Operation Etape du Tour - May update

It's time to fit in some fast riding in earnest, so I took myself to take part in my local races. Crystal Palace park criterium on Tuesday nights must be the best work-out in town. Then over at Herne Hill Velodrome crit races you get to do the best bike handling in town!

Racing at Crystal Palace Park (photo: Honor Elliott)

In my preparation for the Etape du Tour it's important to get in some fast cycling. It's easy to go plodding around, particularly over long distances. So the way to ride faster is to well, ride faster.

I like to do track cycling at Herne Hill Velodrome, as well as doing training rides around Regents Park in Central London. These have definitely helped increase my natural speed.

But why not go one step further, and do some actual racing. I had renewed my British Cycling racing licence earlier this year, but didn’t feel quite ready to pin on a number.

At the epoch when I was cycle racing regularly, Redbridge Cycle Centre was just a schematic design on an architect’s desk, and people entered cycle races by sending their entry form with a cheque [remember them?] in the post.

I did do a lot of racing at the time. Over the summer months I would race maybe four times a week - at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, the former Eastway circuit [now occupied by the Olympic Park], track league at Herne Hill, even a bit of summer cyclocross. A few of us got together and formed the original London Women's Cycle Racing League too, which we did as a way to encourage more women into racing. That was when I had more free time and fewer responsibilities. Then things got busy with work, especially as I worked abroad and in other parts of the UK and so racing died down.

I did make a brief comeback to cycle racing when I raced on a circuit at Dalton Barracks, Oxfordshire a couple of years ago. Nobody knew me, and the young girls kindly gave me encouraging tips as I was blown off the back of the group like a proper newbie! I concluded I was too old for this sort of thing and returned to my life in retirement. I would still do the odd bit of cyclocross racing, more as a way to brighten up a winter's day, than be competitive.

But in the end there’s always a little bit of hunger for competition that remains in you. Maybe it is that mid-life crisis that drives you to feed the hunger before old age really sets in – rather like my motivation for entering the Etape du Tour.

So I decided to ride the Crystal Palace circuit race. It's by no means the easiest one to start with. The circuit is only about one kilometre and during that time you have three tight bends, including one that is 180°, one on a fast descent, and another one around a corner obscured by a bush. The saving grace there’s a soft grassy bank to roll down if you go wrong there! Oh, and there's also a cheeky uphill – something you can’t avoid in that part of South London.

Crystal Palace Crit Circuit

It might be one of the scariest circuit races you can do - the organisers, Dulwich Paragon dub it "the best crit in town" - but it’s just a 10-minute ride uphill from my home, which doubles as my warm-up. I prefer to stay local when racing.  

Standing on the start-line in my Penge Cycling Club kit, alongside a 15-strong field of women who were half my age I knew it would be a fast race, but I had no expectation. That attitude meant that I didn’t feel nervous.

From the whistle, I was dropped by most of the field apart from one of the London Dynamo women. We were quite close together for a short while but then she put in a dig out of the saddle on the hill, and left me for dust.

As someone familiar with this circuit from doing my own training laps I know the course very well. But riding at race pace was a very different experience. I scared myself on the tight corners and at times had to slow right down, before accelerating back up to speed.

That put me at an even greater disadvantage, as I was probably using more energy than the other riders and would burn out quicker. Given the small field, I knew I would come last, so resolved to ride at my pace. I'd paid my entry fee, pinned on a number and so it was my choice how I would do my race!

These races attract a lot of spectators, so I got quite a few cheers of encouragement.  I must say I am grateful of their support - even if I barely had the breath to show it mid-race.

There are various racing going on simultaneously at this Tuesday evening event, so it's not always obvious where a rider is in a race, and pelotons tend to fragment with many riders racing around in ones and twos. So if you're on your own it's not an issue. Just stay off the racing line when a bigger group of riders lap you.  

I was lapped about three times by the top women. After speaking to them at the end I concluded that it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are – Crystal Palace is a scary course for everyone. But you get such an adrenaline rush that you want to race there again!

I certainly hope to go back, regardless of where I finish. For me, it's the best work-out in town!

Another place to get a good work-out is Herne Hill Velodrome. Of course doing the regular track cycling sessions such as the morning sessions on Tuesdays or Thursdays is a great work-out. What I am referring to specifically are the races on a Friday evening.

Herne Hill Velodrome Crit Circuit

The folks at Herne Hill Velodrome have very cleverly designed a criterium course within the grounds of the velodrome that includes parts of the main velodrome and also the inner section of the track where they normally have sessions for children. Given how compact the area is, this has shown how creative course designers can be. What it also shows is how twisty and technical a course can be, and how much I need to practice my skills. On one section you come off down the ramp of the velodrome and drop down into the inner section at speed and straight into a chicane. It's not something that you want to get wrong - handily there is padding on the corner in case you do miss the corner!

I found the Crystal Palace course technical, but this Herne Hill circuit is technical to another level. One lap of the circuit is probably around 600m, meaning the tricky sections come round with greater frequency than at the Tuesday night race. There are no fast descent at Herne Hill, but you can gain high speed on the flat and on the ramp. With 180-degree and 90-degree turns a-plenty I found it hard to pick up speed, knowing that I would need to slow right down to negotiate these sections safely. 

In the old days when I raced at Herne Hill Velodrome there would be literally one man and his dog spectating. So for that reason when I turned up at the venue I hadn't even considered that anyone would be watching the race. I had been hoping to race in relative anonymity given that most of the other competitors would be younger women who would have been still in primary school when I was regularly racing.  

So imagine my shock when I arrived there to the sound of pumping music, a commentator on the loudspeaker and loads of people actually sitting in the stands watching, cheering while drinking beer. Crikey. That alone almost made me say to myself, "There's been a mistake. I hadn't meant to sign up for this - I should go home!" But I guess deep down I wanted to get a work out, regardless of where I finished in the group. So I just took the start line anyway.

Just as with Crystal Palace, folks cheered me on, but in even greater numbers than at Crystal Palace. It was actually quite fun being part of this dynamic event, even if I did finish in last place again. I must also admit that I wasn't out of breath at all - it wasn't for want of trying, but simply because the corners were so tight that there was a real possibility of stacking it if you went too fast. In fact, one woman did crash, though without any injury and she managed to get up and carry on racing. In a group that lapped me, one girl skidded when she applied her brakes to suddenly, which sent her fellow riders and myself into a brief panic. Thankfully she managed to stay upright. Those two scenarios were exactly what I wouldn't have wanted to be involved in, and was ready to be dropped in order to avoid that.

It was a good evening, and I was glad I went. If nothing else, the Herne Hill Velodrome circuit is a great place for improving your bike handling skills.

So between racing at Crystal Palace and racing at Herne Hill you definitely get in the best racing in town.

Operation Etape du Tour: March update

This month's Etape du Tour training was about continuing to get in lots of climbing and miles, but also adding some speed. I have been trying to get to the Herne Hill velodrome regularly, and have renewed my British Cycling racing licence in a hope of doing some races. I have yet to find a race I feel comfortable about doing though.

This month has been about increasing the overall number of miles as well as doing longer rides.

The plan had been to do a few rides of 100km+ and also to do nearer to 700km.

I also hopes to get in some fast paced rides - they could be done in any format - as a criteria race, track cycling, or latching onto a group at Regents Park. 

At a Herne Hill Velodrome training session

I am pleased to have got in a few sessions at Herne Hill Velodrome. The best day for me ability wise is the Thursday morning, which is intermediate training for Vets and women. However, it's not always possible to go on that day so I try another session. 

On one day I went to the Friday morning session, called Intermediate training. In theory I should be okay in that session as it's intermediate. But because it's all ages, I end up riding with young men less than half my age - well I am not really with them, but hanging onto their wake if I am lucky. Usually after a quarter of a lap the become a speck in the distance before the eventually lap me!

Or they don't get to lap me because I am spent up and out of energy so quickly that I have already swung up and am sauntering around the top of the banking trying to get my breath back by the time they come around again.

That process repeats itself a few times before I am eventually able to join a group of guys who have tired themselves out and are riding at a more normal pace. That "normal" pace is more like my race pace, and by then I can then slot in. This way of riding is a little scary as you know it's going to start as a few rounds of being chewed up and spat out by the bunch. But in the spirit of "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", I hang in there.

On another day I went to the Tuesday morning session, which is Vet's an Women's skills. As this session is very much about skills (as opposed to speed), and is the next level after the initial track induction session, the level is quite light and the exercises are easily manageable. What I noticed was how long the breaks were between the exercises, and at times I found it bothersome as I could feel my body cooling down. Besides, I wanted to get my money's worth, as well as getting in a decent mileage on my bike.

So what I have learned is that it pays to go to the session that properly suits your fitness level. I hope to do more Thursday sessions than other sessions, and if possible, even move up to the Friday session.

This month I had hoped to take part in a criterium race. After all, I had renewed my British Cycling racing licence, so it would be good to see if I could get some points. Interestingly there were a few races going on over Easter that I could have taken part in, but all of them had something about them that put me off.

Firstly, there was a women's race at the Castle Coombe racing circuit, near Bath. The distance to get there didn't put off.  The issue was that there were two races - one for 4th category only, and then the other one was for Elite, 1st,2nd and 3rd category racers.

I am 3rd category, but there was no way I wanted to race against elite riders. Interestingly, multiple Paralympic medallist Dame Sarah Storey was on the start list in the E123 category race. What chance would I have in that field?? In actual fact I had the fitness and skill of a 4th cat racer and the age to be a 3rd category racers, But this would have been my first race in maybe five years - and even then, that race had was the first one in about eight years and I was easily dropped.

To be honest, I think that 3rd category racers should be given the choice of racing with category E12 or category 4 riders. This should especially be the case for we oldies because according to British Cycling rules people over 40 can never drop lower than 3rd category even if they don't score points or race. Whereas riders under 40 drop down to 4th category if they don't race or score points, meaning they have the chance to start from scratch if they make a come-back, where we are somewhat thrown in at the deep end. 

So with all that in mind, and the added complication of strong winds on an exposed racing track, I decided not to race there.

Another race taking place at the Milton Keynes Bowl was one to consider. However, looking at the results sheet from previous rounds of the race series it seemed that the fields were so small - barely into double figures. I just didn't feel minded to spend all that time travelling up the motorway to Bedfordshire to do something not more than a small team time trial.

The final option for racing was a veteran's league. The British Masters Cycling league is a separate entity from British Cycling and operates under separate rules.

The issue with that was that people aren't put into categories based on points earned, but instead based purely on age group. So a 50-year-old would race others of the same age without taking into account that one 50-year-old might be a former national champion or elite racer, while the other may be a new racer. 

In general, hardly any women turn out for these races so we get lumped in with 60-year-old men. But don't underestimate them. There are still some national champions in there. The women I've seen on the start list are people I raced against many years ago and who wiped the floor with me then.

So all that, coupled with windy conditions on the challenging Hog Hill circuit didn't appeal to me.

So in the end, I didn't do any racing. Hopefully I will get to use my cycle racing licence in the near future, but as you can see, finding a race that is right for me is easier said than done!

Westwood Park, one of my local hills in South London

The positive thing is that I managed to get in some good climbing, and found a route which took in lots of hills in my local area at Crystal Palace. I did my regular 8-hill circuit three times, and then ventured further into Upper Norwood and Thornton Heath for more hills. In the end I did more than 30 hills over 40 miles and with 1500m of climbing. That was tiring, but very satisfying.

This is a link to the route that I took.

So I might not be riding so fast these days, but I can say I have found my climbing legs.

Related posts

Operation Etape du Tour: February update

Operation Etape du Tour: January update

Operation Etape du Tour: December update

South London Spin: Flèche-Chislehurst

52 Cycling Voices - 18: Sarah Strong

Our latest cycling voice comes from Sarah Strong, a stalwart of the London women's cycling scene. She's been there, done that, got the T-shirt plus a few scars. But she's strong by nature as well as by name. I've known Sarah since she got into cycling over 14 years ago and I commend her for all the work she's done in the sport. But Sarah has my utmost admiration for winning a Pointless trophy!

Sarah Strong

Age: 42

From: Bristol

Lives: London

Project Coordinator for a mental health charity/NHS

As a child our family were never into cycling, but I did do BMX biking in the mid-1980s between the ages of about 9-12 years when I got into it via a school mate. It felt kinda cool, and there were only three or four of us girls who raced regularly. One went to the same school as me and it was good to chat to her about races.

My mate Dave, and I used to go to get taken to the BMX track by his dad so we could practice with the local club, Burgess Hill Bombers. There was also a wooded patch near my house with a natural bombhole, and rooty jumps, that we used. You could get some decent air on some of them - well, it felt like that, but it was probably only a few centimetres! There were also the usual homemade ramps set up next to local rows of garages or quiet cul-de-sacs. I really enjoyed doing something a bit different. 

Then when I hit teenage years I stopped doing it, mainly as I wasn't that sporty so didn't enjoy it that much. My mate Dave got a mountain bike  (which at that time was becoming fashionable), and my interest fizzled out.

When my real passion for cycling kicked off later, as an adult, my parents were happy to hear that I'd found something that was clearly benefiting me a great deal. Nowadays I cycle more than my sister does and I suspect she thinks I'm a bit mad! When her partner and I talk bike stuff I can hear her eyes rolling!

I have been club cycling for about 14 years now. It all started at the Beastway Summer Mountainbike Series in 2003 when I was recovering from a bout of depression. A housemate asked me to help out her club one week when it was their turn to volunteer at one of the rounds.

Initially it was the social side of the race series I warmed to, and being out in the fresh air, doing something new. I became part of the organising committee of Beastway, (the Structureless Tyranny) working on it for the next nine summers, and was usually to be found doing sign-on and lap-scoring duties.

It led me to start using an old bike I had, to commute to work, and to have a go at racing myself. Six months later I bought myself a second-hand road bike and have never looked back.

My first cycling club was London Phoenix, where a few of the regular Beastway riders were members. But proper club cycling didn't happen for me until a year or two later when I moved to South London and joined Dulwich Paragon.

Riding my first club run with them was rewarding but exhausting. After thirty hilly miles from Crystal Palace to the edge of Kent and back on a Saturday morning I spent the rest of the day on the sofa! Gary MacGowan (a Dulwich Paragon stalwart) was the friendly and encouraging face that led me and my friend to return for more.

It was while at Dulwich Paragon that another Sarah (Atkinson) convinced me to try a women's beginner road race, organised by London Dynamo, at the Longcross Test Track (Chertsey) back in 2009. I raced two of those and would have actually gained three British Cycling racing points in the second race if I'd bothered to buy a full licence! I was so chuffed!

Then Maria David convinced me to do the first (of two!) cyclocross races around the same time. I wouldn't have tried it without her encouragement. Being near Herne Hill Velodrome was a great opportunity to try track cycling, and the Women's Training Sessions started by Anna Glowinski kicked off my track riding and racing. My friend and club-mate Lesley Pinder also persuaded me to join her down at HHV on regular occasions.

Track cycling has been fun. I raced at the National Track Masters in Newport about 18 months ago, though I didn't have any goals as such. It was more about taking part because my fitness level was not brilliant at the time, and I was just happy not to have been the slowest in my age group! Aside from the Masters and Herne Hill Velodrome track league I haven't raced much at all in the last two or three years. 

Criterium racing is what I have enjoyed the most. There, I felt the most comfortable about my ability and skills on several of the London circuits. When I was race fit I loved the feeling after a crit - at least once I’d got through the first fifteen minutes of thinking my lungs were going to explode! 

I eventually stopped racing around 2014/15 as I felt like I wasn't achieving much. In 2009 I was knocked off my bike by a car while commuting to work and needed surgery on my knee. Then in 2011 I shattered my collarbone in a crash when my front wheel hit a massive pothole at the Dunwich Dynamo. When I came back to racing in 2012 I found myself on the start line with women half my age who had coaches and a lot more time to train than me. From the gun I would be immediately spat out of the back. I just didn't have the mental fight.

Long-distance cycling is something else I do. I did my first sportive, the 110-km Ride of the Falling Leaves (by Dulwich Paragon) in 2006. It was the longest ride I’d done at that point, and it was such fun.

Since then I’ve done more rides particularly after I stopped racing. I did a couple of trips to the Pyrenees with clubmates, and Paris-Roubaix in 2008. The cobbles are a special kind of hurt but the sense of achievement at the end was immense. I felt the same after the Etape du Tour in 2013.

I do enjoy long rides, seeing the countryside and having a range of feelings, thoughts and sensations, compared with the eyeballs-out nature of racing.

On one long ride, though, I nearly got into a bit of trouble when I did some solo riding in mid-Wales. I ran out of water in the middle of the Cambrian Mountains with over twenty miles to go, all uphill and into a headwind, and no phone reception there either! It was a tough moment and I was quite worried about how I would get back to my lodgings. There were no shops, no one around and just one or two cars passed me. 

I really had to push myself mentally and battle through it. When things got tough I just had to risk it and take a bit of water from the River Ystwyth. When I got home the first thing I did was to devour a pack of Pringles! I did gain the confidence to know I can do it, if I end up in a similar situation. 

In 2017 I did my first ever cycle tour, with friend Kat who I originally met some years back through the London Fixed-Gear and Single-Speed group. I was rather anxious about it as I’d never ridden long distances with panniers and camping gear etc. before.

We did a horseshoe-shaped loop around half of Wales over one week. It was hard, but amazing. There were highs and lows, tiredness and hunger, wonderful sights, lots of laughs, and excellent company. I also realised I didn’t object to camping as much as I’d been telling myself for years! I’d like to do more touring.

Funnily enough I have recently taken up BMX biking again. It's just for fun and I do it in the summer. There are women's sessions on Tuesday nights at Burgess Park (near Peckham) that I go to. My skills came back quite quickly, but as I am now bigger, taller, and a lot older than when I last did it I don't tend to take risks! 

I do like shoes. I used to have a lot of cycling shoes, specifically Sidis! I tried various brands in my first couple of years of cycling and Sidis fitted me the best. As a teenager I had corrective surgery on both feet and have since had issues finding shoes that are comfortable for me. So when I found some that fitted so well I started finding reasons to buy more!

At one point I had eight pairs of Sidis - one for each of my bikes! These days I’m down to five pairs, and I haven’t bought any in a while. Maybe it's time to acquire some more!

A simple bike ride can do wonders for your mental health, but it’s way more complicated than just pedalling your depression away. There is no direct causal link between cycling and wellbeing – it’s a range of interacting factors. Cycling is not a cure-all, and it’s not going to magic away depression forever. It is something I use to improve my mood though, and I start getting a bit grumpy if I don’t do any cycling for a few days.

I find that my mental health benefits from the exercise, the independence, and the social circle cycling brings with it (most of my close friends are people I’ve got to know through riding). Riding helps to stop the rumination that comes with anxiety. Occasionally, I’ll return from a ride with a head as busy as it was when I set out – but this is quite unusual.

I was incredibly anxious about co-ordinating and presenting the evening we had on cycling and mental health at Look Mum No Hands last Autumn. I’d had a very difficult time the day before too. On the night of the event I didn’t say quite all that I wanted to, but it was more important to facilitate others. The fact that the members of the panel were so willing to contribute made organising the event very easy, and took the pressure off a bit! I as very grateful for their participation and honesty, and it was a valuable evening.

We received amazing feedback, and it underlined my feelings that many cyclists experience mental health challenges, and many who experience mental health challenges cycle. It was great to hear how the people who came along, or followed on Facebook live or on Twitter, found it beneficial.

There will be an event in Rapha Manchester later this month, plans are afoot for another evening at Look Mum No Hands, and one at the Bristol Bike Project. As part of Sport Relief, which is focusing on mental health, I’ve done a piece to camera on the subject of anxiety for a documentary about a celebrity's experience of anxiety. The programme will air in March during Sport Relief week. Hopefully what I said during the interview made some sense!

On the back of that I set up a blog - bikesandbrains.com - and I’m hoping to encourage people to contact me with their contributions. There have been a few responses already, which is encouraging. It would be great to gather a range of voices and experiences so that people can know they aren’t the only ones going through tough times, and also folks might share their ideas of how to manage their wellbeing when getting on the bike isn’t necessarily possible.

Perhaps I was particularly fortunate to find my way into cycling through people near to me, and I didn’t find it at all difficult as a woman getting into cycling. The London cycling scene was somewhat smaller in my early days 14 years ago and, to me, it seemed like a supportive niche of a size I felt comfortable in. Being part of Beastway meant I got to know a lot of riders with experience and expertise, and I could learn from them.

I do remember, however, being nervous about turning up to my first Dulwich Paragon club run as newbie, and feeling a bit out of my depth amongst all the matching club kit. There was no need to have worried though, as I was welcomed in the club, and became a regular very quickly. In fact on the few Saturdays I didn’t go on the club ride it seemed a bit odd. At that time, to me there were enough women involved to form a core group of moral support if required.

To anyone wanting to get into club cycling I would say have a think about what type of cycling you want to do. Some clubs may be more focused towards racing, others are maybe more social. Larger clubs are more likely to have riders that cover the whole spectrum and there will be opportunities whether you are interested in track, or audax, or cross, or whatever. Look out for clubs that have social rides – many of which you can attend and try out before you join. Check any advice about expected fitness levels and/or ability.

When I’m not on a bike I do like attending art exhibitions, and living in London means a wealth of options on the doorstop. I have a soft spot for art, architecture, and design between about 1750-1950. The last exhibition I visited was Red Star Over Russia at Tate Modern. Museums are good too – I had a decent wander around Sir John Soane’s recently. It’s mad, overwhelming and brilliant!

Also, I occasionally do a bit of glass-engraving. They are usually one-offs as presents, but I have engraved trophies for the end of series prizes for Beastway a few times, and had other small commissions. It’s all freehand work with a rotary engraving tool, so too much in one go can be hard work on the fingers and wrists.

Hatha yoga is something I try and do regularly as I feel relaxed after the sessions, and I hope to take up Mindfulness again to compliment this.

One highpoint for me was being on the quiz show Pointless, with my friend Lesley. It was a surreal experience. We just applied to go on the show for a laugh. When we got the call I was on holiday, so had to take a day out to travel to the studios in Hertfordshire, be there for the day and return to my holidays .Filming was fun, and Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman came across just as warm and going off on their flights of fancy as they appear on the TV. Answering the questions in front of the camera was a lot trickier than shouting the answers at the TV at home!

In the cycling world I really admire Kathryn Bertine, who campaigned for a women's Tour de France concurrent with the men’s race. In the non-cycling world I get inspired by older women such as Mary Beard, who challenge the status quo, are passionate, sincere in what they do, and are willing to take risks to follow what they believe in. 

But most of my inspiration comes from my friends, and often I’ll do things with them that I never would have contemplated on my own. For me, the moral support from friends is invaluable.

My ideal day is about being on the bike, with a close friend, in the countryside somewhere on a sunny summer day, with a flexible route and in no hurry to get back home. Writing this in February is filling me with much longing! 

Cycling and mental health event at Rapha Manchester: 
22nd February 6pm - 8pm

Sarah will feature in an article by Emily Chappell in the Spring issue of Casquette magazine.


Twitter: @Opiumia
Instagram: @opiumia5
Blog: www.bikesandbrains.com

Other cycling voices

Annia Modlinsky

Rebecca Charlton

Emily Chappell

Geraldine Glowinski 

Hannah Bussey

Maria David 

52 Cycling Voices - 5: Hannah Bussey

This week's Cycling Voice comes from Hannah Bussey, previously a civil servant in the South-east, and now a journalist and mother in the North-west. Hannah talks about dealing with the lifestyle change, and how being in the cycling community really is like being in a supportive family.

Hannah Bussey, aged 37

Lives: Stockport

From: Catford, London

Cycling journalist and mother

Hannah in North Yorkshire on the Specialized Ruby  (Photo credit: Andy Jones)

"I've been cycling since forever, but I have been riding seriously for about 17 years. I got into cycling when I started working in an office in Guildford at the same time as a guy called Tim Morley, the then National Cyclocross Champion. He was very handy on a mountain bike too, so as we got on well, he helped me build a mountain bike from old parts of his bike. 

Then Tim left the company to join British Cycling, before moving to Australia. We stayed in touch for a bit and he encouraged me to ride more. Eventually, I got into triathlons, racing for Farnham Tri Club, and even qualifying for the World Age Groups Championships along with Emma Pooley [Olympic road time trial silver medallist]! 

My now partner realised I was better at bike riding than swimming or running, so I decided to stay with just cycling. They were great times and I met lots of cycle racers in the various events I did - criterium races and road races around the country as part of the women's team series and national series, and I raced abroad too. 

I stopped road racing five or six years ago when I broke my pelvis in a bad crash in China, during the Tour of Chongming Island, and seemed to lose my edge after that. I did try and make a comeback on zero training at the Tour Series, but quickly realised a) you can't blag a criterium race and b) I wasn't hungry enough for a win to go out and train!

Then I found cross-country mountain bike racing, which I totally loved. It was local, which is always handy, and every race was like going to a festival. It was so different from road racing. The atmosphere was laid back, there was music on a sound system, a compere, there was a vibrant, trendy feel about the events.

My favourite bike ride is going to Majorca in early spring. We usually go there every year, but for the first time in 13 years we won't be going this year. 

Since having my daughter, Kodi I have tried to race again, but it requires too much time with training and admin so have decided to let it take the back seat while she's still little.

Nowadays, I ride mainly for my job as a technical writer for 'Cycling Weekly' magazine. I get to test anything bike-related, and then write about them. This includes different bikes, so at the moment I am testing a Specialized Ruby. I also meet up with cycling clubs for a ride, and check out the routes for cyclosportives. It sounds like I do loads of riding, but I have to squeeze this all into one day a week!

The cycle journalism is something I totally fell in to! I was previously working as a policy advisor in a Government department, and this involved writing policy documents and speeches for ministers.

I got to know a few of the guys from 'Cycling Weekly' through racing. My mate James Millard, a recently retired professional cyclist who I knew through racing and training camps, invited me to join him on a photo shoot. This coincided with our whole office at the Government department being made redundant, so I said yes to more photo shoots and started doing a bit of writing for the magazine, then eventually I was offered a full-time job at 'Cycling Weekly'.

The transition was bloody hard though. It was a totally alien environment that tested me so much, and it still does! Basically, I went from rules, regulations, policy and procedures of government, to journalism - which was the total opposite! 

I've also got dyslexia, which means it takes me longer than most to write things. I have no idea how sub-editors do their job! They are like gods to me! I must say it was my days of suffering in tough cycle races in the gutter in Belgium that made me persevere with it!

In fact, although it doesn't seem like there is any connection between my work in the Civil Service and what I do at the magazine, the common thing is that both roles involve translating complex information into bite-size, easy-to-understand articles for the lay person. 

In those days I lived in the South of England, near Aldershot. Now I am based in Hazel Grove, near Stockport. The South-East and North-west are mega different!

I totally loved riding down South, but coming up here has made me fall in love with road cycling all over again. The hills and vistas are huge up here. It's more like cycling used to be, with proper club runs and mud guards etc.

Although I've got the best mountain biking on my doorstep, I do find it restrictive as I just don't know where to ride off-road and don't have anyone to ride with. Where I used to live, in Hampshire, there were trails from my back door for miles. I've lost confidence since having Kodi, and up here it seems to be a case of go big or do nothing! I need to find my off-road mojo again!

Kodi will be three in May, and has just started riding an Islabikes balance bike. She's going great guns, though we’re just letting her dictate the pace right now. We're really trying hard not to pressure her into bikes, but as cycling is such a big part of our lives, we hope she'll gravitate towards it! 

I've also just started cycling with Kodi in a trailer. I've always been apprehensive about being on the road with her, so we stay on traffic-free routes. Kodi's a spirited child, so has only just decided that she likes sitting down occasionally. I would never have got her into the trailer as a baby as she hated being put down - until she learned to walk! 

Kodi in her trailer

I didn't cycle much during my first four months of pregnancy as I'm prone to injury and didn't want to get into changing positions. Instead, stuck to running and doing a work-out until Kodi was born. A few months off the bike after over a decade of cycling wasn't a big deal for me.

Juggling cycling and motherhood is not easy at the moment. I'm an attachment parent, so don't like to leave Kodi for long. Not having childcare and working two days a week is a constant juggle. Some weeks I do six hours of cycling, but there are other weeks when I don't ride at all.  It's a far cry from when I was training 15 hours week. 

Motherhood has made me become acutely aware of my responsibility now, so I'm not willing to take risks. I get scared on the road occasionally, so stick to quiet lanes. 

Despite not riding much, cycling is still the backbone of our lives. It's how I met my partner so we’ll always have riding in our lives. I love cycling because of the freedom and head space it brings. It can give you space to think or space to forget. 

Cycling really is everything to me. I have a handful of friends I met when having Kodi, who don't ride. Also my best friend is a school friend who doesn't ride either. After them, I would consider my cycling friends as family. You go through so much together and even if you no longer race together now, you're still in contact, and grow old together. 

The cycling scene is so close that you really feel each other's joy and sadness. When Charlie Craig [2016 Under-16 cyclocross national trophy winner and son of Nick Craig, multiple national mountain bike and cyclocross champion] suddenly died recently we were more than heartbroken. It rocked the cycling community to the core. I can't describe the feeling of losing him. The whole Craig family have been a huge role model for us, even before we had Kodi. In fact, seeing their lifestyle of combining family with bikes was the catalyst for us to start our own family. Charlie will never be forgotten, he really is the golden thread that runs through us all. 

I suffered two miscarriages last year, the second one happening just before Christmas, and I struggled with starting to ride again. The Craig's words of celebrating life have really emotionally moved me to start riding again and be joyful for all the small things. I could go on and don't think I've really done it justice as to what cycling means, but without bike riding we wouldn't have that almost spiritual feeling for being."  

Twitter: @Hannah_Bussey       Instagram: hannah_bussey 

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