How medical condition guided Nixon to cycling

Luke Nixon may have struggled to believe it when he was forced to give up softball after he was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease.

The condition is an inflammation of the patella ligament and becomes more painful with exercise, but the 15-year-old may not have fostered his love of cycling without it.

After less than two years in the sport Nixon showed his potential by winning the under-17 title at December's Austral Wheelrace in Melbourne.

"That was the best experience winning it. It was honestly something I thought I'd never be able to do when I first started competing, but I was honoured to do it," he said.

"I used to represent country NSW in softball before I came to cycling, but due to micro fractures I was having in my knees I couldn't run 100 metres without having extreme pain and having to stop," Nixon said.

"It was pretty shattering (to give up softball) but before that I'd had to quit rep soccer to follow my softball dreams. It's just another stepping stone to get to what I'm into today."

A physio suggested Nixon take up cycling as a way to rehabilitate his condition, and he hasn't looked back since.

"It started off as therapy and I just fell in love with the sport," he said.

"I honestly thought I was just going to come down here, have some fun and for it to be something to do to get my fitness up. I never thought I'd be racing at states or nationals or anything like that.

"I still get really sore if I do heavy sprint sessions, high weights and low reps. That's something that still puts a big burden on my knees, but apart from that it's a low impact sport.

"It doesn't really affect me at all in races. I'm not a sprinter, I'm more of an enduro rider."

Nixon is still tackling Wagga's hills during the coronavirus pandemic, despite the situation forcing a number of events to be cancelled including April's junior track nationals in Brisbane.

"It's pretty disappointing for me and a lot of my fellow competitors, but there's not much we can do about it really. Going to be on in mid-April in Brisbane.

"If I go out and smash myself for a few hours, I still enjoy it. Feeling the pain, it's why a marathon runner goes out and hammers themselves for so long."

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