There’s another instalment of the Ride It Out Show from Nils Amelinckx. This time he’s talking to Steve Bate MBE – Paralympic cyclist, climber, mountain biker, and another all round nice guy. Steve is currently recovering from his HT550 winter attempt, with his frost bitten toes proving more troublesome than he’d hoped. This video with Nils was shot before Steve’s attempt.
Steve lives locally to Singletrack Towers, and when he’s not training hard with British Cycling he’ll turn up for local rides and happily be the back marker, chatting away to whoever is the slowest in the group. He has the boundless enthusiasm and energy of a spaniel, despite being dealt the significant blow of a degenerative eye condition. In this video with Nils, he talks about getting that diagnosis, the impact it had on his life plans for being a mountain guide, and how he turned round the dark days of feeling like it was the end of everything, to becoming the start of something new.
Steve is incredibly modest about everything he has achieved, and is one of those good humans who steps up and brings support and positivity wherever he goes. But as you’ll learn in this conversation with Nils, he’s had to learn how to be positive, and how to accept help. He says himself in this interview that he wasn’t always compassionate and empathetic – if you come across him now, you’ll find that heard to believe.
Have yourself an inspiration break, give yourself a lesson in getting your head into the right place to have adventures, and be humbled. At the end of this video, there’s a peek at Steve’s experiences on the winter HT550 – look out for a feature on this in an upcoming issue of Singletrack!
Be sure to check out Nil’s project Rider Resilience, and get involved if you can!
