Latest / Zone2Speak Podcast / Uncharted Grit: Cara Dixon Conquering the Badlands
Transcript
- 0:00Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Zone to Speak podcast.
- 0:05Today, we are so happy to have a truly inspiring guest with us,
- 0:09Cara Dixon, a remarkable ultra cyclist who has pushed the limits of endurance
- 0:13and determination on some of the toughest courses around the world.
- 0:18Cara is known for her relentless drive and incredible mental resilience,
- 0:22tackling grueling multi-day races that test the body and mind.
- 0:27From battling extreme conditions to navigating the highs and lows of ultra-distant
- 0:32cycling, Kara's journey is a testament to what's possible when passion meets perseverance.
- 0:38Today, we'll dive into her experiences, the challenges she's faced,
- 0:43and the triumphs that come with pushing beyond the boundaries of what most of us think is possible.
- 0:48Welcome to the Zone to Speak podcast. We're so excited to have you with us today.
- 0:52Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Zone to Speak podcast. We're your host, Debbie. And Juliana.
- 1:01Music.
- 1:07I see, like, so many people are cyclists. I feel like Vistro is a mini Girona.
- 1:12It's a wetter Girona. It's, I mean, I think it did feel like that when I went to Girona.
- 1:18It did have similar vibes in that just the cycling community is amazing.
- 1:22Amazing i feel like jerome obviously has a lot higher level of like pro cyclists
- 1:27like professional cyclists like bristol's a lot more casual you've got some
- 1:31incredible cyclists here especially with like adventure and ultra cyclists there's
- 1:34some really good like big people have lived here and the community is really
- 1:39nice really supportive really friendly and like.
- 1:42It's not your typical, what I've got to say, like old school cycling clubs.
- 1:47It's all pretty new stuff. All like, yeah, we've got like an incredible like
- 1:52women's just, it's not really a cycling club.
- 1:55It's sort of turned into a cycling club. It's basically just a WhatsApp group,
- 1:58which anyone who's in Bristol who just wants to ride with local women just is
- 2:03part of this WhatsApp group.
- 2:04And you just send out a message and like somebody is like, oh yeah,
- 2:07I'm free this afternoon or something.
- 2:08Thing because bristol's it's a really easy city
- 2:11to get out of to ride it's if you
- 2:14if you go out like west you can get out to like
- 2:16mountain bike trails within 15 minutes from the center which
- 2:20is just there's not many cities where you can do that um especially in the uk
- 2:24like a big city to be able to just go out and do mountain bike trails from like
- 2:28the center of town within 15 minutes is just special and maybe that's why it
- 2:33attracts a lot of cyclists i don't know but yeah it's It's definitely a good
- 2:37city to live. But yeah, it is a bit expensive.
- 2:39I think I got lucky with where I'm living now because it's just a guy who was
- 2:42sort of, I sort of knew through one of my cycling clubs who had,
- 2:46well, it's his house and I'm just a lodger. Wonderful.
- 2:49Yeah. Yeah. It's a nice city.
- 2:52Geron is getting super expensive and there are quite a few protests going on.
- 2:58Yeah. About what mostly?
- 3:00The locals are upset, you know. I think this is happening in a lot of small towns, actually.
- 3:08I get everybody's side, but it's just like these small towns are living off
- 3:14tourism, but you also don't want crowds and you don't want prices to go up.
- 3:20So what do you want? But they are targeting cyclists.
- 3:24Yeah, I think it's, I remember that when I was in Girona, they did have like,
- 3:29I think it was around the track, it was the last time I went to Girona.
- 3:32Obviously it was absolutely rand with
- 3:35cyclists who were just there just for this race and i
- 3:38do understand it from their point of view like
- 3:40the whole airbnb boom and it's the same way my mom wants to move to basically
- 3:45she works in this small little market town but it's like a 20 minute drive for
- 3:49her and she's getting to the age where she doesn't want to have to be relying
- 3:51on a car but she recently she broke her wrist when a dog pulled her over but
- 3:55like it meant she felt really isolated not being able to live in the town where she works.
- 4:00But because it's on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, it's a really touristy
- 4:03town, every house that comes up on the market just immediately gets bought by
- 4:08somebody to turn it into a holiday let.
- 4:10And it just means the people who work these not high-paying jobs,
- 4:13they're just working in shops and the cafes, the things that sort of make that
- 4:17town what it is, they can't afford to live there because everything just gets bought as a holiday let.
- 4:23It's sad. It's like they created what that community is. And now everybody gets kind of pushed out.
- 4:31It's so nice to meet you, Cara. I think I've seen you around Girona before.
- 4:34I think I've seen you at the Traka as well.
- 4:37I didn't race. I was going to do the 560, but it got canceled.
- 4:41You raced the 200? I was down to do the 560 because that was kind of like,
- 4:45it felt like a really good distance for me.
- 4:48I really wanted to have a rematch with Cynthia, obviously. I had to battle last
- 4:52year. I met her a few days before the start. I think it was just at a cafe or something.
- 4:57And we were both really looking forward to like having that race.
- 5:00Obviously, Lael was there as well. And I was like, this is incredible.
- 5:03There's like such a stacked field.
- 5:05And then when it got cancelled, I thought, okay, that's disappointing. But like, I'll do 360.
- 5:10It's going to be completely different because the 360s raced.
- 5:15It's a weird distance for me, that distance. Like I can pace myself for a 100 mile race, like 160k.
- 5:21I can pace myself for a 500 mile race
- 5:24like 800k I can do that but for something like
- 5:28360k it's a weird sort of it's really intense still like you saw the speed like
- 5:33G and Caro who won it like the speed like how strong they were over such a long
- 5:39race I did just get an email through yesterday I think they are doing the 560
- 5:43again next year and yeah now I'm gonna do that I think so what What would happen?
- 5:47What are the chances? It can't get cancelled two years in a row.
- 5:50That would be incredibly difficult.
- 5:52It was canceled? Is that what happened? They had some massive storms in Girona,
- 5:57like the week leading up to the three, like basically the week I was there in
- 6:02Girona, it rained every day.
- 6:04And they had a lot of the 560 route went, well, there was some bits that went
- 6:09like over 1400 meters or something, went really high.
- 6:12And the snow line was, basically you'd be riding through snow for a lot of it.
- 6:17So they had to change the route initially to get rid of those high bits.
- 6:19And then I think the weather was still just, massive
- 6:23storms so they kind of just ended up cancelling it because they
- 6:26want to postpone it another day and another day and just keep postponing
- 6:29it and they they did say like anyone who
- 6:32had entered 560 could do either of the other races and that
- 6:36was like good enough obviously there are a lot of people there who are like more
- 6:39ultra specialists who just thought what's
- 6:42the point in doing the other races and just riding around
- 6:46them but they're not going to be competitive at it but I went and thought why
- 6:49not I'll give it a go and I enjoyed it like it was it was good it's not something
- 6:54that suited me as much but I went off way too hard I just kind of got excited
- 6:59and just it went off really hard
- 7:01because it was like a mixed start and it started on this big road climb.
- 7:05Out of I can't remember it was just a long sort of sort of shallow road climb
- 7:08so it was pretty fast and I was just like okay I'm trying to move up through
- 7:11the field I started kind of far back in it and made my way up into a decent group.
- 7:16I was in a group with like, I can't remember who else, but like Sarah Stone
- 7:19was in there. So I thought, okay, this is not a good group to be in.
- 7:21If somebody like hers. I'll say.
- 7:24I've obviously managed to make my way into a decent group. And I rode with that
- 7:27group for a couple of hours, I think. It was hard work, but...
- 7:32I think it was like a corner I crashed out on.
- 7:35I think the people whose wheel I was following missed this turning.
- 7:39Like it was a left turning and I think they missed it. They didn't see it coming on the route.
- 7:44So they missed it. I saw the turning and I took the turning,
- 7:47but I took the turning with like as much speed as they were carrying, not doing the turning.
- 7:50So I basically took this corner at like 40k an hour and just wiped out and cut
- 7:57my left leg up quite badly.
- 7:59But I got back on and I got back on into that group. somehow
- 8:02and I just dropped my chain on the next descent so that's actually
- 8:05what dropped me out of that group because then I just could not pace myself
- 8:08back up to that then I sort of rode on my own for
- 8:11half an hour or something before Danny Shrewsbury's
- 8:14group caught me and then I rode with them for a while and then I
- 8:17got like a triple puncture going through a river crossing basically this entire
- 8:19race was not it was I had such bad luck
- 8:22in this race I had two punctures in the rear tire and
- 8:26one in the front just from basically just smacking the
- 8:28rim going through a river crossing too fast which was just
- 8:32my inexperience really everyone else was going on the
- 8:35outside it was not river crossing just like a bit of
- 8:38a stream that crossed over a bit of a road and people
- 8:41were taking like the dry line i was just like just get your feet wet just why
- 8:43are you doing this just get your feet wet we're in a race i was like well obviously the
- 8:47reason they took that is because they could actually see where the obstacles were i didn't
- 8:50see the obstacles i went through and but it took
- 8:53me ages to sort those punctures out as well but by the time i'd
- 8:55fixed that like it was quite far back down so I just had to spend a lot of time
- 8:59chasing and I think I rode for another 2k so that I crashed out at like 80k
- 9:04and then I think I rode for another 200k after that with just like blood dripping
- 9:09down my legs and oh my goodness it got to the final like there's a big climb about,
- 9:14280k in where I just kind of I was struggling a lot my leg was in a lot of pain and I kind of dropped.
- 9:21I'd made my way back up through the field quite a bit and
- 9:24I'm not quite sure where I was at that point but I was just feeling so
- 9:27bad and I was like yeah is it really worth it trying
- 9:30to race for like I don't know maybe a top 20 or something and
- 9:33I just kind of saw an ambulance at I think like the third feed like the last
- 9:38feed before the finish and I just thought it's probably sensible to actually
- 9:41just get checked out here rather than rather than injuring myself more which
- 9:45I kind of did because I I could not pedal for the next two weeks really I think
- 9:49it was just swelling because Because it did go down after just resting it.
- 9:52But eventually I had to drop out. I was supposed to be doing seven serpents in Slovenia.
- 9:56And I had to drop out of that because I was injured, which was really disappointing.
- 9:59And then I had to drop out of the Gralic as well, which is the one in Scotland.
- 10:03And it was just not amazing. And it kind of put a downer on the first half of
- 10:06my season because I'd had not a great few, like two couple of races before then as well.
- 10:11Just bad luck, not being at the level I was sort of hoping to be at the beginning of the season.
- 10:16I think after that, I took a bit of a break. I had like
- 10:19a couple of months where I didn't do any races and I went on
- 10:22a nice bikepacking trip with like one of my best friends we went to Ireland
- 10:25we did something like Cork and Kerry like the west coast we did about 1200k
- 10:29like 1200 kilometers in like six days so it wasn't like a chill bikepacking
- 10:33it was like 200k a day bikepacking yeah that's a heavy duty we were staying
- 10:38really nice bmbs we were like stopping at cafes having lunch having dinner at
- 10:42like pubs it was chill it It was.
- 10:45Last year, I did a race down the west coast of Ireland, like an ultra,
- 10:48and it was, I think I did about 400k a day.
- 10:51And I was swimming for three hours a day. And I was not stopping at cafes and not stopping at B&Bs.
- 10:57And to go back this year with a friend and just do it chill and like,
- 11:01enjoy the same bit of scenery.
- 11:03Like it's absolutely incredible. Ireland's incredible, but like the west coast
- 11:06is just stunning. Like the sea is amazing.
- 11:09You see a different perspective as well, because you're not really looking at
- 11:13all of those things when you're racing.
- 11:16You don't quite notice the same thing.
- 11:18And also, we were only riding during the day. I did a lot of riding during the night in that race.
- 11:22So there's a lot of stuff you miss. And it's nice to go back with her and just
- 11:26chill in an evening in an Airbnb, have nice dinners and just have a fun time, which it was good.
- 11:31It helped me because then when I got back and started doing some races right
- 11:34afterwards like end of june sort of july time i
- 11:37actually started doing a lot better and like there was a few as i did
- 11:40yeah i think you needed to refresh there yeah that's kind of what it was it
- 11:44was just rather than stressing about all these races and not being as good or
- 11:48like this is like my chance and like messing up my chance or something and then
- 11:52yeah there's always some sort of a pitfall and sometimes we just have to learn
- 11:56certain lessons and it sets Sets us back a little,
- 11:59but only to pick us back up where we need to be.
- 12:03Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to look at that and it can feel
- 12:08like it was right there in our grasp, but something kind of slid away.
- 12:11But at the same time, we get the opportunity that we need.
- 12:14And then it was after that, I think at the end of July, where I looked to go
- 12:19in contact and offered support and I was thinking like, why not?
- 12:26Like it I don't know just manifest it didn't I wasn't originally planning on going back because,
- 12:32like I did so well last year I thought to myself there's only one way I can
- 12:37better how I did last year like there was only one possible outcome where I
- 12:41could improve and why I did last year and that's a lot of pressure going into
- 12:44a race that big so I kind of in my head I was just thinking,
- 12:49like why go back yeah I could do better but I don't know.
- 12:54So you had the experience at Traka, which I think a lot of people went through that.
- 13:00I heard so many people saying, you know, especially because the people that
- 13:04were doing the 560 were ready for that distance where, you know,
- 13:09usually you excel, keep going, going through the night.
- 13:12And then suddenly you have the option to not race or take the 360, which was crazy fast.
- 13:19Fast and insane it's so fast it
- 13:22was i don't know it's also a lot flatter as well and
- 13:26then 560 had a lot of climb i think 560 had over 10 000
- 13:28meters of climbing and the 360 was basically
- 13:32at a hilly start the heavy middle and then like a few hills at the end and like
- 13:36the rest of it was so flat so it was like a completely different style of race
- 13:41it was a lot of group riding and does that lend to the speed kind of yeah intensifying
- 13:46oh my god it was incredible being Being in a group with like Sarah Sturm and The Speed,
- 13:50they were going on the flat, on gravel.
- 13:54I've got some like GoPros. Is there so much adrenaline going through your body
- 13:58because you're like, I can't believe I'm next to these women and I'm hanging
- 14:02in here and I'm pulling my own.
- 14:03It must be so surreal. I do. I have some videos, I think, which were from somebody
- 14:08who was like following the race.
- 14:09And there's videos of me and her.
- 14:12And I think this is when I was bridging across with her. So we were taking turns.
- 14:16I was like, this is insane.
- 14:18Like to be doing this and be taking turns with her and
- 14:21she's also a lot shorter in person than i was expecting which
- 14:25makes it a lot harder for me to actually get any draft
- 14:28i was like okay at least i can get a
- 14:30draft of g it's a lot harder when someone he likes and then i crashed out in
- 14:35front of her so in my head it's like well the only time she's ever raced with
- 14:38me i embarrassed myself by crashing out it's so funny how we all say that those
- 14:44types of things but i know in those situations, it feels that way too.
- 14:48But sometimes we just cannot avoid it.
- 14:52You know how to ride, obviously from how much you're riding, but you have to learn.
- 14:57Everybody has to learn. I'm sure she's had epic falls.
- 15:00You just cannot avoid. It's not about being the best cyclist out there.
- 15:05Fall, crash, it happens.
- 15:07And I've had plenty of crashes and stuff. I think it was just because the whole.
- 15:11560 thing being and then doing the 360 you can train in so many different areas
- 15:16or just say i'm gonna go take a a bike packing trip and i'm gonna check out
- 15:21this trail over here it's amazing that you could do that it makes for a better
- 15:27training just do most of my training just around here just,
- 15:30it's it's you said there's so much riding to do as well it's like i live in
- 15:35bristol and it's so close to
- 15:37wales which is just absolutely incredible for gravel just the scenery the
- 15:41mountains it's a lot quieter in wales as well it's probably about 45 minutes
- 15:46to cycle from where i live here and to get into wales and then wow yeah it is
- 15:51it is that's nothing on a bike it's nothing i think it's like 20 something k
- 15:56and it's right yeah so it basically feels like i am kind of.
- 16:01So close to wales and there is some really nice gravel there's some i can just go and do like an
- 16:06overnight or something and ride up to just the
- 16:09middle of nowhere and like the Brecon Beacons or something
- 16:12or go even further or I did an I did an
- 16:15ultra back in June I think or beginning of
- 16:18July it's the one Molly Weaver runs who again
- 16:21is an incredible ultra cyclist that she's doing
- 16:24Trans Pyrenees she used to be like a professional road cyclist like
- 16:27I can't remember which team she raced for she used to be
- 16:30like an insanely good road cyclist and then she kind of I
- 16:33think she had a crash and then she sort of finally got back into cycling
- 16:36through ultra and like adventure racing and everything
- 16:39and she's again she's bristol based so she's
- 16:42just one of these incredible women who live in bristol and go out and
- 16:44do i don't know transperonese or like transcontinental or she did like she did
- 16:50atlas mountain race as well this year and she's just absolutely incredible but
- 16:55she ran her own race it was in wales it was from like her sort of family's bike
- 17:00shop, which they have up in Ludlow.
- 17:02And it's like 620k. I think I did in 36 hours, but it's really rough terrain.
- 17:08It's not like smooth gravel. It's 620k with,
- 17:12about like 15 000 meters of climbing which is just that's it's an insane amount
- 17:18of climbing there's no flat there is a flat bit the flat bit is the last bit
- 17:22a flat it's from yeah from.
- 17:28590k to 610k there's a flat bit of sort of just road just basically getting
- 17:34from like the last final climb to the last two awful climbs that's the only
- 17:38bit of flat in the entire route the rest Best of it is just like on my Wahoo,
- 17:42it gives you like the red gradients, like the gradient colors.
- 17:46There is no climb that isn't a red gradient. It's kind of like there is some
- 17:50good gravel on there, but I think the route's kind of meant to be quite challenging.
- 17:54So it's sort of a mixture of road and off-road in a weird way where there is quite a lot of on-road.
- 18:00So a gravel bike is probably faster than a mountain bike.
- 18:03Just you can go a lot faster on the on-road climbs,
- 18:06but most of the off-road is a lot lot faster on a mountain bike it's weirdly
- 18:11designed where there isn't the right bike for it either bike you're going to
- 18:15be either just too slow on the road sections or just really uncomfortable like
- 18:19I felt like I got nerve damage in my hands after doing it because it was so
- 18:22rough but it was faster on a bike.
- 18:27Did you use a mountain bike or a gravel bike? I did on a gravel bike.
- 18:29I'm pretty sure it is faster on a gravel bike.
- 18:32I know that Santa Cruz and there's, I think, a truck is doing it too.
- 18:36A lot of companies are now making a gravel bike that's got like a front shock
- 18:41that will, it'll, it's not a lot of travel, but it's. Yeah.
- 18:45Yeah. I mean, I've, I actually rode the Stigmata and pretty nice because it
- 18:52feels just as snappy as like the regular rigid fork.
- 18:56There's a lot of debate on that, you know, like, is it really gravel if you have suspension?
- 19:02It's so minimal. It was still, it felt like it. It honestly didn't feel like
- 19:07it. You might get a mountain bike and put a road handlebar on it.
- 19:09I know. I just don't feel like it wasn't a street handlebar or anything like that.
- 19:13I mean, they're still talking about that. I don't think that's going to take
- 19:16flight with like these monster bikes. I think it just depends.
- 19:20Like each race is different and some races that's going to be useful.
- 19:23Some races aren't. I know I had a friend who rides for Canyon and I think they
- 19:29have one of their bikes as a fork with suspension.
- 19:32I'm not sure which one it is. You love climbing? Because I keep hearing climbing.
- 19:36How do you feel about climbing? I do love climbing. I do so much climbing.
- 19:41I think last year I did about 500 kilometers worth of like thousand meters of climbing in the year.
- 19:47I do a lot of climbing because I do a lot of cycling and I guess it comes with that.
- 19:51But I don't know. I love climbing. I'm just not a really, really fast climber.
- 19:57I'm a good climber. I'm not like dropping the fast girls on a climb because
- 20:02like I'm not the lightest cyclist either.
- 20:04So that kind of makes a difference. But I do love climbing and I will do a hilly climb easily.
- 20:10Love that. I think you can endure on that. If you can handle the climbs and
- 20:15just stay in your rhythm.
- 20:17And in your zone, you're good because you can always recover too.
- 20:22Yeah. It just depends on the type of race. Like a shorter race,
- 20:26it's kind of like if you get dropped on a climb, then it's kind of so much harder
- 20:29to come back. You've got to kind of punch it a little bit more there.
- 20:31You've got to conserve energy and use it in certain areas.
- 20:34I mean, I wouldn't even begin to know with those kind of punchy climbs.
- 20:38Oh, my God. And these long, long. It's incredible. Like just going out with
- 20:42some of these strong women.
- 20:43I can do my bits in certain parts. and then you get to a climb it's like well
- 20:47i can try i can try for as long as i can and like hang on but there's going
- 20:53to be a point where that's not going to work anymore that's probably when it
- 20:55gets us to get really steep but i do i do love climbing and i think things like ultras it's
- 21:01nobody's going all out on a climb apart from
- 21:04okay you know badlands last year the start people were going all
- 21:07out on the climb but this year it was a
- 21:10lot calmer i was seriously i was dreading
- 21:13the start so much like the bit i was dreading at
- 21:15the stem before the race was the first
- 21:1810k and the last 80k the
- 21:22first 10k because i remember last year it went off like any gravel race i've
- 21:26done it just went off full gas and i don't know why i think some of the guys
- 21:30got really carried away and they really put it in this is the first main climb
- 21:33out of granada and i think i had like the fastest time overall from that start
- 21:38just trying to stick in the fastest group and it's It's incredible.
- 21:42I stuck with them until I dropped my chain on like a really steep bit.
- 21:46I think I'd smacked my mech hanger, I think, when I'd unpacked.
- 21:50Like not enough to break it, but just the bender bits, like the limits were
- 21:53a bit messed up. So I had nightmares about the whole race.
- 21:56But I think that was good for me because it dropped me out of that group and
- 21:59I meant I'd paced myself better.
- 22:00It was much calmer to start this year. It was, it was chilling.
- 22:04It wasn't like a big group starting.
- 22:06It's sort of like everyone sort of split off into their own paces a lot easier,
- 22:10easier which was nice like I still tried to go relatively hard
- 22:14at the start just to I just didn't want to be on the back foot because I just
- 22:17remember with these races like I don't want to be on the back foot from the
- 22:20start I prefer to go a bit too hard and then just deal with the consequences
- 22:23rather than not go hard enough and then just feel like I'm chasing for so long
- 22:28and that was kind of But my idea was like, okay.
- 22:32Everyone else might try and do this more sensibly and try and pace themselves if i,
- 22:36know i can recover from this even if i do go too hard like
- 22:39i know i'm not going to put myself into to the red to a point where you're
- 22:42not going to be able to recover i know i can do that so i just need to be able
- 22:44to push hard enough to get ahead and then just try and stay stay ahead basically
- 22:50but then i remember danny and brad they were doing in a pair and they obviously
- 22:54sort of had the same idea so i was like riding pretty hard and then danny would
- 22:58come past and like i know she She was racing in a pair and everything,
- 23:01but I'm still there thinking like, I still don't want her to beat me.
- 23:04Like I know she's, I'm still racing her. Luckily with a pair,
- 23:08you've got twice the mechanicals to worry about.
- 23:10And I think Brad had a mechanical fairly early on. I don't know if it was a
- 23:13puncture or something. The moment they went, I was like, okay,
- 23:15I can calm down a bit. I can try and pace this a bit better.
- 23:18So what did you do differently? Because I know you did last year and then I
- 23:23read that you changed a little bit of your strategy and you won this year and
- 23:28it was on the top 10 overall.
- 23:30Yeah, a lot of it's just more experience. I've done a lot more of those type
- 23:34of ultras in the past year of sort of like two, maybe three day long ultras.
- 23:39So not just like week long ones. So ones where it is very intense,
- 23:43where it is like no stop time.
- 23:46You can't stop for three hours to sleep or something because you're not going
- 23:48to be able to be competitive if you stop for three hours to sleep.
- 23:51I had more experience in that regards.
- 23:53I think last year as well, it was one of the first times I did that sort of
- 23:57ultra. So I did sleep on the first night, not for long, I slept like 40 minutes.
- 24:01But that, it dropped me back quite a bit behind Cynthia, just that one stop.
- 24:08And this was when she was ahead of me as well. So she'd overtaken me about 200k into the race, I think.
- 24:14So there was one woman who was like way ahead of us at the start and she ended
- 24:17up scratching at the highest point.
- 24:20I think she got caught in a storm and got really cold and really wet.
- 24:23I can't remember her name, but she ended up scratching there. So,
- 24:27I was never in front. I was never first, like at any point in that race.
- 24:31I was always either second or third or then second again.
- 24:36And once Cynthia overtook me going through Gore, well, after Gore on like the
- 24:40climb up to Cala Alto and like the first night, she overtook me again on that climb.
- 24:45And then I kind of wasn't sure how I was racing it. It was strange last year.
- 24:49I was a lot less prepared.
- 24:51I didn't have a plan. I was kind of just going out and just going hard
- 24:56and yeah trying to think about like this year i was so much
- 24:59more prepared i had memorized where every single
- 25:02fountain was in every town i went through like i don't know what i'm going to
- 25:05do with that knowledge if you drop me in some random spanish town find the fountain
- 25:10like that because i was like i do not want to waste time getting into a fountain
- 25:13and not getting into a town and not being able to find where the water fountain
- 25:16is so i was like so i was spending like
- 25:20my lunch breaks at work and in the weeks leading up to badlands basically just like
- 25:25finding them on street view and everything's like okay so the route goes through
- 25:28there so like when i get into that i just need to turn left here and i can find
- 25:31the fountain i can fill my bottles up there and that's where that shop is and
- 25:35i can do that and it opens at this time it closes at this time it's like i i
- 25:39did so much prep for this race and i did none of that last year like last year i.
- 25:44I don't know, like I didn't, I was, I struggled to find water last year.
- 25:47Like I just, some reason I just couldn't find water.
- 25:51I just was really bad. So that's kind of what I was going for.
- 25:54I was like, that's going to catch me out. I do not want to be dehydrated on this.
- 25:57And there was only one point I think where I was close to really struggling
- 26:01with water. And that was the end of like the desert section in Garaffi.
- 26:05So there's like, you go through Garaffi, like the town, you do this big,
- 26:09awful, awful steep climb.
- 26:11And then you descend into the desert it again and i think from there for about
- 26:1580k there's not really any resupply points you're just in the desert and i think
- 26:20towards that just before the climb out of the desert i was like.
- 26:24I'm on my last bottle and i've got like a tiny bit of this last bottle and i've
- 26:28still got 20k to go i should have like stuffed like an extra bottle in like
- 26:31a pocket or something and i think,
- 26:34it's like six seven k before gore i was going around
- 26:37this dirt track that they just routers on to and
- 26:40there was this little girl who'd obviously her and her
- 26:42parents had set up this little sort of stall of just like cold water
- 26:45bottles perfect oh my god i came around
- 26:48this corner and she'd sort of put it on the weird side it was like on the blind
- 26:51side so you couldn't really see it until you went round and then i spotted out
- 26:55the corner of my eye as i was going quite fast i slammed on my brakes and she
- 26:58ran up to me and handed me stuff i was like you need to work on your bottle
- 27:02handoffs but thank you so much and then i mean she just seemed so happy to be able
- 27:08to help like that because this was like yeah 6k and they were just handing our
- 27:11bottles to any of the riders who came past i think danny and
- 27:14brad had just just got bottles from them as well because i caught them at that
- 27:18point and it was it was only 6k to go but i was still it felt like ages because
- 27:22gore felt like a sort of oasis that i'd been through there last year but like
- 27:27last year i didn't stop in gore
- 27:29which was insane but i think because the route was different last year
- 27:32i'd had a resupply maybe about an hour or so before gore so i kind of i just
- 27:37went through it because I didn't need to.
- 27:39But this year it was, it'd been so long since I'd had any water and it was before
- 27:43the long night section. So I thought, okay.
- 27:46I'll stop here, get some food, fill up my bottles in the fountains,
- 27:50cool myself down because I was absolutely buoyant.
- 27:52So I went over to the fountains. I basically just drenched myself because I
- 27:55was so hot and regretted that 15 minutes later when I realized,
- 28:00okay, it's starting to get dark.
- 28:02And I've just completely soaked myself. And I started to feel cold just standing around.
- 28:07I was like, I've gone from 42 degrees in
- 28:10the desert to now feeling cold within like two hours and
- 28:13I've got to now ride through the night over the
- 28:16highest point on the route like 2,200 meters or
- 28:19something it's like is this a great idea maybe not so I
- 28:23went into the shop and I got some got some foods and
- 28:26not amazing the biggest fan of small Spanish
- 28:29town supermarkets they don't have the best selection
- 28:32of food that I like oh my god trying to
- 28:35do it vegetarian as well it's just like a bit of a nightmare when
- 28:38I first did my first few ultras I tried to do them vegan as
- 28:41well and just like kudos to anyone who can do
- 28:43that it's so stressful especially if you're trying to race race
- 28:46it if you just ride if you're riding it and you you're not
- 28:49stressed about going to shops you're like going to stop shops and you
- 28:52can chill but when you're like race racing it and you're sort of trying to go
- 28:57into a shop and get out as quickly as possible it's too much it's it's something
- 29:01i can't deal with so i go at least with vegetarian i can sort of still do this
- 29:05even if i'm just eating boring stuff so i went into that shop and got some i
- 29:09can't remember what i got just
- 29:10boring food or something I think I got an ice lolly as well which was nice but
- 29:14I needed at that point I needed something like that and as I left the shop Svenja
- 29:21came into the town so she had been chasing me so so she wasn't too far behind
- 29:25me she was a lot closer than I was expecting basically.
- 29:28I'd been in Gore for like less than 10 minutes and I came out and she was there I was like okay,
- 29:32Were you like, I've got to get back on my bike now? Yeah. It would stuff everything
- 29:36in my pockets and in my bag. I was like, I'll eat on the bike.
- 29:40I don't know how fast she's going to be in Go. She could literally just walk
- 29:44into the shop, grab stuff, and be gone in five minutes.
- 29:47So I was just thinking, like, I could have lost a lot of time just,
- 29:49like, faffing about in that shop or the water fountain. So I was just like, okay, I'm going now.
- 29:55Which, I don't know, Go is an amazing place. Like, the atmosphere they have
- 29:58for the race is incredible.
- 29:59It's like a party you go into there. you you come into the town people were
- 30:03like shouting my name it's like how the hell do they know my name obviously
- 30:05we just look at the dots or spoken to other people it's like this is incredible
- 30:09and then I sort of left and there's a really nice climb out of goal like this road climb,
- 30:14and you sort of go around and the sun was setting as well so I
- 30:16had the sun setting of this really nice town and then
- 30:19it started to get cool and I was feeling so much happier that it was going to be not
- 30:2340 degrees overnight because I had struggled a lot
- 30:25in the heat like I was impressed that I actually could
- 30:28somehow deal with that heat because I've never been in temperatures that
- 30:31hot so being able to actually ride through
- 30:35that temperature and be fine in it was like a
- 30:38big surprise to me yeah I guess you
- 30:40don't know how you're going to respond oh my god like 40 yeah it was 42 degrees
- 30:45that was the hottest that's pretty drastic to drop like that it plays some tricks
- 30:50on the body so you do have to make sure you're hydrated and eating enough because
- 30:55dropping Stopping your body temperature like that can affect you quite a lot,
- 30:59especially if you're just constantly pushing.
- 31:02Yeah, I had to be really careful about electrolytes as well because I was just,
- 31:05I knew that was what was going to get me out.
- 31:07Like I could probably get enough water, but I basically took like electrolytes, like salt.
- 31:12Yes, that's the best thing to do. Yeah, the mix is you put in your bottles or
- 31:16something, you have to drink a whole bottle of water to get all those electrolytes,
- 31:20which you don't always want to do.
- 31:22Maybe you're trying to conserve your water a bit because you go long in a
- 31:25section or just one i don't like when i'm really thirsty i
- 31:29just i can't stand the thought of flavored water when
- 31:32i'm really thirsty i just want plain water i just want water i know
- 31:35too much of these mixes sometimes it starts to
- 31:38make you kind of nauseated i thought okay i don't know exactly like how much
- 31:42i sweat out or anything but it's like this is this has got to be fine like it
- 31:46can't i'm not i'm doing this for two days i probably hope i mean you can definitely
- 31:50mess up your body doing that for two days but like Like I thought at this point,
- 31:54I'm sweating quite a lot out.
- 31:55If I'm taking too much salts, it's not going to really matter at this point.
- 31:58I was like every hour, I just have a notification on my Wahoo saying, take another salt.
- 32:03Again, this is another thing that I was so much more prepared this year because
- 32:06I had planned ahead. Like I did not do that last year. Yeah.
- 32:11I'd learned so much that I just basically moved everything I'd learned from
- 32:15last year to this year, and then just kind of got lucky and nailed it.
- 32:21So many things that could have gone wrong. I still punctured 8k from the finish.
- 32:25Last year, I punctured 20k from the finish.
- 32:27So I'd like, I had improved by an extra 12k.
- 32:29So maybe, maybe another time I can make it to the whole, like the whole end as well.
- 32:35I think it was a combination of luck, being really prepared.
- 32:38It's a lot more experience. experience absolutely loved it especially
- 32:41knowing you know you've done it before and you
- 32:44you put so much work into
- 32:47being prepared but tell
- 32:50me a little bit about your training schedule i know you have a full-time job
- 32:55and you are training 20 30 hours a week i mean are you a super woman tell us
- 33:01what what are you doing a little bit a little bit well i kind of like i have so i I work a nine to five,
- 33:09but it's kind of like, it is just nine to five.
- 33:11I don't have to do any work outside of work. Once I leave the office, it's fine.
- 33:14So I tend to just like do a couple of hours in the morning.
- 33:18It's really not that structured.
- 33:21It's weird. It's basically done on vibes. I don't want to say that.
- 33:27Depending on how I feel, I'll go out and do intervals or I'll go out and just do like a chill ride,
- 33:32or I'll go out and do a social ride with friends, or I'll go out and do
- 33:35a massive 16 hour ride at the weekend on
- 33:38like a Saturday or something and then do it it's not
- 33:41structured in the sense that I have a coach or anything like I don't I
- 33:44can't afford a coach or something but it's yeah
- 33:48so I do get a lot of miles in I feel like that's definitely
- 33:51helped a lot in just especially with ultras being able to
- 33:55be on the bike for that long day on day out for the fact that I've done like
- 34:0040,000 kilometers a year for like the past five six years like that's just a
- 34:05lot of riding and it's just kind of what i've done for like my entire adult
- 34:09life it's just right that's experience on the bike you have to share about the story with your brother,
- 34:15with how you got back into psych please please please i love it so i wanted you to share it,
- 34:22so as a kid like my dad was really into cycling we lived in the countryside
- 34:27it was nice we do some mountain biking and that was that i kind of moved away
- 34:31a bit at school senior school i went I got really into rowing,
- 34:35like rowing was my sport. That's what I did throughout senior school.
- 34:38Up until the university, rowing was all I did.
- 34:41University was a weird experience where I struggled a lot with my mental health.
- 34:46I mean, I was bad again coming through senior school, but I think moving to
- 34:50university, I didn't have any friends at the start because it was like a completely
- 34:52different place. I was quite isolated where I was living.
- 34:55And yeah, my mental health took a big dive. So I didn't really do much around university sport wise.
- 35:02I commuted by bike, Like, basically, that was it.
- 35:04And then kind of when I was starting to get better, my brother got me back into cycling.
- 35:10And I was quite big into rock climbing at the time, sort of.
- 35:13That's what I did when I was on placement. And I was doing that three, four times a week.
- 35:18And I introduced him to rock climbing and he introduced me back into cycling.
- 35:21I think because of that, we kind of switched and he went all into rock climbing.
- 35:26He does like these big mountaineering adventures and massive treks and does
- 35:31like big multi-pitch climbs.
- 35:33And I obviously went all in on
- 35:35cycling like fully in on cycling like as far
- 35:39into cycling as anyone can go and it
- 35:41was it was weird that my brother gave me back into that
- 35:44because I remember the first ride he took me out on I hated it I threw up halfway
- 35:48through it it was like it wasn't even 30k it was like a 20k ride and I remember
- 35:52just feeling so bad halfway through it and then for some reason I just ended
- 35:56up doing more and then doing more and more and then just like building up and
- 36:00building up. And then, yeah.
- 36:02And then COVID happened and I just did insane amounts of cycling because I had nothing else to do.
- 36:07During 2020, I did 53,000 kilometers, like 33,000 miles.
- 36:13Wow. I think it was about, I think it averaged about 100 miles a day, I think.
- 36:20That's why I said it was so important to tell that story because you were,
- 36:24you were meant to be cycling.
- 36:25There's something that was calling you to the bike. yeah it was
- 36:28a weird sort of i didn't have much else to do because there wasn't
- 36:31much work i was doing and i didn't really have a social life
- 36:34that year either so i just rode my bike
- 36:37and just i explored so much of yorkshire and
- 36:40where i used to live i'd go out and do like a 400k ride
- 36:43and like do the coast to coast to coast is what we call it yeah
- 36:46that was i loved doing it like it was a good year for
- 36:49just riding my bikes the weather was also really good and i
- 36:51still just kind of carried it on even when I got back into regular life
- 36:54I just do it at the weekends or it'd be
- 36:58split up into like two rides a day like a
- 37:00ride in the morning a ride in the evening or when I was working part-time
- 37:03I could still fit in big rides so it's kind of just yeah
- 37:06it's been my life for like my entire adult life it's
- 37:09kind of just obviously moving into ultras maybe like the natural
- 37:12progression just I would say I do
- 37:15I do love the short races I love short gravel races but I'm
- 37:18less competitive at them I think that's a lot more intensity like
- 37:22strength and everything but if it's like a four-hour race and
- 37:26they are fun and I have been competitive at them it just depends
- 37:29on luck and how I'm feeling but and they are
- 37:31really fun because riding around like a fast
- 37:34gravel course with like these incredibly strong women
- 37:37it's like it's the most fun I've ever had on a bike when I.
- 37:40Did the when I did the gravel earth final last year it was it was so much fun
- 37:43because it was the first one of those gravel earth races I'd done and I knew
- 37:47a few of the people there but like I met so many people there and made so many
- 37:52good friends just at one race like that and then you've got to do this incredible
- 37:56course with some really fast.
- 37:58Like really, really fast girls. Oh my God. I just wanted to do more of it.
- 38:03And then the field's just gone stronger and stronger in the past year and a bit. And it always will.
- 38:07It just keeps getting stronger. You keep getting amazed.
- 38:10God, every single time I do one of those races, it's like, there's these news
- 38:13people I've never heard of. And they're just like, where the hell have you come
- 38:16from? And how are you so strong?
- 38:18It's like part of it's like, oh my gosh, now I got to work harder.
- 38:21And part of it is like, I'm so amazed.
- 38:23This is wonderful to see so many women out here and so
- 38:25many strong women and the community the same
- 38:28with ultras as well it feels like every time i do
- 38:31one of these ultras there's somebody like cynthia turns
- 38:34up or svenya or something like svenya obviously won
- 38:37unbound excel this year and i've i
- 38:40was i was so worried about her going into it because
- 38:43i've raced her three or four times
- 38:45before and every single time she's beaten me but these have been
- 38:48on like 100 mile to 200 mile races so
- 38:52i i know she's a really really really strong
- 38:55cyclist but she'd never done a multi-day ultra before
- 38:58like she the longest race she'd ever done it was around excel
- 39:01which was about 24 hours it's a different animal exactly
- 39:05so i was like okay i have experience here she doesn't i can hopefully use that
- 39:10to my advantage like if i can use the stuff i know i can try and just like build
- 39:15off that and just hopefully do better because she doesn't have that experience
- 39:18i wasn't 100 sure she'd be like the closest competition i'm just like okay i know.
- 39:23About her and I have raced her before so like she's the
- 39:25only one I can prepare for it was amazing racing with
- 39:28her again and it was also kind of nice to beat her
- 39:31and Danny who again it's just people who beat me
- 39:34every single time I've raced them so it's kind of like haha you're in my world
- 39:38now they're on bad lands that you beat them so in bad lands I beat them but
- 39:42like every other time I've raced them they beat me so I was kind of like okay
- 39:45I've tried beating you in your your world but But now you've come into my world
- 39:49and this is something I do because neither of them had done like a multi-day ultra riff off.
- 39:54I know you're really strong and I know you still pretty know what you're doing,
- 39:57but there's so much you learn just doing this race.
- 40:00If Dani does another one, I think if she had done it on her own,
- 40:03without Brad, she would have been so much closer.
- 40:06Because the thing is, when you're doing it with a pair, you're going as slow as the slowest person.
- 40:11And not that Brad's slow or anything, but everyone's going to be the slowest
- 40:14person at one point during that race.
- 40:16As if you would never try being a pair? I'd give it a go.
- 40:20If I found somebody who'd sort of want to do a pair, like I've got a few friends
- 40:24in Bristol who might be up for it, I'd love to give it a go.
- 40:28Like I I'm not quite sure because I've
- 40:31done bikepacking trips with people and that's a
- 40:35completely different thing there's a lot of compromise in there and
- 40:38you have to give up a lot of that control in a
- 40:40sense too yeah I don't know I may do it
- 40:43it's it's nothing I've planned yet if I go
- 40:46back to Badlands I need to think of something else to do I'd like to go
- 40:48back and do something different maybe doing a pair would be
- 40:51how I'd do it next time but it's not currently on
- 40:54my plans what's in the plans are you willing to talk about
- 40:57obviously i've mentioned the 560 and the tracker because
- 41:01that's again going to be quite a big event if it goes
- 41:03and goes ahead this year because they put so much.
- 41:04Music.
- 41:06Effort into like the marketing and like like publicity around it it's going
- 41:10to be a big event it's going to have really big names there again so that's
- 41:14obviously an early season it's like may isn't it it's quite early in the year
- 41:18and then i have a few things that i'm kind of thinking about doing depending
- 41:21on sponsors i've got some meetings
- 41:23and stuff i I want to sort things out before I make some big plans.
- 41:26I just want to do different things. And going back to Badlands a third year
- 41:29in a row would just be a bit.
- 41:31I would love to just because I love the atmosphere and the people there.
- 41:35And it's kind of nice going there, having people know me now.
- 41:37Last year, I went and nobody knew who I was at the start.
- 41:40I walked through that. I think I knew Bruno and that was it.
- 41:43And he introduced me to some people. And I think, but then this year I went
- 41:47and so many people knew who I was and wanted to say hi.
- 41:50Or like even if i hadn't actually met them myself they'd
- 41:54like follow me on instagram or on strava or
- 41:57whatever or just like knew me from the race last year and it
- 41:59was such a strange experience going back there and feel like okay people actually
- 42:02know me and like want to talk to me and say hi and i
- 42:06feel popular and i don't know
- 42:09it's it's such a nice community like even just the organizers when
- 42:13when i turned up like 8 a.m something
- 42:16so basically how i had to ride from the airport in
- 42:19malaga to granada again this year because
- 42:21like the flight gets in at like 1 a.m there's no
- 42:24trains running at that time i don't want to hang around in malaga for six hours
- 42:27for the first train so i just thought i'll build up my bike and i'll ride to
- 42:31granada it's like 140k up to granada but it's also like it's flat for the first
- 42:3640k because you're just riding along the coast and then you suddenly go from
- 42:38like sea level up to a thousand meters because you just go up it's 140k with
- 42:43like 2 000 meters of climbing i got there at.
- 42:468 a.m 9 a.m or something and david the
- 42:50guy who organizes it was there and he like immediately
- 42:53saw me and came up gave up and like gave me a
- 42:55hug and said hi it's so great to have you here and then i
- 42:58just kept meeting more and more people whole morning yeah like
- 43:02the people i knew from like float chair were there and like
- 43:04the athletic affair people at maya was there and just like oh
- 43:08it's so nice to actually know people this year yeah known from
- 43:11like other gravel races had turned up like amity was
- 43:14there it was so much nicer being there for a
- 43:17few days before the race this year and opposed to
- 43:20last year where i turned up the day before the race after having
- 43:23them doing the same ride from malaga so i'd given myself an extra day to rest
- 43:27which if i if that's personal growth if anything i agree you kind of need that
- 43:32rest day right before that makes a big difference you've shared so much about
- 43:36feeling the inspiration and the community support how does it feel when
- 43:42you actually finish and you go home?
- 43:45It was weird this time because last year I finished at 6am because the route was slightly shorter.
- 43:50It was, it was like 750k. Like this year it was 40k longer.
- 43:53And it was also a lot more off-road this year. So it was, it took me an extra
- 43:57three hours to do it this year, even though I think I was like faster pace.
- 44:00I was a stronger cyclist this year.
- 44:02So I finished at 6am last year, which was dark. And I think there were two people at the finish.
- 44:07I think David was at the finish for me and somebody with an incredibly bright ring light,
- 44:11who was like interviewing people at the finish which was not
- 44:14great because like the last 10k of last year all
- 44:17my bike lights had died apart from one like diddy little
- 44:20head torch i had so i had to do the last 10k with like virtually
- 44:23zero visibility which was
- 44:26not great because it's still quite a bit of off-road and then it's a long descent
- 44:29so my eyes are like adjusted to pitch black at that point and then i turn up
- 44:34at the finish line somebody with this brightest ring light i've ever seen just
- 44:37comes up and starts interviewing me so in the video it's like an interview with
- 44:40me in that film where I am just like squinting and just cannot see a single bit.
- 44:45But again, there was like two people. And you're sleep deprived. Yeah.
- 44:49But yeah, there were like two people there. So it was, I mean,
- 44:51ultras are always like that where you do the hardest thing you've ever done
- 44:55and you get to the finish line and it's like.
- 44:58Two three people there right and that's it it's not
- 45:00like it's kind of strange right because you're in your
- 45:03own mind you're you feel this such this accomplishment a
- 45:07sense of self-worth so it's kind of like it's always a bit anticlimactic right
- 45:11you don't really think about that during the race and then this year it was
- 45:14different so obviously obviously not like crowds of people but there were people
- 45:18that lena from voloccio maya was there there was my brother who'd been filming
- 45:22he'd um And he came and some film for a project of his that he wants to do.
- 45:27So he basically been hiding in bushes and flying drones to fill me over the two days.
- 45:31So it was cool to actually finally see him. Cause I think I only caught him
- 45:34out the corner of my eye a few times during that race.
- 45:36But so he was there, but he was still kind of like trying to keep back cause
- 45:39he was trying to get footage.
- 45:40So he was there with a camera from a distance. So it was like,
- 45:42kind of nice to see you, but I still pretend you're not there.
- 45:46Congratulations. Like run up and give me a hug.
- 45:50Exactly. because there were so many
- 45:52other people as well so like david was there and like
- 45:56amity had scratched from the race i think on the like
- 45:59the first morning like the like the day after i think she
- 46:02caught heat stroke but she's managed to ride somewhere
- 46:05and got a lift at the finish line so she was there so
- 46:08she came up and gave me a hug and like she was also so nice because
- 46:11she offered me like her bed and a shower which i really
- 46:13needed because i couldn't sleep like the best thing
- 46:17in in the world it was so nice to like have good friends
- 46:20just like there at the finish line i actually felt like
- 46:23like there were people there for me
- 46:26this time even though they were there for things and everything.
- 46:29But it felt nice to actually have people to finish line unlike
- 46:32last year i was like i turned up it was pitch black there was
- 46:35nobody there and i went and slept on a floor in a in a village
- 46:38hall sort of the ultra you were doing
- 46:40that for yourself it's your own journey me yes you
- 46:44said your brother was there are we
- 46:47going to see a documentary about your
- 46:50racing is that something who wants to do like like
- 46:53a 10 minute long he's got quite a bit of footage it's a
- 46:56project he wanted to do for sort of a outdoor film
- 46:59festival and he kind of wanted to do it on me because like he's
- 47:02like obviously he knows about my cycling and
- 47:05knows about these adventure races and everything so when i
- 47:08basically found out about badlands i was like hey do you
- 47:11want to do this and so he ended up dropping a lot of things and
- 47:15flew down to malaga and rented a car
- 47:17and he brought a friend who knew how to fly a drone when
- 47:20i'd been doing all my prep for the race i'd also been sort of planning filming locations
- 47:24so i'll be going this bit looks really cool on camera make sure you film here
- 47:29or like that's going to take a while for me to get from there to there so like
- 47:33so i have no idea timing wise it's like okay i don't know how fast i'm going
- 47:36to be this year or mechanicals or whatever but like you've got the dots you
- 47:39can like follow Follow me on the tracking.
- 47:41But during the race, I'm not going to be thinking about you.
- 47:45I don't care if I'm not at the right place at the right time.
- 47:48He was saying, oh, this is really cool, this sand. If you get to there at sunrise,
- 47:52they'll be amazed. It's like, no.
- 47:55I'm not going to wait there for a sunrise shot. You can get a sunrise shot of
- 47:58some other cyclist going down there. I don't care.
- 48:01I'm racing this. Yeah, you cannot say hi. If I'm crying by the side of the road,
- 48:06you can't offer me anything.
- 48:08You need to film like a nature documentary. If I'm being eaten by a lion,
- 48:13you need to film from a distance.
- 48:15Because that'll be counted as support if you came and saved me.
- 48:18Right. Even if you came over and offered me a Band-Aid or something.
- 48:23Exactly. Just let the lion have me. This is more important.
- 48:27Well, do let us know when the film comes out. We'd love to see it and share with everyone.
- 48:34Some of the drone shots are incredible. So getting back to like real life,
- 48:38it was weird. So I went straight back to work.
- 48:41I flew back the next morning and was back at work,
- 48:44the morning after that basically so I had no chill time it was traveling and then back at work,
- 48:50and work it was just like yeah they
- 48:53sort of said like oh congratulations and I said like I'd won or something like
- 48:56that but it was just that it was like nobody really understood what
- 48:59the race was yeah they don't they don't understand that aspect
- 49:02of it I mean you won't get that kind of recognition in
- 49:05that same way even if you share a story with them it won't be
- 49:08the same connection same people who'd be like absolutely mind
- 49:11blown that you'd cycled 40 miles or something so if
- 49:15you said you'd cycled 500 miles
- 49:18they're just going to be like what i don't even drive my car that
- 49:20far or something like that but then there was a film one of my friends runs
- 49:25this sort of film night they do occasionally where they they do cycling related
- 49:30films and uses like a charity fundraising for the people who do the trails in
- 49:34ashton court and lee woods like a cycling charity basically that help people
- 49:38get into mountain biking.
- 49:39So there was a, like a community cycling event on that evening. So I went there.
- 49:44I decided to, I know friends that are going to be there. I have some really good friends there.
- 49:49And I went there and oh my God, that was just like incredible.
- 49:52Like the amount of people who came up and congratulated me and gave me hugs
- 49:55and gave me a shout out at the start or.
- 49:59After having a day at work where it just like it had not happened
- 50:02to then go to this place where I had like I don't know
- 50:05like 50 people like congratulating me on the
- 50:08race made up for everything like yeah that's that's the champagne toast right
- 50:12there even if you don't get that when you finish the race it's like sleeping
- 50:17in a comfortable bed after and then finally just getting to go back to that
- 50:21community it feels like everything's all worth it right it is so So it was just sort of a great,
- 50:28these are my people and this is where I go on my support.
- 50:31And same with like the Friday morning ride I do with like a load of the girls in the city.
- 50:35We just go out and just 40k loop and then we go to have a pastry and have a coffee before work.
- 50:41It's like one of my favorite things to do on a Friday morning.
- 50:43It just like sets me up for the day. Your life, you put so much into that and it's impactful.
- 50:48These people, they know me, they ride with me, they see how much I ride,
- 50:52they see how much I train.
- 50:54And so it's kind of nice. A lot of them, obviously, I had spoken to about how
- 50:57disappointed I was in the start of my year.
- 51:00I was struggling as well because I'd been unemployed for about six months up
- 51:03until June or something.
- 51:05So I struggled a lot with my mental health around that as well.
- 51:08So I was basically just focused on training at that point because that was kind
- 51:11of what was getting me through things.
- 51:13It sometimes does help that, right? Doesn't that kind of help at least to have
- 51:17a focus on something, especially with mental health?
- 51:20As long as you have some sort of outlet in that sense that kind of makes you feel better.
- 51:25And there's some support there, it can make such a difference.
- 51:28It was nice to feel like it finally paid off.
- 51:31So they were so happy for me. And the groups I went to, they gave me a shout-out,
- 51:35like the mountain biking one that I do, and it was like, oh, I love the city.
- 51:40I love the people in the city. And just to be able to do something like that, yeah.
- 51:46So that's kind of how it felt. It was like, amazing finish.
- 51:50Nothing at work and then just like no i actually
- 51:53love it here right and that that's what i
- 51:56got from just our conversation in the past you love
- 51:59bristol you feel at home it is it is it is
- 52:02definitely the community that makes i mean the city's itself great but it
- 52:05is the people here and the fact that is a city where there
- 52:09is so many incredible cyclists who just want to do things
- 52:12i want to be so supportive and just like this weekend i'm
- 52:15going on a bunkhouse trip with a load of girls from the club where we're going up to
- 52:18the bunkhouse it's like it's
- 52:21100 miles up to like the middle of wales we booked
- 52:24a bunkhouse out for i think 16 or 20 of us i went
- 52:27there on a saturday sort of rode over from shrewsbury had like
- 52:30a bit of a recce of the course and then stayed in a nice b&b but just
- 52:33like read a book and just had a nice chill thing and then
- 52:36i did this race it was okay it was a short race i think i was
- 52:38like came like 11th or something but it was like it was
- 52:41like a short fast race that I just kind of wanted to do
- 52:44because it was local and I was okay I've had my big
- 52:47sort of win of the season I'm just gonna enjoy this
- 52:50I'm gonna ride with some fun this has been
- 52:53so much fun talking to you I really
- 52:56enjoy talking to you too as well you're so easygoing and have such a wonderful
- 53:01outlook on everything I did want to say thank you for joining us today so much
- 53:06it's been such a joy and pleasure and we truly appreciate your contribution
- 53:10to the ultra gender and cycling community you're a major force to be reckoned with a true inspiration.
- 53:16And we are going to continue to follow your path
- 53:19we love that you do everything on your own terms we
- 53:22congratulate you on all your success and your hard work we recognize that you're
- 53:28amazing can't wait to see what's coming next if i'm in gerona at some point
- 53:33i'll definitely have to say hi please please reach out i'm always i'm always
- 53:38looking for excuses to go to gerona i do so many
- 53:40races in spain it's like it's easy to get to but they're also it's
- 53:43just such a nice country i'm definitely looking for my excuses to
- 53:46go back well i'm here so just send me a
- 53:48message you know have a wonderful evening and
- 53:52a great weekend ahead bye that's all for today's episode we want to thank you
- 53:59our listeners for tuning in your support means everything to us if you enjoyed
- 54:04this episode please consider subscribing leaving a review and sharing it with your.
- 54:09Music.