SPORTS

No easy rider: Cycling alone for Cayman

Perri Merren training while back in Cayman

Perri’s Chevrolet van/home in America

by Ross Sheil

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Sporting earrings and flowing tattoos, Red Bay Resident Perri Merren fits the image of the cyclist as a true individual competitor. In fact, former Olympian Perri has been more individual in his pursuit of sporting goals than even his appearance might suggest.

Perri has just returned from five months spent in the United States where he competed in 31 professional level races ranging from 30 to 105 miles.
This was despite not being in a professional team full-time, only hooking up with the Miami Chassis team in July.

Furthermore Perri spent the time living and driving across the country in his Chevrolet van.

Consequently he did not receive the kind of support top-level cyclists need but still recorded solid performances including one second-place finish.

Cycling has not been an obvious option for Perri coming from an island, just 22 miles wide and 60 feet high. “For training I have always had to leave Cayman and I am actually best at mountain stages of races and I won several in the Tour of the Dominican Republic,” he said.

However with brother Craig having competed in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics and half-sister Merilyn Phillips in the 1984 Olympics, cycling runs through his blood.

Nonetheless his career has been full of ups and downs. “Cycling is much more demanding than other sports in terms of training, endurance and expense and I still have many good years in me,” he said.

“I have had to take breaks from cycling and competing in America cost me US$10,000 until my savings ran out and I had to come back,” he added

The “breaks” Perri referred to have come tougher than in average sporting competition, a consequence of cycling being one of the most physically and financially demanding sports of all. It is a sport that takes immense personal risk and commitment.

“In 1991 I was in a time trial in West Bay and I was way out in front however I collided with a pick-up truck; although it was my fault. I was cutting the corner and on the wrong side of the road because I was trying to minimise my time,” he said. “The pick-up was coming the other way,” he added.

“I was left in a coma for a month and I shattered my left leg in three places. It took me six months to begin walking again.

The toughest part of cycling, the hardest aspect for the athlete to control, is the financial cost of the sport. “You have to get bikes, buy spare and replacement parts, travel and have the necessary support,” he concurred.
Perri’s biggest costs however have been medical bills and food. “Last year I was diagnosed with asthma, I had only started competing again in April and that had a big effect.

“There are in fact a lot of athletes, Gail Devers for example, who suffer from asthma. It was a problem but I learnt that 50 per cent is down to diet. I used to live on junk food but I learnt late in life that you have to put the right oil in your engine. You need to buy good quality food, no junk.

“When I am competing I can burn up to 6,000 calories a day and that means I eat like a horse – that is expensive.”

Finding sufficient funds to compete is almost as hard a struggle as the competition itself. Back in the Cayman Islands after his time in the US Perri runs his own “one-man-band” excavation business.

However his solo effort does require financial assistance. Perri is hoping to find a combination of sponsorship from the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee and Florida’s Miami Chassis pro-cycling team. If that is forthcoming he hopes to return to the US for the end of the cycling season in October.

Perri has given up cycling before, after spending 1998 riding in Spain but admits that cycling is something he cannot give up despite its cost and relative lack of material rewards. He refers to the sport as a “mission” and believes that at 35 years of age, 20 years after he took up cycling and 16 years after he competed in the Seoul Olympics, he can keep on cycling.

“If you look at Lance Armstrong he is 34 and yet is the perceived No1 rider. I was in the Olympics when I was 18 but I can say that I am better prepared and readier for competition now than I was then, a lot of this is about experience.

“If you have the right support, like Lance Armstrong then you can keep going. He is even sponsored by a Bristol Myers-Squibb, which is a medical company. When I was riding in the US I did not have a support car, which was a big problem.

“You need a support car for a number of reasons, in case you have mechanical problem or even just water. In a race where I should have drank 12 bottles of water I only had two which is what my bike could carry. Otherwise I would be accepting bottles of water from people along the course.”

Perri did manage to make some economies, but these were not of the kind Lance Armstrong would have to bear in one his winning Tour De France campaigns.

“I could have done with seeing a doctor several times while I was in the US but I would have had to have sacrificed food. Sleeping in my van did not help either, waking up in the Colorado mountains at 3 am because of the cold is not pleasant.”

The pinnacle of Perri’s time in the US was the International Cycling Classic, a 17-day event held in Wisconsin, which featured races every day. Bad luck struck and Perri fell ill with a stomach problem and missed a chance to impress the leading professional cycling teams who were present at the meet.

However he managed his best performances in Florida in July, where he earned his second-place finish in a 1-hour race at the Brian Piccolo Park Series and impressed the relatively small Miami Chassis team. But for now he is back at home.

“There is a lot left for me to give in this sport. I have shown what I can do on my own and all I am asking for is some assistance so I can continue representing the Islands. It takes time to prepare for events and at this rate I might easily miss the end of the season in the US.

“I am not someone to ask for things but I hope the Olympic Committee can help me continue. I have the engine, just put the right oil inside and I will burn up the race track.”

Reader comments:

• Keep trucking, Perri… Keep trucking! Coming soon: a Perri Merren website - Cycling Fan

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