Callum Dolby will be testing his limits this Saturday.
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The Inverell rider is busy training for his first Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic, where he will compete in division three.
Callum will be fighting nerves after a major setback last month landed him in hospital.
“I was off the bike for a week. That shot my confidence down a little bit,” he said.
A step up for the young cyclist, Callum relishes the challenge of the Grafton to Inverell and looks forward to joining the long line of local talent who’ve taken on the race.
“It seems like anyone who’s done any riding in Inverell has ridden Grafton at least once,” he said.
Coming from a triathlon background, Callum never expected to become a cyclist.
“When I was younger, I was always a runner, and I’d always done a bit of swimming,” Callum said.
“And then one day, someone just told me I should try riding as well, and I did.”
Modest but determined, Callum said his strongest asset was his ability to find extra stores of energy for the final sprint. More suited to shorter sprints, Callum said the full day race would be a learning curve.
He said his race plan was to make it to the Gibraltar Range toward the front of the pack and climb the difficult hills while conserving as much energy as possible for the final 30 kilometres.
After a long few months of training, Callum can’t wait to finish.
“It’ll be good to relax after it’s done,” he said. He hopes to see an Inverell rider win, and has high hopes for good friend Dylan Sunderland.