Great Britain Cycling Team's Megan Giglia has had an incredible 12 months - but the Paralympic and double world champion isn't resting on her laurels ahead of a hugely important 2017.
In a guest blog, Giglia looks at the challenges facing her in the coming weeks and months as part of the four year cycle towards Tokyo 2020.
What can I say about 2016?
It was manic, hard work, awe-inspiring, life changing, defining and one hell of a challenge. In fact if you grabbed a dictionary and picked an adjective, I have probably felt any one of those words at some point in the past 12 months.
I went from being a small fry in the cycling world to becoming a double world champion, double world record holder, a Paralympic gold medallist and being honoured with an MBE in the blink of an eye.
HSBC UK | National Track Championships
The HSBC UK | National Track Championships take place this weekend and this year I can’t wait to race. Competition is competition, you get on that line and you want to win, it’s as simple as that. I’ve never won a national title on the track so I’ll be aiming to pull on that red, white and blue jersey for the first time this weekend.
It is a never ending learning curve, win or lose I always want to be the best I can possibly be. Racing in front of a home crowd and the appreciation of all the support following the success of Rio makes it all the more exciting. I’m a rider that really responds to the cheers of a crowd. It’s just mental and gives you a completely different buzz.
It’s my first major event of the year and I’m pretty excited just to be racing again. It feels like forever since Rio and I’m getting itchy feet and I can’t wait to get racing again.
UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships and beyond
Anyone into cycling has probably heard about the rather last minute announcement for the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships to be held in Los Angeles. We had heard whispers this event might be happening but all you can do is train as hard as you can and make sure you are ready just in case.
Selection is yet to be made and I’m hopeful of a spot but in the race world anything can happen! It’s a positive step forward in the para-cycling world to have a world championships on the road and the track in the year following a Paralympic Games.
The next four year cycle is upon all riders looking towards Tokyo and for me personally there are some huge gains to be made with some massive areas for improvement. Obviously, I want to keep hold of my titles on the track but I also want to shift my training focus for this year onto the road.
I need to go back to basics, build a bigger engine, get the miles in my legs and get that power to weight ratio spot on for the road. Every little thing I improve can make a difference as I look to get better in 2017.
Three words: Bring it on!
