DEEKA Community 2025 Reflections: Part 2

After sharing the first instalment of our 2025 Reflections series, it’s been incredible to see how deeply the stories resonated across the DEEKA community. What began as a way to spotlight individual experiences has quickly grown into something more, a space where athletes recognise themselves in each other’s journeys, find reassurance in shared struggles, and celebrate the quieter victories that often go unseen.

This week, we’re continuing that conversation with a question that goes straight to the heart of personal growth:
“Which moment tested your resilience the most in 2025?”

Resilience isn’t always the dramatic, movie-like moments we imagine. Sometimes it’s the decision to keep showing up. Other times it’s navigating life’s interruptions, confronting fear, or rebuilding after something unexpected derails your plans. In the reflections below, our athletes share the moments that pushed them, stretched them, and ultimately strengthened their belief in what they can overcome.

Aimee: ⁠Finishing third in a race I have always dominated. This was the moment I realized it's probably time to be an age grouper, for better or worse.

Sarah: The first day of the monumental loop in November (the second pic just before dusk). So much harder and so much slower than I could have ever imagined due to sand and rough steep terrain. We ended up riding (and walking) 2 hours into the night while doing tough hike a bike through the desert after having totally destroying ourself getting over the pass just before dusk. Coming down, it got dark, we were short on water and had to decide do we stop or keep going. not knowing what was coming up... We made the call to push it no matter what it took and were rewarded with pizza and beer. But I haven't been that destroyed in a very very long time. Having one of my best riding buddies with me made all the difference.

Kristina: Those long solo endurance rides—just me, my bike, and hours in the mountains—tested me more than anything else. Some days I looked forward to the quiet and the challenge; other days I dreaded it. But I showed up, kept pedaling, and got it done.

James: Gravel Nationals, getting dropped form the lead group half way through the race, and having to process prior expectations in order to remain in the moment. This meant I was then able to go on and deliver 100% when it mattered most.

Bill: My work and travel schedule continue to test my ability to train and get to races.

Kirsten: Having to start training again from the bottom definitely tested my resilience to the limit. The first month especially I was so low and felt so weak. I’m stoked to feel like I found my old level again, but then it was super hard to struggle with certain workouts (I don’t want to use the word fail). VO2 max and threshold work has been my nemesis physically and mentally. I still have a lot of work to do.

Mark: Waking up on January 1

Sophie: Having a knee injury to navigate in January, and the realisation it just needed “time” to heal! It was also difficult having to just trust the process, and believe that through careful rehab I would be able to return to training. It’s always hard watching the numbers crash, and the form go backwards, especially after a few months of everything being close to perfect!

Caroline: My resilience was tested by the last road section of The Gralloch - I was in serious treacle riding to the finish

Geoff: I had very early hip replacement at the end of 2024. Getting on the bike and back up to fitness was a real test of my resilience, and one that the DEEKA coaches are masters at helping with.

Richard: Small thing, finishing 60s on / off VO2max at 6am in dark and in rain when I struggled on the first!

Andie: My biggest test of resilience were the bare minimum workouts where it felt like not enough to matter. My priority in 2025 was becoming a new mom. I had to drastically cut back riding. I had to be ok with doing less on the bike.

What stands out in these stories is not the difficulty of the moments themselves, but the determination each athlete showed in moving through them. Resilience looks different for everyone, yet each reflection reveals a quiet courage, the kind that shapes someone not just as a cyclist, but as a person.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this week’s question and to those who’ve supported this series with such enthusiasm. Your engagement and openness are what make these reflections meaningful.

We’ll be back next week with another question and more insights from the riders who make the DEEKA community what it is. Until then, may these stories remind you of your own strength, especially on the days it feels hardest to see.