Roulston wins battle of heart and mind

It is still there in BikeNZ's Internet archives. You just have to Google his name and it leaps off the screen.

September 1, 2006, at 11.25am (and 44 seconds to be precise) the news was confirmed - Hayden Roulston had retired.

Forced from the saddle by a dodgy heart.

The medical term, Christchurch cardiologists told him, was arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, which left him short of breath and with an irregular heartbeat.

In a race the stress was potentially life threatening.

It was, as the cycling Internet chat rooms quickly pronounced, a tragic end to a talented career.

Only it wasn't. Like the belligerent rider he so often is, Roulston was far from done.

A chance meeting with a lady in a cafe turned him to the practice of reiki, a Japanese hands-on healing process, and Roulston is now a devout follower, convinced it saved his career.

"When I first tried it, I trained the next day and felt something different. I rang the lady to say if she was pulling my leg I wasn't interested because I was pretty depressed, but she said I should try it properly."

So he did and less than two months after he had retired Roulston defied medical advice to win his first national senior men's road title in Palmerston.

He won the Tour of Southland a few weeks later and in January this year won the Wellington-Wairarapa tour for the second time.

He is on track for a third title next year after last week's successful defence of the Tour of Southland.

Other items on the `To Do' list include qualifying for the Beijing Olympics and securing a professional contract in Europe.

It would be a return to the big time for Roulston, who was born in Ashburton but now lives in Christchurch, as he raced for Lance Armstrong's Discovery team in 2005 before shifting to the Health Net team in 2006.

For those few years Roulston seemed to have the cycling world at his feet. He had ridden for French team Cofidis and then Discovery, but he was also in danger of becoming New Zealand cycling's bad boy.

In 2005 he was convicted following a scuffle outside the Sail Bar in Timaru - a fight that came 16 months after he was found guilty of two charges of assault while celebrating his selection for the Athens Olympics.

The 2005 conviction was expected to torpedo his contract with Discovery but Roulston resigned from the team.

He says now he was depressed after spending six months in Belgium recovering from surgery to remove a cyst and that he had lost his passion to ride.

He also insists he is a new man.

"I'm a totally different person. I now see myself as totally above where I was with Discovery in terms of the mental side of things and the physical side. I'm a way better athlete."

He is also still incredibly strong.

In the hills behind Pahiatua in January Roulston eased his way to the leading pack on the third day of the Trust House tour. For a few kilometres he would stand on his pedals and look back at the others, challenging them to come with him.

None did. Fed up, Roulston rode off, hauling in the remaining 50km back to Masterton as he put time and distance between himself and the rest of the riders.

The race was effectively over thanks to a stunning display of strength that still has the tour's director, Jorge Sandoval, shaking his head.

"I've been doing the tour for 21 years and if you take out Brian Fowler, who was 15 years ago, Hayden would have to be one of the strongest riders I have seen."

National track coach Tim Caswell agrees, describing Roulston as "one of the most naturally gifted and strongest riders New Zealand has had".

"His control in winning the Tour of Southland, where he just took the yellow jersey and then used his team to protect it, it was the sort of control you see in the Tour de France but not often in New Zealand.

"Everybody recognises he is one of the feature riders of this era."

Roulston isn't sure where his strength comes from, but riding has always been in the family and it's been his passion since he was about 14.

"I used to ride BMX till I realised a friend was winning money riding track and I was just winning trophies. I made the switch because I needed money to buy wrestling cards."

Roulston knows he is strong but says he also now knows any true strength has to come from the mind. "It's the strength that comes from within that matters. If you haven't got that emotional side in check you will stumble."

HAYDEN ROULSTON 2005: Rode in Tour de France with Lance Armstrong's Discovery team 2006: January, won Wellington-Wairarapa Tour 2006 Commonwealth Games: Silver medal, 40km points race 2006: August, retired from cycling with heart complaint 2006: October, became national men's road champion 2006: November, won Tour of Southland 2007: January, won Wellington-Wairarapa Tour 2007: November, won Tour of Southland