The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SPEAKING a little bit of Spanish and displaying some of the skills he developed, Felix Neely is back in town after spending the past three months training in Columbia with their junior national programme.

“My trip to Colombia was wonderful,” said Neely, who left town at the beginning of January.

“It was a wonderful experience. I love the new friends I made in Colombia. It was a very beautiful place and there were some wonderful people there. I really enjoyed it.”

Neely, a 15-year-old 10th grader at CR Walker Secondary High, said one of the things he learnt that whatever he did, he had to put his mind to it and “go for it and to always put God first in everything.”

During his trip, Neely said he did a combination of racing, eating and training.

“I trained, trained and trained, especially in the mountains,” he said. “The first few weeks, those mountains had me suffering. I was climbing like 5-6 miles per hour. Then as the trip went on, I went up to about 14-15 miles per hour. That was when I knew I was suffering.”

Now that he’s back home, Neely said he have to avoid eating the “gressy food and snacks” because he should only be eating healthy food like vegetables, rice, salads and fish. He also mentioned the fruit juices that were freshly made.

During his trip there, Neely competed in one race where he was 26th out of a field of 60-plus cyclists. He didn’t expect to compete in anymore races because of the Tour of Colombia.

“I would love to go back and train,” said Neely, who showed of his Spanish language by saying “Colombia is very beautiful and the mountain very hard.”

Neely expressed his gratitude to Roy Colebrook, his uncle, and the Bahamas Cycling Federation, Cycles Unlimited, who sponsored him and his family for their support.

Bahamas Cycling Federation president Roy Colebrook said it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

“This will open the doors for other young cyclists and also for Felix going to other camps to train,” Colebrook said. “We believe, in the Bahamas Cycling Federation, that young cyclists like Felix, should be given the opportunities for them to travel and train overseas.

“Felix is the first one that these doors were opened up for and I think the whole country will see, as he ride in the Junior Nationals and the Caribbean Cycling Championships, what the benefits of the trip for Felix.”

Colebrook said he was also impressed with Neely speaking some Spanish on his return home too.

In preparation for the nationals, Colebrook said the federation will seek to allow Neely to compete in a few events in Florida so that he can stay fit and ready to compete at a high level as the top junior cyclist in the country.

“All those events that he will be competing in will culminate with his participation, we hope, in the next Commonwealth Games, which he will be eligible for,” Colebrook said. “So we want to keep him active and in as many races as possible so he will be ready.”

Neely got a chance to display some of his skills as he participated in the bike segment of a relay team at the Beautiful Bahamas Triathlon and Aquathon on Sunday at Jaws Beach at Clifton.