Welcome back to the Rest Days community podcast. This week is a really special episode with someone who's a huge inspiration for me. Violette Neza is a Rwandan cyclist with an impressive professional cycling resume, but her goals are about much more than her own results. She has her own women's cycling team, where she coaches and mentors young Rwandan women.
Through this team, she's focused on more than just creating faster riders. She is creating strong, independent women who believe in themselves and know how to look after themselves. Amongst all of this, she plans in and prioritizes rest for herself, which we hear all about through this episode. The audio isn't always perfect, but the content of Violette's words make up for it
Rhona: Hi, Neza. Thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast. I'm really excited to chat to you about everything, about rest, about cycling, about training, about all your adventures. Um, I wonder if you could just introduce yourself a little bit. Tell us a bit about where you live, what you do
Neza: Thank you so much, Rhona, for having me. I'm, um, very excited to speaking, uh, with you this evening. I am, uh, Violette Neza, as, uh, you have mentioned. I am from Rwanda. I'm a cyclist and I do gravel and, uh, youth road race races and I am a coach, cycling coach as well. Thank you.
Rhona: Yeah. It's amazing. So one of the things that made me want to speak to you is that you are both a coach and an athlete, and I think it must be very hard to do both of those.
How do you find the time?
Neza: Uh, it's not hard to find the time for both of, uh, them because, uh, I train the young girls or youth, and I can train with them. I can prepare the trainings for them and, um, while I'm demonstrating them, I'm also doing my training. Or I can, um, follow them on the roads and do my trainings after.
Rhona: Ah. Yeah. That's perfect. I can do that. So, so sometimes you do the training with them, and that means that you also get your training as well.
Neza: Exactly.
Rhona: Wow. That's amazing. What, what made you get into cycling in the first place?
Neza: Uh, for me it was, uh, about love of bike and, uh, curiosity. rwanda is a country known on, m- known on bicycles 'cause, uh, it's kind of our transportations. In Europe you are known of by driving cars. Here in Rwanda most of the people, they ride bicycles.
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: Every house have, um, a bike where in Europe you have a car. Yeah.
Rhona: Absolutely. I wish we had more bicycles because it is safer and it is better for everybody. You know, it's, it's nicer, everybody gets healthier. It's n- not got the pollution and the fumes. Um, but yeah, we, uh, we have too many cars.
Neza: Yeah. You have too many cars. You also have bicycles, but they compare to Rwanda, in Rwanda we use them a lot.
Even if we, uh, we have a huge country, but we still find way of using them as a transportation mode.
Rhona: Yeah, exactly. When you, um, first started riding a bicycle, did you ride one of those, uh, bicycles with the... the real- the ones with the really difficult gears and the curved ha- handlebars?
Neza: Yes. I started on a single speed bike. It's a cargo bike. It, it... I think most of us, they are the bicycles we start with because, uh, not everyone can manage to afford sport bikes, and especially I was born in a rural area. They, I didn't know those nice bicycles are existing 'cause, um, the time I started cycling
I was only seeing tr- transportation bikes. Yeah.
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: It's the one I started on.
Rhona: Yeah. I mean, you must... It must have made you get very strong because they have very hard gears on them.
Neza: Exactly. It's a, normally
Rhona: it's one gear, one in the front and
Neza: one at from the back. Yeah. Which is you have always push, push, yeah. And, uh, when it goes uphill, you push it.
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: Not pedaling, you just push.
Rhona: Yeah. And then how did you start cycling racing?
Neza: Uh, racing is, um... Well, that's a good question. The way I started racing, there was a African Championship coming to Rwanda.
In that moment, there were not many girls who were racing, and they started to look around for the girls who ride bicycles, and then I met them and, uh, they convinced me to join the team, uh, to
participate in the local races, which I did. I was not convinced at the first moment, but afterward I get convinced, and I started to join the local races and I was winning everything. And then I got, uh, selected to join junior women national team.
Rhona: Wow. That's amazing.
Neza: And my first... Yeah, thank you so much. My first international race I did was the Africa Championship, and we won a gold medal.
Rhona: Wow. Oh my goodness. So you had never done any big racing and then you did that. That's incredible.
Neza: Yeah. Thank you.
Rhona: So I guess after that you were ver- you really enjoyed cycling.
Neza: Exactly. After that I was enjoy, enjoying this a lot and, um, I got into it more and I met other people and the other girls. I was like, "Wow, this is the way to go."
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: And I kept riding and... Yeah, the girls were not easy, but I can say, and since that moment they get to be known they can ride the bicycles as well. We were still few, but yeah, day by day the numbers were increasing. That's amazing. And now you
Rhona: are training young girls and trying to get more girls into cycling, aren't you?
Neza: For sure, yeah. I did start my, uh, own team from my, uh, home village. I really want to give back to my, uh, home village. Because in the beginning for me when I started, they were, uh, shouting to me and saying, "It's not allowed to ride a bicycle when you are a girl."
And for me, I was saying, "Um, why not?" Because, uh, we have two legs, boys have two legs. We can do the same like they are doing, and, uh, yeah, they kept telling me and they wanted to stop me, but I couldn't listen to what they were saying. And so far, I'm coaching my own team. I'm competing, yeah, and guiding on bicycles as well.
Rhona: Yeah. That's amazing that people had said to you you couldn't do it, but you didn't listen to them and then you did it anyway.
Neza: Sure. Thank you. It's- Yeah, it feels super nice because even the others, they, uh, they look on what I'm doing and they are liking it and enjoying
Rhona: it. That's really nice. It must feel amazing when you see the people who you coach and you bring into cycling when they are doing well.
That must feel even better than when you do well.
Neza: Yeah, it's, um, it's really better and it gives me nice feelings. And, uh, yeah, I can feel like when I will leave cycling I will have, uh, the ones who will stay where I, yeah, I am today, and who can perform even better than I'm doing. And yeah, I always appreciate people who are around me, people who keep supporting me and my projects because, yeah, by myself alone, honestly if I can manage to do
Rhona: it.
Yeah. That's, that's absolutely amazing. And is that why you decided to do coaching? Because you thought you wanted other people to have the same opportunities?
Neza: Yeah, I could say one of, uh, the reason why I have started coaching because, yeah, I really want to teach others, to share with them my experiences. And, uh, yeah, in Africa we have a problem of, uh, having women coaches, and to see that gap I also want to-
Rhona: Mm ...
Neza: cross that gap to help and, uh, to be an example for others where they can, um, see the things that are possible and they can do it.
Rhona: Yeah. And you did a, um, a s- a special, like, coaching course, didn't you? Is it called Wish? Is that what it is called?
Neza: Yes, I did a joint Wish program.
Rhona: Yeah. Tell me more about that.
Neza: Thank you. WISPH program is a special program for women coaches who are, uh, coaching diff- in, from different sports, and, uh, they teach us many different things.
They connect us where we can share our experiences and learning more.
Rhona: Yeah, that's amazing, and it looks like the program has produced lots of really good coaches. Um, and you know, such a cool thing to be able to, to get more women in, into coaching.
Neza: Yes. Um, I think so far there are above 100- Yeah ... coaches they have, who have joined the program since we started, and they are really doing amazing.
They, um, yeah. 'Cause when you, you are doing things in your own, in your home country, and you have never meet others, sometimes it's, uh, easy to get discouraged or keep asking yourself if there are other women who are doing the same or how you can meet others, sharing experiences, learning from others. And, yeah, once you are meeting with them, you gain more confidence, you get to know each other, share experiences, you ask the questions you have, and the, the connection you build from there, it never stop.
Mm-hmm. It keeps growing, growing, and day by day we keep sharing what we are doing and, uh, yeah, keep learning and we keep learning from each other and also moving from one area to another to meet and then learn.
Rhona: , I- it's so important to have women who are coaching because the young girls, the athletes, they need to see people like them who, you know, they can aspire to be like.
Neza: Exactly.
And, uh, for me, I also understand it more because, um, when you are a girl riding a bike or playing other game, and you have a male coach, you don't feel more open like you feel open to the female coach.
Rhona: Mm.
Neza: She helps the g- the girls athletes to be open to their coaches and, uh, yeah. You know, we have, uh, the, the things we don't share openly to the men.
Yeah. And when you have someone, you have a similar body and, uh, you face same issues I can say, it's easy to understand when you are facing the hard time and they can feel what you're feeling. And if they used to be an athlete, it's even better.
Rhona: Absolutely. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Like it's a good example is, um, with cycling, sometimes it can be difficult with your period, , men might try to understand that, but they don't, they're never going to understand that, are they?
But just even the logistics of wearing your cycling shorts and how are you going to deal with the bleeding, you know, these kind of little things you would only talk about with a woman, you need that understanding, don't you?
Neza: Yeah, we do need that. The male, there are the male who do understand it, but they are not understanding it 100% like how another female can understand, uh, can understand it.
Rhona: Absolutely, yeah. Exactly. So when you're training your, um, your, the younger girls, um, are, uh, what sort of, uh, cy- cycling programs do you do? So, um, you obviously teach them about, uh, the hard sessions and stuff. Are you teaching them about rest days and about looking after themselves?
Neza: Oh, great question. For me and then my girls team, it's beyond riding a bike.
I teach them a lot, the ride from bike and the life out of the bike.
Rhona: Yeah. Okay, I love that. So you t- it's all about their whole life. That's, that's brilliant- Exactly ... because they both have an impact on each other. So what sort of life lessons are you teaching them off the bike?
Neza: Yeah, I teach them off bike how they can live in a society because, um, the bike is a sport, but again, after bike you have to go back home, you have, uh, to know how to live with other people, to live with your family, helping them and, um, also helping other people.
You don't have to do cycling and when you are going back home you feel like, "Ah, I'm going to be a star. I'm going to sit and, um, lay in my bed," and that's enough. I teach them to have clear goals and to have the daily plan where they can, um, make a daily plan of h- how they are going to act during their day.
Rhona: Wow.
Neza: Having... Yeah. Thank you. Because they are still young, I don't teach them the hard things. They are still young and they have to run step by step. It goes a bit harder, but we are not sta- I'm not starting with them with the hard things.
Rhona: Wow. And, uh- That's absolutely brilliant. I think that's so amazing that you're teaching those young girls, you know, more about skills off the bike and on the bike.
That's such a holistic view
Neza: Yeah, thank you
Rhona: Yeah. Sorry, you tell me, tell me more. You were gonna say something else about it
Neza: Yeah, I was about to say, to talk about the behaviors and, uh, you know, when you are going back in a community for the girls, it's easy to meet many different challenges. Uh, for example, for example, like them, they're from rural areas and, um, you know there are the programs of, uh, teenagers pregnant.
And I also teach them about their life, about how they have to behave. And we, we are also aiming to, uh, to prevent that cases, and, um, learn how they have to make their, to make their own future, not expecting or depending from the others who are coming to tell them the new things, bringing them something new, planning and, uh, get to...
How can I courage? Like, um, w- it- it's basically like just giving, uh, gifts to those young girls and, uh, tell them and taking them in, uh, illegal things they can courage. And also not going to take drugs. Um, yeah, I teach them many different things, how they can, um, create their basic future by themselves, not expecting the things from, uh,
Rhona: somewhere else.
That's amazing. It's so amazing that you're thinking about all of these things and not just about, um, about the cycling, because it all matters, and it's all relevant to their future, and it's so good that you're thinking about all of that. Um, and with their, with their training on the bike, do you set them a pr- a plan, um, that they follow?
Neza: Yes, I do set a programs for them. They're combining this with their studies. I, um, set the training program for them where they ride more during the weekends, and I have a few indoor trainers that they can also train on them after studies.
Rhona: Oh, wow. So you make it fit all around their studying as well. You make sure that they're learning.
Yeah. That's so good.
Neza: Yeah. Thank you.
Rhona: Wow. So what... So on the weekends, are they getting-- Are they doing longer rides? Are they do-- Is that what you kind of do and then shorter things like interval sessions on the trainer?
Neza: Exactly, yeah. During the weekend, most of the time I also meet the, with them and, uh, can ride together from two hours to four hours.
And, uh, yeah. That's- During the week they do ride on, uh, indoor rollers. They are not enough, but the ones who are able to go out during the week, I also provide them the program they can follow.
Rhona: Oh, that's brilliant. That's really good.
Neza: Thank you.
Rhona: And do you teach them about things like, um, eating when they're on the bike and e- you know, making sure they have fuel and stuff like that?
Neza: Exactly. I do teach them about eating, about, uh, basic bike mechanic, because they are the most important things they also needs to know.
Rhona: You've thought of everything.
Neza: Thank you so much.
Rhona: It's very cool. I think-- I'm really excited to see, um, if there is any future stars in the team and, and who will be the next b- amazing Rwandan cyclist.
Neza: That is my main goal, to help them to get as far as possible.
Rhona: Yeah. So. That's amazing. Well, I wanna talk more about your cycling. What do you think is the, your favorite achievement in cycling? It doesn't have to be the best result, but which one is your favorite?
Neza: Wow.
That's a good question, but also tricky. It doesn't have to be the result you have mentioned. I think one of the best achievement are the people I have met-
Rhona: Aw ...
Neza: in the cycling. Yes.
Rhona: Wow. It's, that's amazing, and it shows that it's so much more than just a sport. It's very easy to just get focused on the actual cycling, but there's so many more opportunities around it, isn't there?
Neza: Yeah, there are so many opportunities. And, um, yeah, we've... Those people also I meet along the road, along the world, it also helps a lot.
Rhona: Yeah, okay.
Neza: And, uh, they, day by day you get to share what you have see along, along the world where you are, where you are going. Yes, cycling is the more than the result.
Rhona: Wow.
And, uh, when you're in Rwanda, when you're on your race bike, um, do the children, do they all chase after you? Do you get that?
Neza: They do. They do. They do chase me. They do cheer for me. They do stop me at some point. Yes, they do like cycling and, um, sometimes they are very curious where they are, like, through everywhere want to touch your bike, want to know more about you, about what you're doing.
It happens.
Rhona: It's really cool though, because, you know, you have a, like, a fan club on all of your training rides.
Neza: Exactly. Especially when I go off-road, it's where I meet a lot of children and when I pass nearby the schools, you can see whole school coming behind or next in front, surrounding you when you're on bike.
Yeah.
Rhona: Yeah. I imagine maybe after a while, um, you get used to it. Um, I visited Rwanda in February and I felt like I was never alone and there was just always so, so many children smiling and running. Um, it was s- I thought I would never get bored if that was just my cycling every day.
Neza: Wow. Where did you go in, in February this year? Was this year?
Rhona: Yes, this year, yeah. Um, it was... We came and we visited, we went to Kigali, and then we cycled, uh, Nyungwe, and then down to Lake Kivu, along Lake Kivu, and then we went back to Kigali.
Neza: Wow. What a beautiful route you have done. You, have you cycled through Nyungwe?
Rhona: Yeah. Well, yeah, we cycled through Nyungwe. It was just amazing.
Neza: Nice. Have you, did you see some animals from there?
Rhona: We saw some monkeys, but sadly we didn't see any chimpanzees.
Neza: Oh, so next time.
Rhona: Next time, yeah.
Neza: You have to come
Rhona: back. I know. I would love to come back.
Neza: Nice.
Rhona: Yeah.
Thought the most, like, beau- it's the most beautiful country for cycling. Um, and I like the hill, I like cycling uphill, so it was fun. But if peop-
Neza: Wow, I'm so happy to hear that.
Rhona: Yeah, I think maybe if you like flat cycling, it's, it's not the...
won't be the fa- your favorite, but I, I like hilly cycling, so it's okay.
Neza: Wow, yeah. Hill is, um, this is very nice because without the hills you can't see the nice view.
More you climb, better view you see, you see when you're on the top.
Rhona: Yeah, exactly. I mean, so yeah, when you're racing, do you think that you're really good at hills? Have the hills in Rwanda helped you? Or do you th- think, uh, it's not made much difference?
Neza: The hills, they do help, but I'm all rounder rider
Rhona: Okay
Neza: I like it when there are more hills. It's r- so it's hard practically not mine, but, um, yeah. I like when it's a mix of everything
Rhona: Mm. Okay. And, um, what is your favorite to cycle, uh, at road or off-road?
Neza: My favorite things is off-road
Rhona: Okay, yeah. That's great. And do you have a mountain bike or gravel bike? Which one
Neza: I do have a gravel bike. I would like to have a mountain bike, but maybe I will get it later or soon.
Rhona: Okay. Yeah, okay. It's hard to- So you could do all of the things. I,
Neza: I do them, but, uh, most of mountain bike races I do, I do borrow mountain bike.
Rhona: Okay. Okay. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah,
Neza: yeah. Yeah, I do road, gravel, mountain bi- and mountain bike.
Rhona: You've got so many talents.
Neza: Okay. Thank you.
Rhona: Yeah. That's really cool. So what do you... What... You're obviously very busy. You're coaching people, you're training yourself, um, and you're racing. How do you, uh, look after yourself?
What, you know, what do you do to relax?
Neza: . It's-- They are manageable because, uh, the first thing I can say, at the time you have a plan where you make a list of what you are doing, it is possible to combine many things because, uh, you have the top priorities and then the others are next to them. And, uh, first, firstly you have to take good care of yourself.
Mm. Without, without you healthy and, uh, in a good mood, nothing can go well. The things can go wrong. I do manage to get a time for myself because, yeah, when I'm planning, making a plan of those things, I do also put some breaks where I can, uh, take some rest, meet, meeting people, playing around, learning new things, listening to the music.
Yeah, and, uh, sleeping.
Rhona: Yeah, sleeping. Exactly. Do you s- are you-- Do you find it easy to sleep? Do you get plenty of sleep?
Neza: It, I can say sometimes it, it is not, but I do find it
Rhona: Yeah. Good. The... And I like how you said, you know, spending time with friends and playing is, uh, what you do to rest. That's really nice. Um, do you think you get lots of energy from spending time with other people?
Neza: I can say spending, uh, time with other people, it, it helps
Rhona: it's
Neza: not the best thing because, uh, when you are too tired, what you need is to rest.
Rhona: Yeah, yeah. So sometimes you need time for your- on your own as well.
Neza: Exactly. Mm-hmm. Taking, uh, some hours sleeping. Eating well and sleeping, it helps a lot.
And you can also add meeting people on the list, but not the top thing to do for wellbeing.
Rhona: Yeah, yeah. Um, and you said you like to listen to music. What music is your favorite?
Neza: Wow. I do have degrees
Um, hmm, which one I'm going... So one of them I like since I started the cycling is If You Believe. That song really helps me a lot.
Rhona: Yes.
Neza: And I like to listen to it more times. Yeah.
Rhona: Amazing. Yeah. And, what is your favorite Rwandan food?
Neza: Nice question. You know, in Rwanda that we like to eat many different things and we mix in the things, cooking them together. Uh, do you want just for dish or one thing?
Rhona: Mm, you could pick, like, one, one dish with, with lots of things in it if you want. Oh,
Neza: nice. Potatoes plus vegetables
Yep
Rhona: That's your favorite? Yeah. All good recovery foods
Neza: Yeah, also recover for-
Rhona: Exactly. It's perfect, especially if you like them. Yeah, I, uh, thought the food was amazing in Rwanda. It's really, really great. You have s- so many de- delicious foods.
Neza: please make a new plan to come back.
Rhona: Yeah. I will, I will have
Neza: to. You didn't see and you didn't spend a long time, and you didn't go everywhere, and I'm pretty sure you s- you still have a lot to explore.
Rhona: Definitely, yeah. I think, I think there is so much to explore. Mm-hmm.
Neza: Many dishes to taste.
Rhona: Yeah, many foods, for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and, uh, when you traveled in Europe, what was your favorite food?
Neza: I traveled in, in many different countries, and I found out they do have different dishes, and they do have different cooking styles. It, it's hard to say one, one from all different countries I have traveled. But I can mention where I had nice food. In Italy is where they, you have so nice food.
Rhona: Yeah. Italy is good food.
Neza: Yeah.
Rhona: Yeah. That's the... It- Italy is my favorite food in the world.
Neza: Wow. Same. We do have the
Rhona: same. Yeah. It's just- Yeah ... yeah, they do... they just do it well, don't they?
Neza: They do.
Rhona: They do, yeah. And again, very good food for recovering because lots of carbohydrates to keep you fueled
Neza: Exactly
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: But- They do have good food.
They do have good coffee. They are-
Rhona: Exactly. It's good. Yeah. But Rwanda has good coffee too.
Neza: Yes, we do have good coffee and tea. Did you taste the
Rhona: tea? The tea as well, yeah. Amazing tea.
Yeah. I think you have, uh... It's very, very good, very good coffee and tea. It's amazing. Perfect, uh, landscape for growing it, isn't it?
Because it's high up and very hilly.
Neza: Yeah. We, we do have... I think the nice climate of the soil and the things they taste better.
Rhona: Yeah. Okay. Yeah,
so tell me, does anybody in your family cycle, or did you... were you the first person in your family to cycle?
Neza: Probably, no I'm the only one who is cycle
Rhona: That's amazing. So nobody, was doing it around you, but you thought, "I can do this." I think that's amazing.
Neza: Yeah. As a sport, nobody, but, um, as a transportation, my brothers, they know how to ride the bicycle.
Rhona: Mm-hmm. Okay.
Neza: Yeah.
Rhona: And do your family, do they, uh, watch you race?
Are they fo- do they follow your, your journey?
Neza: In the beginning it was very tough because, uh, they were also afraid for my safety, uh, because there were a lot of stereotypes and, uh, yeah, they... No one was happy for me, I can say. But, uh, so when they see I'm in a good way, the things are going well, they are proud of me and they are, they follow me.
Rhona: That's so, that's so nice. That's really cool..
Neza: Thank you.
Rhona: And where in Rwanda are you from? I
Neza: am from Northern Province, Rusumo District.
Rhona: Yeah. Oh, like right near Uganda? Or b- near the border?
Neza: Exactly.
Rhona: Okay. Uh-
Neza: It's, um, not exactly near the border, but it's in that direction.
Rhona: In that direction. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So still very hilly there.
Neza: Yeah. It's, it's very hilly.
Rhona: Yeah, very hilly. Um, I saw something that you had written about, uh, pushing your comfort zone, um, and how we grow so much, um, when we do that.
Um, what... Tell me what you teach your, uh, your young athletes about that.
Neza: Nice questions, yeah. You know when you're in a comfort zone, you never learn, you never grow. You have to step out of your comfort zone. It's where you experience new things, where you get better results. When the things get harder, it's when you are closer to the best results. You have to be patient, keep pushing and, uh, yeah.
It's, uh, it's good to step out of your comfort zone and, uh, you get stronger by pushing hard.
Rhona: Mm.
Neza: You don't get stronger by staying in your comfort zone.
Rhona: I love that, and I think that fits very well with the balance you have where you are wanting to push and you wanna improve, but you are planning in the rest and you, you seem so organized.
You are pla- making sure you have all the right bits to succeed.
Neza: Thank you. Yeah, it helps a lot because without having a plan, the things can go wrong, the things can be mixed up and, uh, when the things are not... When you are not organized and what you are doing, you are not making a plan of them-
Rhona: Mm ...
Neza: then it, it is frustrating.
Rhona: Yeah, that's fair enough. Um, who inspires you? Who, who are your cycling idols?
Neza: Wow. Nice question. I do have different ones because as you know, I do multiple sports and, uh, I do see the good, good things from different people And that's why I do have different idols. Maybe I'm going to tell you three of them.
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: Because, uh, I don't see everything in one person.
Rhona: Yeah, I think that makes sense. Uh, there's, there-
Neza: Yes. I ca- I see a lot in one person, but not everything, and there are the things I see in someone which I don't see in then from another one. And, uh, myself recently I'm going to start from you to tell you since this is.
I have a female and a male.
Rhona: Mm-hmm.
Neza: Many people, they don't understand me when I'm saying I also have male idol. They're like, "Ah, how it comes?" But you can learn from anyone who is doing the best things, who is, uh, inspiring and teaching and sharing experiences, and making change in the world. I'm going to start with the king of chaos Justinas , Leveika .
Maybe you know him.
Rhona: Yeah, I've seen him on, on the internet.
Neza: Great. That is the, the first one, and the second one is, um, Lael Wilcox-
Rhona: Yeah ...
Neza: who's doing the lives, the li- fat ride around the world at this
Rhona: moment. Yeah. Yeah, Lael Wilcox is, is my idol. She is, uh-
Neza: Wow ...
Rhona: she inspi- she is my, uh, inspires me so much too, because she is a amazing cyclist, but she also is making time to build community as well, and I, I think that's- Exactly
beautiful.
Neza: That's really brilliant of her. And did you met her? No,
Rhona: I've never met her. I would love to, but, um, yeah, I have never. Have you met her?
Neza: Oh, you have to first of all. I did meet her. It was the time I met her, I was, uh, following her on, uh, social medias, and I was think, "Wow, this is phenomenal woman."
And I got an opportunity to meet and ride with her. There was a Komoot Women Torino-Nice ride.
Oh, wow, you did that? That's amazing.
Yeah. I did that. I ha- I, uh, was riding with her and, uh, saw some other womens. It was amazing. And it was, uh, one of my first trip to Europe, and it, that really inspired me a lot.
And I can say some of many cycling projects I'm doing, and for keeping going, that it helps me a lot. Because there I met different categories of cyclists, coaches. Yeah, just phenomenal women. We were, uh, 50 from different countries, different continents, and they ride with Lael
Rhona: Wilcox. Wow. That's amazing.
Neza: I
learned a lot and got motivated and inspired.
Rhona: Yeah,
Neza: that- And it is, uh, related to my cycling project, the girls team.
Rhona: Yeah, exactly.
Neza: Yeah. And, uh, now . I also do have road cyclists who are inspiring me.
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: I do have, uh, Anna van der Breggen.
Rhona: Oh, wow, yeah
Neza: She's also one of my idol
Rhona: Yeah, she's amazing.
And what, uh, what are the things that make her your idol?
Neza: Uh, the way she, she perform. The... She, she's multitask I can say as well. She used to be strong rider in, uh, she's a, she's a strong rider and then later she turned to coaching. So yeah, she was a race director.
Rhona: Mm.
Neza: And that moment is where I was really saying, "Oh, wow.
She was a, a top athlete, now she's switching to coaching." And, uh, that is the way I really want to be. Being an athlete and then retire and become one of the top coaches.
Rhona: Oh, it's so amazing. And, uh, yeah. I think it's so amazing that you have this... Yeah, you're so dedicated to the future of cycling
Neza: Yeah, thank you so much
Rhona: Yeah.
It's so, so good. So, um, we, we did talk a little bit about what you do to relax and what you do to rest. So if you had a day where you can, you can do whatever you want, and at the end of the day, you just wanna feel really relaxed, what is your perfect day?
Neza: Nice question. My topic today is to wake up and to pray
Rhona: Yeah.
Okay.
Neza: I start my morning with prayers
Rhona: Uh-huh ...
Neza: ten minutes yoga .
then also I, I do prepare my breakfast when it, it's, it's my turn. I prepare mine or for the people we are living together. Then I can have a cycling run
If it is, uh, one of the weekend day, it's a cycling plans, o- and, uh, also coaching plan together.
Rhona: Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Neza: If she not, uh, on that day, I also have to remind my athletes about their plan
And then during the day I, I can do just those, uh, trainings, having lunch. If there are meeting, I can, uh, do meetings. If there are customers, tourists, I can also chat with them because I also work as a cycling guide- Ehh ...
Rhona: for the hiking. Okay.
Neza: Then in the evenings, most of the time before the end of the day, I like to reflect on what I have done, what, what went well, and what way I do have to improve next time.
Then it's time for dinner
Yeah, that's, uh, my perfect day. Then I can have, like, seven to eight or nine hours sleeping.
Rhona: Perfect. Wow, you do so many- Thank you ... healthy habits there. You know, you're making time for yourself in the morning, you do your prayer. It gives you plenty of time for you, you know? And then you do the yoga. That's so good for you physically and mentally.
And then I love that you reflect at the end of the day. That's so nice, and that means you're always staying on top of thing- I guess it stops, uh, you know, if you're always reflecting, then you make changes constantly. You're like, "This went well, and this didn't go well."
Neza: Exactly, yeah. What... It's where you also have to, to change the things, as you are saying.
The, whe- what didn't went well, you have to plan and to see what was missing, how you can improve. Then you can add that on the list for the next time. And then you can also celebrate for what went
Rhona: well. Oh, yes. Exactly. And I think that's really important because sometimes we forget to be nice to ourselves and remember that we did a good thing or that something did go well.
Sometimes you only f- it's easy to sometimes only focus on the things that went wrong
Neza: Yeah, we do have to prioritize ourselves. Yeah. And again, what I can mention, the Wish program really helped me a lot on that because, um, we were focusing a lot on our wellbeing. Because the
most of coaches I was with, we found out most of the time we are focusing on others, on the things we are doing, but we forget ourselves-
Rhona: Yes ...
Neza: sometimes.
Rhona: Yeah.
Neza: Which we, we have to avoid. We have to prioritize ourselves for providing the
Rhona: better things and, uh, helping others better as well. Absolutely. Oh, that's so well put. I think that's a perfect place to end the recording, I think. Um, but- Oh, wow ... thank you so much for taking the time to be in the podcast
Neza: It's a, it was really pleasure to meeting you, speaking with you.
Rhona: Thank
Neza: you
violette has found the balance. She's done the work and makes space for what's important. She's a huge inspiration, not just for her incredible achievements as an athlete, but her huge passion for nurturing the next generation. I learned a lot from her approach to coaching and life. I hope you enjoyed listening.
You can follow us at Rest Days Community on Instagram or find transcripts and other episodes on restdayscommunity.com. See you next time