Karen Darke - Cyclist


HEAD TO HEAD


of preventative approaches to health rather than reactive. That said, getting chopped open by a ‘spirit surgeon’ in Brazil with no sterile instruments, no anaesthesia and no infection was a major eye-opener!!


It sounds it! Looking through the challenges you’ve done, and are planning on doing, they look extremely varied – how do you go about deciding what to do next? They may look varied from the outside, but the one thing they all have in common is the ‘adventure’ aspect - a journey with an unknown outcome. This is what attracts me – setting out for something, with no idea how things will unfold, but giving it your best effort, learning along the way and sharing that with others. I think it represents what life is about. We’re all on a journey and the more experiences we have on the way, the more we learn.


Inverness and Yorkshire.


And where do you prefer challenge wise – the mountains? The cold? Mountains and sea. Those are the special ingredients for me. I prefer the extreme cold to extreme heat though.


In those extremely cold conditions, how do you go about things like regulating temperature and keeping warm? It’s hard – you can’t do those things naturally when you have a spinal cord


variety. Triathlon has been accepted as a Paralympic sport for the first time in Rio. At the moment I’m staying focused with the cycling as I really enjoy it, but I use triathlon as cross-training and who knows…my ultimate ambition would be to compete in both, but that might be tricky. Ultimately, your main sport has to take priority when it comes to world class competition.


out for something, with no idea how things will unfold, but giving it your best effort, learning along the way


and sharing that with others. I think it represents what life is about


Do you have a particular favourite place that you’ve been to, or maybe one that was much more testing and difficult than the others? My favourite place is home (probably because I’m not here enough to lose sight of the good things about it). There is something special about going out into the world and returning home again. People are ultimately what make a place, and home is where those connections are.


And where’s home? Home at the moment is split between


injury like mine. I just have to be very careful not to get too cold to start with. In cold places, I wear up to six layers on my legs, from base layers through to insulating outer layers, as my legs are at the most risk of getting cold and not warming up. I regulate my upper body by moving, or taking layers on and off. I usually sleep with a few hot water bottles, even in a British summer!


So what does the near feature present – you’re moving into triathlon, are you excited? I’m competing in some triathlons and I do enjoy the cross-sport aspect and


This is what attracts me – setting


Could you explain to us how a competitive race works in paratriathlon i.e. transitions etc? You do an open water swim in a wetsuit, the bike on a handbike, and the run in a racing wheelchair. Transition time is included, which makes it like a fourth sport as you have to train to get stripped and transferred from wetsuit and wheelchair to handbike and to race chair as quickly as possible. I compete in the ‘Tri 1’ category, which basically


means anyone in a wheelchair. It’s not that equitable as obviously people use wheelchairs for such widely differing reasons, so some competitors can move their legs on the swim for example. Tri 1 competitors are allowed two people to in their ‘transition team’ – they have to be good at stripping wetsuits! For me the transition is pretty difficult as I’m paralysed from chest level – my transition times seem to be on the slower side.


Thanks very much Karen and good luck for the rest of the season. Thank you.


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