His confidence was hammered as a kid, when others teased him about his weight and call him names. But Calvin Sim, 28, learnt not to take these personally and focused on his goals instead. The more others laughed at him or put him down, the more it spurred him to achieve his targets.
Calvin’s 13-year cycling journey reached an all-time high last year, when he nailed gold at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Men’s Omnium* event. But it didn’t come easy.
Leaving home before the sun rises (to avoid traffic) for training, reaching home late after work, struggling alone during intervals in the rain, watching the diet, trying to find time for proper rest – these are just some of the sacrifices that Calvin went through daily.
But he would go through everything again just to achieve the same result.
“There are a lot of sacrifices that people don’t see, in order to give yourself the best chance to do well in your sport. A non-existent social life is a given. Then you have to eat well and take care of your body, but some people don’t understand why you have so many diet restrictions and have to eat healthy.
“Training is always a priority and I get it done before I start work (as a bike fitter at LOUE Bicycles). After training I just want to get as much rest as possible, so I don’t go out much. I’m lucky that my boss is very understanding and patient, allowing me to take no-pay leave for overseas racing and training,” he shared.
This routine began to take its toll though, and eventually Calvin had to make a decision regarding his work.
“About eight months out to the SEA Games 2017, I switched my job to a part-time basis, cutting down from 49 to 12 hours of work a week. That way, I could dedicate more time to training and racing. It was tough, as I was only living on a monthly income of $500, but it was necessary because I could ramp up my training intensity and rest more between sessions.”
At one point on this journey however, he “nearly wanted to give up racing” altogether.
“After failing to qualify for the 2015 SEA Games (which was held in Singapore), I was feeling so disappointed and sad because I really wanted to race on home ground! I wanted to give up racing, but my friends encouraged me and helped me find my love for cycling again.”
From there, he switched his focus from road cycling to track cycling, and set a new goal to qualify for the 2017 SEA Games – which he did.
The road to gold
Calvin started mountain biking at 15, mostly to explore Singapore and find food (like his favourite roti prata). His first race was a “weekend warrior” type at Pulau Ubin and within two years from that, he won all the junior mountain bike races and became national junior champion at 17.
At the same time he picked up road cycling and went for the OCBC Cycling Team trial in 2009, made it and started competing in road races. His first SEA Games outing was in 2009 in Vientiane, Laos, but he finished last because he got dropped from the winning breakaway.
He entered National Service in 2011 and had to put a pause on cycling, picking it up again in 2013 with dreams of becoming a professional cyclist. Finally, the major turning point came in 2014, when he chose to focus on competitive track cycling. He won his first track race and continued to work at it… till he clinched gold.
Throughout the journey, Calvin has experienced various highs and lows, and it is important that you don’t let the bad times keep you down.
“Don’t let your failures get to your heart and let discouragement overwhelm you. In cycling and life actually, you would lose more than you win. Let the failures be good lessons for you to improve yourself. It is more important to be able to bounce back from your failures and still stay focused on your goals.
“Till today, my everyday aim would be to win myself and be better than the day before. I am always grateful for what I have instead of what I don’t have, and I don’t compare myself (in terms of cycling progression, equipment or results) to others.
“The first step to accomplishing anything is to believe that you CAN do it. If you think that you cannot make it, you will never be able to make it. To believe that you can is a big step forward to accomplishing your goals.
“There will also always be people criticising and judging you, so just turn a deaf ear and be proud of your journey. My journey in cycling will continue to drive my life beyond sport. Never give up!”
Next on the calendar for Calvin will be the Asian Games 2018 in August.
*The omnium is a category of track cycling that involves several events where participants are awarded points for each event and the overall winner is the one with the highest total points.
**In these photos, Calvin is wearing the limited edition Specialized x Rock The Naked Truth cycling kit that can be purchased here.