Chalmers on the road to becoming top race rider

By Matt Lihou

FORMER professional footballer and Muratti star Grant Chalmers has proved he can compete just as well on two wheels as he did with two feet.

He has turned his attention to cycling and finished an impressive fifth in the latest round of the club championship, which was a 10-mile time trial. The ex-Brentford midfielder took up the sport only last year, which made the performance even more special.

‘I’m naturally really pleased because I’m only still starting out,’ Chalmers (pictured) said. ‘This was my first 10 [mile] race of the year, because I’ve been hampered by chest infections. At the moment, I’m just taking one race at a time. I’m training five times a week and I am certainly taking this just as seriously as I took my football career.’

Gary Wallbridge, the Guernsey Velo Club president, was full of praise for Chalmers’ performance. ‘It was a phenomenal ride and he [Chalmers] is turning into a superb racer. Although it wasn’t a dramatically fast race, he beat a lot of recognised riders, which was very impressive.’

Fellow racer Aaron Bailey, who finished second in the same race, has been training Chalmers over the past few months.

‘I’m chuffed for him, because he has had plenty of setbacks.

‘When he got involved in cycling, I had no idea he would be setting times like he has been doing, which have been fantastic.’

Bailey, who has raced for 10 years, also believes that Chalmers will continue to improve.

‘If he stays injury-free, then competing at the Island Games is a realistic target and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be beating the top riders.

‘It just shows that age is no barrier to success if you have the mental ability, which Grant clearly does.’

Both men will now switch their focus to their next race, another 10-mile time trial, which takes place next Thursday.

The long-term aim for the whole club is the 2011 Island Games in the Isle of Wight, where a young and improving Guernsey team will look to challenge the continued dominance of the Isle of Man.

Article posted on 12th June, 2008 - 2.29pm

Post a Comment on this Article

Your email address is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email address *

Comment

Disclaimer: This comment area is moderated by the Guernsey Press, which aims to create a valuable forum for the expression of views by all who have an interest in Guernsey. Contributors are expected to respect the opinions of others and all submissions may be edited. In particular, our policy is not to allow defamatory, gratuitously offensive, factually inaccurate or self-promotional statements to be posted. The moderators will not enter into e-mail correspondence about the editing of individual submissions.

Your Shout: View all recent comments. More detail on the comment icons.

If you wish to make a comment about this website, please use our feedback form.