You train all year for the physical aspect of cycling, but you can't plan for what comes next. You're still the same person. External perceptions might change, but inside, you're the same.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I've had so many experiences in cycling, but in some ways I have nothing left to prove. I have achieved more than I could have dreamed of, I've raced a lot longer than I thought I would. I know I can still be better, but I just don't know if I love it enough any more.
As a kid growing up - I can see now - it didn't matter what I did, as long as it was something I could be really good at. Cycling just happened to be the opportunity that came along.
I used to spend all my school holidays cycling around, so all this training has made me feel like a kid again.
Cycling can be lonely, but in a good way. It gives you a moment to breathe and think, and get away from what you're working on.
Bike riding requires permanent sacrifice. It means training 11 months out of 12 and 110 days of racing, whatever the weather conditions. Early in life, I realised I did not have intellectual potential, so I dedicated myself to cycling.
I think racing and riding are two different elements of cycling. You either want to or not depending on what you want to get out of it.
The physical demands of cycling is that it actually lowers your immune system, and you expose yourself to a tremendous amount of elements - so certain people might get a chronic overload and develop, say, bad asthma.
I've just been reading about cycling. Yeah, I'm not that great at it but I like the challenge of it.
As I get older, it's getting more frustrating because I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do after cycling, and I may be pushed to study alongside riding in order to prepare for retirement - all those things the professional blokes don't really have to think about.
Cycling is based so much on form, on aesthetics, on class - the way you carry yourself on the bike, the sort of technique you have.