Cyclist's Wife's POV

The UCI Track Cycling World Cup 2009 held in Melbourne recently ran for three long days and during those days, my heartbeats were inconsistent, always pounding hard, ensuring that I did everything right to help my husband win a medal while he does everything right to ensure that he too, does win something. I did not want to break the chain of him not winning anything in my presence. I have God to thank for that every time I watch him race in the entire series of competition, he would return home with a medal. If this is the case, I really have to travel the world with him instead of cheering him through the inaudible satellite off EuroSport TV channel.

Those few days felt really weird. I tried to maintain my cool very much in the midst of getting more work shifts at the restaurant. I was rushing with waking up, thawing meat for Josiah’s lunch then rushing off to work and not be late then go to the track during the break and return to work for the evening (dinner) shift till 11pm. It was tiring, it was exhilirating.

I did not want to put the pressure on him winning anything. I never tell him to bring home a medal because he has to and that I insist it. I tell him to do his best because he is capable and I know he is. If he wins something, it’s a bonus for us. For Josiah, there is always something to look forward to. He would be in his zone, in his very own element. There are his favourite songs on his Ipod while he trains for the race in the in-field, there’s his favourite attire and he must be in his cool Nike gear, Oakley sunglasses and Bont shoes. Those few days were special.

Even his diet was special. Unfortunately, I am unable to reveal what he ate. What I cooked for him was only 5% of the effort that made Josiah win the bronze in the keirin. If food recipe was the real key to his diet success, then Chris Hoy would have revealed in detail his food intake. All I know about Chris Hoy’s diet is that he takes alot of protein and egg whites.

The first day of the race (of three days) was the team sprint.

They didn’t make it to the finals but proved that they were capable of something to begin with. Josiah and his new team sprint mates – Mohd Edrus and Hafiz Sufian. It was like a warm-up day of what we were to expect next.

On the second day, it was a horrible day for me to begin with. I woke up, cooked Josiah’s special lunch and kissed him goodbye and left for work for 12-3pm shift. At 3pm, I tried to flag for a cab from my restaurant about 4km away from the velodrome. I did the jumping jacks, I waved persistently like a frantic mad woman, but no cabs would stop for me. If I were to take the tram, it would have still been a long walk. By the time I frantically flagged for a cab, I realised I was near the velodrome and continued walking anyway. Throughout the journey, I was bugged by 2 flies which kept buzzing me, and some which got stuck onto my Rimmel lipgloss. They were slow, irritating yet loud and were attracted to my sweat + Burberry Brit EDT. I was sweating, my feet was killing me. I was wearing out my black Nike shoes.

To perk myself up, I took some photos of the lovely vegetation I saw throughout my journey at the park through to the HiSense Arena. It was an hour-long walk.

When I reached, I was told I missed the entire qualifying round and it was ending. The next round was at night at 7pm. I could not reach my hubby. Thankfully Andrew updated me. I had been bugged by the flies for nothing and I should have checked earlier for the schedule. Again, I flagged for the cab to take me home. Even when I called 13 CABS, they did not even know where HiSense Arena was and told me to walk for quite a distance. By the time I walked, I almost reached Flinders Station / Federation Square. Finally managed to speak to my hubby on the phone and he was already home by then for a break before the final race at night. Still furious, I could not calm myself down and quickly excused myself and told him I would be home soon. I quickly ran to the cafe I despise most for its food – Time Out at Federation Square to have a nice glass of white wine to calm me down so I seem okay at home later. I did not want to upset the important man. Phew.

I got a cab out to the velodrome at night for the race. Sat with the Malaysian team – other cyclists who are also training under John Beasley in Melbourne.

This (below) was the view I had from this side of the track, where the starting point of the race is.

When I zoomed in all the way to the other end of the track (where you see the board with red wordings), 20x zoom from my new Canon Ixus 200 IS, I got a pretty good view of Josiah. For a 20x zoom, it is indeed a little grainy yet clear. The cameras only get better.

Josiah training on rollers.

Later on, there was a performance, bringing back the old bikes – the humble beginnings of cycling to begin with.

Everyone was busy concentrating on the race. They all had a role to play.

Even Andy from Fyxomatosis Hub (left) was around to photograph some really awesome photos.

Among which were:

How lovely, I could use this as my desktop wallpaper. I did not take a photo of him racing. I always feel that those events that I film / photograph, he does not make it through to the next round. I just wanted to concentrate on shouting and cheering for him, but apparently, he was not able to hear me at all. He was only able to hear the sound of the cycling wheels and the motor-pacing.

Andy also took this one of me filming / taking Josiah’s photo at the in-field in front of the podium.

Back to my photos from my very own Canon Ixus 200 IS.

It was lovely to see two flags raised at the world level.

Bergemann from Germany takes the gold with the two Malaysian ”midgets” (compared to Burger Man) beside him.

There’s just something about these dudes pursing their lips.

And I don’t know why.

He is indeed a Burger Man.

And the two little kids are ever as playful.

And they made Malaysia proud.

Hey Azizul, ko cakap bahasa Jepun buat pe? Blog readers aku dari Malaysia la…

Oh dear, no idea how shrieky (ewww!) my voice can be – I was practically shouting into the video camera. High definition video. You like?

This video is dedicated to the man from my previous workplace who told me that Malaysians cannot make it in the international arena because of their pint size when he talked to me about Beijing Olympics 2008 last year. Instead of giving me words of encouragement for my then-fiance….. Mr. C.F. told me that they cannot make it compared to the Westerners. Bergemann is in fact one of the many cyclists out there who are of that size. Azizulhasni Awang may be considered small, Josiah is slightly bigger (in between) and the many out there are large.

On the final day of the races, Josiah qualified a good personal timing and made 14th out of 16th (out of 34 riders) to make to first qualifying round for sprints and was taken out by some dude so Josiah was free for the night to watch his fellow international mates race.

The Ong brothers were around to watch and support and gosh, it’s been two years since I last saw this Canadian cyclist in person, Travis Smith.

Absolutely one of my favourite guys in the cycling field for his jovial personality.

The bone shakers were back on track again this time, I can never have enough of them. So cool!

Isn’t it amazing how technology evolves. Today there are so many different types of track cycling wheels, I’ve only started learning them. Long journey for me.

So, that night after Josiah received the bronze medal, I had to go out for my colleague’s farewell in the city so I decided to wear the medal out because I was so happy.

We went out in style – in Mauricio’s convertible.

It was Sheetal’s farewell. That’s budding singer Hannah Wood on the right.

Cookie was awesome. We had a good night of dancing. Josiah did not come with us because he was preparing for next day’s race.

The medal was a good pick-up line / reason and was also a good protection.

Guy: Hey, congratulations…whatever that medal’s for.
Me: Oh, thank you. It’s my husband’s win today at the Cycling World Cup at HiSense Arena.
Guy: Oh, awesome… *walks away*

I’m looking forward to the Revolution 5 next. Last year, Josiah won the Melbourne Cup on Wheels.

A bronze may be the beginning of a good comeback. Hello, Josiah Ng.

Date: Wed 16 December 2009
Venue: HiSense Arena

Quite sad that I do have quite a few friends in Melbourne, but it is not easy to gather supporters for this sport. It is also alot to do with timing, I understand. Plus, not everyone would want to pay something like AUD15-40 for a sport they don’t really understand and I am unable to bag free tickets for my friends. Australia (home ground) always wins because they have the support and cheers they need. Imagine if we have more voices to cheer on, or just the presence of us being a large group in the velodrome. How nice would it be.

Maybe my efforts on blogging or Facebook tags or FB notes aren’t enough. Anyhow, your “Go go go Jo!” or “You can do it, Josiah!” or “All the best to you, Josiah!” or ”Congrats Josiah” has been noted on our FB and websites. It does make a difference. Thank you all for being there for Josiah. It means alot to me.

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