Lynn Madeley

In a previous life I was a pro event rider. And then life changed and my work and being a Mum took over. After a 10 year hiatus I decided I wanted to get back into sport and swapped four hooves for two wheels.  It was great, I learnt a lot but after a four year effort I felt I was no longer improving and was constantly tired. And then I crashed. Literally. Well, to be accurate I got crashed into, by a car. While recovering I knew I wanted to change my approach to my training. I wanted to work with a coach who would look at my year and my goals and would peak me for certain races and would make sure I rested too. And, I wanted someone who was specific with their feedback, clear, logical and honest with me. The kind of person, who actually read my ramblings on Training Peaks.

It’s been a whole new journey, from my moderate panicking that I was undercooked for the first stage race I did with Mark coaching me, to him suggesting I did a V-Everesting attempt during lockdown. Two days before the V-Everesting, Mark called and said two really important things, firstly, go as easy as you can on the first ride up Alp du Zwift and secondly, eat. ‘If you eat, you’ll smash it. If you don’t eat, you won’t finish’. I ate. And romped home happy and in a respectable sub 14 hours.

What Mark does, more than anything is give you the confidence to play your own game. To just keep improving yourself. He makes you a better athlete and he makes you a happy athlete and more than anything, he’s on his rider’s side.