Charlie Guest, one of Great Britain's most promising female Alpine Skiers will be swapping her skis for two wheels and the open roads this autumn, having announced that she will be taking part in this year's Macmillan Cycletta Scotland, which returns for a second year to the magnificent grounds of Scone Palace on Sunday October 5th. ...Â
Perth born Charlie, now the women's British number 1 slalom and number 2 giant slalom skier, is currently in training for the World Championships in 2015 and the Olympics in Korea in 2018 and wanted to add cycling into her training routine to help build stamina and all round fitness.
Starting to ski when she was just 3 years old, Charlie was the first British girl to win an international children's race after making the British Children's Team, and is now firmly on track to make the World Championships team having met the qualification criteria.
She is looking forward to the challenge of Cycletta, the women only cycling series, which is also backed by Olympian, Victoria Pendelton CBE, and attracted over 600 participants last year.
Charlie commented: “I am really looking forward to taking part in this year's Macmillan Cycletta Scotland, it is something different for me to do and at the same time keeps my fitness levels up which is always important in my sport.
“It's a great idea to have a sportive just for women and especially as it allows girls from the age of 12 and upwards to take part. I'm all for that! The younger we get into a sport, the more likely we are to carry it through into adulthood, and to excel at it.”
Dan Lipman, of event organisers Human Race, said: “It's great to have one of Britain's upcoming athletes like Charlie sign up for Macmillan Cycletta Scotland. She is such a brilliant, hard-working athlete, and has already performed exceptionally well in her sport, we look forward to seeing her taking on a cycling challenge in what is going to be an amazing day at Scone Palace”.
Charlie follows hot on the wheels of a number of top skiers who also use cycling as a cross-training tool. Both Noel Baxter and Alain Baxter are keen cyclists, as is Dave Ryding and former Olympic skier, Chemmy Allcott.
Says Charlie: “The key to any sporting success is ensuring you have a balanced training programme and continue to push yourself. Riding a bike may be slightly out of my normal comfort zone, but I love it. It works a different set of muscles, tests my breathing and really builds strength and stamina. I can't wait to take part.”
This year ladies can sign up for 20km, 40km, 70km and a newly introduced and very exciting 100km route for the more serious cyclists.
The Macmillan Cycletta website www.humanrace.co.uk/cycletta offers an array of information on training, race day advice and bike maintenance and you can keep up to date with all the latest news and developments on the official facebook page www.facebook.com/cycletta.
To confirm your place for the event please visit:Â www.humanrace.co.uk/cycletta
Picture: Charlie Guest, Copyright & Credit RACER READY