52 Cycling Voices - 34: Evie Richards

When speaking to mountain biker Evie Richards it's like a breath of fresh air, as I found when I interviewed her last year. Even though she is Britain's top female cross-country mountain biker she comes across as very modest and relaxed, with a well-balanced attitude to life. Having said that, when I spoke to her I found that things hadn't always been so easy-going for her, notably a few years ago when she suffered from disordered eating. Things have improved somewhat since then. She has fulfilled a dream of becoming an Olympian, when she competed in the Tokyo Olympics. She has since also become a World Champion, as well as Commonwealth Champion at the Games that took place on a course at Cannock Chase near Birmingham. Well done, Evie!

Evie Richards, aged 25

From: Great Malvern, Worcestershire

Occupation: Cross-country mountain bike racer

I always loved the Olympics. I just dreamt of being in the Olympics. It wasn’t necessarily cycling  when I was younger, that I wanted to get into. I just did every sport until I found one that I could go to the Olympics in. So for me it was the Olympians who inspired me – people like Jess Ennis, Tom Daley who were my true inspirations – or Jonny Wilkinson in rugby – we used to watch a lot of rugby, so it was …so for me it wasn’t until I started racing and I was racing world championships that ….I remember in my first world champs I sat on the side line and my friend was teaching me the names of all the riders. I never really watched cycling as a kid. So it wasn’t that I had an inspiring person in cycling. But now from me racing against different people and watching different races there are so many inspiring people. 

I got into cycling with my friends, and we used to ride around in the local hills. Local riders like Commonwealth Mountain Bike Champion Liam Killeen and World Downhill and Enduro Champion, Tracy Moseley (T-Mo Racing) would do coaching sessions.

Liam is the person who first helped me when I got into riding. He used to do efforts with me and friends on a Tuesday after school. On Thursday we would do Turbo in my friend’s garage and he would lead it for us. It’s funny because after four of five years of cycle racing I went back to him for coaching along with Matt Ellis, a GB coordinator. I also had Katy Curd as a coach. She's a retired downhill rider, and does all my technical coaching. Then there's Tracy. They are all people that I’ve grown up with, and they all live locally. So I feel lucky to have this team of people near to me. 

I feel like we’re probably freaks of nature around here in Malvern. I think from such a young age you don’t really go on the computer, you don’t really have a phone. If you do something you knock on someone’s door and you go up the hill and go adventuring or something. It’s quite cool. It’s like all the boys I went to nursery with are my best friends and if we wanted to see each other we’d just knock on the door and go on an adventure together. So I feel like we’ve always been brought up just being outside, and I feel that that’s probably had something to do with it. 

If you look at the men, like Tom (Pidcock) and Matthew (van der Poel) they can just do everything well. But for me, I prioritised the mountain bike because it was always my dream to go to the Olympics. I raced all the mountain bike races, and then I'd have a short break and use cyclocross races as training over winter. I never feel like I am going very well in the cyclocross races, but it is my favourite way to train. 

I love how crazy cyclocross racing is, and I do think I was born to do that discipline. I think for mountain biking I have to work a lot harder for it – all the skills don’t really come naturally, but I think I’m lucky that I am good in cold temperatures and I like the chaos of it, so I was pleased with my result at the World Cyclocross Championships in Oostende, where I finished 7th.

I love it so much. I think one year I would like to properly race it – be training for cross, and do loads of training on my cross bike and everything. But at the moment I can’t peak for everything like those boys do, so I focus on the mountain bike and use the cross to train through it.

I do put myself under pressure when I race. I’m a worrier and I feel like I always put pressure on myself – it’s not always from external pressure. Like I remember when I watched the Olympics when I was eight, I couldn’t watch the running, all the athletics because I wanted to be there so badly. I couldn’t watch it and I was already putting pressure on myself at the age of eight. 

I think without anyone around I put a lot of pressure on myself. As I grow older, I learn how to deal with that better. I work with an amazing psychologist and he’s taught me how important it is to work out what other people are putting on you, and how much you actually want it. I feel really lucky to have a great psychologist who helps me deal with all the pressure otherwise I’d be a nervous wreck at all the races.

In the past disordered eating and RED-S has been a problem for me. Sometimes you feel you have to grow up very quickly. When you I got into cycling and left school I just wanted to win so badly and I thought the way to do that was to be the lightest I could be.

I don’t think there was anyone to point me in the right direction at that age. I lived on my own and there wasn't anyone to pick up on it and say "You probably should be eating more." So it was actually when I moved back home after three or four years when my mum was like, "Oh my gosh you are so bony; you need to put on some weight." 

I was very lucky to have a very supportive family who caught it at the right time and helped me, and I realised how unhealthy it is for women not to have periods. Before that I remember seeing many doctors and asking if it was okay that I was not having a period. And always, the answer was yeah, that’s fine don’t worry about it. 

When I was growing up there was a lot of disordered eating in sport and you were aspiring to be like someone who wasn’t actually healthy. The difference now is if you go on social media there are so many people talking about their experiences, or encouraging people to fuel their riding. 

I worked with Renée McGregor and she was amazing. She helped me get better and it’s not even a problem anymore. I think it’s so important to educate people about this. Under-fuelling is something that can ruin a young rider and ruin their career from a young age. It can lead to a really short career. 

Covid made things very complicated when going to races because of all the paperwork and it was worrying. You need a Covid test, a letter from British Cycling, a letter from the race organisation saying that you’re racing. You need a higher status letter, so normally one from an Embassy, with an official stamp. There’s loads of other paperwork you need, though those are the three main ones. If you don’t have one of those there’s no chance of you getting across.

We have to travel from Heathrow Airport, which is nearly three hours for us. Once when we got to Heathrow we were told there was no way we would be flying, as we didn't have the right paperwork. So there we were - people who had travelled from all across the UK and we met at the airport -  only to have to go home as the trip was off. Then a few days later, we got a message saying, "Quick - book yourself in for a Covid test! We’re going in a couple of days!" We just about managed to get across to our race in Spain in time. It was so stressful!

I love riding my bike, but I also love non-cycling things. I’m very competitive but I think if you saw me in the street you probably wouldn’t think I was a cyclist. I don’t really like talking about bikes. Bikes are my day job. I don’t want to see my bike or my phone on my day off. I like doing mini holidays. Like me and my mum do a 48-hour retreat on my rest day just after training. 

My friends are really important to me and that’s such a really big part of my life. I like to go and have coffee with them or have barbecues up in the hills and stuff like that. Just doing anything that isn’t cycling with my friends is fun. I’m not really into shopping but I’d rather go to a little market when there aren't huge crowds, and I’m with people I really love seeing.

I do love sport. We’ve grown up doing it, and I love running, love swimming, wild swimming. I also like to play tennis or do anything outdoorsy. 

I think there can be a lot of pressure on young riders very early – whether it’s from parents or teachers or just from themselves. I think with me I was very lucky to have this group of boys and we would ride and have a camp fire or we would ride in winter to some random Tesco ages away and buy ice cream, sit outside on the kerb and eat it. So I think the importance at a young age is just to find a group of friends and just go on adventures, exploring places on your bike. 

I get a lot of messages from parents or kids asking me what training plan should they be doing, but I really think at that age you should just be having fun. If you want to race and do efforts then race each other, but don’t go out and thrash yourself because you feel like you ought to at that age. Find a group of people you can socialise with and make memories together. I think it’s so important because there are a lot of people who are so narrow-minded and all they do is cycling and that can only last so long, so you might as well, at a young age do as many sports as you can and just have fun really." 

Other Cycling Voices

Pauline Ballet

Tracy Moseley

Helen Wyman

Monica and Paola Santini

Janet Birkmyre

Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig

Emily Chappell

Michelle Webster

Caroline Martinez

Maria David

6 Favourites - Seen at the London Bike Show

Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to the London Bike Show, which was held, as usual at the Excel Centre in London's docklands.

This event tends not to be as big as the autumn Cycle Show held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham where the 2017 models of bikes, equipment and clothing are presented. However, the handy thing about the London show is that the ordinary consumer can buy gear directly from the exhibitors - often at specially discounted prices for the show.

For me, I like to attend the event as a way to remind myself what is out there, as well as to catch up with cycle trade and cycle media bods, and of course interview the odd high profile bike rider. It was good to see the guys from Boardman Bikes, and from Scott Bikes. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nick Craig there, especially given that tragically, he lost his 15-year old son Charlie as a result of sudden cardiac death a few weeks ago.

I was also pleased to interview Dame Sarah Storey, Tracy Moseley, Emily Chappell, and chat briefly to Chris Boardman and Sean Kelly. Although I was at the event on three out of the four days it was still a struggle to talk to everyone I wanted, particularly World Champion BMX rider Shanaze Reade, and Xisco Lliteras, organiser of the famous Mallorca 312 cyclosportive. Better luck next time eh.

Anyway here are a few items on show that I particularly liked:

Primal

Got Lemons? Jersey

I must admit Primal is one of my favourite brands and I always like the lovely colours and designs that they bring out each year. The Hotness Helix jersey that is now available, which I took a shine for when launched last autumn was not actually on display at the show.

The joy of socks from Primal

However, the Got Lemons? short-sleeved jersey and some lifestyle jerseys looked pretty good too. And I can't go without highlighting their lovely array of socks which always makes me feel like I'm in sock heaven!







Hackney GT

Camou jersey (L) and Leopard Windtex (R)

Fellow cross rider, DJ and fashion designer, Russ "Straight Outta Clapton" Jones was at the show with his line of Hackney GT clothing. Last Autumn he designed the Leopard Windtex winter jacket, which has had a lot of great feedback since it keeps you warm while looking pretty cool! Also on the stand was his soon-to-be-released Camou jersey.

I like the way that Russ designs clothes using the essence of outdoor activities like mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, and even horseracing!

I am keen to support his outfit as he is a local racer and a nice guy who has branched out into what he is passionate about - music, urban culture, fashion design, outdoor activities - while supporting grass roots cycling through sponsoring the local mountain bike series, Beastway.

Hackney GT Stand

Hackney GT also supports British industry by having everything produced in the UK.







Findra

At the Bike Show I met Alex Feecham, the brainchild behind the Findra range of women's outdoor wear. For some reason I had thought the brand was Scandinavian, given the look and feel of their campaigns. In fact it is a Scottish brand and Alex is from just outside Edinburgh.

Findra campaign

I guess there are parallels between Scandinavia and Scotland when it comes to weather, and braving harsh climatic conditions! In fact, Alex says that the designs are inspired from Scandinavia, so she has successfully conveyed that impression in the photography.

What's more, the different performance garments include merino wool which will definitely keep you warm, while keeping you dry when you are pretty active. I have not worn any Findra gear yet, but I look forward to putting on some of Alex's clothes. For the moment I was happy to take a photo of the Findra stand, which was nicely decked out.








Shand Cycles

Shand Stoater

One person I was keen to meet at the Bike Show was Emily Chappell, a cycling globetrotter and adventurer, and current champion of the gruelling Transcontinental Cycle Race No.4. I met her on the Shand Cycles stand, where she was doing a meet and greet with her organisation, the Adventure Syndicate. I had not heard of this brand before and I was very keen to find out more about these bikes.

Their flagship model is the Stoater, a bike designed to be ridden on all terrains - gravel, road, towpaths, trails. I guess they would call it an adventure/gravel bike, but Steve Shand says these bikes were being produced well before the term "adventure bike" ever became fashionable! The bikes, which have carbon fibre folks are designed for comfort and work well as touring bikes when fitted with a rack and mudguards.

Shand Stooshie

Emily did her cycling European cycling adventure on the Shand Stooshie bike, a lighter, leaner version of the Stoater, given that she was in a race in which she needed to cover around 2500 miles as quickly as possible! For those who are fans of #steelisreal these bikes are made from the high grade material, which is music to the ears of those who like to stay with more traditional materials.

Like Findra, Shand, which is run by Steve Shand, are based in Scotland and work out of a workshop where the bikes are custom hand built to the measurements you specify. You can also go up there for a fitting. This is great news as well for those who would like a person-specific bike. There's no point saying women-specific as, just like Steve says, women come in all shapes and sizes so what does women-specific really mean? Shorter torsos and longer legs than men is what is generally spoken of, but there are still many women who do not fit that mould. So the fact that the guys can hand build you a bike that fits you exactly is a great thing.

Scott

Scott Cycles showed off their high end gravel bike, the Addict Gravel 10 Disc bike and I was talked through it by Josh, a member of their commercial team. A seasoned mountain biker, he says that he can do exactly the same rides with his gravel bike as he would do on the trails with his mountain bike.

The bike coped beautifully and he was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the ride was, thanks to the all-carbon frame and fork as well as disc carbon wheels.

I would love to do the South Downs Way this year on a gravel bike but am worried about how much I will be rattled around, given my brief experience with the Raleigh Mustang Sport that I rode on it last year. However, it would be worth trying the trails of the South Downs again with another make of gravel bike and see how this one fares.


The Primal Pantry

Natural ingredients in The Primal Pantry bars

I can't go to a show without looking at food! And hear I found a good stash of it in the shape of the The Primal Pantry (not to be confused with Primal Europe clothing range).

This range of vegan paleo/gluten-free energy and protein bars are made by Suzie Walker, a woman who was really keen to develop energy bars made from real food. I am not a vegan, though I do subscribe to some aspects of paleo eating, so it is quite a refreshing thing to see bars that are developed with this in mind.

The Primal Pantry protein bars

Real food is always a plus for me too, as I can't bear to eat the same old energy bars throughout a race or a ride, and so something with the nuts, seeds and dried food found in these bars makes for welcome change. There is an array of flavours, split across their energy bars, and their protein bars which aid recovery. I particularly liked the cocoa brownie flavour.