Jessica Wilson-Young Interview

Posted on: 14th September 2011

Article by: Ed Hood

It hasn't been the best of summers for going fast on a bicycle, but the last day of August saw the Westferry ‘10' course in benign mood - Arthur Doyle (Dooleys) dipped under the magical 20 minute barrier with 19:45, not so far away now from Graeme Obree's 19:29 competition record.

But the ladies' record did fall, with Jessica Wilson-Young (Edinburgh RC) updating the Scottish ladies mark by four seconds to 21:42.

Here's what Jessica had to say about her evening out beside the Clyde.

Ed Hood: Congratulations, Jessica - rude questions first, how old are you and what do you do for a living?

Jessica Wilson-Young: I'll be 40 at the end of September; I work for the Centre for Sport and Exercise at University of Edinburgh.

They have an outdoor activity centre at Loch Tay and I do the admin for that.

EH: How did you get into the bike?

JWY: I used to work with Carol Westmorland who was British ladies 12 and 24 hour champion, she was a great inspiration to me and one lunch hour we nipped out and bought me a bike - that was the start.

I was 24, so started in the sport late.

EH: Who inspires you as a rider?

JWY: Julia Shaw, she disproves the theory that you can't go faster after your 40th birthday.

EH: Who had the ‘10' record previously?

JWY: Katrina Hair with 21:46, it's stood since 2006 but I've felt for a while that I had it within me to break it.

But to break a Scottish record the weather has to be right; it was my last race of the season and the conditions were good - it was a nice way to close my season.

EH: And that goes with winning the 10, 25 and 50 titles, this year?

JWY: Yes, I didn't ride the 100; I don't think I'd enjoy that distance.

EH: Do you have road ambitions?

JWY: No, I don't think I'd enjoy road racing; I enjoy time trialling and folk are really friendly - I'm not sure about all that spitting and swearing that goes on in road races.

EH: Track?

JWY: I've previously won a bronze in the Scottish ladies' pursuit but I was a bit wary of riding the bankings.

EH: What's your favourite event and course?
JWY: Tens - it's over quickly, I enjoy short distance time trialling most of all.

I like Westferry; I prefer non-technical courses - although I do like the Meldons course.

I do go best on non-technical courses; I tend to lose time on corners.

EH: I believe you were only beaten once, this year?

JWY: That was in the British ‘10' championships - I didn't have a very good result, 24th.

I'd had a family bereavement and it was a really windy day, which didn't suit me - it was a struggle.

I was unbeaten in Scotland, which was a surprise because I hadn't even intended to race, I was going to take a year out to concentrate on running - I'd like to run a fast Edinburgh marathon.

I started training for running but I built up the volume and intensity far too quickly and ended up with a stress fracture in my pelvis.

I did nothing until February and then we went on a touring holiday to North Vietnam at the end of March.

It was very mountainous and involved a lot of long, long climbs - when I came back I did a test on the turbo and found that I had good power.

EH: You use SRM cranks?

JWY: I've been using a power metre for three years but really I prefer to ride on speed rather than power.

EH: The Commonwealth Games?

JWY: I really wanted to ride the time trial at Delhi but I didn't meet the qualification criteria - which was two top three placings in Rudy Project events.

In the past I'd achieved that, but in 2010 I only managed one top three and didn't gain selection.

I rather lost motivation due to that, but I'm very keen to be at Glasgow in 2014.

I'll take 2012 out to go for a good marathon time but will definitely be back after that.

I'd like to break the 25 and 50 records and whilst I'll be even older at the 2014 Games I really want to have a shot at selection - you just have to look at the achievements of riders like Julia Shaw and Christine McLean; it shows that you can still improve even if you're over 40.

EH: What one thing would you change about Scottish Cycling?

JWY: I think SC does a good job of attracting girls in to bike racing, especially youngsters - but maybe there could be a bit more support for older riders?

NEW WOMENS 10 mile TIME TRIAL RECORD

Posted on: 1st September 2011

Article by: Events Team

Image by: Ed Hood

We are hearing on the grapevine that Jessica Wilson-Young - Edinburgh Road Club broke the Scottish Womens 10TT record on the West Ferry course last night with a time of 21:42. Congratulations Jessica - a well deserved result!! It's been a fast night with lots of personal bests and Arthur Doyle - Dooleys RT getting under the 20 minute barrier - well done everybody!!! Provisional results are listed. Our thanks to the Organisers, Timekeepers and Marshalls.

1 Number Rider Club Time Category
2 37 Arthur Doyle Dooleys R.T. 0:19:45 S
3 15 Jim Cusick Glasgow Couriers 0:20:21 V40
4 50 Chris Smart Glasgow Couriers 0:20:25 S
5 77 Ben Peacock Johnstone Wheelers 0:20:26 S
6 75 Peter Ettles Sandy Wallace Cycles 0:20:30 V40
7 55 Graeme Cockburn Glasgow Wheelers 0:20:33 V40
8 85 Silus Goldworthy Sandy Wallace Cycles 0:20:51 S
9 60 Tam Gordon Dooleys R.T. 0:21:01 V 40
10 29 Kenneth Armstrong Ayr Roads C.C. 0:21:05 S
11 17 James Mclaughlin Forres C.C. 0:21:12 V40
12 83 Barry McGurk Glasgow Couriers 0:21:12 S
13 20 David Millar Glasgow Couriers 0:21:16 V60
14 42 Mark Ewing Falkirk B.C. 0:21:28 V40
15 23 Ramsay Muirhead Johnstone Wheelers 0:21:29 S
16 73 Davie Gibson Dooleys R.T. 0:21:29 V40
17 82 Gerry McGarrity Inverclyde Velo 0:21:29 S
18 80 Greg Brown Dooleys R.T. 0:21:30 JNR.
19 25 Matt Hennon Inverclyde Velo 0:21:33 S
20 47 Andrew Underwood Glasgow Wheelers 0:21:33 S
21 30 David Mclellan Fullarton Wheelers 0:21:40 V40
22 45 Graham Leitch Dooleys R.T. 0:21:41 S
23 10 Jessica Wilson-Young Edinburgh R.C. 0:21:42 L
24 18 Jim Ryland Fullarton Wheelers 0:21:48 V40
25 70 Martin Lonie Dooleys R.T. 0:21:55 S
26 35 Brian Loye Fullarton Wheelers 0:22:01 V40
27 33 Tom Mcdonald Lomand Roads 0:22:03 V40
28 9 Scot Robertson Glasgow Road Club 0:22:07 S
29 27 Peter Collins Team Icarus 0:22:10 S
30 63 Mathew Ball West Lothian Clarion 0:22:13 V40
31 21 Robert Kelly Ayr Roads C.C. 0:22:16 V40
32 67 Ross Laidlaw Kelso Wheelers 0:22:17 S
33 13 Sian Tovey Dooleys R.T. 0:22:22 L
34 48 Sadiq Mir West Lothian Clarion 0:22:28 S
35 52 Callum Finlayson Forres C.C. 0:22:28 S
36 68 Paul Friel Glasgow Couriers 0:22:32 V40
37 84 Andrew McGhee Glasgow Couriers 0:22:41 S
38 36 Kenny Christie Johnstone Wheelers 0:22:43 S
39 40 Gordon Graham Fullarton Wheelers 0:22:44 V40
40 53 Steve Beech Sandy Wallace Cycles 0:22:47 V60
41 62 Mike Ferguson Johnstone Wheelers 0:22:57 V50
42 57 Graham Jones Edinburgh R.C. 0:23:03 V40
43 31 Buchanan Paterson Stirling Bike Club 0:23:05 S
44 81 Jason Barnes Glasgow Nightingale 0:23:05 S
45 28 Derek Robinson Inverclyde Velo 0:23:19 V50
46 66 Michael Martin E.K. Road Club. 0:23:20 V40
47 5 Bob Taylor Dooleys R.T. 0:23:22 V60
48 44 Peter Robertson Forres C.C. 0:23:25 V70
49 54 Richard Sykes Fullarton Wheelers 0:23:29 V40
50 58 Steven Cassidy Fullarton Wheelers 0:23:31 V40
51 72 Geoff Smith Glasgow Couriers 0:23:32 V40
52 49 Colin Gillespie St. Christophers C.C. 0:23:33 V40
53 38 Jocky Johnstone Team Icarus 0:23:37 V60
54 24 Jennifer Lang Edinburgh R.C. 0:23:41 L
55 32 Eric Easson Glasgow Wheelers 0:23:48 V60
56 64 Iain Cowden Johnstone Wheelers 0:23:48 V50
57 39 Patricia Baird Inverclyde Velo 0:23:49 LV
58 76 Stuart Easton Stirling Bike Club 0:23:53 V50
59 16 Neil Muir Edinburgh R.C. 0:23:58 V60
60 74 Frank Anderson West Lothian Clarion 0:23:58 ?
61 46 Elaine Louden Glasgow Wheelers 0:24:01 L
62 69 Richard Reade V.C. Glasgow South 0:24:04 V40
63 22 Iain Binning Stirling Bike Club 0:24:07 V60
64 79 Craig McGowan Unattached 0:24:09 S
65 71 Colin Meikle St. Christophers 0:24:10 V40
66 11 David Turner St. Christophers 0:24:15 V50
67 43 Michael Curran Fullarton Wheelers 0:24:25 V40
68 34 Grant Frazer Dales C.R.T. 0:24:35 V50
69 26 Jane Stevenson Edinburgh R.C. 0:24:44 LV
70 59 Errol Bennie Glasgow Wheelers 0:24:47 V60
71 56 Lorraine Brown Leslie Bike Shop 0:24:54 V 40
72 14 A Speed Fife Century R.C. 0:25:02 LV
73 61 Brian McGhee ? 0:25:04 S
74 19 Alan Jardine V.C. Glasgow South 0:25:05 V50
75 12 Steve Wallace Dunfermline 0:25:26 V50
76 4 Thomas Cummings Fife Century R.C. 0:26:16 V60
77 3 Andrew Wilson St. Christophers 0:26:27 V50
78 1 Iain Loughran Glasgow Road Club 0:26:38 V 60
79 2 Erin Falconer Inverclyde Velo 0:27:27 L
80 7 Michael Devlin St. Christophers 0:27:37 V60
81 8 Gavin Laffoley Fife Century R.C. 0:28:47 Youth