Dr Nicola Freitas on Finding the Balance Between Medicine and the Bike
Nicola Freitas is a doctor, cyclist and coach. Not always in that order.
Nicola Freitas started her cycling life in KZN – taking up mountain biking at school alongside Candice Lill, before slowly ‘sporting’ her way down the east coast of South Africa and eventually settling in Cape Town. And settling on cycling as her true endurance love.
A doctor, cycling coach, three-time Cape Epic finisher and Marathon MTB World Champs participant, Freitas gave almost every endurance sport a go before settling on life as a cyclist (with a ‘sideline’ in medicine). “After studying, I went to East London for community service,” she says. “It’s an Ironman town, so I got sucked into that community. Then I ended up in Port Elizabeth, so it was only natural to do the full Ironman!
At the time, Freitas was working, studying and training. “I would be on call on a Friday night, finish in the morning, then go for a ride. I’d be back at work on Saturday afternoon, get home early Sunday morning, sleep for around six hours and then do my long run in the late afternoon.
“Stairs were always an issue on the Monday morning – as were any patients, if I needed to crouch down to examine them!”
Unsurprisingly, in trying to maintain this schedule, Freitas had a cycling epiphany. “I decided triathlon was too much, so I focused on cycling again.” Now, she says, her biggest challenge while working as a medical doctor at Cape Sports Medicine, and as a coach at Science2Sport, is following her own advice.
“Before, when I raced a lot, I would just show up and go for it. I can’t exactly do that anymore, when I’m telling people to do the opposite!”
I take my coffee black, most of the time; unless I’m out riding. Then I have a flat white.
I’d love to go for a ride in Girona. Everyone – every professional cyclist – is there. Science2Sport has a lab there, too. I’ve been to Spain, but I’ve never ridden there, and I want to see what it’s all about.
The secret to happiness is balance. And making time for your bicycle. You have to prioritise your mental health and happiness. I ride early in the morning to ensure that.
My greatest exhilaration comes from successfully riding a technically difficult descent that scares me – that feeling that you know you’re capable of more than you think you are.
My biggest fear is that same scenario, but not doing it successfully! And then ending up with a broken collarbone, which means I can’t ride or work, and I have to explain to all my patients what happened…
A moment of pure clarity comes from travel. I get those moments if I’ve travelled to a foreign country, or somewhere totally different. (Especially bike-packing. I really enjoy bike-packing.) You arrive somewhere at night, you look at all the lights, look around without distractions; and you realise that you’re so lucky to be in that moment, in that place, at that time.
When I wake up I want to sleep more!
I rage against Well… it’s more sadness than rage, but it makes me sad that so many motorists have such a deep hatred of cyclists, and they don’t want to share the road with us. Victim blaming is something that people do; but when someone has passed away, and you’re still blaming them… that makes me really sad.
I wish we could get more girls to carry on riding after school, when they enter university or the workplace. There are a lot of girls in that high-school age group, but we lose them. Cycling is such a great sport; it gives you confidence and the opportunity to see your country and the world.