Scary at first, ultimately enjoyable
Diane Lindsay admits the ILT Velodrome can be an imposing place for the uninitiated. Nathan Burdon talks to the Corporate Pursuit rookie.
Invercargill grandmother of two Diane Lindsay is a member of the Waihopai Health Centre, which will be competing in the event for the first time.
“It was really scary, that first night walking into the velodrome and there’s people away up high on the boards going flat out and you just think ‘oh my goodness, what have we let ourselves into’.” Lindsay recalled.
“We are all new to it. None of us had been around the velodrome before this so we were a bit apprehensive, but our coach is Sier Vermunt and he’s very good – he had us all going up around the boards on the very first night so you can imagine how excited we all were going home that night.
“It was really scary. Most of us have had a bike when we were at school or have done some biking but none of us had done a lot of biking. Sitting on there with the fixed wheel was really scary.”
As scary as it’s been, that’s also been part of the fun.
“It was a matter of us pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, us nanas. It’s been really good for us. We’ve got some wonderful support, we’ve got some wonderful cheerleaders from the whole building. They have even been to some of our practices, they are getting right into it. I think we would be better off racing than cheerleading from the look of some of their outfits.
“We are all novice riders – Joss and Hilary from Kieran O’Neil Orthodontics, Kath from the pharmacy and Matthew from the Waihopai Health Centre – so we are representing the whole building.
“We’ll be having a lot of fun, that’s the main thing.”
“I think everyone should have a go at it because it’s an amazing buzz. It’s an amazing facility and I’ve been telling my husband to get out there and have a go. It’s amazing how good you feel when you accomplish something that you’ve never done before”.
For more on the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit click here.