The Persuader Jennifer Purcell, !", Swindon
The Recruits Tamsin Slater, #$, Coventry, Paula Terry, %& and John Terry, %", Swindon The Strate y Social media and e-bikes…
Tamsin Slater
“Jennifer made cycling look fun,” explains university friend, Tamsin. “She’d send me pics from her rides and as social media developed I’d see the fun she was having from her posts. Whenever we met up she’d suggest I give it a go. I live in a city and the roads are intimidating, but she made it look like something enjoyable so I signed up for a bike-to-work scheme. That was about three years ago. Now, whenever I go to Jennifer’s I ask her which bike I should bring. I’ve ridden John O’Groats to Land’s End, I do regular road rides with Breeze [British Cycling’s initiative to get more women riding] and trails on my mountain bike. Our children ride together when we meet up too. I’ve done Sky Rides all thanks to the passion and delight of a friend.”
“I’ve been cycling since I was about 21,” explains Jennifer. “My then boyfriend was into mountain bike racing and I didn’t want to stand around watching him every weekend, so bought myself a bike.” Jennifer went on to race 4th cat road races, as well as local and national mountain bike series.
Paula & John Terry
“We live next door to Jennifer. I got talking to her about my desire to lose weight and to do something with my husband, Terry. We live at the top of a hill and were quite hesitant about cycling up it. Jennifer assured us we’d love it, talked about how to get into cycling and put us in touch with a local scheme that was loaning e-bikes. The day I went to collect mine it was tipping down with rain. I cycled all 12 miles home and said to Jennifer, ‘I don’t know whether to hug you or hit you!’
“Terry and myself both ride regularly now and Terry has several bikes. He’s into the equipment and technology, I just love cycling with friends and going on biking breaks.”