October 2022 - End of an era or New beginnings?

So this week I led my 350th ride for Breeze, but instead of the celebration that it should have been, it was filled with sadness as it would be the last ride I would take for British Cycling. 

This week I have handed in my notice for all things British Cycling. I am no longer a Breeze Champion. No longer a BC coach. No longer a tutor of Level 1 ride leader training. 

Why? Well, it certainly wasn’t due to work pressures or losing interest. No this was sadly due to the current climate where BC needs sponsorship and sadly the only companies that offer such things these days are not the ones I wish to be associated with. 

I won’t go into detail here. Instead, I want to reflect on what an amazing journey I have had over the last 8.5 years with Breeze (who are sadly unlikely to see any of the money that they have bargained their membership for) 

Where do I begin? Firstly I want to remember the wonderful participants that have joined me on one of my 350 rides. Many I choose to call friends and many I hope I will ride with again. These ladies have so often made my day as we’ve chatted our way around whichever route we have taken to coffee. The number of times I’ve left home wishing I could have stayed in, but returned after my ride so glad that I have been. If you are one of those 1200, thank you for joining me, it’s been a blast and I’ve loved every second. 

Next, it's a nod to those amazing Champions I have had the privilege to work alongside,  previously coordinate and more recently train. Again, it's been brilliant working with you all, especially those in Southampton who have helped us build the number of women cycling around the city. Thank you. 

Then finally it is important for me to recognise and remember quite how far I have come - from thinking a ride to the common was a long training ride and a ride to town a step too far - to riding 100 miles around London (twice) and cycling from Windsor to Buck house and back overnight on numerous occasions - with lots of tube changing practice on the way. Without my Breeze training, I would never have even contemplated these rides let alone complete them. 

I've tried my hand at Moutain biking, BMX, cyclocross and track and learned that of all disciplines touring is my favourite. But I will always be grateful for the opportunities Breeze has given me to challenge my own limits. I've even got used to having my photo taken - something I would have shied away from 10 years ago.  

Though it is with huge sadness that I pass my jerseys onto others, I know this is the right decision for me at this moment. I am now looking forward to finding new areas to serve the cycling community and can't wait for new opportunities for me to grow my cycle experiences further.  

All that is left to say is Thank you all - it's been a Breeze!

30th June 2018 - Cycling UK's '100 Women in Cycling 2018' - A proud day!

I don't know how often you check all your inboxes. I do check mine regularly - probably too regularly. But, it is often a cursory glance to check Ive not been asked to do something urgent for work. So though I would probably have seen this arrive, I did not take in its contacts till quite late in the evening.

Dear Sharon, 

We are delighted to tell you that you have been nominated for our 100 women in cycling list 2018!

I had to read it a couple of times to actually take in what it meant. I had been invited to an event up in Manchester to recognise the achievement of 100 women cyclists for their work in advancing womens cycling. 

It didn't tell me who had nominated me or why exactly I had been nominated. Instead they asked permission to use a photo of me and invited me to attend the event. 

So how do I get to Manchester early on a Saturday during term time? I needed to go chat to my boss. 

They were 100% happy for me to go, and allowed me to take time owing to travel on the Firday. I contacted Breeze HQ and was invited for a tour of the offices and the velodrome and hopefully to meet the other couple of Breeze Champs who had also been nominated.

We left home early Friday morning and made it to Manchester in really good time - so we grabbed a spot of lunch in the company of a couple of GB cycle coaches before heading round for the tour. 

The velodrome was stunning - the unique indoor pump track next door was mind blowing and the guys at Breeze HQ were amazing. 

We reached our room for the night, parked up and walked up the main road into Manchester centre. Not knowing the area, we hadn't realised that we had chosen the perfect location, right next door to the most amazing dedicated cycle lane in the city. 

We found food, checked out the location of the event the next day then walked the 15 min walk back to the hotel. 

Saturday arrived, and I still didn't quite know what to expect. I rode to the venue, took my bike inside and nervously looked out for anyone else in Breeze red. 

A group of us started chatting, sharing ideas and information - which I have to say continued for much of the day (between the timetabled events of course) We sat through some really interesting talks, then one by one were called up to receive a beautiful rosette. By this point I had been chatting to Joy and Aggie for much of the day - we couldn't resist a quick selfie on the podium. Both ladies had amazing stories to tell, I was completely in awe with imposter syndrome in full swing! 

 

Lunch was served, the final talk given and we were then taken off on a cycle tour of the city, showing us the best of its rich history of the suffragette movement. 

I learned so much that day and felt proud to represent Breeze and the efforts we have all gone to to make cycling more accessible to women. 

The weekend perfectly coincided with Manchesters Lets ride City event on the Sunday where I again was able to represent Breeze and British cycling as I cycled round its city route taking to everyone who would listen about Breeze. A perfect weekend. 

June 23rd 2018 - Our little bit of coast.

What do you do when given the chance to ride with someone for one of their final legs round the coast of Great Britain? 

Jump at it of course. Eight Breeze champions did just that on Saturday when we joined Bev Graham, a champion from Ipswich who had spent the previous 52 days cycling round the coast, meeting as many Breeze champions as she could on the way. 

Our adventure started with a trip on a train. Though I’d been on a train numerous times before. Taking a bike with me was making me anxious. Did we need to book? Would they let more than two of us on? Would it be hard physically getting the bike onto the train? Would I get to the station on time? So many questions and my alarm hasn’t even had a chance to go off. 

I shouldn’t have worried. I was down at the station a whole hour before my train so I paused for a breakfast cuppa. 

I waited for my train to arrive. Enjoying the peace and quiet. Lisa was already aboard, her bike stowed in one of the hanging areas, mine went in the other. We spent a pleasant half hour enjoying the view and talking to another passenger about our day ahead. 

We arrived at Bournemouth station and rode down to the pier where we met with Jane and Ruth. We were causing a bit of a stir all sat in our Breeze kit, there were lots of smiles, waves and a couple of enquiries while waiting for Bev and her friends. 

So let’s put this little ride in context. We were riding 45 miles today along the coast as much as we could, making our way back to Southampton. 

Bev, on the other hand was well on her way to 4000 miles. And with just over a week to go, was also heading home. 

Once Bev arrived, we set off to meet our last two companions. Lucy and Janet who had both travelled down from North of the county to join us. 

The rest of the morning was spent learning about our new companions and enjoying the stunning views that we cycled past. We shared stories of Breeze rides near and far and exchanged hints and tips about encouraging others to cycle. It really didn’t feel long before we were at Beaulieu and were tucking in to some king sized portions of lunch, signing the flag and having photos taken before we bid farewell to Vanessa and Elaine who were retuning home by car to be ready for Bev’s return to their home ground. With all that done, we  headed off again. 

This last section was a well ridden route for those of us from Southampton. (Who wouldn’t take themselves off to the Bakehouse tearooms whenever you can) 

As with our tradition, we stoped again for a pic at Eling tide mill before heading those final few miles to Southampton city centre. 

Once at the city centre we met our final Breeze companion, Jenny and Bev had the chance for her bike to be looked over by The Bike Dr. Finally we headed off for coffee where we chatted for ages about the differences between men and women particularly with a cycle focus. What a great way to end the day. Thank you Bev for letting us ride with you and for giving us such a great insight into your travels. I do hope you enjoyed our little bit of coast and I hope we get to ride together again sometime. 

Safe journey home 

Sharon 

Jun 22, 2018. Ride #200

Today I led my 200th Breeze ride. It wasn’t a long journey - 3 years isn’t long at all these days. But with rides nearly every week since I began leading, I guess it wouldn’t take long to get to this milestone. 

The ride itself wasn’t that long either. I had originally posted it in the hopes to bring back together some of my old regulars who rode through thick and thin (well warm and cold) throughout that first year. 

But when my 200th tied in, it made the perfect way to mark this milestone. And every rider tonight has some real significance to my journey, let me introduce some of them. 

So on tonight’s ride was Anne, who had encouraged me to put up my first ride, and  seeing through her promise of signing up if I did, joined Olwen on that first ever ride. 

Olwen was my assistant tonight. She was on my first, my 100th and many many rides between. I was on her first ride too when she became a leader a couple of years later. 

Emma (with Anne), was one of the first of my riders that I convinced to train up enabling us to have bigger groups and go further afield. 

Su, well she has been on more rides than I care to think. She was one of the merry band that kept me going through my first winter, even though she hates the cold and says every year that she won’t do that again. 

Pandy and Jo - sisters who regularly met up in the Friday ride and chatted family stuff as we rode to our fave local. Claire, who joined us whenever her workload - and run training -  allowed. 

Kate and Lisa who only joined Breeze last year. Lisa had come back to cycling a short while before, Kate had not long restarted cycling herself. Both had wanted to challenge themselves to ride longer and faster, which is exactly what they did when they joined the progressive training rides over the summer and then completed a 100km rose at the beginning of September. Donna, who was such a huge part of that 100km ride, arrived after we did. She had delayed her holiday to join us and detoured her journey back to spend more time with the group. 

And finally there were three ladies new to our rides - their company reminding us just what Breeze is all about - fun, friendship and cake (with a bit of cycling thrown in.  

We rode to the Luzbourugh a slightly more challenging route than I would have liked. We had coffee, shared cheesy chips and caught up on each other’s life away from cycling. It was a lovely cycle. 

Thanks ladies for being a part of the 200th ride and all those ones in between. 

Sharon. 

May 2015 - Breeze at the weekend

I started to explore the local area. Trying to find new routes for the evening ride and bingo - a pretty ride, but longer than an evening would allow. 

I wonder if anyone would be interested in a weekend ride? 

Well I had more interest than I thought I would. And so became another regular cycling slot in my life. 

This was a ride to Totton, but it was soon replaced by 'The Beaulieu Bun run' introducing an easy way out to the New Forest. 

March 2015 - Breeze. A life changer

Sometimes it's the smallest decicions that make the biggest impact on your life. 

Having been introduced to the idea of Breeze - free guided bike rides for women, I kept checking their websites for any rides that I could join. But there was nothing, just nothing. 

I can't be the only person wanting rides in the evening or weekends can I? 

So having talked it over with Teresa, we sent in an 'Expression of interest form' to British Cycling.  

We were both given a place, but couldn't make the same course. 

So on a rather cold Saturday morning in March, I headed up to Baisingstoke for my Breeze Leader training. 

I started talking to Karen in the car park. She was from Chichester and had finally got on the course after a very long fight. And then later chatted to Chris who was from Baisingstoke. 

I left that day with a passion to engage other women in cycling and gained not only a qualification but also two new friends who have appeared many times in my cycling journey. 

June 2014 - Sky ride

The new term followed by a harsh winter meant the bike didn't see the light of day for a number of months. 

I wanted to get peddling again but was struggling with motivation. 

Having spent many a fun evening at my local camera club, I wondered if I could locate a local cycle club that would encourage me to cycle more. 

I found one and was immediately put off with the 'if you can't sustain .... Miles at ...pace, this is not the club for you.' They were right. Even if I could match their criteria, I would never join a club like this. How rude!! 

I somehow stumbled across something called 'The Skyride' it was a free event starting and finishing at the guildhall with lots of exhibits and events happening all around the route. The best bit was there would be no cars. The route was on cycle paths or closed roads throughout. I signed up with British Cycling and booked my place. 

The day was amazing, cycle celebrities (who I didn't recognise in the slightest) were there telling their stories and giving advice. The ride itself took me to parts of Southampton that I had never visited before. As always when I ride, everything felt so much closer and more manageable than it ever does in a car. 

But the best part of the day was meeting a group of ladies all wearing red tops, smiling, waving and generally being the most upbeat people in the square. I stopped to speak to one of them who explained what Breeze was all about. An initiative by British Cycling to encourage more women out on their bikes. I didn't realise was in such a minority!