AT 21, most Highlanders don’t really know what they want to do.
It’s a busy time; deciding on a career, looking for a partner, trying to find one’s place in the world.
At that age, not many people have already been overseas in pursuit of their dreams and come back stronger and more determined than ever.
But Bowral’s Joey Esterhuyzen has.
Esterhuyzen left the Southern Highlands almost two years ago with the goal of becoming a professional road cyclist.
He headed to his native South Africa to join up with the CSC Marcello development team based in Cape Town.
But the team folded after only five months and Esterhuyzen was back to square one.
He joined with Konica Minolta as a guest rider, but they too disbanded as the global economic crisis worsened.
His best results in Belgium included a 17th out of 140 riders in the Nieurode Kermesse that placed him ninth in the men’s under-23 classification.
He also came back with South Africa’s “national colours” for representing the country in the 2009 Giro Del Capo (a multi-day tour in Cape Town).
Having ridden in Europe with those teams and being given a taste of professional cycling, he has returned to the Highlands to reassess his future.
“No matter what I am to do in the future, cycling comes first,” he said.
“But if anything were to happen to me, like I was to have a bad crash and get a broken leg or something, I know I need something to fall back on.”
As such, Esterhuyzen plans to move to Melbourne next year and start a communications degree with an eye to work in sports journalism/photography.
Crashing isn’t something any cyclist likes to think about, but Esterhuyzen realises it is possible and could end his career.
So he is looking for a “parallel career” as a journalist.
“Hopefully in the future I can work as a cyclist and a journalist,” he said.
Cycling is a fickle sport, perhaps more so than any other professional sport.
Teams come and go with the fortunes of the companies they represent, but Esterhuyzen has come to accept it is part of the sport.
He has never been a rider with an academy, never been showered with free bikes, free coaching, free training camps or given a free ride.
And he thinks it has made him stronger as a person and a rider.
“A lot of the guys that were stars when they were younger and had heaps of talent have now fallen away,” he said.
“As soon as you get paid, you get lazy.
“So in a way it’s kind of good not to have made it yet because it’s making me work even harder.”
Since he has been home, the Highlander has been riding about 800km per week, training throughout the day in a bid to catch the eye of a professional team.
He has been picked up as a guest rider on the Tasmanian-based Praties team and has been riding in domestic races on the weekends.
The Australian professional teams are due to review their teams at the end of the year and there is a chance Esterhuyzen could be picked up.
But if not, he won’t be phased.
He’ll just work harder.
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