Meet Pippa Boss
Pippa Boss trained as a Breeze Champion just over 2 years ago, but she feels like she has been part of the Breeze family forever! Becoming part of Breeze has also opened up many other opportunities for Pippa and here is her story:
Pippa first heard about Breeze rides happening in South Wales via a good friend, who also thought she would make a great Breeze Champion. After researching rides local to her, she attended a couple to see what Breeze was all about. Pippa is a mountain biker at heart and only really headed out on her road bike to keep fit or travel to work. After enjoying the social side of Breeze road rides, it was clear there was a gap in her area with a lack of shorter, introductory rides. After discussions with her local Area coordinator, she was persuaded to apply to undertake the Breeze Leadership course, which she did, and has never looked back since.
As the Breeze projected started to expand in Wales and Breeze Mountain bike rides commenced, there was an opportunity to take part in the Welsh Cycling initiative to train more MTB Breeze leaders. Whilst Pippa was nervous whether she would be good enough to be an MTB Leader (due to past injury, her age ((these are her words!)) and being an e-biker) Gaynor Davis (North Wales Participation Officer) felt sure, with the right encouragement and support, she would make a brilliant MTB Breeze leader. The course trainer “Windy” also saw her potential and he never doubted her abilities. Some 6 months later, Pippa qualified as L2 MTB Breeze Leader.
Pippa talks about things which inspired her to ride a bike, which she would love to share:
As a child Pippa dreamed of having a pony. In the absence of one, she rode her bike as though it was a pony and invented her own style of mountain biking before it was even thought of….
Living in Cardiff in the mid 1980’s on a whim, she signed up for a mountain bike weekend in mid Wales and so began her passion for non equine mountain biking! Back then, she had one of the original bikes – a really heavy silver Peugeot – no suspension, but loved that bike to bits. For the next 10 or so years this was her escape – from work, from the kids, from running a hotel – a chance to have some important ‘me’ time.
She then started to see Mountain Biking as social activity after entering a few bike marathons and saw what fun people were having riding in groups. She made great friends this way and now regularly ride with friends; many of these friendships being formed through the Breeze programme.
Riding a bike gives Pippa a sense of freedom, fresh air and exhilaration of riding in the mountains. She loves being able to share something she loves with friends and other like minded people.
Pippa also talks about how leading Breeze rides makes her feel:
“It means sharing something I love with others, and seeing them sharing their own bike (or other) stories and making friends. Every ride is different and every group is different. I've built up a groups of regular riders now and its lovely to catch up on rides. Also seeing new riders, often starting out quite nervously; maybe not sure what to expect, or being apologetic about being slow (whatever that means – there is no ‘slow’ on my rides – we ride leisurely to suit everyone!) and by the end of the ride seeing their smiles and knowing they’ll be back! I’m building up my own confidence every ride too , but even on my fist rides I felt the support of my groups that meant I have been able to progress as a leader”
Pippa now runs regular Breeze rides in the Elan Valley or at Nany y Arian trail centre. Rides are usually around 2 -3.5 hrs, depending upon the level, distance or terrain. Many women travel long distances to attend rides, so Pippa feels it is important to make the ride worthwhile. There are regular snack stops along the journey, with all rides ending up at a café for lunch or tea/cake at the end. Pippa has now established a regular group of MTB riders at Nant y Arian, many of these women also cross over to take part in Breeze road rides at the Elan Valley.
After the progression from Breeze Leader to Breeze MTB Leader, Pippa was also encouraged to take part in a new pilot programme from British Cycling (MTB Leader to Coach Pathway). Pippa successfully qualified as a MTB Coach in May 2019 and is now coaching at her local Go-Ride club and plans to integrate coaching sessions into her regular MTB Breeze rides in the future.
Gaynor Davis (North Wales Participation Officer) commented “I am delighted Pippa is our volunteer of the month, it has been a real pleasure to see how Pippa has embraced the Breeze ethos and I am very proud of what she has achieved in two years. Becoming a L2 MTB Leader and MTB Coach are massive achievements, all of which have been made possible by her commitment, hard work and passion for the Breeze programme.’
Thank you to Pippa Boss for becoming our Volunteer of the Month for July, Pippa will automatically be entered for 'Volunteer of the Year' Award at the Welsh Cycling Annual Awards 2019 later this year.
For more information on the breeze programme in Wales please contact:
Emma White (South)- emma.white@welshcycling.co.uk
Gaynor Davis (North)- gaynor.davis@welshcycling.co.uk
