Nicole Lynch
With the 2018 racing season only weeks away serious preparations get underway writes Nicole Lynch
What do you get when you combine motorbike racers, and the last 3 weeks before the race season starts? The answer is insanity. Not a bad insanity, but it gets manic. You suddenly realise all the preparation you’ve been doing all winter has still somehow left you with a million things to prepare and not enough hours in the day to get it all done. This is where everybody else comes in. Most people, if you ask them, will say that motorcycle racing is not a team sport, and I couldn’t disagree more with that statement. There isn’t a single racer out there who is doing this all by themselves.
Yes you are ultimately on the bike by yourself, but you can’t get there without many other people.
My Team
My parents are the first people on my team. They sacrifice hours of their free time with my Dad helping me with the bike when I need it, and my mum making sure I have everything I need and more for being away for a weekend. My mind only has bikes in it, I’m pretty sure I’d starve if she didn’t do this. Who even thinks to bring food with them? Before I leave, they usually pack the bike and all my things into the car and trailer while I’m at work so that I don’t have to panic and do it myself, and when I come back, they usually have it all unloaded before I get out of work too.
Support Network
Besides my parents, the amount of people I have on my side behind the scenes is incredible. The support from sponsors who are ensuring I get every single opportunity that I could possibly wish for, the fabulous people who take care of my logistics for the boats and all of my public relations who are way more organised than I could ever hope to be, and friends who push me and encourage me to always be better both on and off the track.
Test day
My friends are so caring in fact, we have a test day coming up soon and one of them has promised to run me off the track as much as possible(I’m joking, kind of). This is a drill, but you need to trust that person completely. They will be at every corner I try and turn into, and on my back wheel every time I want to brake. The aim is to push a little bit further each time and get more comfortable when the racing gets close.
I received my racing licence in the post a few days ago. It’s officially the 2018 racing season.
You can look back on all my “Life on two wheels” blog entries here and you can also follow me on Twitter , Instagram or facebook
Nicole Lynch
26th February, 2018
