DH CHAMP - STEF GARLICKI : Tests his LD commitment

TESTING YOUR COMMITMENT DURING LD

Former SA DH Champion and regular columnist for Full Sus, Stefan Garlicki had to get “home”, he shares his adrenaline filled trip to reach his two loves – his partner and racing!

he last few months have been T a crazy time for all of us with COVID-19 and at points it seemed like it would never end BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel!

We all had to deal with our personal struggles and for me my main focus was to get back to Germany to be with my better half and to go racing of course! I was lucky enough to be stuck on a farm during lockdown and I had space to ride a bit at home and keep active which was a huge plus for me. I really feel for all the people stuck in tiny apartments in the city.

However, the goal was Germany and I looked at every option available even going on a cargo ship for 30 days ha-ha! It took a while but after about six weeks of phone calls and emails I managed to get a repatriation flight to the UK. I have a British passport and so I was eligible to get on board. The situation was still very stressful and uncertain as I was not 100% sure I would be allowed into Germany as I am not German and am not married to my partner. However after a lot of research I was quite sure I could get in, but still not guaranteed.

And so the process started, I needed to be at the Cape Town Stadium at 6am where all the passengers had a health check and then needed to wait to get buses to the airport. There were 12 buses and each bus was checked by police dogs at the airport before we could get off. We were the only flight to leave Cape Town and the airport was a ghost town with lots of police around. It was like a movie, honestly. Finally I managed to check in my three bikes which was also an uncertainty because I was told no bikes allowed and no extra luggage. BUT I had to take my bikes so I just tried my luck and it worked!

Soon we were on our way and arrived in London at 10:15PM where I met up with a friend of mine who is a pilot and he had come

all the way from Munich to fetch me! We had to sleep in the airport on the floor as we had an early flight the next day. I could get a ticket without booking, due to being with a pilot. During the night we snuck into an empty restaurant so we could sleep on the couch BUUUT it was short-lived as the police found us and chased us out, ha-ha!

The next step was getting me on the flight to Frankfurt and at first they would not let me check in as I was not German. It was a very stressful 15 minutes but eventually, after a phone call to Germany, they said I could go! I then had the same issue when I arrived in Germany but again luckily they let me in. Finally I could celebrate! The last step of the journey was driving 400km to Munich which was the final stop. When I arrived it was an

unreal moment and I could not believe I had made it, against the odds. So many people told me it would not work but in the end determination pays off. I could not have done it without some really good friends.

Now I can finally get ready to go racing again, but only time will tell when that will be.

Until next time …

SUS THE BAIL! ALWAYS CHECK THE TRACK FIRST

STEFAN GARLICKI is a 2X downhill national champion and a World Cup DH racer. Make sure you give him a

follow on Twitter: @StefanGarlicki and Instagram: @stefangarlicki.

Stef and Sara reunited.