A Bright Young Thing - Sophie Wright Interview

I have known Sophie for a few years, from first time mountain biker to National Champion. With her newly won stripes, I thought it time to sit down for a proper chat and share her story so far. She lives only a few miles from me, so I popped over for a cuppa and chin wag! We got slightly distracted discussing the merits tea and coffee, and of various supermarket chains, but eventually got going with her remarkable rise up the ranks of racing... 

At 16, Sophie is full of confidence but free of cockiness. She has a big smile and bouncy step and is whole-heartedly enthused by life, but she doesn’t have that interminable effervescence which leaves you wide-eyed and windswept! She would like to study Maths, Business, Economics and Physics at A-Level, she enjoys cooking, and maybe she would like to have a career in engineering, but most of all she wants to be a cyclist. Ultimately, a World Champion! 

Of course, we all want to be World Champion, but Sophie is already far further along the scale from dream to reality than most.

 
It all started ordinarily enough, with cross-country running and then triathlon. Sophie was obviously a talented sportswoman but it wasn't until a family holiday in Scotland brought her, a mountain bike and the World Cup track in Fort William together and lit a spark that is now growing into a bright fire. 

When she returned home - to Norwich, in Norfolk - getting a mountain bike was top of Sophie's agenda. Soon a little Specialized Hotrock was her pride and joy, and that little spark was well on its way to becoming a flame. 

The way in which Sophie experienced mountain biking and grew as a rider and competitor is testament to two wonderful XC series which run in the East of England. The first, a grass-roots race series which emulates regional and national racing formats but with a heart-warming welcome and guiding hand for beginners, is Push Sport’s 5by3 MTB Series. Sophie started her XC racing here, just half an hour from home. When she had mastered these courses and really got a taste for racing she moved on to the regional Mud, Sweat and Gears series. Organiser, Graham Elliot, was (and continues to be) a great source of support for Sophie. She is quick to point out and appreciate these races and organisers, and the community of friendly faces that she built up in those early days. These experiences definitely kept the fire lit. That, and winning! 

There is no doubt that the winning feeling is a driving force behind Sophie’s passion and dedication. A win at the popular Ixworth Criterium (Youth category) in her first year of racing certainly fanned the flames. When we talk about it her eyes light up even more. It’s not obsession or arrogance, it is joy! 

Come 2013 Sophie was up for testing herself against the country’s best. She’s up for most things really; the slightly reckless confidence that mountain bikers need! Or maybe it’s the confidence that being a mountain biker brings.
Either way, why not throw yourself into a national road race? Why not indeed when you end up finishing sixth! Sophie was quickly highlighting herself as one to watch. 

A sixth place nationally on the road was looking to be followed by a third place on the MTB, but a puncture ended that race prematurely. Nevertheless, in Sophie’s mind it was clear that a full season of National MTB racing was the next step, and one that she couldn’t wait to get going with. 

Sophie started with a seventh place at Round 1 of the British Mountain Bike Series in 2014 and finished with a win at the final round at Cannock Chase, despite a broken collar bone in between. She had gone from her first national race to her first national win in one year.

It was not solely an abundance of natural talent – though that she undoubtedly does have – it was the result of a number of decisions:
The decision to put herself out there and race alongside the best. The realisation that she needed to work on technical skills and the decision therefore to bunnyhop around the garden until she’d nailed it. The decision to seek out and ride with more experienced riders and listen to their advice. The decision to rise to the challenge. 

I doubt Sophie even sees these as decisions – for her they are a natural and logical part of a process. Part of the pathway. 

After she received some training sessions to help her recover fitness following her broken collar bone, Sophie began to take her training and racing seriously. Within a year she had gone from a regional racer to a World Championship dreamer. In her mind, she was well and truly on the path to potential professionalism. As it turned out, that thought crossed many other people’s minds as well, as she took on the 2014 season. 

News that she had been selected as a British Cycling Apprentice at the end of the season was an extra spring in her step, a big log on the fire, further progress along the path to the top.

Given a list of training sessions from her coach, Sophie creates her training plan two weeks in advance. She can make it fit around her schooling and other events and then check with her coach that it is efficient and effective. Each day she records how her training went, feeding back to her coach and, perhaps more importantly, herself. For an organised and disciplined young adult it seems a great approach. It is certainly one that Sophie likes; she has thrived within this set-up. 

This year, 2015, Sophie has been unbeatable on the National MTB scene. She has taken all five wins in the National MTB Series, won the final round of the National Road Series, and, most importantly (for her, at least) she won the National MTB Championships. It was, she says, the best day of her life. That’s a big statement, to make and to send. There is no doubt in Sophie’s mind, or that of anyone around her, that cycling is the centre of her attentions. 

She is happy, and she is getting results. They are mutually beneficial, but I don’t believe that they are one and the same for Sophie. With her quick rise to the top of British Youth racing we are yet to see her struggle, but the set-backs she has been faced with so far do not seem to have phased her. That pure passion would take some shifting, if it were ever challenged. 

With this season just about wrapped up, Sophie is now looking ahead to her junior years. With the prospect of racing abroad, Sophie’s eyes light up like the fire that the thought stokes. This is the next step on her pathway and I have little doubt that she will rise to that challenge as she has done her previous endeavours – say yes first and worry about the nerves later! 

Sophie hopes that opportunities to race overseas will come if she is selected as part of British Cycling’s Junior Academy. [She has finished the second selection camp and will hear soon – good luck!] The Junior World Series would offer up a huge platform for gaining experience and finding a place on the World stage. The Junior set-up at British Cycling looks to me healthier than is has done for years; the seemingly non-divergent drive for results finally replaced by opportunity and experience. I think Sophie’s own logical stepping stones to the top align really well with the ‘performance pathway’ of British Cycling, so I hope that if she is selected the federation can then live up to her expectations and nurture her talent wisely.

For now, the winter begins. Some time off the bike (which will no doubt be agonising) and the search for a new team. It is here that I am reminded how new to the sport Sophie is. We go completely off topic for half an hour talking about how to write a palmares, who might be interested in signing her, what kind of team would be most beneficial, what’s out there and how to handle it. It makes me appreciate how brave (read: slightly mad!) she is to have thrown herself into it all... and how supportive her parents are. The Wrights are a lovely family; I could have stayed and drank tea all day!

Hopefully with a team in place, it will soon be back to training. Then Junior years, World Cups, World Championships and Olympics!

Yes, there is a long way to go and a lot of potential change before her aspirations could become reality, but I think she is strong enough to handle her dreams. Yes, she is only young, but...

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