Cyclist Kim Reyburn defies lowlifes

Kim Reyburn

A group of thieves are not going to stop myBike owner Kim Reyburn from competing at the National Road Cycling Championships in Cambridge.

With the event starting today, Reyburn was close to pulling the pin on her plans but felt she would have wasted a year's worth of her family's time.

"At the moment, I've been through the whole grieving thing and, just with the support we have had, it makes me think maybe with the support there I need to go out and ride for them and not let them down," she said.

"Riding a bike is not like going for a half-an-hour run. You put four hours into a Sunday ride and that's just one ride.

"When you are doing that six days a week, you don't actually get to see a lot of your kids and that sort of thing, so you put them on hold for a year - and then to potentially think 'oh man I can't do this anymore because someone has broken in', you have wasted a year of their of time as well."

Reyburn thought when a security company alerted her to an alarm activation early on Saturday she would just have to reset the system.

But when she made it to the business on Reyburn St just after 1am, she found shattered glass strewn across the floor and an empty space where the sought after bikes had been.

Rubbing salt into the wound for Reyburn is the reminder that two years ago the same thing happened, someone broke in a week before the nationals.

That time the shop owner still competed but broke down early in the race because of the emotional stress. This time Reyburn wants to get even.

"I went down there and hit one of the first hill climbs and I thought 'oh I can't do this'. You know how when you're in that little bit of pain normally you can have the mental strength to get through.

"This time I was like 'oh am I going to get down there and just give up [again]', but sitting back and thinking about now I've done all the training, I'm riding the best I've ever ridden, I've hit sort of a goal weight, everything is there I've just got to get back the mental side and re-focus on that."