This is a picture I could never do justice to but it's begging out to be painted and hopefully John Flynn (photographer) and all at Cyclingnews.com will allow me to post it here.Seeing the thumbnail of this photo on the www.cyclingnews.com website intrigued me. It's everything I love about cycling, I have raced 12 hr tt's and I am a member of the UMCA.
Not that I can claim the strength, endurance and sheer courage of Marc Herremans.
It's the first time I have heard of Mr Herremans, he is an ironman triathlete and was a very accomplished able bodied competitor.
The accident which left Herremans paralysed from the chest down happened just after his impressive sixth place debut at the Ford Ironman World Championship. It happened, on a training ride in Lanzarote. “I was pretty tired while riding down mount Haria. For a second I was not concentrating and didn’t make a turn. I fell off the road and hit with my back a rock.”Now he is breaking all the wheelchair/handcycle records he can.
It took him only four days before he started to train with weights in the hospital bed, and eight months later he was at the starting line in Hawaii as a wheelchair athlete. “I never had moments after the accident, where I didn’t want to live anymore. Life is too short; you have to move on. www.ironmanalive.com
The photograph is from stage 7 of the Australian 10 stage MTB Crocodile trophy. The pro athletes are finishing stages in an average 5 hours, Marc finished 5 hours later - lets not forget this is mtb - his machine must weigh a tonne, it's across the australian desert and apparently the only thing that may stop him finishing are the race doctors due to an impact wound sustained due to so many hours sitting. Best of luck and lets face it - sheer guts to Marc.
