Joe Evans and three other riders are keepingย rider journalsย for The British Continental this season. Joe, 22, is a former Madison Genesis rider who now rides for Cornish-based elite-level team Saint Piran. This is Joeโs third journal entryโฆ
Itโs so important to have other things to take your mind away from cycling and to develop yourself as a person as well as a bike rider
My March entry is a little bit late, obviously, because itโs now April. Iโd been thinking about what to write about in my piece this month but was having a bit of trouble because Iโve been really busy with Uni and getting the race season up and running. So I thought that would be an interesting topic to write my journal post about.
I touched on my schedule a little bit in a previous post about my early season ventures in France. At the time I thought that was going to be an anomaly of a week, being away for two weekends on the bounce and only in one place for a handful of days at a time. However, that has not been the case. Since my first block of racing in mid-February it feels like Iโve been back and forth to races, training, writing essays, meeting my new nephew and trying to squeeze in a bit of a social life all at the same time. Itโs been a pretty stressful term and has felt like every week has needed a considerable amount of planning ahead. Not only planning for where I was going to be on a given day, but what work I had to catch up on, what I was going to eat, when I was going to do my shopping etc. It got to the point I was having to think so far ahead that my girlfriend helped me create a spreadsheet with everything on that I needed to get done, colour coded and everything!
I overheard one parent say โwell heโs not brilliant at school, thank god heโs got cyclingโ and I couldnโt help but think how misguided an opinion that is
Iโm sure Iโm not alone in this. Iโm sure there are plenty of other student athletes doing the exact same thing and having to juggle everything, but for me itโs pretty new. Before I came to Uni my day was always centred around training and racing. The first thing I thought about when I woke up was the day’s session, and itโs been that way for a considerable amount of time. Even last year when I was working, all my shifts were in the afternoon so the day still revolved around the training I was doing. However, now there are so many other things on my mind like assignments and lectures, and then just general life admin that everyone has to do. What Iโve found as well is that itโs down to me to sort it all out. The University isnโt going to cut me any slack just because Iโm a bike rider, certainly not in the same way they did when I was at school. If things are late or not up to scratch then itโs on me. My tutors arenโt going to let me re-do any work because I decided to go and race my bike in France!
All of that has meant that at times the bike riding has felt completely secondary to everything else. Itโs refreshing in some ways, to have other things going on to occupy my mind so Iโm not constantly thinking about bike riding. And itโs partly the reason I went to Uni in the first place. I didnโt want to get stuck in the revolving door of UK domestic cycling, always unsure where I was going to be year on year. Iโd found my previous experience of that pretty stressful and made me question how much I actually enjoyed cycling. When I was eventually in a situation where I wasnโt getting paid to ride my bike anymore I felt totally lost. Iโd love to be in a position where riding my bike is my job, thatโs what Iโve dreamed of since I was a little kid, but if that doesnโt happen I feel a lot better that I have other opportunities beyond racing.
Joe (centre) in action at the 2018 Chorley Grand Prix. Photo: James York / JamesYorkPhoto.com
Iโm a little bit late coming to Uni, being 22 and only in my first year. It never seemed like an option when I was 18 and all my friends were going. When I was doing my A levels I was riding for the ODP and pretty much a full-time junior, not really thinking about anything beyond cycling, because in my mind I was going to get onto the academy and I wouldnโt have to worry about anything else. However, when I failed my first year of A levels and didnโt get on the academy suddenly everything seemed very unclear and quite worrying. Luckily the school let me resit the year and I joined Madison Genesis but when I think back to that time I canโt help but think that I should have been thinking more about what lay beyond cycling. I should have taken more time to study, but that never seemed like an option.
The main thing I would say to any juniors or to people new to cycling it would be not to limit yourself to it
Something reminded me of this over the winter. I was at track league one evening and overheard some parents talking about their sons’ school/cycling balance, and I thought to myself, I remember that! But then I overheard one parent say โwell heโs not brilliant at school, thank god heโs got cyclingโ and I couldnโt help but think how misguided an opinion that is! I hate to see โfull-time juniorsโ. That may seem a bit harsh for me to say but I think itโs such a sorry state to be in. Cycling is not sustainable at all, for the tiny percentage of people that make it to the top and make a living out of it is great. But for the vast majority of people that isnโt the case and to limit yourself at 17, 18 to just racing bikes is a mistake. Itโs taken me a bit of time to figure that out and Iโm certainly not here to preach, but as someone who has made plenty of mistakes along the way, the main thing I would say to any juniors or to people new to cycling it would be not to limit yourself to it. Cycling is a great sport but it can also be consuming and can really take over your life. Itโs so important to have other things to take your mind away from it and to develop yourself as a person as well as a bike rider.
Joe Evans and three other riders are keepingย rider journalsย for The British Continental this season. Joe, 22, is a former Madison Genesis rider who now rides for Cornish-based elite-level teamSaint Piran. This is Joeโs third journal entryโฆ
My March entry is a little bit late, obviously, because itโs now April. Iโd been thinking about what to write about in my piece this month but was having a bit of trouble because Iโve been really busy with Uni and getting the race season up and running. So I thought that would be an interesting topic to write my journal post about.
I touched on my schedule a little bit in a previous post about my early season ventures in France. At the time I thought that was going to be an anomaly of a week, being away for two weekends on the bounce and only in one place for a handful of days at a time. However, that has not been the case. Since my first block of racing in mid-February it feels like Iโve been back and forth to races, training, writing essays, meeting my new nephew and trying to squeeze in a bit ofa social life all at the same time. Itโs been a pretty stressful term and has felt like every week has needed a considerable amount of planning ahead. Not only planning for where I was going to be on a given day, but what work I had to catch up on, what I was going to eat, when I was going to do my shopping etc. It got to the point I was having to think so far ahead that my girlfriend helped me create a spreadsheet with everything on that I needed to get done, colour coded and everything!
Iโm sure Iโm not alone in this. Iโm sure there are plenty of other student athletes doing the exact same thing and having to juggle everything, but forme itโs pretty new. Before I came to Uni my day was always centred around training and racing. The first thing I thought about when I woke up was the day’s session, and itโs been that way for a considerable amount of time. Even last year when I was working, all my shifts were in the afternoon so the day still revolved around the training I was doing. However, now there are so many other things on my mind like assignments and lectures, and then just general life admin that everyone has to do. What Iโve found as well is that itโs down to me to sort it all out. The University isnโt going to cut me any slack just because Iโm a bike rider, certainly not in the same way they did when I was at school. If things are late or not up to scratch then itโs on me. My tutors arenโt going to let me re-do any work because I decided to go and race my bike in France!
All of that has meant that at times the bike riding has felt completely secondary to everything else. Itโs refreshing in some ways, to have other things going on to occupy my mind so Iโm not constantly thinking about bike riding. And itโs partly the reason I went to Uni in the first place. I didnโt want to get stuck in the revolving door of UK domestic cycling, always unsure where I was going to be year on year. Iโd found my previous experience of that pretty stressful and made me question how much I actually enjoyed cycling. When I was eventually in a situation where I wasnโt getting paid to ride my bike anymore I felt totally lost. Iโd love to be in a position where riding my bike is my job, thatโs what Iโve dreamed of since I was a little kid, but if that doesnโt happen I feel a lot betterthat I have other opportunities beyond racing.
Iโm a little bit late coming to Uni, being 22 and only in my first year. It never seemed like an option when I was 18 and all my friends were going. When I was doing my A levels I was riding for the ODP and pretty much a full-time junior, not really thinking about anything beyond cycling, because in my mind I was going to get onto the academy and I wouldnโt have to worry about anything else. However, when I failed my first year of A levels and didnโt get on the academy suddenly everything seemed very unclear and quite worrying. Luckily the school let me resit the year and I joined Madison Genesis but when I think back to that time I canโt help but think that I should have been thinking more about what lay beyond cycling. I should have taken more time to study, but that never seemed like an option.
Something reminded me of this over the winter. I was at track league one evening and overheard some parents talking about their sons’ school/cycling balance, and I thought to myself, I remember that! But then I overheard one parent say โwell heโs not brilliant at school, thank god heโs got cyclingโ and I couldnโt help but think how misguided an opinion that is! I hate to see โfull-time juniorsโ. That may seem a bit harsh for me to say but I think itโs such a sorry state to be in. Cycling is not sustainable at all, for the tiny percentage of people that make it to the top and make a living out of it is great. But for the vast majority of people that isnโt the case and to limit yourself at 17, 18 to just racing bikes is a mistake. Itโs taken me a bit of time to figure that out and Iโm certainly not here to preach, but as someone who has made plenty of mistakes along the way, the main thing I would say to any juniors or to people new to cycling it would be not to limit yourself to it. Cycling is a great sport but it can also be consuming and can really take over your life. Itโs so important to have other things to take your mind away from it and to develop yourself as a person as well as a bike rider.
Read more
Rider journals: Joe Evans #2
Rider journals: Joe Evans #1
Rider journals: introducing Joe Evans
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