“In June I was involved in a serious road racing crash. There was a lot of damaged bikes and equipment, and nine people in total were hurt. Unfortunately, I broke my collarbone and wrecked all the kit I was wearing (they cut my suit off me in A&E!); I also broke several parts on my bike.

Cycling is not a cheap sport, and while I could have coped with replacing some pieces of equipment, the sheer amount of stuff that got damaged would have made returning to racing impossible for a long time.

My recovery was slightly slower than I had hoped. I am still working on building strength in my shoulder through weight training, so I couldn’t get back to road racing before the season ended.

I’ve been competing in Cyclocross, which is an autumn-winter based form of cycling, which requires riding over pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles asking the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike while navigating the obstruction and remount. It’s been great fun this winter as even though I’m not quite where I want to be in terms of fitness yet, it is technically very challenging. It’s all part of building my strength and confidence for road racing next season.”

How did you get into cycling? 

I’ve always participated in lots of different sports. In my teens and early twenties I got into mountain biking and loved it, but I eventually drifted away from it into motorbikes. When Covid arrived, I was in my early thirties and realised I needed to do something to keep fit. Like lots of other people, I bought a road bike. From there I joined my local club, went along on their fast-training ride, and progressed into criteriums and road racing.

What is it about cycling that you enjoy the most?

Riding a bike is just a fun thing to do, whether you’re out on a long ride, exploring by yourself, or trying to drop your friends at 20-something miles an hour.

How do you relax and unwind when you’re not competing or training?

I love spending time with my partner and son. Cooking with/for my family is probably my favourite thing – whether it’s a fancy dinner or baking and decorating some gingerbread men together. Burning a couple of thousand ‘extra’ calories each week is certainly a good excuse for trying new tasty recipes.

What successes have you had with cycling?

Until my crash, I was generally in the top 10 at my races and scoring points – including missing out on a podium by just three hundredths of a second. Since getting back on my bike, just finishing a cyclocross race has felt like an achievement and my results in the league have been steadily getting better as my strength comes back.

Which was your favourite CSSC member benefit? 

There are two main benefits for me – discount cinema tickets and English Heritage membership. Taking our son to our local English Heritage property or to see a film is great day out from CSSC.

Thanks to CSSC’s funding they’ve made a valuable contribution towards the purchase of a new helmet and a racing suit, which has enabled me to get back to doing what I love – racing my bike.

With CSSC’s help I have been able to compete in some end of season time trials, and race in my local cyclocross league.