Before accidentally becoming a top university rower and unexpectedly placing in the top five cyclists in Britain, Colin Robertson hated sport. But since discovering his knack, there have been no limits for this flying Scotsman, either on the road or in the workplace.
Hailing from an academic family, Robertson - the group chief financial officer for CLSA, who has a PhD in mathematics - shunned any kind of sport. "They would drag you out on a rugby pitch in the snow in the middle of a Scottish winter," he says. "It was terrible."
But while at the University of Edinburgh, he signed up on a whim and blitzed 300 applicants to make the school's rowing team despite being in the worst shape of his life. His rookie team ousted the first rowing team in their first year and made it to the grand final of the Henley Royal Regatta, Britain's university rowing championships.
An injury ended his short rowing career, so Robertson, 37, took up cycling. When he was overtaken by a group of speedy cyclists on his first ride, his competitive streak was stirred. "I knew I wanted to be as fast as they were," he says.
Just how fast he would become surprised everyone, including himself. Only two years after picking up the sport, he finished fifth in the British Time Trial Championships in 1997. He did it again in 2008. "I was really blown away," he says. "I even beat my teammate, who was going to the Commonwealth Games."
These days he races for Team Direct Asia, a group of amateur cyclists in Hong Kong who race around the region. Just this past weekend, he won the three-day Tour de Bintan in Indonesia. He's also won the 2010 Tour of Matabungkay in the Philippines. He trains almost every day for two to three hours before work, and he calls it the best part of his day.