It is one big adventure for two families who have signed up for this year’s 2,000-kilometre LifeCycle Challenge bike ride across three Asian countries. They tell Simonne Pace that the experience has brought them closer and taught them to push their bodies to the limit.

A father and his two sons are feeling optimistic and cheerful but slightly nervous at the thought of the finishing line.

A first for Leslie Spiteri, 57, as well as Neil, 25, and Glen, 20, this year’s LifeCycle Challenge fills them with apprehension, knowing that they can do it but worrying about what might happen along the way.

Sport plays a big part in the strong-minded men’s lives, so all three are determined to start and finish the challenge.

An electrical engineer by profession, Leslie admits he is slightly anxious, yet looking at the experience as a big adventure with his boys.

“I’m hoping to finish the whole route. This would fill me with pride and a sense of achievement. However, I’m keeping the main objective of helping renal patients constantly in my mind, as this is ultimately why I’m doing this.”

Neil, a software developer, was not familiar with kidney failure prior to joining the LifeCycle team. But he has seen how the disease affects people.

“Hearing stories of their struggle to cope, living on a dialysis machine and seeing your loved ones deteriorate is heavy to process.”

The experience has offered his brother Glen, a fourth-year student of economics at the University of Malta, the opportunity to live up to what he strongly believes in.

“It will serve as a good motivator on the trip.”

We need to learn how to keep our brains going when our body refuses to go on. Mental training is as important as physical training

The three men get on like a house of fire. They share a number of passions, including a love for music. Glen is the drummer of a local band, Roża.

“Away from my academic life, I try to keep my artistic side alive.”

Neil, who is also a fitness enthusiast, says he hopes to be able to “‘find’ himself in his alone moments during the trip” as well as “form the mental aptitude to face difficult times along with my own thoughts”.

The boys’ father is a rock and blues fan and enjoys photography and aviation. Over the past four months, he has gone out on long bike rides with his sons, in preparation for the big day. The training has brought them closer.

It is only recently that Leslie started jogging and cycling.

“Now I feel that exercise is both mentally and physically therapeutic and I hate missing it for any length of time.”

Both boys look up to their father with respect. Neil says his father has always been the figure “I strive to become”.

Family is important for Glen. “I have been supported by my parents and my older brother throughout my whole life. Taking part in this challenge would not have been possible without the constant help of my mother Marika, who is our backbone.”

Leslie and his sons train together by going on regular two- to five-hour bike rides. They also managed to drag their bikes along and ride together during a summer break in Gozo.

Bonding over their common love for sport and helping each other reach goals together has given them the courage to face this challenge.

The full team has been training rigorously over the past months, with early group rides every Sunday morning, sometimes after a session at the gym.

“We started off with relatively short distances and then gradually increased them to the group’s daily distance target once we reach Vietnam. This requires time management, especially when you juggle between work and other commitments,” Glen says.

“Due to time constraints and road traffic, it isn’t always possible to train outdoors, so we use spin bikes at the gym. Many times it’s easier to just give up or stop halfway, and that’s all part of the training itself. We need to learn how to keep our brains going when our body refuses to go on. Mental training is as important as physical training.”

Neil has missed plenty of Saturday nights out to sleep early to wake up for training at 4am.

“The right amount of rest is vital to ensure recovery. Nutrition is essential too. I take four lunchboxes with me to work every day to make sure I get the right nutrients to fuel my body. My mother is the support unit, back-up, chef and nurse for the three of us.”

Training  together, discovering each other

Training for the LifeCycle Challenge has given Melissa, 44, a mother and wife, the opportunity to test herself both physically and mentally, while enabling her to get out of her comfort zone and mingle with a group of people she got to know for the first time.

“The fact that I’m going to a foreign country with a different culture, cusine, climate and time zone will make the whole experience even more daunting. All these factors have inspired me to throw myself into this adventure,” says Melissa who also has a daughter, Carla, who is 17.

For her son, Jean Claude, 25, the experience means sacrificing a tiny portion of his time to raise awareness and generate support for patients suffering from renal disease.

Being together for 10 days is a dream we will cherish for the rest of our life

Paired with the fact that he has a passion for cycling, working within a group and ultimately knowing others will benefit, he feels it’s not an opportunity to be missed.

A mechanical engineering graduate who works in aircraft planning, Jean Claude enjoys challenging himself with new projects. He loves being active and leading a healthy lifestyle. Friends form a fundamental part of his life, which he describes as being “one full of family, music, tea and laughter”.

Having spent so much time training with his mother, he says they have come a long way together, from teaching each other new things, passing on tips and tricks, while respecting their limits and knowing when to trade off the sporting edge to a comforting and encouraging attitude.

“I am certain that this experience, from beginning to end, will bring to light new traits we have yet to discover about each other and further develop the mother-son bond which we share,” he says.

Many thoughts pass through his mother’s mind as she will be experiencing “something of this scale for the first time”. How will she handle the whole situation once the challenge starts? What can she expect? Will she get along with the rest of the cyclists? And the million-dollar question… Will she succeed?

“Having to face such a challenge with my son will give us the chance to get to know each other in a different way due to the circumstances and pressures. Being together for 10 days will surely strengthen our relationship, knowing we will be there for each other – a dream we will cherish for the rest our life.”

For Jean Claude, balancing between spending hours at a desk and unwinding with a run or a bike ride feels like a good compromise.

“I will do my best and wisely make use of the techniques learnt in order to be able to complete the challenge without injuries.”

Both mother and son – who have trained side by side for hours on end, waking up at 4am on a Sunday, heading out into the dark, quiet roads, cycling into the sunrise, or meeting at the gym after a busy day to focus on training – say it has been great to share this commitment and dedication.

Twenty-four cyclists and a back-up team of seven will leave today for the Nescafe 3in1 LifeCycle Challenge through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The 10-day ride, which will take them through busy roads and climbs, will end at Angkor Wat, one of the world’s greatest wonders. The cyclists will be back in Malta on September 24.

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