Nikki Harris

Everyone needs a little luck in life and one young lady is hoping her luck will change as Nikki Harris prepares for the European Championships. I hadn't been at the Manchester Velodrome long when I came upon Nikki looking at a flat tyre on her car.

This follows a more serious cam belt problem for the same car but worse still is the illness that has affected her preparation leading up to the championships.

"It hasn't gone as well as I had hoped it would" she explains to me later. "I just wanted to get some good fast racing and I know how hard Belgium is because I've been there before to stay with Joscelin and Tim. The first time I went there earlier this year I rode really well in a Women's Elite race and finished 5th. So my form was really good but I then had tonsillitis and after seeing the doctor, had to have seven or eights days off the bike by which time I had to return home."

"So I came home and managed to get some training in to be fit for my next trip to Belgium. Then, two days before I flew out there I started to get some back pain and stomach aches. I didn't know what it was and went over to Belgium and the first day I was there, I went for a ride and felt shocking. So I went to the doctor again and ended up being rushed into hospital and had loads of tests".

"It turned out to be a bad kidney infection which meant I was kept in for five days and I had to have more time off. By this time I was starting to worry about the Europeans so I have come back here and started training for the Europeans at Manchester".

It is says Nikki, like a cramming session for school exams with no time to start over again and the training has included quite a lot of intense work to get her top end speed in place for the Europeans. Because the last two months have been so up and down, mainly down, Nikki has little base from that period but does have a lot of in-depth work she has done before that.

Her work at Manchester has included a lot paced work and as well as some through and off efforts with Lizzy Armitstead and Katie Curtis, chasing the pacer. The training revolves around getting her ready for the Points and Scratch race. Nikki was expected to do the Pursuit but that has been put on hold for the moment whilst her fitness is assessed.

All the best to Nikki for Athens and read more about her experiences by going to Nikki's website. www.nikkiharris.co.uk