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OPINION
Transcontinental Race: Helping a fallen comrade
Mon, Aug 25, 2014 11:36
44
There's been some interest in why I scratched from the Transcontinental race, when I could have quite clearly carried on going to Istanbul. I've wanted to write this for a few days, but felt that the time wasn't quite right.
I absolutely don't want the reader to think too much into this, but simply recognise that a great many people would do the exact same thing if placed in the same scenario. People are inherently good.
My racing season this year has featured just two events. You can see how well the first one went here, so it might be fairly obvious how keen I'd be to do well in the Transcontinental.
I missed its inaugural year as I had plans of riding across Northern Europe already, so this race was the culmination of 18 months of excitement.
As you've already seen here and here I was having a less than stellar race by the time I arrived in Italy. The Stelvio, via the Umbrail side, in conjunction with the Fluela Pass and some pretty unique routing had knacked this as a race for me, but as far as adventures go, I was still rocking it hard (I'm totally down with the kids, eh).
I'd just left Verona, home of the Montagues and Capulets, when I saw a message on Facebook saying that a racer had been hit by a car and was in need of assistance.
I didn't know who the racer was, number 97 Evangelos Voulgarakis. I didn't know if he spoke English and I didn't even know if I would do any good by visiting with him. But what I did know is how rubbish it is to wake from surgery and have nobody there for you. I knew how upset he would be about his race, and I think I knew that a friendly face would give him comfort at this time. There was no real decision to be made.
I tried to get the first train back, and after waiting for 45 minutes I was waved away dismissively by the guard who just told me there was no room for my bike. So I TT'd my way back to Verona, about 25 miles, to get to the hospital and my fallen comrade.
I arrived, and after saying the Italian for bicycle (bici - pronounced beetchy) I found my way to his room. As I thought, we didnt recognise each other, but no matter: the Transcontinental cap atop my head was enough to settle him and provide comfort.
It turned out he had been driven into by a car, smashing into his calf and breaking the fibula. There was blood and pain everywhere, and if truth be told, I really didn't know what I was doing there, but it felt like the right thing to be doing.
Sparing you salacious details, I stayed the next 24 hours, pretty much scuppering any chance of me being able to get to Istanbul, via any means, in time for my flight home at the end of the week. We talked when he was awake, telling stories of family and children, I passed messages from his wife and helped her to stay current as she was still stuck in Greece. He slept a lot. After surgery the doctors told me to keep him awake. Really doc, the guy has just ridden 1000km across Europe, all his body wants is sleep!
I watched as my 18 months slipped away, all the while helping this bike rider whose need, and the need of his family, was far greater than my own
I write this five days after the event, when I've been able to watch the other racers cross strange lands and have adventures of their own, and of course I'm a little downbeat about my curtailed race, but I know that next year will soon come around, and with it my chance to attempt this race.
At that moment, at that time, I made the absolute right decision, no doubts in my mind or heart about it.
That's one of the great things about the Transcontinental race, and which I believe sets in apart from other races. It's not just about digging deep into your hurt-locker like Kristoff or Pippa did to win. It's far more of a journey, an opportunity if you will, to see how you cope with trials and adversity. All the racers will face them. Some will crumble at the first challenge; others will face the head-on with a grin and look to overcome; others still will simply go through them, struggling against the weight of expectations of self and also family, slowly grinding out the miles.
Me? Well I was faced with an opportunity to help someone in need, to put aside my own desires and help someone who needed it more than I did. I can be a bit of a dick at time, I'm glad this wasn't one of them.
I hope that my sponsors won't be too disappointed in my lack of racing, but more importantly I hope that I can show a positive example to my kids, and show them what's truly important.
It turns out I'm kind of a big deal in the Greek brevet community right now, but as I said at the start, I believe most people would have done exactly the same.
So, what do you do when you leave an environment like Verona? Well of course you go back up to the Stelvio and ensure you're not disqualified from the race, until it's on your own terms!
I'll be back in 2015, permission from my wife to be granted in the future, I'll race, I'll suffer and if the need arises, I would do the same again.
Mike Hall has created a fantastic race, so much credit should go to him, and if you have even half a chance to enter, you should do so. Don't worry if you think you're not fit enough now, there's time for that. This race will stretch you both mentally and physically, and you certainly won't regret entering.
I want to say thanks to Tony and Dave here at Road.cc for allowing me to write about the race and my experience. It's been fun and certainly helped with my discipline. There's a couple more race related posts still left to come, especially for those who want to know how to get started in this madness.
Bon route!
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44 comments
This thread has been going for longer than the race did, and about 10 days longer than my chances
Tells you a lot about the internet really, doesn't it?!
Let me add my £0.02 to the steaming pile of opprobrium:
Joeinpoole, you exemplify the quintessential test of a forum like this in a free society: I find your posts on this topic distasteful to the point of needing a quick walk in the sunshine, however I defend to the death your right to make a complete and utter bell-end of yourself.
As many say, cycling is a broad church. There is no such thing as the 'cycling community'. There are as many groups, clubs, cliques, gatherings of opinion, schools of thinking and suchlike as there are people who ride. I no more wish to be lumped in with your line of thinking than to be hog-tied naked inside a dry burlap sack labelled 'IMMIGRANT' with a lobster/badger hybrid creature, in front of a team of Daily Mail readers armed with cans of petrol and a box of matches.
joeinpoole
martin
I've had enough of bullies like Joeinpoole destroying cycling forum's. I've seen one forum recently go down the pan by one or two similar individuals beating their drum in a similar way making others think it is the right behaviour until every post is filled with belligerant posts by people trying to outdo each others narcissism.
Unfortunately we can't "unlike" Joeinpoole or give him an E-Bay-style one star out of five, but we can show that we disagree with his behaviour without dropping to his lowest common denominator or feeding the troll he is.
I suggest everyone who agrees with me just posting "Joeinpoole I disagree with your constant negative posting, please go away"
This blog is not about you Joeinpoole; but would you like to share with us an activity you are particularly proud of? Obviously I promise we will be ever so nice and not say anything nasty
Oh please dont.
I have no interest in reading about the emotionally and intellectually stunted ramblings of a person with such a rigid perspective of gender stereotypes, spouting off about their vainglorious shitty 'achievements'.
History is full enough of such boring drivel.
Quite frankly, I wish his "type" would just fuck off and die out already.
Please dont feed the troll
Was Martin having a bit of a toot on his own trumpet? Probably. Was he painting a rosy picture of his motivations to cast himself in the best light? Maybe. Is Joe a total bell end? Definitely. But everyone else is guilty for breaking the first rule of the Interwebs. Never. Feed. The. Troll.
Joeinpoole wrote:
Jesus H Christ. You were never in 'a race'. It's quite clear you weren't even *remotely* equipped, in terms of experience and speed, to compete to win the event. You were simply on a long sportive ... and I do genuinely applaud your guts to even attempt it.
What irritates me is your faux claims to heroism ... 'I gave up my race to save a fellow competitor'. You didn't. It's like you've tried to draw a parallel with yachtsmen in the Southern Ocean, who give up their *genuine* chance of winning a prestigious event, to go to each other's aid because it really is a life-or-death situation when there's literally no other help available within 1000 miles.
Giving up your 'race' to hold the hand of a fellow 'competitor', who was already safely tucked up in hospital, and whose life wasn't in any danger is utter nonsense.
My impression is that you were under-prepared for the rigours of the event, realised that you couldn't make it and were then grateful to grasp a face-saving excuse to give up early. To then claim 'heroism' for doing so is really cheap IMHO.
Hmm... A race is a race even if you are loosing, or never had much chance of winning. Giving up when you are loosing to achieve another objective is laudable; especially if he did bring some assistance to another rider in hospital on his own. Though the article is a bit selfaggrandizing and you might wonder how motivated he would be to stop if he were that much nearer the front.
I guess this isn't 'Touching the Void' and without a full blown analysis of his angst of seeing his dream slipping away and distress of hearing about the crash its hard to judge motivation.
A 'bit' selfaggrandizing? A hell of a lot, I'd say. Yes, Joe sounds harsh, but come on, looks to me like Cox saw an opportunity to get out of the ride and have a story for his blog that would generate praise for his efforts. Looks like that's his purpose in all of his blogs, which I've just read for the first - and last - time.
The first Ascent of Mount Everest. An account by Sir Edmund Hillary (after the successful summit)
The rest of the evening will be blur of questions & hugs & drink & laughter & tears.
http://www.hstry.co/timelines/everest
and I can't really be bothered to look for more, but you get the idea.
I spent 3 hours on the 3rd climb, possibly not even mentioned in the blog, but you've a valid point, I was pretty slow.
As to why was crying, well the first time was the recognition of just how much I was struggling up the pass, and to some extent a feeling of letting down my wife as I wasn't progressing as fast as I had hoped. And the 2nd time I cried was because I was so ruddy happy with how my day was going, and a realisation that despite the fact I'd scratched from the race I was still up a hill in Italy having a blast of a time instead of simply bashing keys at my workstation wishing I was going out riding.....
There you have it, I cried in sadness/desperation and in sheer joy. Every rider in the race will have their own story to tell, however if road.cc was flooded with 90 posts every day I'm going to hazard a guess that readers might not like it. Sadly for you, I'm the one who was writing so you get to hear about my experience rather than anyone else's, who knows maybe next year it could be you writing, that would be awesome!
And I don't own a pair of testicles, I have them, but me and the bread-knife share everything 50/50!
So you signing up for next year then?
Yeah right! That says *everything* about you. Obviously you'll be getting sympathetic period-pains every month too. I'm actually quite surprised that you didn't use that as your excuse to quit on the exercise that you couldn't handle. Fortunately the Greek chappy saved you from having to use that one.
mostly we're learning about you in this thread, not martin. can't say i've much desire to visit poole right now.
Yeah right! That says *everything* about you. Obviously you'll be getting sympathetic period-pains every month too. I'm actually quite surprised that you didn't use that as your excuse to quit on the exercise that you couldn't handle. Fortunately the Greek chappy saved you from having to use that one.[/
The really nasty and unwarranted insults you are throwing at a man who has shown such compassion doing an unbelievably tough event he'd trained long and hard for, reveal far more about you than him. The need you demonstrate to belittle others' achievements with quite such vitriol suggests a degree of inadequacy and self loathing for which you should ask for help.
Jesus man, what is wrong with you?
Jesus man, what is wrong with you?
You really are something special, aren't you Joe? You make scum look good. Remember the old saying your mum taught you - if you can't say something nice, shut the fuck up.
Martin - thanks for sharing your experiences. It has helped me and many others get a feel for a ride that very few of us will ever even contemplate doing. Chapeau.
My nephew did the Transcontinental last year and was planning to do it this time around but had to pull out. I followed his progress closely last year and had a long talk with him about it after. I was impressed when he entered and even more so when he told me of his travails. I'm impressed by anyone who rides this race and completes it, having heard at first hand just how tough it is.
Dropping out of it to sit with a fallen rider shows a touch of humanity that we could all consider adopting in our lives. I doff my hat to the Martin Cox's courage in entering this race in the first place, and also to his sportsmanship in assisting someone who was injured.
I'll be looking forward to Martin Cox's posts next year and I hope my nephew will be able to compete against him.
Chapeau Martin- and well done on the measured response to joeinpoole's blithering idiocy! You did an incredible thing, it great to read these tales.
"oh Crap, Tony Martin's racing in the TT today, we might as well go home" Said no bike racer ever....
Blimey, are people on some post-bank holiday weekend come down?
Martin hasn't claimed to have saved the guys life, he went to offer support to another cyclist in the form of company and acting as a point of contact for Evangelos' family.
So what we have is this:
People involved in the race have commended Martin's actions.
Other racers have commended his actions.
Faceless people on the internet have slagged him off from a distance.
Is that a fair enough summation?
Some unpleasantly stinging criticisms here - and whatever your reasons for calling it a day, I think it admirable you dropped in on the chap who was hit by a car. I also think it admirable that you gutted out the Stelvio the way you did. I've found the tale pretty engrossing throughout, to be honest - and although I'd certainly be unlikely to ever be able to "race" this event, you've certainly made me consider participating in it in the future.
I hope you get senior management approval to give it another bash next year.
If I had come across a fellow rider on the side of the road I would have helped. But, would I have gone to that much trouble to look after the welfare of another rider in a hospital in the opposite direction? I seriously doubt it. I seriously doubt whether I would have even contemplated what you did because I am a selfish bastard. Rather, I would have been wallowing in self-pity for the way my race had panned out and certain that none of the setbacks was my fault either.
If it was me lying in the hospital bed, I probably wouldn't even thank you for what you did but you obviously made a big impression on this man and his family.
You raised the bar for human compassion to a level I should aspire to but probably never will and I applaud you and recognise you as a better member of the fraternity than most of the rest of us will ever be. I am sure you didn't write this epilogue to blow your own trumpet and that it was probably the hardest of your blogs to write. I am glad you did write it instead of leaving your readers wondering.
I am glad, too, that you will ride this event again and hope you will post more diary entries because they were all very entertaining.
Jesus H Christ. You were never in 'a race'. It's quite clear you weren't even *remotely* equipped, in terms of experience and speed, to compete to win the event. You were simply on a long sportive ... and I do genuinely applaud your guts to even attempt it.
What irritates me is your faux claims to heroism ... 'I gave up my race to save a fellow competitor'. You didn't. It's like you've tried to draw a parallel with yachtsmen in the Southern Ocean, who give up their *genuine* chance of winning a prestigious event, to go to each other's aid because it really is a life-or-death situation when there's literally no other help available within 1000 miles.
Giving up your 'race' to hold the hand of a fellow 'competitor', who was already safely tucked up in hospital, and whose life wasn't in any danger is utter nonsense.
My impression is that you were under-prepared for the rigours of the event, realised that you couldn't make it and were then grateful to grasp a face-saving excuse to give up early. To then claim 'heroism' for doing so is really cheap IMHO.
Hmm... A race is a race even if you are loosing, or never had much chance of winning. Giving up when you are loosing to achieve another objective is laudable; especially if he did bring some assistance to another rider in hospital on his own. Though the article is a bit selfaggrandizing and you might wonder how motivated he would be to stop if he were that much nearer the front.
I guess this isn't 'Touching the Void' and without a full blown analysis of his angst of seeing his dream slipping away and distress of hearing about the crash its hard to judge motivation.
I quite fancy a crack at this one year. I'm not going to beat the likes of kristof but it'd be a fantastic challenge. but reading your post, i obviously see now that i shouldn't bother just in case you're cross that i entered a race i couldn't win. does the same apply to the cat 4's up at odd down? because i'm not going to win that either. we should be told. is there somewhere we can list the races we're entering so that you can judge whether we're worthy of them or not? that would be helpful.
ok, here goes.....
Joe, apart from having completed 1800, 1000 and 500 mile rides I guess I wasn't remotely equipped to compete and win, but truth be told, 2nd place lost by nearly a DAY, 24 of our English hours, so some would say that he wasn't equipped either?
My intention was never to win, I was patently aware that wasn't going to happen, my intention was to have an adventure and hopefully get in around 10 days, I would have be as happy as a pig in poo had that happened, mindful that I had a plane to catch on the 13th day - so going across the adriatic had to be done in time to get to istanbul by whatever means (not as easy as the internet makes it look).
Now I'm not particularly aux faix with yachting rules etc, but I believe in that situation they have to assist, as both a rule of the game and of the seas? I may be wrong, but i don't think so. I wasn't compelled by any such ruling, I chose to return.
Correct again, he was already in a hospital bed, unable to communicate particularly well with the staff there and completely unable to communicate with his family, who were unable to get to him for 4 days. Having had surgery before, twice, knees, they're ok thanks for asking, I can assure you that waking up in 100% unfamiliar surroundings is pretty crap, so in that respect I think the hand-holding was welcomed by all party's.
As for you impression, well you may be correct. I have another blog post, entitled 'post-mortem' being written at the moment, and it makes your criticisms looks like the finger poking of a child in comparison.
And as for giving up early, you know I then rode back up italy, across switzerland and across france again, for fun...
Anywho, I look forward to seeing you on the start line next year, and if things don't go well for you, feel free to ride the Stelvio and do a litter-pick in the rain, it's an awesome experience for sure!
Chapeau, Mr Cox, chapeau. Not only for your stopping to provide support to a fellow human being, but also for your measured response to joeinpoole.
First time, I've ever felt compelled to reply to a post on road.cc.
Jesus H Christ indeed.
I'd love a crack at something like this, despite the fact that my chances of troubling the leaderboard would be zero. In my view part of the rationale of the event is for people to have a crack at it- to set the goal, get out there and have an adventure, when they maybe couldn't commit to going round the world.
He's not saying he saved the guy's life or anything. He's not making out he gave up a win. It's not like this is his only post about the race. He helped the guy out when he didn't have to.
You're being far too harsh.
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