On receiving Jane Barr’s entry for the Scottish Road Race Championship we asked if she would speak to us about how she got into bike racing, her thoughts on the 2011 Balfron course and her future plans. So when she agreed, we arranged to catch up over a coffee on a rare rest day to have a chat about her swift rise to the top of Scottish cycling. I quickly found that she had come a long way in a very short period of time.
Can you tell me a little about your cycling background?
“I intitially started racing late in 2009 through the Gold for Glasgow programme. I managed to get onto the squad late on in that season and managed to get a couple of races in late in the year. After that I got a good solid winter of training which led to my first full racing season in 2010. I went from strength to strength and did well in both Scottish and British races, which led to me going over to Holland with the Scottish Team to some stage races there this led onto me being selected to go to the Commonwealth Games in Dehli”
What sports did you do before coming to cycling?
“I come from a running background and competed for Scotland at long distance running but stopped once I finished at University and then did a bit of mountain biking with some friends one of whom told me about the Gold for Glasgow programme so I just went along and that was it”
How have you found the transition from running to bike racing?
At the start it was quite strange because in running you are racing for yourself and push yourself as hard as you can for the whole race and if that’s good enough then so be it. I found quite quickly that bike racing wasn’t about giving your full out effort all the time, it’s about making the effort when it counts so that you can get the most gain out of it. So it was quite a steep learning curve and my first couple of races in 2009 I found out the hard way and learned pretty quickly how to do it properly. In terms of training cycling is certainly more time consuming but the motivation still has to be there and my coach Graeme Herd has helped me enormously with both a training schedule and the tactical side of racing.
So you made the move from Stirling Bike Club to your new team Velocity 44 this year can you tell me a little about that?
“Yeah it’s a new team based in Stirling from the Velocity44 shop in Barnton Street. All the team involved in the project give me fantastic support allowing me to concentrate on racing along with my team mate Laura Murray. We also have a guys team and some mountain bikers.
How do you find racing as part of a team?
“It’s good, different I really enjoy racing as part of a team both with my team Velocity44 and with the Scotland set up. It’s a totally different outlook to previously and I enjoy it, helping others to get the best results possible for the team.”
You won the Scottish Road Race title last year. It’s slightly different this year as it is a stand alone race, what are your thoughts on the way that it’s been formatted this year?
“It’s good I’m pleased that it is it’s own race this year, it will have it’s own identity and recognition and I think that is what women’s cycling needs especially as it will give the women in Scotland to race against each other”
What do you think of the course that Vortex Race Team have come up with at Balfron?
“I think it will be quite a challenging course. It’s quite deceptive if you just go round it once or twice the hills don’t seem that steep or long but having ridden over it for a few laps they will take their toll and there will definitely be some breakaways especially as it is quite a twisty course and this should lend itself to groups getting away, so it should make for a good race as there are quite a few women who are at the same level and they will definitely make it hard for each other. I think it really good that we will have a proper race as it’s great that you can say that you are the Scottish Champion and there will be a lot of people that want to be Scottish Champion.”
So after the Championship what are your plans for the rest of the season?
“The main goal is the British Women’s series, unfortunately all the races are down in England this year and then I also plan to go out to Holland and do some stage races there with the Scotland Team and then the British Champs in Northumberland which should suit me with the climbs.”
And in the future there is obviously the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow?
“Yes Graeme and I have been making plans for 2014 as I firstly need to qualify which will probably need to be done the year before as the games will be earlier in the year than Dehli and secondly I’ll need to be competitive so I may need to go to the Southern Hemisphere to get some competitive racing in beforehand”
And racing on the continent?
“Yes definitely, in the games last year all the girls that were there were racing on the continent so you have to race there to get up to that level and be over there consistently. The bunches are so much bigger than over here and your bike handling has to be so much better than here, the Dutch girls especially have been doing it since they were juniors and with me coming into cycling that bit later you have to learn that pretty quickly when there’s 140 of you on narrow Dutch roads!”
How have your results been so far this year?
“They’re getting there I’ve only done a few APR’s, a race out in Holland and one in the British Series where I was a little disappointed with my 15th place, but things didn’t quite go to plan on that day”
The series is made up of Road Races and Criteriums, how do you find the Criterium Racing?
“It’s a bit of a shock to the system because as soon as the gun goes that’s it, red line for the full hour, I’ve done a couple in Holland and wow, I didn’t think it was possible to corner as fast as that, it was unbelievable and you soon learn that you have to keep pushing yourself to the front, but I really enjoyed it. I’ll be racing abroad again this year in June so hopefully I’ll learn some more.”
With her quiet self assured manner and the guiding hand of her coaches I’m positive that Jane will indeed “learn some more” and will absolutely be one to watch not only at the Scottish Road Race 2011 but also in Glasgow 2014 with a Scottish Jersey on her back. Good luck to her in both.
