Wollongong's Kyle Ward has a dream to take his mountain bike to Rio de Janeiro next year, and bask in the glory of a crowd roaring just for him.
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To make it happen, the 23-year-old plans to ride marathon after marathon until he qualifies for the Olympics.
Ward's passion for two wheels began more than a decade ago, and he signed up for his first major race - the iconic 24 Hour Race in Canberra - at the age of 12.
"[I love] the ability to set personal challenges and find out how far you can go in terms of pushing yourself to the limit," Ward says. "Socially it's a good sport, you can ride with other people and it's done a lot for [my brother Jayden and I] in making new contacts, and life skills through all the travelling."
In 2014 Ward packed up with his brother and went to Europe - largely funded from their own pockets - to chase a place in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
"We spent nearly two months driving around Europe trying to pick races and train ... and [trying] to talk a different language and understand a different culture."
A trip to Scotland wasn't meant to be. Ward concedes it was disappointing but put it down to "a couple of mistakes"on his behalf, and says if he had succeeded the following adventures may have never been made possible.
Instead of joining his brother and returning home, Ward headed for Vitoria Gasteiz in northern Spain for some down time. There he met up with Wollongong ex-pat and triathlete coach Jamie Turner, who was training a group of world athletes known as the Wizards.
"I ended up going there for a month to not exactly relax, but not race - and do some training," Ward says. "They're good friends, and it was kind of like going home."
Turner convinced the cyclist to get back on his bike and back on the race circuit. From there, Ward began training to pick up the second half of the racing season and decided to tackle a Swiss marathon that would become the most difficult race, mentally and physically, he would do to date - the Grand Raid, part of the World Marathon Series.
It would be a heartbreaking 125-kilometre ride around a mountain range with superb views of the Matterhorn, and roughly "6000 metres of climbing".
"We didn't even have a flat to start. It's pretty much ready, set, go, and straight up. The hills were mountains and made anything in Australia look like a pile of dirt," recounts Ward.
"You would ride for maybe an hour at a time uphill, and then you would go downhill for 10 minutes then go back up again. So in my head I was like 'this is not very fun'."
About 80km and five hours in, Ward felt broken. The idyllic scenery of snowcapped mountains, glacial lakes and tiny villages weren't enough to spur him on, nor was the fact he was in the top 40 out of 1000 riders. He broke down in tears.
"It was probably the first time I have cried riding my bike because it was too hard," he says.
There he sat on the grass at the base of another mountain, contemplating what to do. There were still three more hours to go, but he was so tired. His bags and passport had been sent to the finish line, but how would he get a lift when he couldn't speak the language?
A local was standing nearby waiting for her husband - another competitor - to ride along, and noticed the Australian in disarray. She wandered over and spoke a little English to him, handing him a soft drink and a ham and cheese sandwich. Ward explains - however bad a can of Coke is for your health, when you're an athlete with no energy left to burn it's a godsend. Eventually her husband, a "weekend warrior in his late 30s or 40s", pedalled along and greeted them.
"He spoke English really well and just told me to get off my arse and keep going. He said he would ride with me all the way to the finish, so I ended up making a friend."
The pair made it to the finish line and were in the top 200 despite easing off the pace and enjoying the ride home.
"Maybe one day I'll do it again ... but there's probably more enjoyable things to do on a Saturday," he laughs.
Ward still tackles mountains on Saturdays, but nothing quite like the Swiss alps. A long list of marathons await in the second half of 2015, scattered around Australia in preparation for the Cross Country National Series kicking off in November. This is where it really heats up, as the three top athletes to come up trumps at the end of the series will be considered for Olympic selection.
"It would mean a lot to me to be able to represent my country, as it is the pinnacle of sporting representation," says Ward. "[It's also] a chance to prove the old saying - if you believe, you can achieve!"