Bond plans to stay ahead of pack
"The idea is to compete at Tokyo and be competitive." Hamish Bond
There are days where Hamish Bond has his doubts. Doubts about whether swapping the boat for the bike really was the best idea.
‘‘It’s there. It’s something I haven’t ruled out,’’ he said of the temptation to return to rowing, a sport where he enjoyed a glittering career alongside Eric Murray.
At this stage the 32-year-old remains ‘‘100 per cent’’ committed to this ambitious journey which he hopes leads to the time trial at the 2020 Olympic Games.
‘‘Constantly you doubt whether this is achievable but on the flip side I’m prepared to do what I can with the knowledge I have and what the people around me have to put me in the best position possible to answer those questions,’’ he said.
This month’s Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast should provide Bond with some more answers.
As he has indicated a few times now, Bond cannot dream of becoming a world beater without beating the best in his own backyard first. Although he was strictly speaking about New Zealand the same applies to the Commonwealth Games, which is a second-tier competition as far as the sport’s best riders are concerned.
‘‘The idea is to compete at Tokyo and be competitive. I’m not going to be selected to compete unless I’m within a chance of being competitive, top-10 and looking for a medal. They’re just not going to select me.’’
Although he is the current national champion, Bond’s status as the country’s best is still up for debate. That is because Patrick Bevin and Jack Bauer, New Zealand’s best time trial riders on the World Tour, withdrew from the event due to injury and illness.
Because Bond is not contracted to a World Tour team and therefore is unable to compare himself to Bevin and Bauer on a regular basis, he requires a strong result at the Commonwealth Games to keep himself ahead of the competition. A medal would be a big boost.
‘‘If that’s the goal then winning nationals was a stepping stone because if you want to be one of the best in the world you’ve at least got to beat the best in your own country. I know the pros weren’t competing but that’s their decision and I can’t affect that,’’ he said.
‘‘I know it’s somewhat their offseason and they have different end goals and different opportunities. Paddy was quite keen to get compete and he got injured. But I can’t influence that.
‘‘Would they have beaten me? Who knows. Maybe they wouldn’t, maybe they would’ve. But they probably don’t know themselves so until that time comes when you’re side by side, I won the title and that’s all you can take away from that.’’
Adding another ‘‘layer and complexity’’ to his Commonwealth Games preparations, Bond became a father recently with his wife Lizzie giving birth to daughter Imogen last month.
He said it had been difficult spending so much time away from the family, leaving for Australia early in order compete at the Oceania championships, which he won. But they are travelling to the Gold Coast and will be in attendance when the time trial begins on April 10.
‘‘I’m lucky my wife is very supportive in what I do and she’s obviously taken a bit of maternity leave and is doing the lion’s share of the care at the moment,’’ he said.
‘‘I tried to get some condensed time at home before I came over here but it’s the reality of sport, people have been going on cricket tours, cycle tours etc for years and the nature of it is with family you have to be away from them, which is tough. But it’s an exciting new phase that we’re in and hopefully I can make it up.’’