Episode 61
“I’m not sure why the South African guys are always on their own mission, but hopefully that changes in the new year”
One of this week’s guests coincidentally got into cycling because his dad didn’t want him to get a hamster… Andrew is joined by three South African cyclists this week, Daniyal Matthews, James Swart, and Dillon Geary. The boys joined us for our block of UCI racing this summer, and this episode delves into their experiences at T-Town, how each of them got into the sport (hamster or no), and what it’s like to come from a lesser funded federation.
Instagram:
@daniyalmatthews
@dillon_geary
@james_swart_
Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.
Transcript
Female Announcer:
Broadcasting to you from the valley preferred cycling center. This is the Talk of the T-Town podcast, where we discuss all things track cycling.
Andrew Paradowski:
Hello. And once again, welcome to Talk of the T-Town. I’m your host, Andrew Paradowski. And today we’ve got three wonderful young gentlemen from South Africa who have joined us here for our racing block of UCI events in T-Town. Sitting next to me I’ve got Dillon Geary, James Swart, and Daniyal Matthews. How are you guys doing today?
Daniyal Matthews:
Good, thanks.
Dillon Geary:
Hey Andrew. Nice to see you.
James Swart:
Good to meet you. Yeah, I’m also good. Thanks.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very good. Very good. So you guys are here to race at the UCI races, hopefully looking to get some points and stuff like that. What brought you here to T-Town specifically? I mean, there are races all over the world that you can go to. What makes T-Town so interesting to want to come to?
Daniyal Matthews:
Well, this is my third year in T-Town and I love T-Town because it’s like a great community with the stack cyclists. And it’s just so much easier than moving it on from city to city, looking for points. Whereas you in T-Town, you’ve got four weeks of solid racing with UCI points up for grabs. It just makes a lot of sense.
James Swart:
Yeah. I’ve heard about T-Town multiple times over the years, and this is the first year I’ve really had the opportunity to come and race here. As Daniyal says, it’s a great opportunity to be in one place and race multiple weekends of UCI racing and get points.
Dillon Geary:
I came here in 2019 and ever since then I wanted to come back. But of course I couldn’t in 2020 and 2021 due to a lot of COVID factors. So this is the first day I could come back and I conveniently started studying in the US as well. So it was not a long travel to get here and I just wanted to come have some fun racing my track bike again.
Andrew Paradowski:
So Dillon, that’s a good segue way there. So I understand that you’re studying at Lindenwood University.
Dillon Geary:
Yes, yes I am.
Andrew Paradowski:
So was it sort of the inter Scholastic cycling leagues that they have here in the US that attracted you to come here? Or did you want to come here to study in the US in general?
Dillon Geary:
I wanted to come here to study in the US in general, but cycling part made it, helped as well.
Andrew Paradowski:
So I’m assuming you’re on the cycling team there?
Dillon Geary:
Yes, I am.
Andrew Paradowski:
All right. So we’ll see you at collegiates this fall in September?
Dillon Geary:
Yes you will see me there hopefully. Hopefully it goes well.
Andrew Paradowski:
Perfect. What about the other two guys? James, are you studying now or have you finished university?
James Swart:
I have just finished school. So I am currently on a bit of a gap year and just racing my bike.
Andrew Paradowski:
And Daniyal yourself.
Daniyal Matthews:
I’m studying through the University of South Africa. It’s all online, which is really flexible and allows me to travel around the world and race my bike. And I’m studying mathematics and statistics, which might be a bit counterintuitive because I’m a cyclist. But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy school and maths as well.
Andrew Paradowski:
Well, there’s always a good transfer of skills over from any part of life to cycling, right? I mean, maths, you have to figure out how to figure out how many points are left available for the points race and when to go and all that kind of stuff. So I’m sure that kind of stuff helps.
Daniyal Matthews:
And also like all the time when I’m riding the bike, I’m calculating average speeds and average power output just in my mind, even though my garment’s doing it for me, I just enjoy doing that to pass the time.
Andrew Paradowski:
Nice. So we were chatting a bit earlier and I think all three of you are from different parts of South Africa, is that right? Yes. Yes. Daniyal. You’re from-
Daniyal Matthews:
I’m from Cape Town, the best city in South Africa.
Andrew Paradowski:
Uh oh.
Daniyal Matthews:
I’m sure you guys would agree.
Andrew Paradowski:
James?
Daniyal Matthews:
If anybody comes for tourism, they’d probably come into Cape Town for the sites and maybe a safari somewhere else in the country.
Andrew Paradowski:
How about you, James?
James Swart:
I come from Durban. I don’t have anything against Cape Town. I don’t really, there’s nothing wrong with it. I do believe Durban is better though, but that is my opinion.
Andrew Paradowski:
And Dillon?
Dillon Geary:
I come from Johannesburg and I will admit that I am probably in the worst town out of all of them, but we just don’t have a beach, come on. Yeah. But I guess it’s not that bad.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very nice. Yeah. So what’s it like to be cyclists in South Africa?
Dillon Geary:
Dangerous.
Daniyal Matthews:
Yeah. It can be really dangerous in Cape Town, even though it’s a beautiful city. We have some obstacles to face, especially after COVID. The pandemic really set some people back financially. And so they’re looking for other means to gain financially, one being stealing bicycles. I’ve had my bicycle stolen from me while I was riding it. And so that’s always a dangerous aspect. And so I often stay out in another town called Paarl, which is close to Cape Town just so that I can have the peace of mind when I’m out training. But yeah, it’s good overall, I’d say.
Dillon Geary:
Yeah, it’s got its problems with like traffic as well and cars, like people getting hit by cars, but in general, it’s quite beautiful riding, and yeah, it’s great roads to ride on. Good quality roads.
James Swart:
I’m quite fortunate in out where I live. It’s really good riding. It’s safe. I can go right on the road or I can go mountain biking, just a few kilometers down the road from my house or the track, either track in Durban is around 40 minutes away from my house. So it’s not horrendously far either.
Andrew Paradowski:
So the three of you are here in the US. Actually, there are four South African riders here. Jean Spies is here as well at the UCI races, we had him on the podcast last year. So we thought it would be your turn to come on and join us here. Now, none of you are riding together as a team, you’re not here with a coach. You’re not here with support staff. You hear all on your own. Is that right?
James Swart:
Yeah, this is correct.
Andrew Paradowski:
Which is a tough thing to do for sure. So what does it take for an athlete from literally halfway around the world to come here and do this kind of thing?
Dillon Geary:
I think it’s just a lot more planning because everything rests on you as a rider. Getting to the track, getting from the track, make sure your equipment’s all in order. It takes a lot more dedication than having someone do it for you. But I also think it’s a good experience because you don’t always have managers around to help you.
Daniyal Matthews:
Yeah. It definitely teaches you how to adapt and survive as a lone wolf out there. And typically I’m not sure why the South African guys are always on their own mission, but hopefully that changes in the new year. We spoke about it a bit while we were in Germany, some of the South African guys maybe teaming up to make it easier. So yeah, hopefully that can make our racing easier next year.
James Swart:
You do have to become quite self-sufficient when you don’t really have the backing of managers or mechanics. So looking after all your equipment yourself, getting to and from the track, as Dillon said, organizing your own accommodation and just making sure that you eat and drink enough.
Dillon Geary:
But we also like being here four of us, we all help each other out a lot. If I need help Jean will be there. If we need help on our bikes, everyone’s willing to help each other out. So in that sense, we make up for not having a manager here.
Andrew Paradowski:
That’s good. Always good to have team solidarity. All right. Let’s do some rapid fire questions, sitting in front of me from left to right it’s Dillon, James and Daniyal. So we’ll go in that order. And just quick answer right off top of your head. Favorite track event?
Dillon Geary:
Points race.
James Swart:
Kilo.
Daniyal Matthews:
Elimination.
Andrew Paradowski:
All right. Favorite professional race across all the spec, all the disciplines road, track, whatever, what’s favorite one to watch?
Dillon Geary:
Paris-Roubaix.
James Swart:
Paris-Roubaix.
Daniyal Matthews:
Tour de France.
Andrew Paradowski:
All right there you go, the classics. Do you have a pro racer that you look up to or like a hero from the past?
Dillon Geary:
Filippo Ganna.
Andrew Paradowski:
Let’s start with Dillon.
Dillon Geary:
Filippo Ganna.
James Swart:
Harrie Lavreysen.
Andrew Paradowski:
Okay.
Daniyal Matthews:
I can’t think of anybody.
Andrew Paradowski:
Daniyal can’t think of anyone and James, your hero’s here. So what’s it like to line up against Harrie?
James Swart:
It’s really cool to get to line up against Harrie. I mean, he walked into our accommodation like two days ago while I was lying on the floor. So that was an interesting experience. I kind of freaked out. Not going to lie, but yeah, it’s awesome to be able to race against some of the best in the world.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very good. So Daniyal, tell me, how did you get into the sport? What got you on the bike into cycling?
Daniyal Matthews:
I actually started a long time ago, maybe about 13 years ago. And that was as a result of my father being in the sport at the time. He still rides, but just recreationally. So he introduced me to the sport and initially I hated it, but I was too scared to tell him that I didn’t want to do it. And then eventually I actually started enjoying it and enjoyed training and racing. And now we, yeah.
Andrew Paradowski:
How about you, Dillon?
Dillon Geary:
I think I started about eight or nine years ago. And what got me into riding was basically my parents supported it as well. I started doing coffee rides with them in my one break every single day. And I basically just getting coffee every morning after a ride got me hooked to it. And I was also a bit of a bigger boy. So it helped me lose weight as well. So that’s how I got into it.
James Swart:
I kind of got into cycling at a very young age. My dad’s always been involved in the sports. It’s quite a funny story in that I was begging my parents for hamster. They really, really didn’t want me to get a hamster. So on the trip that my dad finally gave into to take me to the pet store to get a hamster, he came up with the bright idea of, oh, James wouldn’t you rather get a bicycle. So that kind of started the whole process and looking back at it now, I’m quite sure he would’ve preferred if I bought a hamster.
Andrew Paradowski:
Well, it certainly would’ve been a lot cheaper.
James Swart:
Exactly that.
Andrew Paradowski:
All right. So now that you’ve been doing this for a while and you know, you’re here in the US, can you think back on your career of cycling to your favorite moment, the moment that stands out for you that you’re always thinking about in racing or training or anything in cycling that just sort of like, you’re going to keep with you forever and that’ll be the moment that you always talk about.
Daniyal Matthews:
I will never forget junior worlds when I was second year junior, it was in Montechiari, Italy, and obviously the prestige of going to a world championships. I can remember almost every detail of that event. And I really enjoyed being there.
James Swart:
I would say my first individual continental title really stands out for me, was something I’ll never forget.
Dillon Geary:
For me it was my first national title that I won, points race in 2019, I think.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very cool. That’s a nice spread of memories there for sure. All right. Let’s do another round of rapid fires. This way we’ll go this way. We’ll start with Daniyal and go over. Favorite movie?
Daniyal Matthews:
Shutter Island with Leo DiCaprio.
James Swart:
My favorite movie would have to be Cause. Cause One.
Dillon Geary:
I honestly do not have an idea. If I have to guess I’ll just say Fast and Furious series.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very nice. Best music to train to?
Daniyal Matthews:
Hiphop. I love hiphop and rap music, rap and trap. That’s my style.
Andrew Paradowski:
All right before we go on, I have to ask. So there’s a band out of South Africa called Die Antwoord.
Daniyal Matthews:
Oh yeah. They are crazy.
Andrew Paradowski:
That’s that’s my little bit of South African music knowledge right there for you.
Daniyal Matthews:
Do you like them?
Andrew Paradowski:
Yeah not bad.
Daniyal Matthews:
They’re very controversial but entertaining at the same time.
Andrew Paradowski:
For sure. For sure.
Daniyal Matthews:
Not to play with your parents around.
Andrew Paradowski:
James.
James Swart:
I would have to say some EDM and a bit of rap.
Andrew Paradowski:
Okay.
Dillon Geary:
For me, it’s a mix of everything, but if I’m doing intervals, definitely some Suicide Boys. Yeah, that’s for me.
Andrew Paradowski:
All right. Best post race snack.
Daniyal Matthews:
It’s always a protein shake if it’s been a hard ride. Otherwise, if I’m feeling for something sweet, I wouldn’t mind an ice cream after hard ride.
James Swart:
Best post race snack would be a [inaudible 00:13:13].
Dillon Geary:
For me, it would be a sandwich from Subway, Jimmy Johns, anything just the sandwich.
Andrew Paradowski:
Are you sponsored by any of those companies or maybe looking?
Dillon Geary:
Yes, please.
Andrew Paradowski:
So you guys have been here for, sorry, I have to, forgive me all the races we’ve done. You’ve been here since the beginning. I know Daniyal you were here for the first C2, were you not?
Daniyal Matthews:
Yes, I was that on the 10th of June.
Andrew Paradowski:
Right? Yeah. And you guys came for the second one or just the C1s?
Dillon Geary:
I came for the second one.
James Swart:
I’ve just been here since before the first class one.
Andrew Paradowski:
Right. Okay. So little bit of different arrival times and different opportunities. So how do you think about what’s been happening here so far? How’s your racing going?
Daniyal Matthews:
Well, it’s definitely been picking up, obviously more guys coming for the C1 event, but I’m not looking forward to the end of this weekend because everybody’s going to start leaving and it’s going to be quiet and I’m staying on a bit longer.
James Swart:
So I’ve been here since just before the class one events and I’ve really been enjoying it. I haven’t exactly performed as I would like to, but I’ve been enjoying getting stuck into the pro am I’m racing but I haven’t made it through as far as I would’ve liked to, just to get a bit more racing out of the day. So yeah, as Daniyal says, I’m also staying on a bit longer.
Dillon Geary:
For me it’s been a good two weeks of racing so far and many lessons learned the first two weeks and I’m hoping to apply what I’ve learned. This weekend’s racing and see what I can do.
Andrew Paradowski:
Well it should be good. Everyone’s looking forward to it. It’s probably going to be the largest turnout so far. So I think everybody’s looking to score some extra points and there’s going to be some athletes who are heading down to Cali for sure after this, with the nations cup. Are any of you looking to go there?
Daniyal Matthews:
No, I went last year from the USA to Cali, but not this year.
Andrew Paradowski:
Right on. So we’ve talked a lot about you guys as cyclists and you know, all things on bikes, but tell us a little bit about yourself, what do you do in your spare time? What kind of hobbies you might have? Let our listeners get to know the real you starting with Dillon.
Dillon Geary:
In my spare time, I like to sit in front of the TV and watch the TV. I like baking and cooking as well. And I just like being in the outdoors a lot. So hiking, stuff like that.
Andrew Paradowski:
You get a lot of chance to do that here when you’re at school?
Dillon Geary:
I haven’t had a lot, but since summer started, I have had more time to do it.
Andrew Paradowski:
Cool. James?
James Swart:
So my entire life revolves around cycling. So if I’m not riding my bike, I’m either looking at ways to get faster or make my bike faster. Otherwise, a little bit of hobby, cars in my spare time.
Daniyal Matthews:
Like Dillon says, I also enjoy TV and Netflix, I love a good TV program or a movie on night occasion. And I think my biggest passion is traveling. Just seeing new places and cycling has definitely afforded me the opportunity to go to some places that I never thought I would’ve been able to go to. So it’s great to see new sites and explore a bit. So now that the UCI events are almost done, I’m planning to maybe make a short trip to New York and Washington DC and see what it has to offer.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very nice. Not a super short trip to Washington. I think what, it’s about four hours from here. I think so, three and a half. So it’s certainly a good place to go and view. So what does the future hold for the three of you? What plans do you have in cycling and then after cycling? What are your goals like? Where do you want to, what’s your bucket list for cycling? Where do you want to be? And hopefully you get there and then after the cycling’s all over, where do you see yourselves?
Dillon Geary:
I’d like to go to the Olympics one day. That’s my big goal. Short term goal I want to win a collegiate national title, hopefully this fall, but we’ll see. And after cycling, I don’t know, just settle down. If I ever finish cycling, just settle down with my family. Spend time with them.
James Swart:
I think for myself, same as Dillon. I want to get to 2028 Olympic games and be able to hold my head high and know that I’ve given my best and being able to compete. Short term, just get faster really. That’s what we all want to do, but needs to be done. And after cycling I’ll probably just still be involved in cycling, maybe just not in racing. So become a mechanic or a manager because I love the sports. It’s my passion.
Andrew Paradowski:
Have you thought about becoming a commissaire? They’re always looking for young folks to take on the role of a official.
James Swart:
I think knowing the amounts of hassles that commissaires get given, not from myself personally, but I’ve seen from other riders. It’s probably not for me.
Daniyal Matthews:
My big goal is the Olympics. Whether it be the next one or 2028 in LA, that’s a big goal of mine. And I think it’s a good journey to take on. And after cycling, while I’ll ride it out, as long as I can, because I’m having a lot of fun, but I suppose I might study a bit further and definitely travel as much as I can.
Andrew Paradowski:
Sounds great. All right. With us today, we had Dillon Geary, James Swart, and Daniyal Matthews, three young riders from South Africa making their way here on their own and mixing it up with all the big international athletes here at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming in today.
Daniyal Matthews:
Thanks for having us.
James Swart:
Thanks for having us.
Andrew Paradowski:
Very welcome. And we wish you the best of luck for this weekend’s racing and also for your future endeavors and to our folks at home we hope you enjoyed today’s podcast and we’re looking forward to the next one. Take care now.
Female Announcer:
Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of the Talk of the T-Town podcast. If you like what you heard, please rate us and leave a comment on wherever you consume your podcasts. To find out more on this week’s guest, head on over to our website, thevelodrome.com, to check out the show notes and subscribe so you never miss an episode.