ROGOR MORONEY
AS THE Kiwis in Beijing prepare to enter the starting blocks for the start of the XXIX Olympiad, Napier motorcyclist Jono Kight is psyching himself up for the kick-starting of his own two-wheeled Olympic campaign.
In a fortnight, he will embark on motorcycling's equivalent of the Olympics - the ISDE 2008 being staged this year at Selles, Greece.
The event is a gruelling six-day enduro, over dauntingly steep and rocky terrain, where the 600 riders from 35 countries will battle each other and the elements over 300km - every day.
But, for a few anxious moments about a month ago, he thought his plans had been derailed by what he called "a bit of mucking around with a few mates".
As he had been doing regularly, the 23-year-old had been hitting the Hawke's Bay trails as part of his riding/training programme, but a seemingly innocuous "off" nearly scuttled his plans.
He tumbled off and his right thumb was bent right back - damaging ligaments and chipping bone.
"I thought 'oh no' - but it's come right. I've been having physio and been off riding for the past couple of weeks, but I've been putting in a lot of work in the gym."
Kight said he felt fitter than he had ever been and was not fazed by the ferocious heat of the mid-summer Greek sun.
"I've been doing a lot of gym work. Rowing machines and weights, and a lot of cardio training. The heat and conditions shouldn't be a problem."
To help raise money to get himself to Greece, Kight organised a series of trail rides and has received some support from local businesses and members of the Akitea and Omakere community (where he grew up). But he is still scratching to come up with about $3000.
He is part of a six-man Kiwi trophy team who will be going for gold.
"A top five or top 10 finish and gold would be nice but the first thing for me is to finish it and finish it strongly."
His KTM300EXC machine is already in Greece and, as well as the riding, he alone has to act as mechanic.
"You get 15 minutes at the end of the day to do all the maintenance. The chains, tyres, filters, the oil ... everything."
Given the uncompromising terrain and the amount of ground which needs to be covered, preparation was everything, Kight said.
He and his team-mates are also preparing themselves for the strong Australian contingent. "We'll remind them about last week's All Blacks win," he laughed.
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