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"As gushy American movies like to tell
us, there are many ways and many places to find commitment.
But practising flips on a trampoline at snowboard school,
1.5 seconds before a broken back, is probably not the best."
"There was a moment when (the class)
were uncertain who would go next," says Sydneysider Niki
Gudex. "So I went and it happened. I was like, "I'll
do a front flip, I'll do a back flip...' I wasn't sure what
I was going to do. I didn't make the decision. But I was young
and that's what you do when you're young. That's how I learnt
about commitment." So ended that chapter of Gudex's life:
training to be a pro snowboarder at 18, now a pro
mountain biker. "That put me off snowboarding a lot,"
she says reasonably.
One day, two years later, Gudex rode a mountain
bike home through the bush, went four hours out of her way
and discovered she loved it. Her first mountain bike race,
shortly after, was much harder work - but she still loved
it. "It was a 40-degree day, maybe more, and I didn't
take water because I didn't follow any sport besides skateboarding
and snowboarding, so it didn't even occur to me (the race)
would be so far in the bush. I started hallucinating, actually.
I saw this guy who'd crashed and pulled over to see if he
was OK. Then I realised it was a rock and some bunting used
to tape off the course." But Gudex improved. She's since
won a national cross-country and a downhill series title,
and is in full training for the Beijing Olympics.
Downhill mountain bike races can take as
little as three helter skelter minutes; cross country is six
laps of a circuit over a gruelling 90 minutes. Gudex is quick
to put right anyone who might think this is somehow a lesser
sport. "When I went to the downhill world championships
in 2001, the Australian team had a look at the course and
could barely walk down some sections, it was that steep and
demanding. One of the best riders in the world crashed and
was in a coma for a week.
"You've got to be a quick thinker,
to pick your line, find the right gear and choose the right
moment to attack. My (sporting) background helped my balance
and skill, but it’s also been a question of developing
strength and fitness that only comes with time. It can take
10 years to get there. My strengths are that I’m small
– 51 kg and 165 cm – but strong. “My first
goal is to qualify for the Olympics. You improve a lot in
your first year, then you plateau and you’ve got to keep
stepping it up. The Australian level and international level
are different things. I train on my bike anything between
15 and 25 hours a week.” The one thing you cannot do
in mountain biking is make a living. “There’s hardly
any prize money in it and that alone can’t keep you on
the bike. I do graphic design and modelling as well, so they
help me. The modelling started when I was 16, but because
I’m quite small it was never going to be a full-time
job. And since I started cycling I got muscular and you get
scars and injuries and things like that. Which is fine: I’d
prefer to be a mountain biker than a model anyway. You can
look at a hill and think, ‘I rode that.’”
With mountain biking a sport for late-starters
and slow-burners, Gudex plans on competing for at least another
10 years, and after that – who knows? “In the scheme
of women’s cross- country mountain biking I’m still
young. I don’t have a specific plan. Each day I just
do the best I can and things evolve – it’s that
way with my career as well.” She could end up an actor.
Some time ago an email dropped into her inbox requesting her
presence at a casting for a small role in the movie Fantastic
Four. “I had no experience, but it was really cool and
they were really nice. They said I was a bit green for that,
but would keep me in mind for other things.” But could
Gudex really commit to an acting career? “Maybe.”
Profile: Ivan Smith. Photographer: Dean Tirkot.
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