International Womens Day : My Inspiration
8th March marks international women’s day which is in place to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women.
Love Velo CC as a page which promotes and celebrates female cyclists and women in sport quite rightly is celebrating #IWD. I have written a small piece about some of the female cyclists that I find to be supporting and inspiring. Some of these are professional cyclists, some of these are women who I have met through my own cycling and have proved to offer a great support network
Hayley Simmonds
As an aspiring time triallist myself I have been astonished at some of the TT times that Hayley has achieved, how anyone can go that fast I just don’t understand. I always like her professional approach to training / racing and its clear to see the commitment and dedication involved in all aspects of training, nutrition, aerodynamics and general approach.
Laura McCracken
Laura is a triathlete, we won’t hold that against her! However last year I was lucky enough to see her complete an ironman triathlon in Cozumel Mexico last year. Cycling 100 plus miles at race pace is tough enough anyway, but add on a 2.5 mile swim and a marathon and it’s pretty epic stuff. You can follow Lauras facebook athlete page here.
Lizzie Deignan
I love this photo, I just think it shows the dedication of having left everything out there on the road and I’m always super keen to see good results from Lizzie. One of my favourite races to watch was Lizzies solo attack to victory in the women’s tour last year. Im just waiting for my signing to the Boels Dolman cycling team to come through though?!
Fiona-May Aylward (Peaches and green)
Fiona is my training pal back home and although she’s left the area to go to university I always enjoy following her adventures. A free spirit type she’s one to follow on Instagram on her trips here, especially the touring kind. She’s also the only person I know who would enter the National Hill Climb and be smiling from bottom to top! TIC kit always looks awesome too, sock game on point!!
Sylvia Lawson
Sylvia is another of my pals from my home area who I met on cycling club runs, she has just been so supportive of my cycling and racing but we have had many great rides together. She was recently in a cycling accident involving a car but I have been inspired by her determination to get back to health and fitness, despite all of the barriers. Such a supportive person I’m lucky to call one of my close friends 🙂
Sally Maitland
Sally is someone who does a huge amount for promoting women’s cycling and racing and who also runs the Beeston Cycling Clubs women’s race team AKA ‘The Queen Bees’. 2017 was their first year as a team which saw several riders gaining their 3rd and 2nd cat licenses and a very healthy amount of top 10 finishes. A strong rider and great climber
Evie Richards
I have been watching more CX racing this year and have loved watching Evie race, some really impressive results but also with technical ability and bravery I can only be in awe of. One to watch for the future.
Lucy Sturgess | Love Velo CC
