Manuka Performance is proud to sponsor the Liv Awol Spok'd team from the United Kingdom. We will be highlighting all of the ladies from this U23 Women's Cycling team.
Boosting the Youth Development ranks back up to three is another multi-talented all-rounder, Bethany Barnett. Bethany started competing on her bike when she was 7, racing at a few cycle speedway events in Norwich as well as GoRide events in the local area. She didn’t start to ride regional races until as a second year U14, and she suddenly found out she was actually okay at cyclocross, winning every regional Eastern league race bar the final one. She also started racing the National Trophy Series during that season, with multiple top 10 finishes and a 6th place in Ipswich. That first cyclocross season gave her a taste of what winning felt like, and from then there has been no turning back!
The main disciplines that Bethany competes in are road, time-trial and her favourite, cyclocross. Throughout the past year she has podiumed and won regional races, whilst also developing her experience and performance at National level races. Her best results include 2nd U16 overall in the Eastern Cyclocross League, 2nd at the Active Fakenham Criterium and 2nd at Ixworth Cycle Races, and most recently an age-category win in the National Youth Time-trial Championships.
She is already making her mark in the 2018-19 cyclocross season, with several wins in the Eastern cross races, and despite some bad luck at the first National Trophy, she is really looking forward to getting stuck in with the rest of the series races at some awesome venues.
When asked about her ambitions on a bike, Bethany replied “I really enjoy cyclocross because the requirement of technical skills and core fitness suits me well, and I hope to better my second place last year in the Eastern Cyclocross League overall. I also have high hopes for the cyclocross National Trophy Series. A top 5 (or a podium!) is the dream. For road, I want to keep improving in the Nationals and aim to win regional races, and for time-trial, I aim to qualify for Nationals and defend my age-group national title.”
When Bethany is not cycling, she likes to compete with her school cross-country running team, having qualified for regionals recently. She also likes to spend time with her dog, Cola (above).
Bethany’s previous teams/clubs include: Kings Lynn Cycling Club
She will be riding on road, cyclocross and time-trial for Admiral Liv AWOL.
Follow Bethany (and her sister Florence) on Twitter at @BarnettCycling
Bethany’s British Cycling Individual Points