Monk makes the most of it
While the coronavirus lockdown in Ireland was tougher than in Australia, Warragul cyclist Cyrus Monk wanted to make sure he was getting on the bike as much as possible, how he did was tricky to say the least.
Ireland’s lockdown allowed for exercise, but it had to be within two kilometres of home, a problem for Monk who is used to riding hundreds of kilometres a day.
The 23-year-old’s sporting calendar was put on hold after just one race in Belgium and his team EvoPro Cycling were forced to return to their Ireland base. Many of his teammates returned to their European homes, but for Monk, it was a trying task.
“The cost and cancellations of flights, compiled with the border laws in place for Australia, it wasn’t really a possibility for me,” Monk said.
Once he realised he would be staying in Ireland, Monk looked at his options. He could still ride but had to create a route that would stay within the two km radius.
It was important for him to maintain his fitness, but also not ‘peak’ while racing wasn’t occurring, so he settled on riding 100km every day.
“I decided that would be my ride and it ended up being longer than I expected. I made it to 45 consecutive days of riding 100km within that two kilometres,” he said.
It’s been an eventful couple of years for Monk, who grew up in Drouin and attended Drouin Secondary College, graduating five years ago.
He fell in love with the sport as soon as he was able to ride a bike, so much so he held his seventh birthday party on the mountain bike trails at Rokeby. By the time he was nine, he was on his first road bike and the competitive juices began to flow.
“I really enjoyed the nature of the sport from then on. I loved trying to beat my mates every weekend at the Warragul Cycling Club races, weeknights at the velodrome or before school on the world-renowned Warragul bunch rides,” he said.
An avid sports fan, Monk was splitting time between cycling, cricket, footy, hockey, tennis and basketball, leaving little time to spend in the saddle training, only fronting up for the weekend club race.
While it took him some time to find his groove on the bike, he finally bit the bullet and cut out time spent playing other sports to train, allowing him to excel as rider.
“Cycling requires about 25-30 hours of training per week at the top level, so it wasn’t really until I left school that I started seeing the results from the amount of time I was putting in,” he said.
It was during his final year at Drouin Secondary College that Monk was beginning to make some waves in the cycling world. He claimed a few amateur Victorian Road Series races in the lower grades, and a team was watching.
“I was approached by an amateur development team during Year 12. At this point I’d never been on a cycling team and it was a great step towards focusing solely on cycling and the comradery of the team helped replace what I missed out from other team sports I’d grown up with,” he said.
2018 was one of Monk’s most successful. With the backing of his team and full of confidence, he would turn in some terrific performances at high level races.
He experienced the top-quality racing as a trainee in the then named Cannondale-Drapac team, which enabled him to see the potential he had at making it professionally.
After doing the stagiaire with a world tour team the year before, he was desperate to secure a permanent position with the team.
“I’d put a lot of pressure on myself before the 2018 nationals. With any race, there’s a lot that can go wrong so I was ecstatic when everything went right and I was able to ride away and enjoy that final lap knowing I had the win,” he said.
The victory at Buninyong in 2018 thrust his name into the spotlight, as he was crowned the under 23 national champion and it opened more opportunities.
Despite a strong year where he also claimed victory in the world university championship road race in the Philippines, Monk wasn’t able to secure a contract with the team he had been riding for.
It was late October when he received the news, which meant he had to scramble to find a team for the 2019 season, then, EvoPro came along.
EvoPro was just being formed in Ireland and Monk liked the idea of racing for an Englishspeaking team that was based in Europe. It was the perfect fit.
Monk said he’s enjoyed the new team and the comradery they share together on and off the road.
“We have a great attitude among the staff and riders. We are always making the most of any situation despite falling victim to Murphy’s Law on many occasions, but sometimes that’s just bike racing,” he said.
If there’s one thing that Monk has learned in his time with a professional team, is that winning sometimes isn’t always an option, so finding other positives is key.
“I’ve learnt you can’t win every race. Often things don’t go your way and you lose, so it’s important to make the most of other parts of the trip to make sure it’s still enjoyable,” he said.
It wasn’t until June that Ireland permitted professional athletes to return to their training facilities and fortunately for Monk, his training facility was located on the road and he was free once again.
“Since then, I’ve been taking the opportunity to see the country on my bike. Being on an island, my general training has been to head in one direction until I hit water and then turnaround,” he said.
The first day the restrictions eased, Monk celebrated with a 276km journey through the Irish countryside.
“I feel very lucky to be able to see the country in this way. I have time to take in the scenery and there is something satisfying about doing it off your own steam,” he said.
It’s been a big change for the well-travelled cyclist who is often on the go, in and out of countries over weekends, but it’s something he’s learning to adjust to.
While he has been stuck in Ireland, it has given him the opportunity to explore some of his other interests.
“I think it’s now the longest time I’ve spent in one place since leaving school five years ago. I’ve tried to take the positives out of it and do some things I couldn’t usually do. I’ve been writing some songs and playing a lot of guitar, as well as going fishing and hiking,” he said.
He credits many of his successes to his parents, Rob Monk and Jenn Davies, who have been his ultimate supporters throughout.
“They have definitely been the biggest supporters by allowing me to try so many sports and never once pushing me in any particular direction. I think if I’d been pushed to be a cyclist from a young age, I wouldn’t have the same love for the sport as I still have now,” he said. “My teammates as well, they have been a huge part, it’s far more of a team reliant sport than many realise and most of my wins wouldn’t have happened without them,” he added.
With racing hopefully set to resume from August 1, Monk has a few goals in mind as he looks to further his career.
“I find myself paying it forward with EvoPro now, often working for others to take the win in my team, but I’m hoping to put myself in a position to get more personal results when the season resumes,” he said. “I’d also love to represent Australia at either the World Champs or Olympics after representing them in the U23 World and World University Champs. I’d love the chance to do it again in the Elite Men’s category,” he added.