Finding serenity on Ryanair
If you Googled ‘places to relax’, I’d be surprised if a fully packed Ryanair flight departing from Manchester Airport would make the search results. But that’s exactly where I am, on my way to race at Vuelta CV Valenciana and feeling so serene I may as well be on a spa day.
I’ve become accustomed to travelling with the (baby-related) kitchen sink over the past year, so cruising through security without so much as a check-in bag was almost unnerving; what have I forgotten? Where are the nappies? But my partner has the baby, the mechanics have my bike, and I’m floating between the two in a signal-free bubble in the sky. Bliss.
This is, however, a brief moment of calm. This weekend is a big deal for me because, although I raced a little last year following Nico’s birth, this will be the first time lining up with my Uno-x team-mates with some decent training in my legs.
After working hard all winter I’m finally feeling like an athlete again. I’m so ready for the thrill of being in a peloton at speed. I love the fight at the start to determine the break of the day almost as much as the battle at the end for the win. I pinch myself, regularly, that this is my job.
But I’m also more aware than ever that if motherhood is having your heart live outside of your body, then I just left mine in another country. It hurts. And it’s the start of a life of constant contradiction; revelling in the chance to have such an exciting jet-setting career while simultaneously longing for home and quiet cuddles on the sofa. So I’ll be making sure I race hard enough the pain in my legs will override the ache in my heart.
Elinor Barker is an Olympic gold medallist who rides for Uno-x