“The great secret in life is to keep turning up.”

This is my "Coach".....so I can't show you his face. 

“Morning Robert!” ??

Every Christmas for over 30 years, Robert and I go out for a ride together. This year was no different.

Each year is the same routine. The phone call on Christmas Eve starts with, "Ho ho ho..." And then lots of familiar laughs. A quick catch up on current events, the world's problems solved and then a time and a meeting place are agreed.

Robert has had an enormous influence and taught me a great deal from an early age.

Robert and I first met at 60kph in the finishing straight of a very competitive club cycle race over three decades ago. I was 16, still a Junior and had progressed quickly through C and B Grades and found myself in the deep end that is A-grade. My ambition was clear: to become a European Pro.

Robert was a Veteran roadman and a formidable sprinter (he maintains he still is!)

Now, I can’t recall if I got in his way, or he got in mine (most likely the former). We tangled but managed to stay upright and crossed the finish line in fist holds, each issuing oaths about the quality of the others ancestry and state of mind.

Eventually, things cooled down, we made amends, and in (as I was to learn) his inimitable manner all was forgotten. Then he said something I have never forgotten:

"If only I could put an old head on young legs."

This provocation led to an invite to join his bunch the following morning.

We have been riding together ever since.

And I am the grateful recipient of a lifetime of wisdom from both on and off the bike.

Each day our dawn patrol bunch would roll out for 80 kilometres of training, and one morning I was late. In the days before mobile phones, the only option was to chase and catch on. After the session, Robert gave me the drum:

“The great secret in life, Andrew is to keep turning up. You're not the most gifted rider, and you know that. However, you are one of the most determined I have ever seen. But you need to show up."

"You see, if you turn up every day for training, you will turn up at the race. And there will come a weekend, you'll be entered in an Open, and you wake up in some country hotel the morning of the race to find it has rained all night and the forecast says more of the same. 

"But you show up at the start when 20% of the field stays in bed.

"Then the race starts and its wet and dangerous, but you show up when others decide to retire and go back to the team cars.

"Then a couple of guys go up the road, and you show up. You sprint across the gap to get into a break of five you would ordinarily have no business being in.

"Now you are in with a chance of winning a big race. You wait until the odds are on your side - a rising gradient in the road, or some confusion through a corner - and you sprint away a few kilometres from the line, and they never see you again.

"The mindset of turning up when you don't want to, or when it's hard or when it hurts, is the most valuable trait in the toughest of sports. 

"Be clear: no one else is responsible for your effort except you. You came into this world by yourself, and by God, you are leaving it solo. Whatever you get out will be determined by the consistency of effort you put in. There are no shortcuts."

Robert is now in his 70s. He has been riding for over 60 years, still trains every day and races on weekends. 

You wouldn't recognise him, but he has trained cyclists who have gone onto State, National and World Championships as well as Olympic Games.

Everyone should have the good fortune to have a "Coach" to guide them at least some of the way.

Robert remains a wonderful inspiration to me and a significant figure in my life.

And he has never stopped believing in the power of consistency. 

"Putting in every day", he says, "is the great leveller. There is no substitute for working on your craft."

Thank you Robert for your generosity of spirit and wisdom.

With my gratitude,

Andrew J. Kelly