Once I had finally found the flag and finished the race my faithful team were standing there ready to receive their cyclist. I think Gill might have been the first to greet me (I cannot remember who was the first) but the first thing I remember was her voice which was thick with emotion. Both her and Ricky told me that I couldn’t go straight to the team area but that I had to go through the official finish and media area. I did not want to go there as I needed to get off my trike urgently, but they said I had to, so Pieter and Ricky pushed my trike. Somewhere along the route Gill and Dr Carolette asked me if I was ok and all I said was no. Every part of me was wet, sore and in spasm. The team tried to cover me up with towels and the umbrella. As soon as I stopped racing my body seized up and all I wanted to do in the entire world was to get off my trike! As we negotiated the barriers I could not even steer my handle bars.
Somewhere during this time Gill confirmed my suspicions about Carol and told me that she had crashed. I had one more thing to do before my body truly crashed. As we passed the Australian team area I took control of the trike and stopped our procession. We managed to enquire about Carol and heard that she was injured and had been taken to hospital but they were confident that she would be ok. Apart from the fact that we are friends and she had been coaching me, you will often find in para sports that we can be competitors on the field of play, but as soon as competition is over we are a community that cares for and support each other – one of the things I enjoy most about being a para athlete.
With that done, we proceeded to our team area with Gill on my one side and Pieter, our mechanic, steering and moving the trike. As we entered our garage I had another surprise. Pieter, my teammate, and his helper, Walter, had come out all the way just to support me and watch my race. For those who don’t know Pieter he is a quadriplegic and he had just raced both the previous two days! For him to come out with the bus and sit in the miserable conditions and watch me come by twice in an hour was something that touched me deeply – not to mention that he was now a Paralympic gold medalist who had been waiting for me to finish my race. What a champion!
Finally it was time to get off my trike. Gill came closer to assist me but I said I needed at least two people because I didn’t think I could stand. The team placed the wheelchair as close to the trike as possible and somehow got my broken body into the wheelchair. The first plan was to go upstairs where we had done my first massage of the day but when Walter found an office-like area that was closest to where we were, everyone just decided that that would do. Siya set up his massage bed and then left the room to allow Gill and Carolette to assist me. The first task was to strip off my tight-fitting, soaked wet racing kit from my rigid, spastic and unco-operative limbs . Once I was on the bed and covered with towels and my new Tokyo duvet, Siya was allowed back. At this point I was so sore everywhere and so near tears because of the pain that everybody was quite concerned. Carolette asked me where Siya should start but I replied ‘I don’t know’ because everywhere was painful, so he could start anywhere.
Siya started massaging my back but as soon as he started my legs went into spasm, so then Carolette and Gill each started on one of my legs just till Siya could take over. Eventually my body started to calm down and Gill could go and fetch my recovery drink. It was at this point that she sat down below the table and fed my long bike straw through the hole in the massage table and the tension in the room was broken. Giggles erupted first from me (just because her idea was so funny but really good) and then slowly rippled through the others. Carolette then whipped out her phone and started playing some up-beat music and soon we all found our singing voices – the party had begun. I remember at some point Walter came in with some hot tea in an effort to warm me up from the inside. Eventually after about 30 to 40 minutes my body was once again under my own control. We then discovered that once again we were running late and that if we did not kick up into a higher gear we would miss the last bus and taxi to our respective accommodations. Once again it was the ladies who dressed me in dry clothes, wrapped me in my duvet and bundled me into my wheelchair. After a quick goodbye to Carolette and Siya who were catching a taxi for the 2 hour ride back to Tokyo (we knew we would not be seeing them again on this trip), the four of us headed for the last bus of the day. We had to leave our team car at the venue.
Upon arrival at the hotel we knew that our day was not over! Unfortunately, due to the fact that athletes and their teams had to leave within 48 hours of completing their races, the SA paracycling team were departing our hotel at 1 am the next morning because the men had completed their races the day before. After warming up in the bath, Gill and I went down for our last meal and upon leaving, we saw some of the Australian team having dinner. We cautiously approached them, knowing their Covid restrictions, but we were welcomed over. Amongst others at the table was none other than my new friend Stuart Jones ! We had a short chat and a laugh, asked if there was an update about Carol and swopped our remaining team pins for a selection of Australian ones.
Back in our rooms it was time to pack and get ready for the 39-hour journey home. Gill instructed me to get into bed so my body could at least relax for a few hours before we set off again, while she packed up our things. A bit later, while she was out of our room sorting out our Covid paperwork, so that we could get out of Japan, I attempted to get up and do some packing. It wasn’t long, and without having made much of a contribution, that instead of packing I was lying flat on the floor next to my suitcase!! I decided that I would be making more of a contribution resting in bed for the long trip home than messing up my suitcase.
Neither Gill nor I got any sleep that night and it would be almost 48 hours later before we crawled into our beds in my Stellenbosch flat.
That's it for now folks. I realize I haven't written about my time trial but the road race is the one that stuck out for me. Maybe one day I will have time to write about that.