Friday, March 29, 2024

Pippa Handley – 1st Woman in the Trossachs

-

HomeInterviewsPippa Handley - 1st Woman in the Trossachs

After her win in the recent Trossachs classic time trial at Aberfoyle, we thought it was about time that we chatted to Pippa Handley, one of the Edinburgh Road Club’s top women riders, a voracious trainer and top 10 place-getter at the British level.

Pippa Handley
Pippa consistently tops the women’s result sheets.

Congratulations, Pippa, on being Best Woman in the Tour de Trossachs. How was it?

“Thanks. I was quite happy with my time. I’m not really into hills so on a hilly course like that I was rather pleased with the result. I got 1:20:….44, I think it was and the closest female was around 1:26 so I was pleased with the margin.”

How many women took part?

“There were….Hang on I’ve got the start sheet here…There were 10.”

Can you describe how your race went?

“Well, basically I was a bit concerned about the hills — the Duke’s Pass — I was a bit worried about that because I don’t do hills very well so I just hit it slowly and kept a good tempo uphill because I knew once you get to the top it’s actually quite a false top and it does continue to rise for about another …half mile, I think so it’s important to keep it going, to keep a good rhythm going and not to panic when you’re getting tired and your legs are starting to hurt.

“Once I came down off the Duke’s Pass and was on the descent, I’m quite good at descending so I got down fairly quickly and started to catch a few folk which kept the momentum going quite well. It was very slippery so I took it easy on the bends. Then when I was back on the main road, I gave it all I had left. I was very pleased with the result. It was a good day for me.”

How did you get into the sport?

“I started cycling when I was quite young. I had problems with my knees and a physio told me that cycling would help. After that I kept it up for transport reasons mainly. Then when I came to Edinburgh to do my nurse’s training a member of the Edinburgh Road Club passed me, suggested I join and that was it really.”

You’ve been cycling since you were a wee lassie then?

“Yeah. Since I was about seven or eight, but I started serious cycling only about two and half — three years ago.”

Which discipline do you like best, road, track or time trial?

“I think at the moment I prefer time trial but that’s only because I’m doing quite well at it. Once I get my road sorted out I think I’ll like that better. The thought of getting over the line first rather than waiting for times to come up will be more of a thrill.”

What kind of equipment do you have?

“I just recently bought a Kyota which is time trial specific and is absolutely beautiful and last year’s time trial bike is now my road bike so I’ve got two absolutely beautiful bikes and another older one for track. They’re expensive, of course.

Do you get any help?

“My club, Edinburgh Road Club is very supportive and the BicycleWorks are helping me out with good deals, etc. They sponsor the club.”

How much training do you do?

“At the moment about 17 to 20 hours a week. Also it goes up during the winter.”

Pippa Handley
The Edinburgh Road Club ladies in action in the Musselburgh 3-up.

Which performances have given you the most satisfaction?

“I came seventh in the British time trials which I didn’t expect — it came as a bit of a shock more than anything else. Then there was the team win at the Scottish 25 Mile TT Champs and 9th in the British 10 Mile TT Champs, and then most recently ‘Best Woman in the Tour de Trossachs’.”

So you’re happy with 2006, then?

“Extremely! Absolutely! I can’t quite believe it actually.”

Do you think that women’s cycling gets a fair crack of the whip in Scotland?

“In time trialling, yes, because you’re going against the clock anyway but in road racing you have to go to Britain to experience road racing properly because there are only four of us who properly road race in Scotland so it’s disappeared virtually. I think road racing in Scotland for women at the moment is dire, to be honest.”

Do you get much help from the ERC?

“A huge amount. They are so supportive; from coaching — my coach is a guy at the ERC — to all kinds of help. Even those who don’t race are always there to shout for me and give me support and all sorts of things, accommodation…it’s amazing. Then there’s the social life and the spirit among the other members — it’s a good club, a very good club.”

Do you have any goals for the future — the Commonwealth Games, for example?

“I‘d love to but I don’t know whether that’s realistic or not. I’d love to get into that team. But my real goal is to keep on cycling. As long as I’m enjoying it I’ll keep on doing it. Next year I’ll probably be going down to England a lot more — full time trials, the women’s series road races, stuff like that.”

Thanks, Pippa and good luck. VeloVeritas will be right behind you.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Mitch Docker – “Becoming Professional in Europe was always the dream”

Whilst the Pro Tour marches on at the Dauphine and the Tour de Suisse, the ‘other’ races just keep taking care of business. Take the 2.1 Delta Tour Zeeland in The Netherlands, the overall went to Garmin fast man, Tyler Farrar, but the strong man from Washington State didn’t have it all his own way; stage one saw a break through win for Skil’s 23 year old Aussie, Mitch Docker.

Dan Craven – Part Two; Namibia, Recent Teams and African Racing

With Dan Craven's recent hook-up with Jean Rene Bernadeau’s Europcar squad we thought it was high time we had another word with the man with the most hair in professional cycling, and we heard all it in Part One of our interview with Dan yesterday. In Part Two the conversation turns to Dan's home country of Namibia as we find out about the country and it's cycling, the growth of the sport on the African continent and we learn a little more about his previous teams.

Joshua Cunningham – “I just need to get my arms in the air”

With our Flatlands boys Douglas Dewey and Llewellyn Kinch heading south to race in France for 2013 we decided we’d best have a word with Rayner Fund rider Joshua Cunningham to see what’s happening in Belgium?

Hugh Carthy – a Season of Ups and Downs with Caja Rural

Here at VeloVeritas we rate 21 year-old Englishman Hugh Carthy; not for him a ride with a team where the lingua franca is his native tongue – no sir, Spain’s only Pro Continental team, Caja Rural is who he signed with after his excellent Tour of Korea win for Condor, last season. He’s had a busy baptism of fire - the pre-season Mallorca races; Ruta del Sol; early season hard man’s races in Belgium and France; the Pais Vasco; Trentino, Beauce, the Volta, a strong ride in Colorado then some good late season form in France and Italy.

At Random

Jason Macintyre Memorial Time Trial Goes to John Archibald

On a morning which delivered everything from flat calm with balmy sunshine – complete with midges – to a stiff breeze with stinging rain it was Pro Vision Cycle Clothing’s John Archibald once again delivering the result over 17.8 ‘sporting’ miles around lovely Loch Leven in the Jason Macintyre Memorial Time Trial which was also round four of the CTC ‘Knights Composites Classic TT Series.’ Billed as the ‘Tour of Glencoe’ that was a slight misnomer albeit the race did skirt Glencoe village and pass through Invercoe it was more of a ‘Loch Leven Loop’ but whatever the name the backdrop was stunning – Scotland at it’s best.

Ponferrada World Road Championships 2014 – Elite Men. Michal Kwiatkowski Times it Perfectly

Spanish sports paper, Mundo Deportivo says; 'El Tigre, en la Lieja-Ponferrada-Lieja' comparing the race to an Ardennes Classic. 'A complete cyclist with a brilliant future,' they say of the 24 year-old Pole Michal Kwiatkowski. Despite a tiny box on the front cover, the race gets two-and-a-half pages with nice colour pictures.

Daniel Cain – the Engineer behind Scottish wheel maker ‘Streamline Cycling’

Daniel Cain is a rider with GTR Return to Life with his wheel business, ‘Streamline Cycling’ providing the ‘p/b’ in the team’s name; the 27 years-old is also an Aero-Mechanical Engineer who has been designing and building his own composite wheels which have been used to good effect by quick GTR riders like Chris Smart.

World Road Championships – Rohan Dennis wins the Elite Men Time Trial

How did we do with our Worlds Elite Men Time Trial pre-race predictions? Well, to start with, we weren’t sure if the slim Aussie Rohan Dennis could come back from his pre-Tour time trial abandon – but it’s amazing what a couple of months with a sport psychologist can do and the tattooed chrono specialist was in a class of his own...