I've Totally Been Chicked

On a wintry New Year’s eve morning, I cycled out to meet Nic and Sandra in Hope, for a Peak District ride. The Velo Schils girls had dominated the hill climb season, smashing it at nationals. I felt excited yet nervous. I couldn’t wait to meet them, but I worried about my inexperience.

I needn’t had been worried, they weren’t out to test or to give me a hard time. We spent most of the ride laughing, as Nic and Sandra shared jokes and I felt instantly at ease. I came home buzzing, I had so much to learn and I couldn’t wait to start.

Since the first ride, I have met most of the girls over a couple of team meets. At the first I was introduced brilliant Schils family where we celebrated our sponsor, Patrick Schils’ Birthday, and the following morning made an appearance at the Velo Schils shop to help with the yearly Sportive they organise.

Sandra had kindly put all of us up at her place. From there we embarked on a couple of very chilly rides, through the rolling hills in Sudbury - a welcomed change from the steep Peaks. Numb fingers and toes were quickly defrosted once riding was over and Sandra’s delicious home cooking awaited our return.

Yoga happens to be something that we are all passionate about and regularly practice. The perfect cool down is a team yoga session, led by our very own Yogi in training Lou! Truly a woman of many talents, she literally floated in positions where I struggled to lift my bum off the floor. Additional team members Jude and Jam (the cats) even around to offer encouragement.

Iona has been the supplier of a new team favourite, Cards against Humanity - a revealing game which leaves nowhere to hide and we all get some great laughs.

Last weekend we headed to Nic’s house for our second team meet of the season. Nic had organised a team strength and conditioning session with Matt Crampton of Podium Fitness. It was fantastic to be shown how to perform cycle specific conditioning exercises. We were each emailed our own training programme that very evening. Matt had tailored the exercises to our specific strength requirements, and to our access to specialised gym equipment. No excuses not to be super strong this season!

Once again the daily activities were concluded with a wee glass of red wine, cards against humanity (this time Articulate too)… and a whole lot of belly laughs!

So I have finally started to learn how to race, and although I am yet to compete with the girls who are racing track or down in locations south, their support has already been brilliant. The girls have been great at getting me to evaluate my own performance and give me advice moving forward.

The best thing? Yes, these girls train and race hard, but they have fun along the way. They are a tight bunch who know and get on with each other so well. I’ve been welcomed into the Velo Schils RT family and it’s a great place to be. I have totally been chicked.