Hello again my dear reader,
I apologize for my long absence once again. Let’s quickly catch up with what has been keeping me so occupied since the last time I appeared in your inbox (if you have subscribed to my blog) or on your screen.
Well, our last conversation (my last blog) should give you a clue… Remember last time I told you I had just joined the virtual world of Zwift? Well, that’s where you will find me mostly these days. I have really found my stride in the program and am enjoying it immensely. I am also sweating more than I ever had. In Zwift we have these things called sweat drops. It is like virtual currency and we earn them by (you guessed it!) working (sweating) our butts off by cycling. We can use them to upgrade our kits, get new shoes, upgrade our bikes and so on within the virtual world. With it being summer right now I am definitely earning those sweat drops both in the virtual world and in the real world!
So why do I enjoy Zwift so much? Well, the first thing I discovered was that Zwift has several virtual ‘worlds’ that one can ride in and they are on a rotational basis. On any given day you have the choice of three ‘worlds’ that one can cycle in. Each of those ‘worlds’ have several routes you can choose from and each of those have unique elements, like hills of different elevations, flat sections, and the routes have different distances. So, although I am sitting in my lounge each time, I feel like I am riding along different roads almost every day. My mother often starts a conversation with ‘So, where did you ride today?’ and I reply ‘Oh France’ or ‘New York’ or wherever I rode last. LOL
The next best thing I really love about Zwift is that I am not only part of a virtual community but that it is expanding my life in the real world. Let me explain. One of the elements of Zwift is that you can do group rides with other people that you know or ones that you don’t know. I have connected with some para cyclists from the USA (some of whom I have met at World Cups and World Champs and others whom I haven’t met in the real world yet) and we ride together twice a week on Zwift. We also open Zoom or Discord and we video chat while we cycle. I am with them on our videos in their homes and our Avatars are companions at the same time on the tracks/routes as we cycle. At a time when we are longing for interaction because we have to social distance and can’t travel, being able to connect and train with like-minded athletes is a great motivator, supportive, and fun. The downside is that the rides are at 6pm (because of being in different time zones) and I at times don’t feel like starting to gear up at a time when I usually start relaxing but the company always gets me on my bike.
Another thing that keeps me returning to Zwift is the different workouts that one can do on the program. Zwift comes with what feels to me (at this stage, as I am just exploring this part of the program now) like hundreds of different workouts. On my previous indoor bike I always had to be counting which interval I was doing and too often I would sit up and ask myself was that that fourth or fifth interval or hill (whichever I was doing that day). Or I would get so into the effort that I would lose the time. Now with Zwift I can either choose a preprogramed workout or I can design my own. The pre-programmed workouts are also suited to the watts that I can put out and as I improve over time, the watts I need to put out increases. It feels like I have my own coach inside my computer. And to really spice my life up, I can use different workouts with different courses/tracks/routes and I can even do a workout while doing a group ride (Something I only started doing at the end of Feb/ beginning of March).
But I think the thing that is motivating me just as much is the difference it is making in the real world. For years I have been training on just two routes around Stellenbosch because of the fact that I need a quiet road with less traffic. One of these routes has a long and fairly steep hill and for years I have either really slowed down on a section of the hill or I have come to a stop before getting going again. This year I am PUMPING all the way to the top! No longer is my training partner doing circles around the roundabout waiting for me to climb, but we are at times side by side up the hill! The improvement out on the road is evident to see, and as I head to SA Champs later this month, I am really hoping that I can achieve my best races yet.
For the last few months I have been using a special grant I received from CAF Cycling to pay for my monthly subscription of Zwift but now that I have used that money, I am hoping to find a sponsor that will pay the $15 a month.
The fun I have had in the virtual world of Zwift has been making up for a lot of stress that I’ve had in the real world. Being an athlete during the pandemic hasn’t been fun, and has caused a lot of sleepless nights. After working for so long and making many sacrifices along the way, to find yourself being unable to travel to competitions that you need to and want to attend is at times a very bitter pill to swallow. After the Games were postponed 12 months ago, we were hopeful that we could perhaps return to some sort of competition this year. The South African paracycling team for the Paralympic games has not been selected, and with only two slots for men and one slot for women in the team, the races to prove oneself should truly be on! And yet as the clock ticks down to the 24th August we find ourselves stranded, banned from traveling to countries where vital competitions are been held. Our first stop was to be a brand new event on the paracycling calendar and one that I have eyed for months: the Flanders Classics are well known by cyclists around the world. Held in Belgium each year, at the beginning of Spring, these stand-alone, point A to point B races raced over normal and cobbled roads are icons in the racing calendar. Now in 2021, a week before our first World Cup (also in Belgium), us para cyclists were getting our first Flanders Classic! I was really looking forward to taking part in such a race. The second stop was going to be Ostend. Anet and I first went to Ostend in 2018 and we had a fantastic time! The time trial against the hectic North Sea wind was a really hard one, but the road race was a route I really enjoyed. We were going to have the World Champs in Ostend last year (which never happened due to Covid) were really hoping that we could return there this year. Anet had already pencilled her name in as my helper for Belgium just because be able to return to Ostend. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions and a lack of funding Belgium will not happen for us this year. Here is a few pics of us in Ostend in 2019.
The second stop was to be Italy for another World Cup before going into the unknown (for me) and visiting Portugal for the World Champs. It would be a new country on my list. The dream of Portugal is still hanging by a thread. At present only professional sportsmen are allowed into the country and we are hoping that that will get us in. But getting in is not the only problem. I, and a few other para-cyclists from SA, are in desperate need of funding. If we still need to quarantine upon entering Portugal in June, costs will be huge, and so far we have no funding from our country and I have had no big donations this year thus far for my cycling. Both the World Cups and World Champs are still qualifying competitions for the Paralympics in August so, while I don’t like uncertainty, it seems like I will have to deal with it for a few more months. I am comforted a bit however with the knowledge that I am not the only athlete who will not be attending competitions this year, as I know of at least one other country that are also missing out on all the above-mentioned races.
For now I will focus on SA Champs on the 18th – 21st March in Swellendam and working hard in both the virtual and real worlds.
If anyone wants to make a contribution to my cycling please go to https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/toni-mould or contact me via email or social media.
Thanks for reading my blog to the end! Till next time -
Here's a video of me cycling on Zwift with my USA friends.
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