CyclingQuotes.com Lucy Garner Series: The Past

LUCY GARNER

11.02.2013 @ 16:54 Posted by Tina Levin

After ending another year, another season and another winter training on the bike, Lucy Garner is set to start a new chapter in her life. Not only is she stepping it up a level, moving into the senior ranks, but she's also moving out of her safe nest at her parents’ place in the United Kingdom to settle down in Holland. Lucy acknowledges that 2013 will pose various challenges for her to cope with.

Cyclingquotes.com had the pleasure to sit down with this hard working young talent and have a chat with her about the past, the present, the future and about struggles, dreams and ghosts. This is the first out of four chapters during which Lucy takes us behind the scenes. Let's start with a stroll down memory lane ...

THE PAST

2012 has been an eventful and successful year for the young Lucy who defended her world champion’s jersey as well as claiming two European titles on the road and on the track. Thinking back on it she says it's still hard to get used to it and she hasn't really had the time to sit down and look back at the past two years to really reflect on what she's achieved.

"This year has been amazing, but it's been really hard work. I've trained so hard for it. I couldn't have asked for more," says Lucy Garner to Cyclingquotes.com.

Being Lucy Garner feels pretty good right now, she admits, although everything is still a bit surreal to her.

"I'm always thinking 'Wow, I've really made it', but then I think 'Wait, I still haven't reached my highest potential yet', so having two world titles already just seems a bit weird to me, but it's definitely a dream come true."

"The Family"

Looking at her family's history it's no surprise that she ended up in the saddle. Having both her grandparents and her father as inspiration, she hopped the bike at the age of 8 and soon found that losing wasn't something she enjoyed doing very much. In fact, it wasn't really an option at all.

"I wasn't amazing at it, but I think people saw a bit of a natural talent in me. There was one guy, Graeme Mclay, who believed in me and could see that I was getting annoyed when I wasn’t winning. I guess he spotted the drive I had, wanting to win so badly. So he really took me under his wings and coached me since I was 11. It's an early age to have a coach, but I think it's what I needed and I liked having that kind of set structure."

Lucy acknowledges that she probably wouldn't have made it this far if she hadn't received all the help and support she got and is still getting from people around her. Her family has always been very much involved and she reckons that, sadly, the lack of support and involvement from family is often the reason why kids today stop far too early and we're missing out on so many great talents.

"When you're young you can't do it on your own. My mum wasn't a cyclist, so this whole life of a cyclist is brand new to her, but she's doing everything for me and is really supportive."

Another family member, Grace Garner, Lucy's younger sister, is also stepping up in the world of cycling and Lucy's convinced she'll be a force to count on in the future. Both being born with that competitive gene, that surely brought Lucy to where she's at today, the long slow training rides often turn out to be long fast ones when heading out in the saddle together.

"She's definitely going to be one to watch. She's got a mean sprint as well!"

"The Rainbow"

Lucy's early success and growing love for the sport had her convinced that this is where her heart and future is and she decided to put all other things aside. After finishing her AS levels last year, she decided to go all in on the bike and put her studies to rest for a while, giving herself the luxury of concentrating solely on her career on the road.

"I've never been great in school anyway and I've never really enjoyed it. My mind's always been on the bike. Now I can focus on what really matters to me and just train, rest, take care of myself and do it all 100%. I definitely think it was the right decision to stop my studies now. I can always go back to school, whereas I can't go back to cycling when I'm 50, but school will always be there.”

Despite the love for the sport, the massive drive and the competitive gene, wearing the world champion’s jersey never crossed her mind. The fact that she ended up wearing it not only once, but twice, was probably a bigger shock to herself than it was to anyone around her.

"I was just like 'What just happened?' It's still weird looking at the jerseys now. It's like I don't know how or why I got them. It's really weird. It's something that I wanted, but I didn't believe that I could do it. It honestly never crossed my mind. It's really hard to explain. It's like you try to make this step to become the best rider you can be and I think when or if you get to that point, like Mark Cavendish, who got to that point where he knew he could win it and that's what his job was all about, winning the world championships, then it's different. Then you're focused on that one mission and it becomes your job, what you set out to do. But it wasn't like that for me. It wasn't a job I was set out to do. I wanted it, I guess, because you always want to be the best you can be. I just never believed I could do it."

Well, she did it. Today, two rainbow jerseys hang on coat hangers in her room so she can easily slip into one of them when she feels like it, reliving those moments all over again.

"I just want to wear them and touch them all the time!"

When asked which one of the titles she values the most, it's clear that looking back on those moments brings back a lot of memories and feelings associated with them. Up until this day you can still see that big brick falling off her chest as she talks about crossing the finish line in Valkenburg.

"I went to the world championships in Copenhagen not knowing anything, not knowing what to expect, and no one knew who I was so people weren't really expecting anything at all. Valkenburg, on the other hand, was just stressful because I was defending the title. So, I think for me it would have to be in Holland because of the amount of pressure I put on myself. I always think if you can do it when you're younger, then you can do it again. So that was definitely the toughest one. It was a relief crossing the line because I had trained so hard and also mentally it was really tough. I think they could hear my scream miles around when I crossed the finish line. People were saying afterwards that they thought I'd been shot or something! It was really, really special."

"The Struggle"

After defending her (world champion) title in Valkenburg last year, it was clear that all the hard work preparing for that one day, mentally and physically, had taken its toll on her. Her mind and body had been consumed by the task ahead of her and it wasn't until she crossed the finish line that she realized how draining it all had been and she now found herself in her biggest struggle so far.

"This winter's been extremely hard. Last year it was all about the world championships. It was all I prepared for and when I had done it I was just like 'ok, I've done it now' and then all the air kind of went out the balloon. It was just such a relief crossing that line and knowing that all that hard work had finally paid off and now I could just relax. I felt like I never wanted to see the bike again. It just got to that point where it was all just too much, because you do it every single day of your life and then suddenly your mind and body just scream 'rest!' and you need that rest so badly."

Lucy decided to listen to her mind and body and took a long rest off the bike, giving herself the chance to fully recover from what she says has been her biggest struggle up until this day. She's happy feeling that she managed to get out on the other side with renewed energy to focus on and embrace what lies ahead.

"It literally, honestly, took me a long time to recover and I have only recently returned to how I was before. For me, Valkenburg was mentally harder than physically. I train on my bike every day, I know what I need to do, but mentally I've never been the best and I always want to improve. Even when I won the worlds I'd still focus on things that went wrong. Mentally, it was such a big struggle. I also felt an obligation to the team, which you do have, you have to go out there and give it your best shot because they're putting everything about themselves aside for you, so crossing that line knowing that I gave it back to them was amazing. I didn't let them down."

Knowing that the team went all in for her, determined to help her defend her title, Lucy quickly highlights the dedication and effort made by the girls and wishes she could've given them more than just a hug and a “thank you”.

"They really did put aside their own ambitions to assist me; it could've been totally different. Elinor (Barker) is such a strong rider, but she took me to the finish line instead of saving herself. What's great about British cycling is that they recognize that kind of work and everyone is involved in it. Everyone's a winner on the team, so it really is a shame that there's only one jersey because everyone on the team should be wearing one."

"The Battle"

When asked about her favorite race so far, Lucy's mind jumps straight back to the day when she claimed the rainbow jersey before remembering the pressure she put on herself during the national championships last year while wearing it.

"It's probably the nationals last year, just because I was wearing the world champion’s jersey and I felt 'If I can't win the nationals, then why am I wearing the world champion’s jersey?' I always get things like that up in my head, so I think for me that was probably one of the hardest races, mentally more than physically. We have so many good girls and usually they're working for me, but now it was their turn to shine and do their own thing, so that was definitely a tough race for me."

Even though wearing the rainbow jersey had her battling some extra pressure for a while, Lucy learned to deal with it and feels she won the battle, choosing to let it affect her in another way, letting it fuel her will and desire to do well instead of pressuring her into it. The pressure was already there, still is and will continue to be as she is her own biggest critic.

"I always put pressure on myself, I get really nervous even at the smallest races. Also, there's always some people who will question your choices and why you didn't win, but you just got to try to put that aside. People who know the sport, who know cycling, know that you can't win every day, despite wearing the rainbow jersey. Not even the pros are winning every day. Like (Mark) Cavendish, he's not winning every day, despite his impressive sprint. I loved wearing it and wanted to wear it as much as possible and win as much as possible in it because it's an incredible feeling."

The bubbly, smiling girl sitting in front of me feels that she definitely made the most of her days wearing the rainbow jersey, but is well aware that she's now leaving the rainbows behind to go looking for new adventures ...

"I think it's going to be a tough year. I'm completely on my own now..."

PICTURES FROM THE PAST

Lucy and her sister, Grace.