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You may not have heard of Niki Gudex, but
in the world of mountain biking, she’s hot. In the US,
where the sport has a high profile, she’s in demand for
interviews, fashion shoots, sponsorships and autographs. She
turned down Playboy, but she’s delighted to talk with
First. Constant demand for information has led her to create
her own website, www.nikigudex.com. So far, she still manages
to answer every fan email personally, but her growing profile
and her focus on the 2006 Commonwealth Games may make that
difficult.
How does a petite
Sydney girl get involved in cross-country mountain biking?
“I was snowboarding for nine years” she explains, “and I moved to Sweden to go to a snowboard
school. Three quarters of the way through the year
there I broke my back and I had a year off recovering. I went
back to snowboarding but I wasn’t progressing.”
One day at the snow with friends, she borrowed a friend’s
bike to go for a quick ride. “I got a bit lost and rode
back through the bush,” she laughs. “Then the pedal
broke, so I went into a bike shop to get it fixed and the
guy asked me if I raced, and I thought that sounded good,
so I just bought a bike and entered a race. I started in the
deep end and that’s how I’ve been going along. It
started by accident but I’m so glad it did because it’s
just changed my life.” That’s the thing about Gudex.
She never thinks she can’t do something. She just has
a go and so far, she has succeeded beyond her dreams.
Ticket to ride
She immediately started competing and rose to number one in
women’s downhill racing. She needed a new challenge.
“Two years ago I changed to cross-country. So I’ve
been focussing on cross-country internationally, but I still
race downhill, just for fun and because it’s relaxing.
I prefer to be known for mountain biking rather than specifically
for cross-country or downhill, because mountain biking is
such an open and friendly sport. It’s nice to mix it
up. But cross-country is an event at the Olympics and Commonwealth
Games.” It’s also one of the few sports where athletes
can improve with age. While at 26 she may seem old compared
with the 15 year old swimmers rising through the ranks, as
Gudex notes, “Women peak at about 35 for cross-country
so I’ve got plenty of time ahead of me.”
While the sport does not yet have the profile
of sports like swimming or tennis, the competition is fierce.
In order to compete on a world level, Gudex spends about six
months of the year living out of a suitcase. “ In 2005
I’ll have the National Championships and the Oceania
Championships, then head to America in April for the National
American series, some of the world cups, world championships
and then start preparing for the Commonwealth Games.”
Ask her how long she has until the Commonwealth Games and
her answer is instant. “67 weekends!” she exclaims,
laughing. “I know it’s going to go by so quickly.
I really wanted to go to Athens, but in the end, I hadn’t
been doing cross-country for that long; I was second in line
and they only sent one person.”
Olympic Hopes
She’ll be ready for Beijing – just about hitting
her peak, and intends to go the Olympics after that, too.
“At the moment I’m just concentrating on keeping
my health. It’s so hard when you’re competing overseas,
just living in hotels out of suitcases. It’s been really
good to be back home.” The race circuit is akin to touring
with a band. “Usually, you’ll practice the course
on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday , then race on Sunday;
then Monday you drive or fly to the next one. And that’s
how your weeks go in the season. Originally I hoped to keep
competing in downhill races at the same time, but it’s
just impossible – with the time and the physical demands.
A race goes for around 2 hours 15 to 2 and a half hours. The
terrain is challenging.” Gudex rises to the topic with
enthusiasm. “It’s really rewarding because it’s
so gruelling!” she says, adding, “Lance Armstrong
who is such an amazing road rider, winning the Tour de France
like six times; he’s done some mountain biking and said
it’s really taxing – there’s no one to control
the race or draft…it’s a two hour sprint across
difficult terrain.” But Gudex relishes the difficult
courses: “I think the rocks and the hard terrain make
it more fun. I wouldn’t enjoy just road racing so much.”
Gudex trains around two to three hours a
day, under the supervision of her new coach, James Hererra.
Their training program is unusual: he is based in the US and
overseas her training from there. Gudex explains the logistics
of such remote supervision:. “I’ve got special cranks
on my bike which measure the watts I’m putting out and
I can download the data and he’ll know everything –
down to how many traffic lights I stopped at. Then he can
really monitor my progress and fine tune my training. We speak
daily. In the past I was just given a program on a six-week
basis, which was far less flexible.”
For an elite athlete, Gudex is surprisingly
petite, but her strength is astonishing. Perhaps, her secret
is chocolate – which seems to work for the Swiss riders
too. “I just eat whole foods; natural foods,” she
says. “I like chocolate and cheese, but I don’t
think there’s much of a problem with these. For the past
five weeks I’ve been eating Swiss chocolate every day!
Spending time with the European riders was really good to
see they’ve got a really natural approach. I stay away
from too much sugar, drink plenty of water, get lots of sleep,
but I don’t stress too much.”
Blooming Opportunities
Constant training and touring make it difficult to hold a
full time job. Luckily Oakley offered to take her on “head-to-toe”:
they supply all her riding gear, plus casual gear and of course,
sunglasses. “The travelling is a major expense, plus
the bikes and staying overseas, but it’s not a sport
you’d do for the money, it’s very much a love sport,”
she explains. “Oakley have been really good. I did a
prescription eyewear campaign; they’ve flown me to the
States for shoots and they’re always there at the races
supporting you; it feels like family.”
She also models occasionally and puts her
university degree in graphic design to good use, designing
posters and even a bag for Oakley. Other careers may beckon.
If she ever tires of racing, there’s every possibility
that she could be coming to a theatre near you. Last time
she was in the US, she was approached by 20th Century Fox
to audition for a major film (Marvel comic "Fantastic
Four"). “I had no acting experience, but it was
really good fun and they were really cool. And so I’ve
started taking some acting classes here. I think that’s
what you’ve got to do – just keep trying new things
and taking opportunities as they come. It would be nice to
get into some TV stuff that would complement my racing. I’d
love to work on a sports, lifestyle or kids show … maybe
one day …”
Profile: Kirsty Munro. Photographer: Steven
Chee.
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