Journals 2024: introducing Alice McWilliam

We’re delighted to welcome our third female journal writer this season, Alice McWilliam. Alice will be no stranger to followers of domestic road racing. She made her breakthrough in 2022 with a podium at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix and continued to impress that year, going on to finished second in the National Road Series. A switch to the UCI Continental HESS Cycling Team ensued, who she still rides for today.

In this open and honest Q&A, Alice reflects on her transition from rowing to cycling, highlighting three key lessons she learned from her rowing career that she now applies to cycling. She explains her switch to cycling after a back injury ended her rowing career and how she found a passion for endurance sports.

Yes, everybody wants to get results in their first or even second year turning pro, but it takes time… and as soon as you accept and understand this, you will have far greater confidence and happiness in what you’re doing

She recounts her breakthrough podium finish at the 2022 Lincoln Grand Prix, highlighting the boost in confidence it provided and the lessons learned from the experience.

Now competing at the UCI Continental level, Alice reflects on the challenges and lessons of her second season, emphasising the importance of patience, enjoyment, and continuous improvement. She has her sights set on regaining confidence and aims for podium finishes while also prioritising teamwork and supporting her teammates’ success.

Rowing was your big focus before cycling. What are the biggest lessons from rowing that you’ve taken into cycling?

I don’t have enough fingers to count how many lessons I’ve learnt from rowing. But there are definitely three key ones that come instantly to mind. 

Knowing what makes your teammates tick and what doesn’t is crucial for not only success, but happiness too

Firstly, I’m assuming that not many of the readership know a great deal about rowing so I’ll quickly explain. It’s a very small and niche sport, one that naturally forms a very tight-knight community. Your boat club is a second family to you. When training at Oxford Brookes University Boat Club, we did everything together from training, eating, studying and socialising. The friendships that were formed weren’t just about looking out for one another in the boat, but out of the boat also in daily life. This ‘teamwork’ as you might call it, meant that through understanding and connecting with one another on a deeper level, we were able to commit like we’d never commit before in training and races, sacrificing everything we had for one common goal – winning. Knowing what makes your teammates tick and what doesn’t is crucial for not only success, but happiness too. 

Although remember, not everyone is an open book, and I’m certainly not advocating asking lots of questions to quieter teammates, but listen and learn for what they have to say, pick up on their little mannerisms in daily life in training and racing… and it might just mean that you feel a great deal more connected with them when working together in races. Teamwork is everything, whether it be indirectly or directly, it counts for a lot.

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Secondly, I would like to point out that I was very lucky. Very lucky to be in a high-performing and successful elite club, with strong foundations and the absolute confidence that we could win. When you find yourself in an environment like that, it’s in my eyes far easier to follow the path and create success. You understand the mindset that is required for elite and professional sport, you live and breathe in it every single day. It was well-known that our rowing programme was one of the most brutal in the UK. You had to be tough, overcoming hardships and challenges, so you would be mentally prepared for racing. As they say, train hard… race easy.  

You can train to be physically strong, but if you’ve not got the mentality, it’ll be a mammoth task to get where you want to go

So my second biggest lesson would be when you’re in a team and you’re building it from the ground up, it’s absolutely paramount that the proper foundations are laid, the desire to win is above all else and you do not compromise mental strength for physical strength. You can train to be physically strong, but if you’ve not got the mentality, it’ll be a mammoth task to get where you want to go. Not forgetting to enjoy the little moments and the laughs… it’s all about the journey. 

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Lastly, and something more specific, you have to value yourself more than what you see on the scales. The scales are only a number, and I know I speak for the majority here, it’s not everything. As a coxswain (the person who sits in the back or front of the boat shouting and steering) it was my job to be at a certain weight, a bit like jockeys, but sometimes I forgot to truly see how the way I conducted myself on and off the water was far more important for the success of the crew. There are so many other significant factors in cycling such as pure talent, mental strength, ruthless determination, race craft and strategy, performance training, the perfect fuelling strategy… I could go on. Don’t let the scales blur your vision on how to value success. 

⁠Tell us how and why you switched to cycling.

Before I was a coxswain, I was in fact a rower* during my final junior years but unfortunately a nasty accident caused a significant injury which now haunts me everywhere I go – a prolapsed L5 disc. I chased for years for a cure, but that was my rowing career (as a rower) over. I never quite felt that I had satisfied my younger self’s dream of becoming an elite athlete, or at least one where my own physical strength and talent would dictate my success. 

There was a time where coxing came to a natural end, I’d achieved everything and more and knew it was time to move on. But I wanted to stay in sport. I loved running and did lots of cross country championships as a junior, and I always felt a great fondness and sense of freedom on the bike. Consequently, I took up duathlons and triathlons (I know people may judge) to quench my thirst for endurance sport. 

I remember vividly writing a letter to my parents on why I wanted to buy a Cannondale SystemSix and how I saw it as an investment to become a more successful athlete

After a year or so, I remember vividly writing a letter to my parents on why I wanted to buy a Cannondale SystemSix and how I saw it as an investment to become a more successful athlete. They were quite concerned as it was a rather large expense, but after racing the Red Bull Time Laps in Windsor Park 2019, I was hooked. I told myself two things straight after:

1. I never ever wanted to bonk as hard as that, and
2. I was ready to commit to cycling.

That January (2020) I spoke with a performance coach and set out a very clear goal of making it onto a British elite team within two years. I’ve never looked back, and neither have my parents.

*It always makes me laugh as everyone who I speak to says “oh, you’re a former rower so you must have an incredible endurance engine”. But then I have to politely let them know that “actually I was just a coxswain for the most part, so was the wee little motivator who had to lose a lot of weight and lose her voice daily”. 

⁠Your podium at the 2022 Lincoln Grand Prix was a breakthrough ride. Was that a surprise at the time? And what difference did it make to your confidence? 

1000%. I never thought I was capable of getting a result like that. I had to have ten weeks off the bike that winter after my back flared up so badly that I could barely walk without being in agonising pain. Coming into the race I knew I had a solid result at Volta Limburg the month previous, but that was just a fluke, I thought. I had no idea of the shape I was in, plus I was still trying to figure out where my strengths lay. 

Mid-race, I remember vividly having a laugh with a friend of mine, Lucy, about the fact that we were hating it and we didn’t know why we were doing this to ourselves. Thankfully I focused and put my blinkers on to be in a good position coming into the final climb, where it was just going to be a fight of brute strength to get up the Michaelgate. To this day, it’s still my favourite experience of a race finale. Not just because the atmosphere was electric, but my mum was there watching and believing too. 

That race taught me that yes I’m a young cyclist, but I’m a mature athlete and one that was ready to perform

Confidence breeds confidence. After that (what felt like a victory to me), I started to believe in myself and trust that I had potential to have a strong season. Although I never let it get to my head, you can’t. You have to respect that you have your perfect races but others who work just as hard, or even harder, don’t always have their perfect race. That race taught me that yes I’m a young cyclist, but I’m a mature athlete and one that was ready to perform.   

You’re now in your second season at Hess Cycling Team. What have been the biggest lessons for you when making the step up to UCI Continental level?

My biggest lesson is a short and simple one. It’s something that I’m still learning this year, not to expect too much from yourself at the beginning. Yes, everybody wants to get results in their first or even second year turning pro, but it takes time… and as soon as you accept and understand this, you will have far greater confidence and happiness in what you’re doing.

Riding and racing bikes as a career is a dream for so many of us, you have to enjoy it and absorb all the positives (and challenges of course). Take the small wins every single time, as at the end of the season, you’ll add up all those small wins and see how far you’ve come. 

What would a successful 2024 look like for you?

One where I regain that confidence from 2022. 2023 was a challenging year in many ways, and so this year has to be better and will be better.

It’s hard to say that “I want to win at X specific race” as there are many factors in how it’ll all play out, plus I’m still very much learning about what type of rider I am and where my true strengths lie. You have to be realistic, but you also have to have the desire also to win. I know that I’m more than capable of getting a podium at UCI .1 level, I’ve seen it. Past results have been very close to it a couple of times, and with the help of a stronger team behind me, it’s more than possible. The problem is that bike racing is (quite) unpredictable and the legs and head would need to be ready to fight, given the ever-improving standard of racing.

I need to keep learning, throwing myself in at the deep end, race aggressively, make mistakes and to come out that little bit better each and every race

Saying this, I know my place in the team and I know a big role for me this year will be setting up my teammates for victory. This year I’ve already had great satisfaction and confidence boosts from working for our leaders in big races such as Setmana Valenciana and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. There’s less direct pressure on you, other than to do your job well… and if you come out the other side and you have more to give, then it’s a win-win. There’s something quite sadistic yet sweet in knowing that you’ve absolutely ended yourself for the benefit of a leader you believe can achieve something great. When teamwork works, it’s a win for the team. 

So in essence, I need to keep learning, throwing myself in at the deep end, race aggressively, make mistakes and to come out that little bit better each and every race. But I do hope that one day this year I’ll get the opportunity to race for the win (almost like letting a dog off its leash). I am an athlete after all.

Featured image: Adam Winfield

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