Reigning National 50 champion Emma Lewis is preparing to defend her title when the delayed title race is run in October instead of the original date of July.

But in the meantime the 28-year-old from Canterbury is enjoying the challenges that life under lockdown is presenting to sportsmen and women – and thinks there could be some surprises on podiums when title races are finally allowed to go ahead.

“To be honest it works really nicely for me to have the nationals later on in the season, because it was a struggle to fit training around everything else,” she said. “I’m glad it’s later as it definitely gives me a bigger block to build on and different things to try.

“My goals were definitely to defend the National 50 and also to do the British Championships. My career has progressed and I’m busier which is great and I love my work, but it means I’m intending to just ride the nationals and not do that many local events. So the National 100, 10, 25, 50 and closed circuit were the ones I had planned to do.”

Lewis lives in a rural area and heads out training most days with her partner, clocking up many miles on country lanes without seeing many other people.

“We had started to get into specific interval rides,” she explained. “But the lockdown has given me the opportunity to carry on building on some base, get back in the gym and go from there.”

When she says ‘gym’ Lewis isn’t breaking quarantine rules – she means the shed at the bottom of the garden, which has seen lawnmowers and strimmers replaced by a bench press, medicine balls and dumb bells.

“I’m feeling really fit,” she said. “When you race a lot you almost de-train where your racing and recovering and racing and recovering. But at the moment we’re all just training and training and building that load and enjoying the sunshine and the freedom.”

So with riders across the country banking so much training without having the chance to show what they can do, what does that mean for the competition when the lockdown is eased and events resume?

“We won’t know who’s at what strength, who’s been training for what and how well people have adapted to the lockdown,” Lewis added. “It’s exciting because people have had time to experiment with their training and see what makes a difference to their numbers.

“Things like Zwift and RGT are great for training, but it’ll never reflect being at one with the road. I’m sure it’s great fun and you can practice the courses, and the numbers do help to a certain point.

“But it’s not the same as being on the road and avoiding a pothole, or going into a roundabout and knowing what the safest speed possible is to approach it, really getting into that aero position and making best use of the wind. It’s all these things that make time trialling such a great sport.

“I’m not struggling for motivation - I think I’m enjoying the freedom of not being on specific training for a particular event. I’m really enjoying just riding my bike and knowing I’m getting stronger without putting pressure on myself to be strong for a particular time.

“I’m enjoying the fact that if I don’t want to do anything one day because I’ve had a ridiculously busy day at work then I don’t have to, or if I want to just do some core or go out early morning then I can.

“I guess once the lockdown is over and we’ve got a race date to work towards then I’ll probably feel more focussed about getting on the turbo and pushing out specific sessions to get me stronger for a particular event.”

As a manager of an office full of 45 staff members, motivation plays a big part of Lewis’s life, and she added: “I’m quite a motivated person generally in work as well as in sport and at home.

“I like to keep other people motivated so I’m encouraging my team at work to keep going in difficult circumstances. Your home is no longer just your home, it’s your workplace, sanctuary, gym, training area, and there’s no differentiation between any of that.

“It’s important that we focus on keeping ourselves in our own bodies happy so that we have the strength to go and hurt ourselves on the turbo or just get away from the fridge or go for a walk in the park.

“At the moment it’s all about people keeping themselves safe. Everyone is doing their own bit whether they’re key workers or not, or staying inside at home or work.

“It’s a really interesting time in history, and this could even shape sporting history as we know it. This could be the year that, because of the postponements, people you don’t expect to do a ride come out of the woodwork end up winning a prize and it’s quite exciting to see what opportunities are there. I look forward to it!”

* All news items are copyright of Cycling Time Trials/Snowdon Sports. Not to be used without permission. BG.