Above: Rob with his family and
2018 Absa Cape Epic partner,
Udo Boelts. Above, right: Rob
and Udo during stage 1 of the
2018 Cape Epic.
surprise when, by the following
Monday, he was sick as a dog.
“His immune system was
compromised and he should’ve
stayed off the bike for at least a
week while he recovered.”
Training to compete for a
podium-fi nish at the Cape Epic
takes time, and that means
sacrifi cing time these three
cyclists would otherwise spend
with family and friends. Waleed
has missed family birthdays,
and even his daughter’s
valedictory service. Zenobia
(Waleed’s wife) purposefully
books holidays that aren’t close
to home, so that he can’t drive
back to work.
“Even our social lives revolve
around cycling,” says Deon, a
close friend to both Waleed and
Rob. “We talk about it all the
time: our preparation, what we
eat and how well we’ve rested.”
And yet, balance exists. “I didn’t
feel great about missing my
daughter’s valedictory service,”
Waleed admits. “At the time I
was too obsessed with cycling.
I think she understood and she
didn’t put pressure on me, but
that doesn’t mean she was
happy about it. I realised there’s
more to life than cycling and I’ve
since cancelled races that clash
with important events in my
children’s lives.”
116 | MTB | amateur pros
Andrew’s wife, Ali, also
likes to ride with her friends.
Afterwards, they have coff ee
together. And they both have
their own interests outside
of cycling: she reads, sews or
cooks, while he reads up on
the latest trends in cycling.
Zenobia is accommodating. She
drives her husband to major
as he does when he sees the
number on the scales tipping
in the wrong direction; a
response, Dr Posthumus argues,
is reasonable, given the time,
eff ort and money he’s put into
it. But while it’s true Waleed
doesn’t feel great about it
initially, he sees the mistakes
he’s made as an opportunity
"EVEN OUR SOCIAL LIVES REVOLVE
AROUND CYCLING ... WE TALK
ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME"
races – for a long time, she was
his personal masseuse – and
attends family gatherings on
his behalf. Why? Because, she
believes you can’t function as a
family unit unless every member
within it is happy.
ALL IN THE MIND
All cyclists are on top of the
world when a race goes well;
Waleed is no exception. His
friends and family see the boy
come out. He’s proud of it, and
he regales his wife and children
with his experiences. Rob makes
most of his important business
decisions in the saddle.“Cycling
is an eff ective way of dealing
with stress,” Dr Posthumus
agrees. “People who work need
exercise to relax.”
But what about when a race
doesn’t go according to plan?
Waleed gets as stressed out
to do better.
Issy says his friend Andrew
isn’t a gung-ho all-or-nothing
competitor: “He’s a gracious
athlete. I can’t count the
amount of victories that he has
gifted to other people – not
only his teammates, but to
other competitors, in certain
circumstances. I don’t think it
would be accurate to frame
him as a steamroller that
squashes anything that stands
in the way of his performance
or victory.”
Here we have three A-type
personalities who’ve been
driven to win their entire lives.
If they didn’t have cycling,
Waleed, Rob and Andrew would
fi nd another hobby or activity to
commit themselves to. It’s just
the way they’re wired.
“Reasonable behaviour
from someone who’s training
for a top position at the Cape
Epic is very diff erent to what
is a reasonable approach for
someone who’s doing it for
social and stress management
purposes,” says psychologist at
SSISA, Clinton Gähwiler. “When
there’s a lack of congruence
between motive and approach,
then you’re at a greater risk of
running into trouble, be it health
or injury issues, or relationship
diffi culties.”
But besides Waleed’s
compromised immune system,
training daily is certainly a
healthier pursuit than that of
your average male, who would
spend an equivalent amount of
time drinking and socialising.
In order for Waleed to be
obsessed with cycling, he would
have to be defi ned by it. He
enjoys doing well at the Cape
Epic and cycling is an important
chapter in his life; but it’s not
the main event. Let’s not forget:
his commitment and hard work
has also made him a successful
business- and family man.
You’d have to be a touch
obsessive to achieve all
the landmarks in sport and
business that these three
athletes have. In 2017, Waleed
ticked a podium fi nish at the
Cape Epic off his bucket list, as
third in his category, in a time
of 35:33.36.7. Considering how
far he had to come, that’s pretty
inspirational.
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