There is no doubt, cycling is in my blood. As a kid, I much preferred being on my bike than walking or sitting in a classroom at school! As I started to get more competitive, the more I loved it. It was, and still is a bit of an obsession - but in a healthy way!

I knew I had the bug when I started winning races as a junior. As things progressed I went on to win numerous races and titles at both junior and senior levels. During this time I had the pleasure of representing both Scotland and Great Britain. One of my favourite memories was becoming
a British champion. I was part of the Scotland team which won the British 100km Team Time Trial Championship. It was the first and only time that Scotland has ever won the title - that was no mean feat as we beat the British Olympic team!

I enjoyed riding in the UK, but my niche was racing on the continent. I raced with many great cycling names in France and Spain, and loved the experience. When I finished racing I fell into a career in retail and the bike became more of a hobby; but cycling is still my favourite escape, and as I got older I began to appreciate those moments of peace in the saddle in beautiful surroundings even more.

Portugal provides cyclists with incredible scenery and great challenges. Anyone who has been on a bike out here will know it is anything but flat! The rugged countryside is very 'lumpy' as I like to call it, and I can find myself regularly climbing 1000m on a 70km ride!

Completing my Ride Leadership qualification with British Cycling was a great experience, and I'm so excited about sharing the routes I've found with others in the months to come. We'd love to hear from anyone who might be interested in coming along for the ride when we start that side of the business, so please get in touch via our contact page on here.

In the meantime....there are new routes to be discovered and roads to be pedalled, so time to get back out on the bike! As the great Eddy Merckx once said - "Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride!"
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