Ireland's Jenny Fay has established herself as a respected and accomplished rider on the international scene; attracting the backing of Specialized in Australia where she is based.
By Brian Canty
Jenny Fay is just one of a smattering of Irish riders taking part in this weekend’s European Mountain Bike Championships in Ballyhoura, on the Cork-Limerick border.
The Westmeath woman, who has been living in Australia for the last six years, is returning home to ride the race with ambitions of a top 10 or “maybe higher” in the elite women's race tomorrow, Sunday.
She is also fulfilling something of a lifetime’s ambition in two weeks when she takes part in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in South Africa.
The latter couldn’t have been worse timed, ironically, as it clashes with the National Road Race Championships, which are being run by the club that got her into the sport; Lakeside Wheelers from Mullingar.
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“I know all the roads in Mullingar and I’d have great support but I’ve always wanted to ride the World Marathon Championships; it’s been a good goal for me for many, many years.”
Jenny Fay is gunning for the elite women's race at the European Marathon Championships in Ballyhoura tomorrow.
And with that in mind, this weekend in Ballyhoura is the ideal preparation, though she’s not going there to make up the numbers.
“I’m pretty confident in my preparation for this weekend but it comes down to the day and how you’re conditioned,” she explains.
“If I’ve good legs, I can get in the top 10, though I’m pretty confident I could go better. But I’ve only raced (UK professional rider) Sally Bingham, the favourite, and I can only judge myself on her performances. She’s in a league of her own, so it’ll come down to all the rest of us fighting for all the other places,” she added.
The winner this weekend, she said, “will be a good cross-country rider with endurance, and anyone who is used to that will capitalise”.
Among the other Irish competing are Ciara McManus, who was 3rd in the Irish Marathon Championships last year, as well as the current Irish Road Race Champion Mel Spath.
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Fay’s story is an interesting one. She started cycling with Lakeside Wheelers before branching into triathlon. But as the bike was her strongest discipline she again specialised back into that.
Fay is regarded as a very tough competitor and could well be in the reckoning tomorrow.
After graduating from college with a degree in architecture she moved to Australia, where the real love affair with biking began.
“I was living in Belgium and on the European road racing circuit before I then went to Oz and raced a bit over there,” she said.
“I didn’t find the road racing so fulfilling at that point so I moved to mountain-biking. It was just more of a social thing, but I’m naturally competitive so I got racing.
“Long distance marathon racing is more my area, I just have the endurance from road racing, so I started to win a few races in Australia and I ended up getting sponsored by Specialized Australia.
“They took an interest in me after I won a few marathons. I was quietly hoping they would, but they’ve been very generous and I’m very privileged to have such a major sponsor; their bikes are amazing and it’s such an advantage.
“So I moved to Canberra last year because it’s a better lifestyle for cyclists, it has a great racing scene. For example, nine of the 41 cyclists going to the Commonwealth Games this year are from Canberra.
“It exposes me to a high level and I’m always chasing my tail; you’re racing and training at a high level all the time.”
She’ll be six years in Australia this year and knows she’s reaching a career-high. But she said after this couple of weeks, it’ll be time to face the “real world”.
“I’m going back to look for work after the Euros and World Champs. I’ll be very happy then and know I’ll need to get back to the real world.”
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