Rob Matthews - riding for glory

BY JOSH REICH

Among the hundreds of riders taking part in this week's New Zealand national club road cycling championships in the Nelson region is one who hopes it will be a step on the way to adding to his already impressive haul of Olympic glory.

Rob Matthews became a New Zealand resident in 2007 after a stellar running career in which he won 13 Olympic medals, including eight gold, for Britain.

If that were not impressive enough, consider the fact that he has not seen a thing since he was 20, not that Matthews thinks like that.

"I do say blindness has enriched my life, and it has," he said by phone from his Auckland home, which he shares with his Kiwi wife, Sarah Kerr, their two-year-old son, Thomas, and guide dog, Joy.

Matthews, now 48, inherited the congenital eye condition Retinitis pigmentosa from his father. The disease, which causes retinal degeneration, caused his sight to deteriorate throughout his teenage years, and there is a chance that it could be passed on to his son.

About the same time that he began to lose his sight, he discovered a love of running, so with the help of guides to whom he was connected with a small piece of rope, he went on to dominate the visually impaired running scene for two decades.

In total, he won 29 international gold medals and set 22 world records, including records for the 800-metre and 1500m races, which still stand.

Not content to satisfy himself on the track, he has also tried his hand at cross-country skiing, motor racing, golf, football and cricket.

After retiring from competitive running earlier this year, he won his first medal for New Zealand after claiming the silver at the World Paralympic Triathlon Championships on the Gold Coast.

Swimming proved a particular challenge for Matthews who had previously just "splashed up and down a few lengths", he says.

"I do tend to panic a little bit in the first 100 or 200 strokes to get the breathing right, and obviously not being able to hear anything because you've got your ears underwater, and that's the main thing I depend on."

He is connected to a guide with a bicycle inner tube.

Now, he is trying his hand at cycling, which he does with a partner on a tandem bike.

"It's amazing how many people say, `Who goes on the front?"' he laughs.

"Depending on who it is, I often say I go on the front, but people aren't fooled for long."

He will be taking part in the 25-kilometre time trial tomorrow in the paracyclist category with his partner, Carlos Nichols, where despite only competing in a couple of previous events, he hopes to finish in under 40 minutes.

"I've never trained specifically for cycling, I'm just starting to do that now."

Despite being a newcomer to competitive cycling, he has already set himself some lofty goals, culminating in the London 2012 Olympic Games, something that would be a great experience for the transplanted Englishman.

"I am English – it's my heritage and everything – but I'm competing for New Zealand and I'll certainly be going 110 per cent to win the medal for New Zealand."

Matthews, like any athlete, is driven to better himself by whatever challenge he sets himself.

That's not to say there haven't been frustrations.

"I was asked what the most frustrating thing about being blind was, and I guess the most obvious answer is not being able to see things.

"Things like not being able to see girls walking along the street and simple things like that, and not being able to go out for a run whenever I like, wherever I like – those are the frustrating things.

"But there is no way that I would have achieved the things I have achieved if I had been sighted."

A record 835 riders have entered the club championships, which run from tomorrow to Saturday.

The time trials will be held tomorrow and the various road races will take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Based at the Moutere Hills Community Centre, the event is being hosted by the Star and Garter Wheelers.

- © Fairfax NZ News