BBQ CHIPS

Bike racing becomes a question of perseverance more often than not. A case of chipping away at the stone to create the statue. The metaphors of incremental progress no matter how small are everywhere and for good reason. They work. Though sometimes the hurdles that push back against progress can start coming too quickly or are just that little bit too high to jump. Perseverance, chipping away, just moving forward can be the best way to do just that, move forward. Recently in high performance mountain biking there have been some tough times regarding selections for major events. It can be exhausting as an athlete trying to move forward while all these seemingly political battles occur around you. Training loads, work commitments and family time need to be juggled while stringing together funds to make it around Australia during the summer season and potentially overseas for the World Cup season. Focusing on the right goals doesn’t leave a whole lot of time or energy to ‘fight’ things out of your control like politics. The issues of selection policies or unrealistic expectations and political decisions above an athletes’ head aren’t just isolated to mountain biking in Australia. Imagine being Jenny Rissveds, the current Olympic XCO champion, right now. In February this year, she announced she is taking a break from racing to recover from depression. A decision and consequence that doesn’t seem all that surprising when you look at her tumultuous 2017 season that saw her race only a few times. Privately, the death of two family members took an unfortunate toll though this was exacerbated by the public feud regarding contractual obligations placed on her by the Swedish cycling federation during the lead up to the World Championships in Cairns. The federation required its athletes to use a certain brand of helmet if they were to represent Sweden at the World and European Championships. This would have been a slippery slope for the cross-country scene as a whole if it had been accepted by Jenny and her trade team. It may have started with a helmet but could quickly lead to athletes being required to use a specific brand of bike if they wish to represent their nation. Not great for a sponsored athlete or team in a largely industry supported discipline. As it eventuated, a compromise couldn’t be found and Jenny, the Olympic champion, didn’t make it to the 2017 World Championships in Cairns. This was a terrible outcome for the Swedish federation, Jenny’s trade team and the fans at the World Championships not to mention Jenny as well. All because sponsorship dollars took