We caught up with Morvelo Pivot Enduro Racing rider and Tweed Valley local Katy Winton for a quick chat…
ST: So you’re a valley local and your background was in the Peebles Cycling Club which seems to be a hotbed of youth development judging by the Tweedlove Family Day.
KW: When we started doing the kid’s clubs some weeks there’d be three of us, some weeks there’d be twenty. Whereas now they’ve got a waiting list of people waiting to get in, a huge waiting list and there’s other kids clubs starting up around the area because there’s such a high demand. It’s just amazing. And it’s amazing to see all these kids on balance bikes rocking, it’s the next generation of racers biting at our heels.
ST: So what is it that’s created this ‘bike valley’ community?
KW: Right from town you can get onto the hills so easily, especially with Scottish access laws, you can do what you want. It’s so easy to go out for a run, or get out on a bike, or a horse. Whatever, just go. It’s so easy to just head out on to any hill around here and have a wee adventure. You’re not just limited to the trail centres, you can just head over that hill, down that valley, and find something and that brings the adventure back into mountain biking and that’s pretty cool.
ST: So everyone is proud to have a round of the Enduro World Series here then?
KW: It’s just amazing. Because we’ve got such a huge community of people who are into it. To see the top riders here riding our trails but at the same time bring something different to the world scene because the riding here is really unique. It’s totally different and even on each day each stage will be totally different to the previous one, there’s no consistency, no ‘so this is what the riding is like here’. It’s going to be quite a range.
It’s going to be good for us all to race the top guys, but it’ll also be good for people who ride round here to then go “ah, so that’s how you ride it that fast” and “how did they think of that line” and inspire people to try new lines.
And it’ll open peoples eyes to what the valley has to offer, that it’s not just Glentress. That people need more that a day because we have so much riding here and it’s at all levels so there’s something out there for everyone.
ST: So what are your aims for the weekend then? Local hero? Young talent? You’re in the booklet…
KW: I know, I know, ‘everyone knows who you are’…
It’s a difficult one, because I’d have liked to be coming into it faster than I am because of my injury ( a broken wrist) so I just have to be realistic and ride the best I can, when I go into schools to give talks I talk about winning attitude, the scoreboard approach of winning, coming first and of doing your personal best. And that’s all that I can do, go out there knowing that I’ve done everything I possibly can to be prepared for this. I know what I need to do, just go in and do the best I can, and not crash. I know where I want to be, you just have to make it a process, so you don’t get nervous and don’t feel the pressure. Make it a manageable thing.
http://katywintonracing.co.uk/
