Summer women’s round up

This summer has been a very strange one. At the beginning of lockdown we were wondering whether we’d be following the likes of Spain and Italy and not being allowed to exercise outdoors. There would have been a lot of Zwifting and nothing very interesting to write in this article but luckily that didn’t happen! During the ‘exercise once a day’ period of lockdown people were cautious and didn’t venture far from home. But since the restrictions have eased, the CUCC women have been doing lots of cycling related adventures and even some racing. Read on to find out what they’ve been up to.

Lucy Harris has been adventuring in the Alps and tackling some seriously tough climbs, including the infamous Mount Ventoux. Lucy Havard has also had some pretty epic days in the saddle, including a one day 325 km tour of East Anglia. As well as doing vast amounts of swimming, running and some rowing Emma Andrews has also been doing lots of exploring on her bike and finding some beautiful beaches, villages and café stops in the Suffolk countryside.

Once TTs started up again Elspeth Grace, Lucy Havard, Anne-Marie Bowring and Ffion James were quick to get going. Lucy did her first ever 25m TT in an impressive 1:05:24, which put her in 4^th place. Elspeth has also been putting in a huge amount of miles with several 100+ mile days, including a DIY audax which involved lots of climbing in 5 counties (Herts, Beds, Bucks, Cambs, Essex) and some seriously quick 10m TTs with 23:31 being her PB for this summer. Ffion, who has just graduated, is starting to prepare for the racing season again (and keeping fingers crossed that it will go ahead). She’s aiming to retain her national cyclocross series title and race internationally in Belgium, all with her eyes set on the 2022 Commonwealth games!

We’re looking forward to welcoming new women into the club in October – please get in touch with women’s captain Anne-Marie Bowring (amib3@cam.ac.uk) if you’ve got any questions.