenge ahead of me. It’s incredibly difficult but it’s not impossible. No matter what any doctor tells me.
Header Photo: Megan Ellis
Last modified: Jan 20, 2020
