Hi, I’m Amélie, I’m 19 and have been involved with the cycling world since around 2017. I am a Level 2 BMX Racing coach and have also been racing on-and-off myself for a number of years.
I initially started BMX racing when my brother and I gave the sport a go after moving to Scotland from France and subsequently joined the Western Titans BMX Racing Club. We now both coach as well as ride with the club alongside our dad, and I think I can confidently speak for all of us when I say that the Titans have become almost as much our family as our actual one over the last few years. It truly is a wonderful club to be a part of, and the welcoming and supportive environment created by the team of volunteers who keep everything running smoothly on a week-to-week basis is a true testament to the dedication of everyone involved.
Whilst my brother began racing when we joined the club and has continued to do so ever since, my own relationship with competition has been fairly changeable. I have raced both regionally and nationally; but have also had extended periods of time where I simply haven’t wanted to.
I sometimes feel there is an excessive pressure upon younger and new riders to constantly be training to race, and that racing and winning is always the ultimate goal. I understand that for many, that is the reason why they do BMX and is the ‘thing’ that motivates them to continue progressing and pushing harder. But for me, competition and the thought of the ‘next race’ isn’t why I enjoy riding my bike, and I have found that training purely to race eventually starts to make me love it less. Riding my bike purely for the fun of it and seeing myself progress is much more important to me than any race result ever could be!
My personal pathway into coaching has been somewhat unconventional. I have always had an interest in more than simply the riding aspect of cycling, and have been particularly perplexed by the age-old question of ‘why aren’t there more girls?’. BMX racing in Scotland is an incredibly small, tight-knit community, which, in many ways, is positive, but the low numbers also seem to put a magnifying glass over the sheer lack of female representation within the sport. When I first started racing, there were very few BMX race coaches in Scotland, and none were women. As such, I initially began the process to achieving my BMX specific qualification as a means of simply ensuring there were enough qualified coaches to run club sessions. However, I quickly realised that supporting new and younger riders through a coaching position is something that I genuinely love.
It is easy to undervalue the impact that having female coaches can make upon the numbers of girls who continue coming to sessions, but in my experience, both as a coach and someone who is coached, it truly is huge. From a rider’s perspective, many important conversations about the female experience in both competitive and non-competitive sport – such as periods and training, mindset and confidence, or even how daunting it can feel to be the only girl at a session – are far easier to facilitate when women hold coaching positions. There are now a handful of brilliant and dedicated female BMX race coaches in Scotland, the effect of which can be seen in the massive increase in the number of younger girls starting out.
Since last year I have worked as a BMX coach for Movement Park, an organisation which promotes physical literacy in young people and has a vibrant and busy programme of different urban sports activities. In this role I have had the privilege of meeting and coaching so many incredibly enthusiastic young people who, every day, make me even more excited about bikes with their unrelenting passion.
Recently, I have also had a part in delivering Scottish Cycling’s Rock Up & Ride programme, and through this have been given the incredible chance to introduce so many young girls to the sport of BMX – many of whom are now actively participating in club sessions and loving riding bikes! Programmes and groups such as these are undoubtedly instrumental in giving BMX the space and structure it needs to grow as a sport, and their positive impact on the local communities with which they operate is clear to see.
Aside from BMX racing, I have also tried a few other cycling disciplines. I was introduced to track cycling through the Glasgow Riderz, and have found that riding around in endless circles at the velodrome is actually really fun! I would love to attend more track sessions in the future and learn more about a discipline of cycling which is so different to what I’m used to.
I first started mountain biking in 2020, when riding trails alone was one of the few things we were allowed to do during lockdown. I quickly discovered that the creative focus of picking my way down a trail was – despite simultaneously being terrifying – an incredibly rewarding and calming thing. I found that mountain biking combined my love for bikes and the outdoors in an impossibly perfect way, and my love for it grows more and more each time I go for a ride. Some of my closest friends are people I have met through mountain biking, which really highlights how beneficial the social aspects of it are in connecting people and improving mental health.
From 2021-2023 I was a member of the Scottish Cycling Young People’s Panel, which was an immensely fulfilling and enjoyable thing to be a part of. The programme does an amazing job of allowing young people to inform decisions made about their sport on a national level, as well as give them the opportunity to develop and grow on a personal one. I learned so much about different disciplines of cycling and was given the chance to attend a number of events – such as Commonwealth Games track qualifiers and the UCI Cycling World Championships – which gave me a strong insight into the wider cycling world.
BMX racing – and cycling in general – is such a huge part of my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll never be the fastest or most technically skilled rider, and I’m unlikely to ever produce outstanding race results, but I’m sure I’ll continue to ride my bike for as long as doing so makes me happy!
Thank you, Amélie, for sharing your cycling experiences with us and for being such an inspiring coach and role model, helping to encourage more women and girls into cycling and BMX. If you would like to share your own cycling story in our monthly Scottish Cycling BlogHER feature, please email Melanie, our Women and Girls Development Manager, at [email protected].