MOUNTAIN BIKING
RETHINK YOUR
Bucket List
A ‘ Bucket List ’ is generally for big events , the extraordinary things that we dream of doing , and that we think will make our lives complete . I believe in having goals , and I also believe in working towards them , but sometimes there are goals that end up steering you on a path that can take the enjoyment away , and make it , well , hard work . – BY ROXANNE MARTIN
If someone had told me 20 years ago that I would become a passionate mountain biker , I would have laughed in their face . Back then I was a first-year student at Rhodes University , partying up a storm most weeks and smoking like a chimney . It did not seem likely that my future pointed to something healthy and physically taxing like mountain biking , but somehow , when the 2009 Argus ( what we now know as the Cape Town Cycle Tour ) came around , I decided that I wanted to go to Cape Town and ride 109km around a mountain . And so my journey began .
The First of Many
In the early years of my cycling career , I remember the pure exhilaration of achieving so many firsts : My first ride , my first 50km , my first-time riding with cleats , my first mountain bike ride … there was always another first to chase , and for a good long while it filled this need that I had . As time progressed , I got better , and stronger . I made friends with other cyclists , and my life changed from a pattern of late-night parties , to one where I was in bed a whole lot earlier , in order to wake up at sparrow ’ s fart to go riding , but at the time I was happier than Larry , so it was an easy choice to make .
My first real MTB stage ride was at the Sani2C , which my mum and I decided to ride together , and it was an experience that set the path for my future in riding . As such , you might think that this meant it went well . Actually , it went badly . In fact , so badly that I ended day three in an ambulance , with a suspected broken jaw … but this didn ’ t put me off . Rather , it made me more determined to go back and finish it .
Finishing my first Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in 2011
Riding through the bushlands of Botswana on day four of the Nedbank
54 ISSUE 157 | www . modernathlete . co . za Tour de Tuli