Besser best at Masters
ANNE Besser won two gold medals at the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide last week, taking out the Cycling Time Trial and Road Race, while husband Michael finished fifth and eighth respectively in the same events.
ANNE Besser won two gold medals at the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide last week, taking out the Cycling Time Trial and Road Race, while husband Michael finished fifth and eighth respectively in the same events.
The stunning achievements capped off a gruelling week of cycling for Anne and Michael, both 65, the couple also competing in the Around the Bay in a Day ride in Melbourne.
“I had never done the Masters Games before,” Anne told The AJN.
“I won two gold … so I was really happy with that.”
Immediately following the games, the couple tackled ferocious winds during the Around the Bay in a Day event, with Anne describing it as one of the toughest rides around Port Phillip Bay.
“The wind was worse than it’s ever been,” Anne said.
“I was hanging on so hard to the handlebars.
“Rolling my wheels over the finish line and getting that finisher’s medal, that was up there as one of the best,” she said.
But it was just another week on the track for the couple, who ride up to 300 kilometres a week, and according to Anne, she will be on the bike for “as long as I can continue riding”.
Cycling for more than a decade now, Anne and Michael have represented Australia at eight World Championships and two Maccabiah Games, taking home medals in almost all of the competitions. Anne has also been named Maccabi Australia Masters Sportswoman of the Year five times.
Anne admits, however, that it has not always been smooth sailing, with chronic back pain – which forced her to retire from triathlons – and more recently, a broken rib. In fact, her future in cycling was in doubt before a surgical procedure, undertaken on the advice of her husband – a former neurosurgeon – allowed her to get back on the bike.
Astonishingly, Anne was never allowed to ride as a young girl, with her parents labelling it “too dangerous”, and she had never run long distances until she was almost 50. But after a short training camp, she picked it up with ease and has had great success in her short cycling career.
“It’s all about what’s between your ears” and “believing in yourself”, Anne said of the catalyst for her achievements. “It’s no good reaching for goals that are easy because you don’t get the reward,” she said.
With plenty of future rides on the agenda, the journey is far from over for the dynamic duo. Michael is set to compete in an Ironman event in December, and Anne is taking two months off from major events to participate in a training camp in Jindabyne, NSW, in preparation for the Tour Down Under in January.
ASHLEY SHENKER
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