The bronze medal at the National 10 mile time trial this year was taken by Mel Williams of Agisko Viner, with Julia Shaw, GS Strada, a seasoned time triallist taking her first national title ahead of junior GB track squad team member, Joanne Rowsell, Global Racing, who took silver.
If you thought that going really fast and winning medals was the preserve of the full time athlete and not for you, then think again.
Mel, who has a personal best of 21:31 for 10 miles, rode 22:50 on the rolling course for the 10 mine championships and secured her first national medal.
Mel has a demanding, full time job as the PA to the CEO of a big investment firm in London, which requires her to be on call 24 hours a day. She gets some time on her bike by commuting in and out of town each day and her naturally competitive nature pushed her to start training proper, if only to avoid being over taken on her way to and from work. She now trains between 8 and 15 hours per week, depending upon work commitments and the season.
However, she only started racing 3 years ago, when she entered a triathlon and more recently switched to pure cycling. She comments that the last two years 'have been a very steep learning curve in bike handling, bike racing and tactics, nutrition (in particular less wine consumption), training and how much pain the body can take. I'm still learning!'
Prior to that, there was really no sporting activity in her life, save for a moment of madness 5 years ago when she ran the London Marathon. Apparently a friend bet her that she could not do it and she had drunk just enough at the time to rise to the challenge, even though she had never run more than 2 miles in her life!
Without giving too much away, Mel is a 'master' which means she is in the over 30 age group and is an inspiration to anyone that is wondering if they should give it a go. You never know what you might achieve, regardless of your age and background. Incidentally, Mel went on to win the National Maters title for her age group in the 2,000k pursuit at the track last year in what was her first ever pursuit.
Results
Gold Julia Shaw GS Strada 00:22:30
Silver Joanna Rowsell Global Racing 00:22:33
Bronze Melanie Williams www.agiskoviner.com 00:22:50
4 Corin Wilkins Oxford City RC 00:22:58
5 Ruth Eyles Beacon RCC 00:23:03
6 Ruthie Manly Rapha Condor 00:23:07
7 Lynn Hamel Thegreenroomgroup.com 00:23:27
8 Pippa Handley Edinburgh RC 00:23:50
9 Lesley-Anne Walkling science in sport.com 00:23:50
10 Jessica Wilson-Young Edinburgh RC 00:23:52
11 Avril Swan MI Racing 00:23:53
12 Helen Carter science in sport.com 00:23:56
13 Louise Dutch votwo.co/sbr 00:24:03
14 Jenny Derham RT 316 00:24:14
15 Trudi Sammons Reading CC 00:24:17
16 Clare Ella Lincoln Whs 00:24:23
17 Emile Fisher XRT/Elmy 00:24:33
18 Louise Day Fat Birds 00:24:34
19 Astrid Wheatcroft Severn RC 00:24:36
20 Jill Postlethwaite Welland Valley CC 00:24:39
HR
