THE INSIDE STORY ON

HANNAH BARNESScott11 Racing and the World cup

CYCLO-CROSSRACE COURSES &

MYTHICAL CREATURES

WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO CYCLING AS A COMPETITIVE SPORT?

My mum and dad had always cycled and they encouraged us to do it when we were younger so we just did it for fun. At one point, our local bike shop, Phil Corley Cycles, had a banner on the door for a local Trek youth challenge at Milton Keynes Bowl, so I went along. They seemed to think I was pretty good. Dad then took me to Sunderland and I did one of the national series races there and won it – beating all the boys, and I decided to carry it on.

WHY CYCLING? WHY NOT ANOTHER SPORT?

At school I was in to all sorts of sports and took part in all the competitions but cycling was always the big one, I suppose it ran in the family so didn’t cross my mind to do anything else.

DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IT BEING A MINORITY SPORT FOR A FEMALE TO TAKE PART IN WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG?

No, I never really thought about that. I knew I just loved it! Nicole Cooke won the Olympic road races and Vicky Pendleton on the track. I just assumed it was going well for women as well as men. Reading more magazines recently has meant I’m starting to notice it a bit now, and being in a continental team is making it more obvious too.

Q. WHO THE HELL IS HANNAH BARNES?

&A. THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE SPECIALIZED DPD TEAM

HAVE YOU ALWAYS KNOWN THAT YOU WANTED TO BE PRO?

I never really thought I was ever going to be a pro. I always thought it would be a dream of mine. I am not the most intelligent person and when it came to school work, I never had a lot of enthusiasm for it. I was the only one from my year who didn’t apply for university, and when I explained to the teachers they didn’t quite get it. I kept getting phone calls from Connexions asking me what I was going to do, I was like “I want to race bikes” and they were like “Okay.” I am really looking forward to next year with my new Specialized DPD team and just generally living the dream.

HOW WILL YOUR LIFE CHANGE?My life will change a lot. Not having mum cooking me dinner and dad not being there for me when I need a mechanic. I will be living in a house with eight girls from my new team; we will be training together, cooking together and racing together. From the one weekend we spent together it looks like we all got on pretty well, but none of us know who’s fastest, or what our roles will be in the team. This year we will just be working it all out and trying to prove ourselves for next year.

I do love going to the cinema and that will be a thing I will really miss. Also the fashion, no offence to the Dutchys but they have a totally different style to what I am used to. The biggest thing I will miss, though is my family. Not seeing them near enough everyday will be awful, and I don’t know who I will argue with now.

WHO IS YOUR NEW TEAM? HOW DID THEY APPROACH YOU AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THEM, AND WHAT DO THEY EXPECT FROM YOU?

My new team is Specialized DPD. I got their contact details from a friend and e-mailed them, then they got back to me saying they would be up for me joining the team, which was great after I’d applied for so many and noone had got back to me. My Dad never wanted to me to join the British Cycling Academy, although they weren’t taking riders this year anyway. Joining a professional team feels really real, it’s like getting stuck in and having to perform straight away and should be great fun too, travelling to big road races, not just having to train on the track every day.

I don’t know what to expect from them. It’s my FIrst year on the continent so I don’t really know the score. I am just looking forward to the whole thing and to getting some good experience in the major, big races. I’m not entirely sure what they are looking for from us, they haven’t said anything. I think they just want to suss us out. They expect for us to do our best and to get some good results in big races.

WHAT ARE YOUR RACING HIGHLIGHTS?I don’t have a specific racing highlight. If I had to choose, I think it would have to be the Commonwealth Games time trial gold. It always upsets me that in the Worlds I could have stood a good chance if I hadn’t punctured. Winning the Assen Youth Tour this year and then going straight to the Elite Women’s Circuit Race Champs and winning that was great as well.

Interview by Lara Dunn Freelance Journalist and Product Reviewer

YOU GOT CAUGHT UP BEHIND THE CRASH AT THIS YEAR’S JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPS, THE RESULT OF WHICH WAS THAT YOUR TEAM MATE GOT GOLD, EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE THE FAVOURITE. HOW DID THAT FEEL?

The Worlds as a whole was very disappointing for me, with the puncture in the time trial and then I got a cold, so it all was a bit of a disaster! But with Elinor (Barker) coming second in the TT and Lucy (Garner) winning the road race it wasn’t all bad. British Cycling is good at saying it’s all about team work and they congratulate the team which is nice.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS IN THE SHORT TERM AND YOUR BIGGEST DREAM?

In the short term I would love to do well in the UCI races I will be taking part in next year. In the longer term I would like to take part in the Rio Olympics in the road race and hopefully take part in another World Championships.

DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE MISSING OUT ON ANYTHING WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP AS SUCH A DEDICATED SPORTSWOMAN FROM A YOUNG AGE?

When I was younger it was really fun. Mum and Dad tried to make it as fun as they could so we would still enjoy it, but then it suddenly got serious. During the summer I tend to miss out on things but I don’t really mind too much as I love what I do and I still get to enjoy spending time with all my friends (who also ride). When the season ends

I tend to make the most of it. Especially up until the New Year, then it gets a bit more serious again.

DO YOU THINK THE CREDIBILITY OF WOMEN’S CYCLING AT A HIGH LEVEL IS GROWING? Women’s cycling is getting noticed a lot more now, with them doing so well on the track and Lucy winning the World Champs… it’s made it a lot better. It still has along way to go to get up to the men’s standard but I don’t think that will ever happen. It’s the same in every sport really, that’s just how it is.

DO YOU THINK THAT HAVING THE OLYMPICS IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY WILL DO ANYTHING TO RAISE THE PROFILE OF WOMEN’S CYCLING?

The Olympics in London is a huge deal for the UK. I think the biggest bonus is the new velodrome. Now having three indoor tracks in the country is great and means I have now got one that is a little closer than Manchester or Newport. Hopefully our track racers will do as well as they did in Beijing and the sport will get even bigger here… and you never know, it might even catch up with football! With the Team Pursuit team doing well, Laura (Trott) in the Omnium and all the sprinters being so good, I think women’s cycling will definitely grow afterwards.

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I mean ride my bike, not just pilot

it from home to work and back again

in the sodding rain, avoiding dead-eyed

tin-box driving zombies and the erratic

ipod-squad throwing themselves under

my wheels.

Ride the bike and forget the work-a-day, the all weather commute, thinking

about dinner and if the cat’s knocked

over another plant.

Just to be free and have the time to chuck

the bugger down some stairs. To forget

all the poorly worded briefs, the office

politics, the unreasonable expectations.

Just to be able to flow and appreciate

gravity the hard way, to feel the honest

physical strain learning something new

on two wheels.

To attempt something, and fail, and fall,

and slip and tumble through the barrier

of embarrassment right out the other side.

To bruise and swell and ache and bleed.

Step and repeat.

And then you land it.

To feel the exhilaration of doing something

right, connecting at that precise moment

in time with the bike and the surroundings,

this is peace, everything else dissipates.

To explore somewhere, or to see a place

you’ve been a thousand times anew,

see the world fresh and take from

Finally I get to ride my bike.

riding something to fight with; against

the vectors, kerns and pixels, gamut’s,

guidelines, software restrictions and

conversion nightmares waiting to pounce

each morning. A full day working to the

deadline and then the 11th hour amends.

Took a plane once to where it was

warm, under the arch of a towering

causeway to ride a bowl and skate park.

There was only that high span receding seemingly into infnity across a broad

estuary with its muffled traffic to remind

me of the world. Blue seawater pushing

in with the tide, green grass sloping to

the shore and white gulls wheeling

overhead, I dropped into the quarter.

A cement monument to suffering for

perfection so curvaceous in beauty and

elegant in construction, but hard when you hit it.

Session under the sun and time doesn’t

mean a thing. Alone in the park,

finding lines, concentrating on the drops

and set-ups. SPF45+ the heat is so

perfectly diffused throughout my body

and tempered with iced beers.

A horn blares, a siren wails, some

tyres spin on asphalt. London again,

dark cold streets, I fight my way back to

the base.

Maybe I’ll get to ride my bike tomorrow.

Cyclo-cross, the national sport of

Belgium; the sport that draws tens

of thousands of spectators at events,

turns riders into celebrities and race

courses into mythical theatres. The

same sport that in the UK is only

known to exist by the most dedicated

of cyclists and the unwitting dog-

walker who stumble across an event

during a Sunday morning stroll.

What is it? Who does it? Who cares?

ELEN Wyman, one of

the most talented female

bike riders to be

produced by the UK,

divides her time between Bedfordshire

in the UK and Oudenaarde in Belgium

for the sake of being able to make a

living doing what she loves.

Listening to her at a public talk in the

Winter, it became clear to see why she

chose to leave her home country to

pursue a discipline that simply is not

publicly-followed in the UK. Whilst she

is also a competitive road racer, she

prefers ‘cross. Whilst track racing here

has televised events, nothing can

compare to a course lined 5-deep with

fanatical cheering fans. Races become

festivals, and Helen is one of the rock

stars that they are there to see.

ISTENING to her at a public

talk in the Winter, it became

clear to see why she chose to

leave her home country to

pursue a discipline that simply is not

publicly-followed in the UK. Whilst she

is also a competitive road racer, she

prefers ‘cross. Whilst track racing here

has televised events, nothing can compare

to a course lined 5-deep with fanatical

cheering fans. Races become festivals,

and Helen is one of the rock stars that

they are there to see.

Cyclo-cross is a winter sport associated

with mud and cold. To describe it in

a nutshell, Helen says cyclo-cross is

“Full gas, action packed, technically

challenging and adrenaline filled

racing off-road”. It is a speed-event,

in which you dodge trees, negotiate

pits of sand and race elbow to elbow

against other riders. It is not a sport

that a person will just “do” it is a sport

that has to be raced. This means that

to be a ‘cross rider you are very likely

to be a committed cyclist. The bikes,

styled as a durable road bikes with

knobbly tyres and extra mud clearance,

will only be ridden for racing and

occasional training. It requires at least

2 bikes to be brought to a race, plus

several a portable jet-wash and cleaning

equipment, plenty of changes of clothes

and support people in the pits.

E are left wondering

why riders are so

committed to this

sport and what draws

the spectators. Helen explains “Cross

is special from start to finish. It’s the

Marmite of cycle sport. Everyone at

events loves it, on both sides of the

fence. As you stand on the start line,

waiting for the Formula 1 style lights

to give you the start, you can see the

passion on the faces of every spectator.

It’s unique. The courses are hugely

varied, from fast dusty wide tracks,

to deep sand dunes. Every course

brings its own challenges, its own skill

set and its own masters. With 3 bikes,

15 pairs of wheels and 2 support crew,

it takes a big plan to keep the show on

the road for each rider, and all of that

for a 40 minute race”

And the spectators? well, we believe

this to be a cultural revolution, with

spectators you get more spectators,

simples. And the crowds draw the riders

and the riders draw the crowds until

you find a small, European, land-locked

country making flags and singing songs

in such a way as you would only see

at a football match here. Over 20,000

spectators line the 2.5km at certain

courses creating a hyped atmosphere

that’s addictive to the fans and the

riders alike. Each supporter has his or

her ‘rider’ and wear their supporters

club hats and jackets with pride.

Cyclo-Cross in the UK is growing

once again, after a decline started

after the UK hosting the 1992 World

Championships in Leeds. Last winter

the London Cyclo-cross League saw

participation numbers of female racers

rise significantly. There is a small band

of super hard-core cyclo-cross riders

across the country, the numbers are

growing, the courses are improving,

but the is one fundamental piece

missing: the fans. It is a tough living

for a female professional cyclo-cross

rider in Belgium, so without the

following it is an impossible task to

get supported by sponsors in the UK.

So each winter, Helen, along with all

the best riders in the world, migrate

to the mud fields of a small, fanatical

country to try their luck at winning

races and being rewarded with living

the life of a professional cyclo-cross

rider. There are not many that can

say that.

When the lights are red, you block everything out, ready for what in most sports would be a finishing effort. That’s how we start and finish races, and we tend do the same in the middle.

The team met at Zurich airport with masses of luggage to check in; big bikes, helmets, body armour, tools (the excess charges really add up). A flight to Montreal, then in a truck with the team from Scott Canada for the long drive to Mont St-Anne outside of Quebec.

According to Emilie (a familiar face on the World Cup tour) “The first two days are always the same: set up the pit, build up the bikes, recovery with massage, naps and some short XC rides, and walk the track.”

It takes Focus and organisation to prepare for even the shortest of down hill races. Walking the track and analysing the sections is fundamental to good results as is spending a few days riding it until they have it nailed, remembering each turn, root and rocky section is crucial.

Emilie Siegenthaler and Floriane Pugin ride for the Scott11 racing team. Road tripping round the world, squashed in with your crew, lugging gear around to compete on the most difficult and exciting courses is what makes being part of the World Cup circuit.

NORTH AMERICAN ROAD TRIP Scott11 racing team 2011

r

Emilie Siegenthale

Mont St-Anne is a true DH track; it’s long, physically demanding, extremely fast and technical. Emilie and Flo qualified with style, beating the cut and taking 6th and 2nd place respectively. Both riders lost time in a boggy section, highlighting an area for improvement before the final.

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Floraine Pugin

All the pain of training and preparation paid off as Flo held on to 2nd place and Emilie to 6th. With the same enthusiasm that they throw themselves down mountains, down hill racers also party. So once the race was over, it was onto the dance floor to celebrate.

Crossing borders, globetrotting from place to place, following the circuit of world-class mountain biking and staying in all sorts of bizarre accommodation – the girls are having a blast. A strong bond forms from being thrown together, messing around, playing pranks and having to get on with it.

With a packed racing schedule it is rare for the team to see the sights and landmarks of the places they travel to. They only had one day off which they spent in New York City with a rammed itinerary.

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“It was such a perfect day! Beautiful sunrise in the morning and sunsets at night over the Brooklyn Bridge… We visited a lot of stuff although we had just one day… We drove Broadway, saw the Statue of Liberty, walked through Wall Street, posed in front of the Empire State Building and went shopping hard in Soho. Great day, amazing memories!” Said Emilie.

Then it was straight back to being focused for the next race at Windham in upstate New York. Training, studying the track, building confidence to try blind gap jumps with rock landings and working out capabilities and limitations. There are inevitably big crashes, injuries and trashed bikes. It’s how they deal with this, as a team that allows them to be the best they can on race day.

On the Windham course Flo stormed to the 2nd place podium spot with Emilie in 5th. Following the final race they piled back into the truck with souvenirs of mud, bruises and trophies, broken bikes and great memories. Stepping off the plane at Zurich to their proudly waiting parents, it is easy to see the positives for the racers of the World Cup Downhill series. Bringing them new experiences, immersion in other cultures, places to ride and new friends. Taking it all in her stride Emilie said,

“We sometimes forget how pleased we are,(as) World Cup riders, to get to travel the world racing here and there...I’m so happy to be part of the Scott crew and Mountain bike World Cup family!”

Emilie is sponsored by: Scott Sports, Velosolutions, Châtel bike park, Shimano, DT swiss wheels, FOX suspension, Schwalbe tires, TSG protection gear, Syncros parts, Aweka AG, G-shock watches