Racing through the seasons
Sitting down and actually thinking about it I can’t remember the last time I didn’t race at least once in a year!
Growing up one of my mums favourite stories about me was at the age of 3 refusing to go in the pram & insisting on running with everyone in the ‘Merthyr Mawr Pudding Race’, even during covid my competitive nature lent itself very well to the virtual world of racing.
For me now racing isn’t just about being competitive, that adrenaline rush you can’t get anywhere else or the feeling of crossing the finish line knowing you have given everything you have. For me it’s my community, it’s my stress release from a crazy week in work, it’s the sport where I have met most of my best friends and my now husband. Without racing I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore some of the UK’s most beautiful trails on my mountain bike or the most obscure car parks warming up for cyclocross races.
Jack of all Trades
I started competing at local Welsh cyclocross races, having grown up as a cross country runner I already loved the mud so it was a natural transition into the ‘cycling world’. I think over the years cycle speedway is the only cycling discipline I haven’t ended up trying! I raced them all; track, xc mountain biking, road, enduro, cyclocross & even a fun BMX event.
I remember a coach telling me at 16 “You have to pick a discipline eventually, you don’t want to be a Jack of all trades”.
I am SO glad cycling has moved away from this mentality with female riders like Marianne Vos, Pauline Ferrand Prevot & our very own Cat Ferguson showing us you really can be master of all!
I love that my diary is now filled with so much variety - I will always have cyclocross in the winter and mountain biking in the summer but a spring criterium is always so much fun and last year I did my first ever hill climb!
Heading into winter I am now full steam ahead for cyclocross and I’m so excited! But looking towards next year, Hannah Davies (fellow Hope Women ambassador) is already trying to talk me into some Enduro races so you never know what will happen in 2023!
365 Days of Motivation
One of the questions I often get asked is how do you stay motivated?
In all honesty I don’t have one answer, I have however found some useful tips that have helped me in the last 16 years of bike racing:
-Plan your racing diary with your friends, there is nothing better than catching up with your favourite people on a race weekend or all stopping at the service station for a post race laugh & debrief.
-If you’re short on time focus on quality over quantity.
-Keep it interesting with variety - try a new route on your Saturday ride (with a new cafe stop always helps motivation), join a new group ride, enter a cyclocross race for some fun over the winter months.
-Don’t always ride alone.
-Don’t be all or nothing, try and find your balance.
-Dedication over motivation! This is my little ‘mantra’ which gets me turning up to even the coldest, darkest cyclocross training sessions in the depths of winter.
-Find your locals riders: Join Facebook groups or talk to other riders out on the trails, you would be amazed at the rides on your doorstep that local riders can show you!
-It’s not all about cycling, get out running, go to the gym, try surfing or even just a long walk.
-Plan your race diary in advance - This can help with accountability & can motivate you to get out on those cold rainy days.
-A little bit of winter sun always helps!
Words: Ruby James
