The Fabulous 5 #1: I bought a Bianchi to avoid a widow’s life

Claire Waterfield, Committee Member and New Members Secretary

I got into cycling because I didn’t want to be a cycling widow! I bought my first bike, a Bianchi for £500, in 2005 the same week I bought my wedding dress! I was 32, so quite late to the scene.

I joined WVCC the same year and started racing in the club’s time trials. I was on my trusted Bianchi with Tri bars attached to the handlebars. I wasn’t very good. I raced on and off for a couple of years before getting really serious in 2010 when I was trained by Ruth Eyles. Then, in 2011 I did my PB for a 25 of 59:48 on the A25/11 in Etwall and PB for a 10 of 23:36 on the E2/10 in Cambridge. After that, it all went downhill! I enjoyed racing on Kibworth; straight out and back on a fairly flat course suits me. I’m not very good on corners, just ask Simon Ward (we did a 2up once and he kept shouting at me to keep up!).

I know I’ll never be that good again, but hopefully sometime soon, I will be back racing.

I still love going on cycling holidays to Majorca and France; one of my highlights was riding up Alpe D’huez with my Dad when he was 70 years old.

It’s great being a part of WVCC, the club has grown so much since I was last an active member – all for the better. There are so many new faces – mostly a lot younger than me, and a good number of women too – who make this club what it is today; a thriving, friendly and vibrant group of people with the same passion for cycling, for whom it’s a privilege to be a part of.