Joining us as a Threshold Ambassador on the 2024 Babble Ride Across Britain is Bianca Fernandez, Chair of the Women of Colour Cycling Collective and team Liv Camden ambassador.
A seasoned veteran in the world of multi-sport racing, Bianca qualified for the Ironman World Championships in 2022 and represented Team GB for her age group in the 2022 World Triathlon Powerman Middle Distance Duathlon Championships in Viborg, Denmark.
These achievements are even more remarkable given the fact that Bianca is a latecomer to the world of cycling, having only taken up the sport in 2016. Initially struggling to cover just 20 kilometres in an hour, it’s fair to say she has come a long way since then.
“Cycling is something that I only started doing as an adult, and yet it’s hard to describe how intertwined I am with it,” she told us. “I couldn’t imagine what I’d be without a bike: it’s life, freedom but also a pursuit of my potential as I believe I still have much to learn and improve.”
Despite her impressive résumé, Bianca is equal parts nervous and excited about joining us for the full Babble Ride Across Britain this September, saying the magnitude of the event represents a new challenge for her. “Whilst I can cycle 100-milers and have done multi-day cycling events , I’ve never done as many miles for as long as this. I’m concerned about how the body will hold, but more than anything, is my mind going to cope with this? Building mental resilience is going to be as important as building up the legs, I think.”
“I’m concerned about how the body will hold, but more than anything, is my mind going to cope with this? Building mental resilience is going to be as important as building up the legs, I think.”
As a Londoner, Bianca said she is most looking forward to the quiet, tranquil roads which the Babble Ride Across Britain sticks to for most of the route. “I struggle to disconnect from my life commitments and a busy job in banking,” she said, “so this feels like for nine days I’ll be absorbed by cycling.”
Her work with Women of Colour Cycling Collective, a support network for minority ethnic women and non-binary cyclists in the UK and Giant Camden Team Liv, a female cycling club in London, has compelled Bianca to take on the challenge of riding from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in nine days, in the hope of inspiring other women, especially from a ethnically diverse backgrounds.
“In a way, I feel like a beginner again, as I can categorically say I cannot do this challenge right now. I’m really looking forward to those butterflies of going for a challenge that seems impossible – through training we make it possible.”
