By JARROD POTTER
CROSSING the line was the main battle to overcome for Berwick cyclist Sam de Riter.
De Riter, 26, could not believe her seventh place finish at the recently held Cycling Australia Road National Championships in Buninyong, considering a challenging last 12 months.
She battled bravely through a torturous 2014, spent mostly in rehabilitation rather than pumping the pedals, as she has struggled to rein in a number of medical set-backs.
Cycling was put on hold as de Riter underwent treatment for a bulging spinal disc, MRI and brain scans to determine the cause of leg numbness, which was eventually diagnosed as peripheral neuropathy – a condition which affects nerves and the messages her brain sends the rest of the body.
“Basically you just have to work through it, and I worked through it, and think I’m a much stronger person for it today,” de Riter said.
Despite the arduous rehabilitation just to get back on the bike – let alone compete at the elite level – de Riter does not regret the battles she’s gone through to return to competitive cycling as it has made her a better person.
“It’s been great – I guess a little bit was unexpected and a good surprise,” de Riter said.
“More than anything I was relieved to finish – seventh is amazing and any other year I think I would have been completely stoked.
“It sounds stupid that I wasn’t, but it was such a big lead up and I didn’t know that I’d make it so I was just relieved.”
2015 is panning out a lot better already for de Riter as High5 Dream Team took a chance and signed her up for this year’s National Road Series, despite an horrific 2014 off the bike – a signing that de Riter could not be more grateful to receive.
Her first race for High5 will be the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race starting 31 January.
