For the 2015 season, we’re really pleased that we’ve been able to significantly step up our support of women’s road cycling.
Along with Flanders based road racer Dani Christmas we’re delighted that the superfast ladies of Team Velosport Montegrappa are spinning our X-Series carbon Fat Boys around the UK elite women’s scene.
And we’re truly delighted that we finally get to dip our toes in the choppy waters of international elite triathlon thanks to the lady on the right: Catherine Emma Jameson.
Catherine has already put in an impressive block of overseas training this year, but luckily we managed to catch up with her recently at the London Bike Show where we decided to probe her inner triathlete for top secret training tips and her thoughts on Dark Matter.
A very big thank you goes to David Pearce (@readgruppetto) for the really fun and totally impromptu photo shoot.
The Spin Q&A with Catherine Emma Jameson
Please tell us who you are?
I’m Catherine Emma Jameson and I am 30
years old! At present I am very lucky to be able to race triathlon
professionally and I love what I do. I’ve just got back from
training in Fuerterventura with a few friends who I have met over the past
couple of years whilst racing. It was a great couple of weeks as for me it is
really nice being able to train with other top girls in the sport whilst also
having lots of laughs and girly chats!
Catherine, what got you into racing your bike?
My sporting background is actually as a swimmer.
I have swum and competed for as long as I can remember and whilst studying both
my degree and masters degree at Loughborough University I swum with the
performance squad competing Nationally and at Olympic/Commonwealth qualification
events.
I started doing triathlon properly in 2009 when Joel Jameson (now my husband) convinced me to give a sprint race a go. It’s a funny story really as I
was just watching him at the Club Relay event which takes place in Nottingham
every year. At the time he was in the TFN team so I was there just enjoying the
day. Little did I realise there was a sprint triathlon the next day that the
guys had entered me into! I was a little shocked as I didn’t have a proper
bike, other than my lovely mountain bike called Betty that I use to ride around the university and get to the swimming pool. I hadn’t even done very much
running either!
By the end of the Club Relays someone had lent me a wetsuit and a bike so by now I
had no excuse! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I really enjoyed doing it.
The swim was the easy part but the rest was such good fun that I decided to give a
few more event s a go. And here I am today!
Who’s your favourite racing cyclist or triathlete? And why?
Fabian Cancellara. Obviously this is because he is such a great rider and not
at all driven by his good looks! Jokes aside, I think he seems like a great guy
and is such a strong, confident rider who looks like a natural cyclist. As for
triathletes, it’s a hard one for me as I’m friends with many of the world’s
best athletes.
Chrissie Wellington inspires me not only due to her amazing
results but because she is so much more than an athlete. She is involved with
lots of different charity events, kids running and trying to help change
women’s triathlon for the better.
On a different note I aspire to be like my
friend Liz Blatchford. She is so down to earth, easy going, a great athlete and
someone I look up to.
Catherine, I always used to imagine that I was Beppe Saronni when I was racing my bike as a kid. Nowadays of course I’m closer in style and substance to that Fab Cancellara bloke, but maybe not quite as quick. So when you’re out riding your bike who do you pretend to be?
Funnily enough when I’m racing my bike I don’t
actually pretend to be anyone else. I try to concentrate on riding strong,
staying smooth and I split a race down into sections which for me helps keep my
race head. Maybe I should try thinking that I’m someone else just like you do! Will this
make me faster?
Yes of course it will!
In swimming I do actually pretend to be other people in my
mind especially when it’s starting to hurt or I’m feeling tired.
What is your proudest moment so far in sport?
Still probably racing in my
first year when I qualified for the age group world championships in Budapest
after only doing four previous triathlons. It was brilliant having my parents
with me as support and there was very little pressure as it was all so new to
me. I had a great race and I’ll remember that experience for a long time.
What do you like most about working with those crazy guys at Spin?
Well, I’ve only just started working with you but it’s
already been really good fun. I can see this year is going to include a lot of laughs
as well as fast racing. Like when we shot these photos – none of us could stop the giggling. Especially when you kept walking into shot at precisely the wrong time! Today is actually the first time we’ve met but it already feels like a lot longer!
I really like that Spin offer a totally bespoke race wheel, something really carefully considered, then built with incredible precision and attention to detail, and all just for me and my demands! Not many companies do that, especially not with the passion that’s evident from Spin.
I’m going to be racing these Dark Energy Fat Boys throughout the season on a custom built Sarto TT bike. Not only will it be the fastest machine around, but I think it’s going to look amazing. Half the battle won already!
Thanks for the compliment Catherine. But what I really want to know is this: where do you want your bike to take you?
Well for this year I really just hope to have some fun
filled adventures on my bike. Obviously I want to win races but alongside this
I want to enjoy riding my bike fast all over the world!
And it would be really great if I
could find the time to ride some of the Spring Classics. Watching them on TV always makes me want to be there and ride. I just need to convince my other half!
Other than racing, what else is there?
Other than training and racing in beautiful
places around the world I’m generally pretty chilled – I think!
I enjoy
catching up with my family and friends, eating lots of chocolate, drinking good
coffee and doing fun adventurous things. I’m not good at sitting still so I
love experiencing new challenges and that seems to keep me pretty busy.
The #quickgirls #spinonthese and always #ridefullgas !
Thank you Catherine for taking the time to answer all my tedious questions. It only remains for me to wish you the very best of luck for the coming season. We’ll be watching!
You can keep up to #speed with Catherine as she races around the globe on twitter @CatPickthall and facebook.
Thanks to David Pearce for the great photos and good humour!