This weekend Matthew Sadleir will compete in his second successive Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic - after competing in his first 27 years earlier, before being lost to the sport for 25 years.
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Pip Ash, 31, will contest her first Grafton to Inverell, labelled Australia's toughest one-day cycling classic: a 228-kilometre monster with 3382 metres of climbs.
Ash started cycling about 18 months ago, after a bad back brought an end to her decorated hockey career (the striker played for Australia Country and NSW Country).
She wishes she started cycling sooner. And instead of being daunted about what awaits her on Saturday, she is "really, really excited" about her biggest challenge to date as a cyclist.
The duo will be joined by four other Tamworth Cycle Club members on the start line: Simone Church, Fraser Ashford (division two) and Rob Wright and Mark Jeffrey (division three). Sadleir is also in division three, while there is only one women's category.
Sadleir, 47, was a top junior runner, winning the state 5000m title and finishing second at the state cross-country championships when in year 12 at Oxley High School, where he was taught by Ash's father, Bob.
He had only competed in cycling in a "big way" for about eight months when he contested his debut Grafton to Inverell at age 20, and was "pipped on the line" in finishing second in division three.
After the race he planned to "have a week off" . "And I had 25 years off ... off riding the bike at least. I did plenty of other sports but went away from cycling.
"I was at university at the time [studying construction management and economics at the University of Canberra] ... got to that point where I had to start fending for myself and working."
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A desire to improve his physical and mental health lured Sadleir, a former Tamworth Swans captain-coach, back to the sport in early 2017. He said he needed to "at times step yourself back" to temper his competitiveness so he did not forget why he began cycling again.
In last year's race he finished 15th in division three, and would like to better that result on Saturday.
Ash just wants to finish a race she believes she is "ready for". "Like, it's been on everyone's mind for a good few months now. [I'm] just ready for it to happen," she said.
She has gone thought a mental sea change to get to this point - answering with "nup" when asked if competing in the race had been a long-term goal. "If you would have asked me this time last year ... definitely not," she said of her then desire to contest the event.
