Patrick Jonker
After a career spent racing at the highest level, Patrick Jonker has discovered that some of the best days on a bike happen when you stop watching the clock.
Patrick Jonker spent much of his life measuring cycling in seconds, results and positions. These days, he is just as happy stopping halfway up a mountain to take a photograph.
That is not to say the professional habits have disappeared. Pat still trains, sleeps well, eats well and looks after himself with the discipline of someone who spent 12 years racing professionally. He raced all three Grand Tours, finished 12th overall at the Tour de France, placed eighth at the Atlanta Olympics, and won both the Tour Down Under and Route du Sud.
But perhaps the most interesting part of Pat's story is what happened after racing. Guiding taught him that a great day on the bike is not always about being the fastest rider in the group. Sometimes it is about riding beside somebody who is not sure they can reach the top, helping them find a rhythm, and being there when they realise they can.
The Road To Bikestyle
Cycling became serious early for Pat. He started racing at 13 and says that by about 14 he already knew a conventional nine-to-five life was unlikely to be for him. He left school, raced full-time from the age of 17 and eventually spent 12 years as a professional.
Cycling became more than a sport. It became his profession, his livelihood and the thing that helped him build a life and support his family. Along the way came Grand Tours, the Olympics and race wins, but also the less visible lessons of professional sport, discipline, teamwork, preparation and learning how much the small details matter.
One of the people who had a major influence on him was ONCE team manager Manolo Saiz. Pat remembers a simple lesson, work on the small things and the bigger picture starts to come together.
His connection with Bikestyle came through previous owner Lawrie Cranley, who asked what Pat was doing after retirement and invited him onto tours at the Tour de France, Giro and Vuelta. Pat's own words are probably the simplest summary, every tour has been an adventure, and he hopes there are at least another ten years of them ahead.
Inside The Professional Peloton
There is a difference between watching professional cycling and having lived inside it. Pat raced all three Grand Tours and spent years working within professional teams, reading races, managing long mountain stages, riding in groups under pressure and understanding the rhythms of the peloton.
One memory that has stayed with him comes from the 1996 Tour de France on the huge mountain stage to Pamplona. Pat spent hours racing alongside Miguel Indurain and a small group of riders. At the time, there was nothing romantic about it. He was suffering and simply trying to survive the day.
Crossing into Spain, the roar for Indurain was extraordinary. Helicopters hovered low overhead and Pat remembers the noise being so intense that his ears were ringing afterwards. Only later did the significance of the moment really sink in. It was Indurain's final mountain stage at the Tour de France, and he retired shortly after that Tour.
Looking back now, Pat regards those hours riding alongside one of the great riders of his generation as something very special. For Bikestyle guests, memories like that bring professional racing to life in a way that is difficult to get from simply watching it on television.
Pat also speaks Dutch, French and Spanish, which comes in handy when Bikestyle is travelling through Europe, and he remains deeply connected to the sport. He follows the racing closely, loves cycling history and is still known to call Adam out of the blue with the latest rumours from inside professional cycling.
Why it matters on tour: For guests, that experience turns a race day into something richer. Pat can explain what is happening inside the peloton, why teams are making certain decisions and what riders may be experiencing. On the bike, he can help with pacing, climbing, breathing and technique, but just as importantly, he understands that the strongest rider is not automatically the person who needs the most attention.
The Bikestyle Guest Patrick Couldn't Drop
In 2015, Pat was guiding on a Bikestyle tour when he noticed something unusual about guest Lisen Hockings. She was not a racing cyclist, but Pat could see that she had natural ability.
On Alpe d'Huez, he decided to find out just how much.
Pat told Lisen he was going to ride the climb at full effort, aiming for around the 50-minute mark. If she could stay on his wheel, he told her he would contact the Australian national team and try to get her a trial.
Pat went as hard as he could.
Lisen stayed with him.
Pat says she produced a top-15 women's time on the climb. Afterwards, he told her he was serious about contacting the national coach.
Lisen did not really believe him.
As Pat puts it, "Who would?"
But when Lisen returned home to Melbourne, an email arrived from Australian national coach Donna Rae Szalinski. Pat had done exactly what he said he would.
The opportunity became real. Lisen went on to spend several years representing Australia around the world.
It is a great story because it says something about Pat that race results alone cannot. Decades in elite cycling gave him the eye to recognise ability, but guiding gave him the chance to use that experience for somebody else.
Learning To Slow Down
Pat's relationship with cycling has changed over time, although not because he suddenly stopped caring about riding well.
Age plays a part. Injuries start to appear when you push too hard, and after spending most of his adult life training and racing, Pat admits that learning to back off was a mental transition as much as a physical one.
These days, the stopwatch matters less.
"Now it's all about enjoying the views and company," he says. "But we still push on the pedals. We always want to feel the climb. Just not suffer."
That distinction probably sums up Pat's relationship with cycling today. He still wants to feel the mountain under the tyres and put some pressure through the pedals, he just no longer needs to prove anything to the stopwatch.
It has influenced the way he guides as well. Pat admits that spending more time with slower riders was something he had to learn after a lifetime spent trying to stay with the strongest wheels possible.
Was there one particular guest who changed his thinking?
Not really.
"Once you pass the 50-year-old mark, Mother Nature makes sure you slow down."
Professional cycling teaches you to fight for position and stay with the fastest group. Guiding sometimes asks the opposite, ride beside someone else, help them settle into a rhythm and make the day about their experience rather than your own.
Now it's all about enjoying the views and company. But we still push on the pedals. We always want to feel the climb. Just not suffer.
Life On Tour
For Pat, one of the best parts of guiding is meeting people. He likes the fact that anybody who signs up to ride long mountain passes in summer heat is probably already a little different. Over time, returning guests become friends, and some of those friendships continue long after the tour finishes.
Guests see the ride, the race and the scenery. What they often do not see is the work happening around it, loading trailers, checking bikes, buying fresh fruit and nutrition, checking routes, monitoring weather and road closures, and solving problems before they ever become visible.
Pat says one of the moments that makes the job worthwhile comes when a guest starts a climb unsure whether they are strong enough to reach the top. When they make it, sometimes with tears at the finish, that is when the job makes sense.
His guiding philosophy is simple, every guest should feel welcome, regardless of riding ability.
Patrick's Advice
On the climbs, learn to breathe properly. The pedals will follow.
Pat regularly helps guests with climbing technique, breathing and pacing. Downhill, his advice is even simpler, go slow. The aim is not merely to finish the day's ride, but to go home a better, more confident cyclist than when you arrived.
Quick Spin With Patrick
Off The Bike
Ask Pat what he is passionate about outside cycling and he does not try too hard to manufacture an answer. "My life is cycling," he says. He follows cycling history closely and also has an interest in Second World War history.
Away from the bike, family is what he is proudest of, his wife and two children. He also does volunteer work in Nepal helping the local mountain-bike community.
A perfect day without a bicycle? Sleeping. Italian food, a Duvel beer and an afternoon nap would probably not hurt either. Pat is firmly in the early-morning ride camp because, as he puts it, afternoons are for sleeping.
What Patrick Brings To Bikestyle
I was fortunate enough to meet Pat through Bikestyle Tours when I was working as a guide myself. I can't lie, the first few times you ride alongside someone who was one of the pioneers of Australian cycling, it can be a little intimidating.
But that disappears pretty quickly.
What you soon realise about Pat is just how much he loves cycling and, more importantly, what a great person he is to have around. He still looks after himself like a professional, he sleeps well, eats well, trains and still has that discipline from all those years of racing.
Pat will often call me completely out of the blue just for a chat, usually with a few of the latest rumours from inside cycling. He still has plenty of contacts in the sport, so when we're at a race he often has a pretty good idea of what is happening behind the scenes.
He is also fantastic with our guests. These days he rides a little slower, thankfully, and that gives guests a pretty unique opportunity. You can be riding beside Pat up a climb and hear stories about racing the Tour de France, the riders he raced with and what was actually happening inside the peloton.
For me, though, Pat's value to Bikestyle goes well beyond his professional career. He's simply great company. He looks after people, has plenty of stories to tell and is someone you genuinely enjoy hanging out with for a couple of weeks on tour.
That's Pat. He has achieved a lot in cycling, but he still just loves riding bikes and talking about the sport as much as anyone.
Owner, Bikestyle Tours
Ride With Patrick
Patrick most often works with Bikestyle on Tour de France trips, bringing professional racing experience, race-day insight and plenty of stories from inside the peloton.
