My dear old man
Nicolas cried for her for two weeks. He went over every moment that took him away from her, he lamented his mistakes, he envied the physique of the man who took her from him, and he stayed up for half a month looking for reasons, reproaching himself for his mistakes, and swallowing down the bitterness that comes with a broken heart. That's love. That's when a 13-year-old boy, sick with passion for athletics, comes fifth instead of third, second or first.
Nico, now in his second decade of life, has already tasted the flavour of heartbreak. Alejo, now in his forties and seasoned in heartbreak, victories, defeats and failures, was at his son's side accompanying him through this grief. That's what fatherhood is like, that role that combines being an advisor, example, confidant and, in their case, a travelling companion.
It all goes back to the 80s. Alejandro came home to tell Sergio, his father, that he had come second in an intercollegiate BMX competition. The old man didn't believe him. They had to wait a few months for the silver medal to be placed on the podium at the awards ceremony so that the family could give him credit for the achievement. That was the beginning of the path that led Orrego to spend a few years jumping over mounds on the BMX track in Belén in Medellín, then riding down trails on a mountain bike and completing marathons, several IronMans and perhaps his greatest achievement: Nico.
The story of the Orrego family, from Sergio the grandfather to Nicolás the grandson, is permeated by sport. The oldest supported Alejo in his sporting beginnings and he multiplied his legacy by passing on to the youngest, from a very early age, the flame of passion for running and cycling. Father and son, the first in his forties and the second thirteen, found in physical activity the path that unites them, the passion that brings them together, the motivation to break the early mornings to train and the reason to make the challenges against the stopwatch a family affair.
The father, now more serene and entering the senior categories, continues to accumulate mileage. The son, feverish and dreaming of dedicating himself fully to sport, runs fast training with the TRT team and with the INDER of Envigado. He already has several victories under his belt and is shaping up to be a rider who will collect more triumphs in the future thanks to the discipline he inherited from Alejandro and which today has led him to surpass his first teacher on the bike. The one who now puts the wheel on the roads is the youngest of this duo.
The bond that runs through their veins leads them to be mutual support in the battles that athletes face. Nico is the one who often gets Alejandro out of bed to go out and train, and his father does the same when he sees him faltering during an exercise or in the middle of a competition. Life rewarded them with the possibility that few have of going side by side on the asphalt and in the emotions that it brings. At the side of the road, or from the stands of someone he admires, loves and knows what it feels like to suffer with his legs, Alejo is and will be for Nico in his ups and downs, on the podiums and on his empty-handed trips home. More tears and more smiles, more consolations and more hugs, more photos of them riding together are missing.
For now, the youngest of the Orregos will remember that his first heartbreak was for a piece of metal, that medal that made him cry. Other pains will come, they will break the heart and there will be more races where you win or lose. This family, more than the kilometers, will always remember one piece of advice that was passed down from the grandfather to the “pelao”: perseverance. That is love.