CRANKTASTIC

On the second day of team camp here in Italy, we got caught in a rainstorm during a brutal interval session. As we battled a cross-headwind, spraying rooster tails of red mud from our wheels, our legs and kit became heavy with wet and cold. Still, we pushed on through the blur of splattered glasses and cold spray, fighting the sour ache of loaded legs over rough road, chasing each other through mud, effort after effort. Boy it was ugly! And by the final set of efforts my legs felt even uglier. After, we filed into the entryway, dripping with grime, quiet and empty, gratefully accepting the hot tea prepared by our souigneur.

It ain’t pretty, but it is. This is the time when an exhausted, ugly pedal stroke isn’t just ugly: it’s perfect. It’s when success means failing over and over again, because pushing to failure is the whole point.

And that is why these are also the most beautiful kilometers of the year.

Let me finish. You got kicked in the heart. You got kicked in the head. You got kicked in the soul and in the spaces where disappointment hurts an athlete most. But you still have your legs. So kick back.

The switch flips. My sadness turns a corner and runs smack into self-reliance. No matter the mental obstacles, an athlete is still in control of her body, and that has to be enough. I do have my legs, and should the UCI ever rip them off, I’ve got plenty of duct tape. So, here and now, I’m kicking back.

On the bike today, I kicked out the last of the sadness. I kicked out the burden I cannot control. I kicked myself into a reestablished dream. I kicked out higher watt averages than I have all year. I knew nothing good would come from kicking the governing body of my sport. What’s done is done. So instead, I kicked where the sun don’t shine. And laughed while it cried.

So go ahead, UCI, take my points away. I’ll get more. And while you’re at it, take my disappointment, my heartache and my frustration. I don’t need those, either. Here are some other things you can take: take the high road when it comes to helping federations that are still growing in the sport of cycling. Take caution when taking away what an athlete’s earned. Take care of your cyclists, fight for them and not against.

CYCLING Australia has issued Chloe Hosking a punishment of sorts - a suspended $200 fine - for calling the head of the sport’s world governing body “a dick”.

***

“We took into account the fact that the women, and in particular Chloe, earn bugger all from the sport. And if in fact we imposed an immediate $200 fine that would be a very severe penalty.

“For the blokes a $200 fine would be a slap on the wrist. And if the guys earning the big bucks did something similar they could expect a much more savage outcome, but Chloe would be on 10,000Euros or something a year, she has to pay for all her own accommodation, all her own living expenses.

“Chloe was very contrite and we said to her ‘we respect your right to savagely criticise the attitude of the UCI and things that Pat McQuaid has done and said, but you can’t attack the messenger. You can attack the message, and we respect her right to do that, but calling someone a dick or a dickhead just doesn’t elevate the discussion at all and she knew that.’”