During Father’s Day yesterday, former national cyclist Alanzo Greaves posted photos on Instagram of his family and his bike, the loves of his life.
The champion rider, who has been off the saddle due to a suspension and an injury, has been reminiscing of his past glories and perhaps his posts hinted at a comeback?
If the father of three, (Trinity, Njisane and Kateri) had a Father’s Day wish, it is to return to the saddle.
Stabroek Sport spoke with the former ace rider yesterday and got some insight on his thought process.
“The past year or so since the accident, I really missed cycling. I miss the sport a lot and I think about it every single day,” said Greaves.
“Although my knee cannot bend how it used to, I hope in the future it will since I continue to do therapy so I can get it to bend again how it used to.”
Greaves suffered a devastating left knee injury last April in a horrific vehicular accident. In the aftermath of the injury, the 31 year-old had been under the knife several times in an effort to enable his knee to bend.
He conceded that “It would not bend fully like how it was before the accident but the doctors said it would be able to bend to at least ride a bike, so I can’t wait for that moment to happen.”
Reminiscing on his past successes in the sport, Greaves, a multiple road race champion who represented Guyana at Commonwealth Games in India and Scotland had this to say.
“Being a national rider and representing Guyana was a very good feeling. It was the best time of my life, I miss it quite a lot. I sit and remember and it feels like it was just yesterday.”
During his competitive career which spawned in excess of 15 years, Greaves recorded in excess of 100 race wins in and out of the 592. His marquee wins included national titles, the grueling three and five-stage events, the Cheddi Jagan Memorial event, the Victor Macedo race etc. He has ridden for local clubs, Carlton Wheelers and Roraima Bikers along with Team Mengoni and LR Cycling, clubs based in the USA.
In one dominant season at his peak, he won 23 races, the most ever by a local rider.
Greaves, who was slapped with a four-year ban in 2016 for having elevated levels of testosterone would have completed repaying his debt this year. However he is unable to restart his career due to knee injury. Despite his struggles, he is optimistic that someday his dream of mounting the saddle again, will become a reality.
“I learned from the past mistakes and I am now stronger especially mentally. It is what it is and I just have to move forward and keep strong. Hopefully next three years or so I can be back to riding” Greaves concluded.
