Cyclingnews’ welcomes retired skilled bicycle owner Alice Wood as our latest columnist. Wooden, or Alice Barnes earlier than she was married, raced since she was an adolescent, turning skilled with Drops in 2016 and occurring to experience for Canyon-SRAM and Human Powered Health.
Wooden has been a double nationwide champion, represented England and Nice Britain at Commonwealth Video games and World Championships, and took a number of wins within the UK and Europe as an expert. She retired on the finish of 2024, and now works as a coach for SYNRGY and a commentator for Warner Brothers Discovery.
Retiring at 29 would possibly sound absurd to most individuals, however not in skilled biking. When your profession begins in your teenagers, and each choice revolves round racing, coaching, and restoration, 29 can really feel like the tip of a really lengthy street. The query I saved circling again to wasn’t whether or not I may hold going, however whether or not I ought to.
Deciding when to retire from the game you’ve given the whole lot to is likely one of the hardest choices a rider will ever make. Typically, the selection is made for you when a contract doesn’t materialise, or an damage takes you out. However I didn’t need that to be my story. I needed to go away alone phrases, not as a result of I needed to, however as a result of I selected to.
My sister Hannah stepped away from racing a yr earlier than I did, and watching her transition out of the game formed how I approached my very own choice. Her again and hip points didn’t outright stop her from driving, however the ache stole the enjoyment. Racing grew to become a burden, and when her contract ended, so did her profession. She didn’t experience once more for over a yr. It hit me, if this sport that had defined us for thus lengthy may lose its spark like that, I needed to ensure I bowed out earlier than that occurred to me.
In February, I made the decision that 2024 can be my final season. And as soon as I stated it out loud, one thing shifted. It felt like a weight had lifted. I used to be heading right into a season with out chasing a contract for the next yr, which relieved me of a lot stress. There was no strain to impress, no scramble to earn a renewal. Each race was mine to get pleasure from, savour, and provides the whole lot to and not using a hidden agenda.
That mindset didn’t change how I educated or raced. I nonetheless confirmed up ready, dedicated, and targeted. However the motivation had shifted. I wasn’t making an attempt to catch anybody’s consideration or show I deserved a spot. I simply needed to finish on a excessive, understanding I gave the game the whole lot I had. Performing my position as greatest as potential in that specific race, whether or not that was serving to my staff or racing for a consequence myself.
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All through the season, I nonetheless had some sturdy outcomes, primarily within the .1 and .2 races I’ve come to essentially get pleasure from in recent times. And with these outcomes got here the inevitable questions: “Are you actually retiring?” “Don’t you wish to hold going?”
However these performances didn’t make me doubt my selection; in truth, they confirmed it. I wasn’t crawling to the finish line. I used to be nonetheless contributing, nonetheless aggressive. Though WorldTour races had been a special story for me. Girls’s biking is altering a lot, and to maintain tempo with the evolving stage of the ladies’s peloton, I knew it will require much more: deeper sacrifices, greater investments, extra time, extra power. And mentally, I used to be already beginning to step away.
As a result of being an expert bicycle owner isn’t only a job, it’s a life-style. It consumes the whole lot. Your days, your food regimen, your journey, your holidays. Every little thing revolves round efficiency. You miss weddings, birthdays, and household moments. You turn out to be used to it, nevertheless it by no means will get simpler.
Particularly now, on this stage of life, issues like turning into an aunt and watching mates get married have began to matter extra. I didn’t wish to hold lacking the moments that make life exterior of biking so treasured.
That doesn’t imply I’m leaving the game behind utterly. Biking has given me the whole lot: my husband, self-discipline, friendships, unbelievable reminiscences, and I’ll all the time be a part of it in a roundabout way.
However I’m additionally excited to rediscover the game from a special perspective. I wish to experience once I really feel prefer it, not as a result of it’s on the schedule. To go to occasions and not using a race quantity on my again. To find new challenges, new rhythms, and perhaps even a brand new ardour.
For any rider studying this who’s wrestling with the identical ideas: know that there’s no good second to retire. There’s solely the correct one for you. Mine got here quietly, not with a crash or a missed contract, however with a quiet conviction that it was time. And that, I believe, is the easiest way it may have occurred.
