Nicky Hughes

What a great weekend.

With temperatures in the South East higher than locations such as
Sydney and Barcelona, it was scorchio!

On Saturday I had the choice of riding the women's South East regional
road race champs or a club ride in the sun. I opted for the latter and
was more than happy with my choice.

I decided to ride the local club "A group" ride. There were 16 of us
in total, with me being the token girl and we headed off to Rye from
Marden in Kent. This is a 60 mile road ride on relatively flat roads.
On our arrival in Rye we stopped at the cafe for either an all day
breakfast or coffee and cake, depending on your diet choice! After
consuming our various culinary delights, we headed home in what by
now, were temperatures in the mid twenties! By the time we returned to
Marden, we had completed approximately 62 miles in 3 hours and 20
minutes. The perfect way to spend the hottest day of the year so far.

Then on to Sunday.

Last year I decided I would like to start doing some coaching. I
enrolled on the British Cycling Level One Certificate in Coaching
Cycling course. This was a two day course, with approximately one
month between each day. It was a great way to get into coaching,
culminating in the student delivering a preset 15 minute coaching
session. I duly attended and passed the course. In between the two
courses, I bumped into my friend Jacque Easton, who runs Dirt Divas, a
women specific mountain bike skills coaching company. I spoke to
Jacque about my course and she immediately offered me a position as
one of her coaches. I couldn't believe my luck! I hadn't even
completed the course and I was already being offered an opportunity to
coach mountain bike skills.

So, fast forward to last Sunday, when I was to shadow Jacque at one of
the Dirt Diva coaching days. Again it was another perfect day weather
wise. Not a cloud in the sky all day and temperatures again in the mid
twenties.
I met up with Jacque and the three other coaches at Wellington College
in Bracknell, to soon be joined by 24 girls of varying ability who
were signed up for the day's courses. I was working alongside Jacque
on the singletrack skills session. We had a great bunch of girls in
our group; Claire, Chrissy, Jools, Lara, Heather and Rachel. The girls
were already competent mountain bikers, looking to get a little bit of
extra help to improve their riding skills. I really enjoyed offering
these girls as much advice as I could and helping them to improve
their riding. I found it quite difficult to take a step back from
where I am now as a rider, to where I was when I first started. Trying
to remember what it was like to not know stuff that I don't even give
a second thought now. If that makes sense! For example, little things,
like shifting your weight and position on the bike for climbing, where
to position your feet when taking corners, etc, etc. Coaching the
girls with techniques such as these, enabled to them ride up and down
terrain they had never managed before.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and hope the six girls did too. By the
end of the day, I was absolutely shattered, having done very little
riding at all! I have to say it was probably one of the most rewarding
days I have spent on the bike. To see how much all the girls improved
throughout the day and I can't wait until the next coaching session
when I will be taking the course myself.

I'll let you know how it goes.

It's Saturday morning, the sun's shining, what am I gonna do today? I know, I'll go down to Brighton with Paul and some of his old bmx buddies and I'll try my hand at bmx! You're never too old to learn something new, every day's a school day and all that kind of stuff but if I get through the day in one piece I'll be more than happy. Luckily I have another complete novice to keep me company, in the form of Katie Vincent, whose Dad was the founder of Vincent Frames, back in the day. I've never ridden a bmx before and I'm excited about a different kind of bike, one where my feet touch the ground and there's not too far to fall!

Sent from my iPhone

So, here I am again, it's that time already and it's the first national mtb race of the year tomorrow at Sherwood Pines. I am both excited and terrified at the same time! Excited to be racing again, excited to be riding for a new team and terrified by all the unknown names on the start sheet.
That's all I'm going to say for now, as it's time to turn the lights out.
Until 10.00am tomorrow when I will be saying bring it on ........ I can't wait!
Suffice to say, I will be doing my best to get The Kinesis Morvelo Project on the podium!
I will report back with how it goes .......

PS Rab, it was good to meet you today and good luck for tomorrow. Your KM810 looked great and I can't wait to get mine built up.

Sent from my iPhone

Next Sunday is my annual concession to the dark side ...............
For the third year in a row I will be riding a team time trial, as
part of an all girls team. I do this for a little bit of fun, to ride
as part of a girls team and also to remind myself why I love mountain
bikes, just in case I had forgotten!
It is organised by the Kent Cycling Association and as reigning
champions, we are off at the supposedly respectable hour of 8.33am.
Yes, that is the middle of the night I hear you cry! Another reason
why I'm a mountain biker! The first riders are off at 7.03am, which
can only be described as sheer lunacy, especially on a Sunday!
I don't have a special TT bike or one of those aero lids or aero bars
for that matter, just a regular road bike with spd's to make a bit of
a statement and ensure everyone know's where my heart lies!
My team won this event last year, so we have a reputation to live up
to. I will let you know how it goes.