Date of Birth: 6th August 1995
Nationality: British
Team: Drops
Former Teams: Wiggle-High5
Career Achievements:
3rd – Stage Thüringen Tour (2019)
7th – National Championships TT (2017)
9th – Stage Festival Elsy Jacobs (2019), Commonwealth Games TT (2018), National Championships Road Race (2017)
10th – Stage Thüringen Tour (2017), National Championships TT (2015)
11th – National Championships TT (2014)
12th – Tour de Yorkshire (2017)
Who taught you how to ride a bike & how old were you?
Having a bike mad older brother, I think must’ve made me keen to get going myself! So it feels I’ve been riding as long as I can remember.
Between him and my Dad, the two of them got me going on two wheels at around 4 years old.
What was your first ‘proper’ road bike & what colour was it?
I had a Dolan bike and I remember choosing to have it painted pink and black to match my pink helmet! Always wanted style with speed! Its had many owners since me.
What’s the most important piece of kit/advice that has helped boost your performance?
I’d say the best piece of advice I’ve had came from my first coach Mike Doyle. He always went off the importance of listening to your body when it came to training. He’d always say to go off feel, whether that was to push through in training and when rest is just best. I really learnt how to do a tough effort without a power meter or HR monitor telling me how to manage it.
The most important piece of kit would be my Garmin and having GPS, my directional skills are slim, so its a saviour for me to feel confident when I’m off riding somewhere new.
What’s your favourite routes/places to ride?
I do love my home training roads on the Isle of Man, and have many favourite routes here depending on what riding/training I’m wanting to do. I am lucky to have the roads I do on my doorstep here.
For training camps, I really like Majorca and Gran Canaria, as I love to train on the long climbs there. I spent our last winter in New Zealand where the beauty of the roads there also makes the miles go by quickly!
What tips do you have to keep the love of cycling going amidst all the training?
Make it enjoyable and fun! Plan a cafe ride to meet friends on your easy days. Then, when in a big training block, spend rest days away from the bike and do something completely different, not associated with cycling to refresh.
I do always find during the season watching some of the racing that’s going on also keeps the love and motivation. When training on the bike, set yourself adventurous routes or a goal.
I always find it easier mentally, when I have a long endurance ride, to plan myself a good route before riding, usually on roads I don’t often ride to explore.
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