Give it a Go

I grew up in England on the east coast in a small town called Felixstowe in Suffolk. It wasn’t super sporty, but my parents liked hiking, and my dad enjoyed bike touring. I’d often go over to Holland or Belgium or Germany with school trips and I’d jump on those. But mostly it was just playing out. You’d go and build camps, climb trees, run around with your mates and ride your bikes. There was a field behind our house, and because it was a cul-de-sac you could just roam without worrying about cars. That was kind of special.

There wasn’t any formal training early on. I got to uni and just wanted a way to keep fit, so I put some trainers on one day and went out for a run. I built it up from there and realized I really enjoyed it. I did some rowing as well, but I always had this desire to try a triathlon. I don’t even know where that came from. I remember reading something about it, then doing the London Triathlon as part of a team through work, and it was just so exciting. I joined a tri club, got a bike, and started entering sprint events. It kind of just grew from there.

I’ve always had that pull to see what I’m capable of and to try new challenges. I think there’s just something about that feeling of being in motion, being in tune with everything around you, that you don’t really get anywhere else.

Choosing the Right Places

I moved to New Zealand when I was 30. I think it was always a dream, and that’s kind of one of the reasons I ended up working in IT because it’s very portable and you can go anywhere. The lure of the landscapes and the adventure possibilities that you could have in New Zealand was just amazing, and it definitely lived up to that. I’ve probably ridden more or less every long-distance bike path and bike trail in New Zealand over the course of about 17 years.

Wellington was good for IT jobs, but I guess the weather got the better of me eventually. It was nice to move somewhere a bit warmer and sunnier, but with still good jobs and landscapes and things around. Living in Papamoa Beach near Rotorua was just awesome because you could surf ski in the morning with the surf life saving club and then have a coffee and go to the trails and spend the rest of the day there. That was a dream Sunday. It doesn’t really get much better than that.

I ended up having a remote job in Sydney that I did from New Zealand, which was brilliant. I sort of achieved everything I wanted in life for a brief period of time, but then that got restructured. So I just made a call to come to Australia just for better job opportunities for a period of time, and chose Perth because it just sort of has everything. It’s got good jobs. It’s got a good lifestyle. I’ve ended up buying a place next to the beach, which there’s no way you can do that in Sydney really.

Recreating My Life

You’ve got the southwest on your doorstep. It’s just three hours down the road and you’re in Dunsborough. You’ve got Nannup. You’ve got Margaret River. You’ve got Busselton. You’ve got that whole playground to go and ride in. I’ve done things like Cape to Cape mountain bike events, the Seven Gravel Race, and Tour of Margaret River over the last few years. There’s just heaps to do.

There are also plenty of adventures you can have from Perth. I kind of just ended up recreating my life here. I joined the surf life saving club because I live next door to one, joined the tri club, joined a swim squad, and joined a cycling club. I can ride to work and it’s basically a bike path the whole way and I just cut through one suburb and go around the edge of Kings Park. It’s just beautiful.

You start seeing the same people and you start chatting. Something I did that made a difference as well is I started my own running group. We meet at the Orange Box Cafe at Leighton Beach at 6am on Wednesdays, run for 60-90 mins and then we have coffee afterwards. That’s been really nice in terms of feeling a sense of community and connection.

In the Moment

There’s definitely something meditative about being on your bike on a trail, because especially if it’s a little bit technical, you really do have to be in the moment. You’re not thinking about problems in the week. You’re just thinking about how you’re going to take this corner, and that in itself frees your mind up. That’s a very enjoyable experience.

It’s all self-motivated really. I’ve probably got the personality where I want to see what I’m capable of and push myself and try new challenges and things like that. That’s probably why I love being outside and moving my body, preferably with other people.

Swimming’s the same, especially if you’re in the water around here. When you’ve got crystal clear water, it’s turquoise, you’re looking down at white sand, you turn your head, and see a beautiful blue sky. There’s something magical about that.