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.
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.