Feature: Joscelin Lowden

Talking to the new British Hill Climb champion in 2017, Joscelin Lowden from Lewes Wanderers in London

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Feature: Joscelin Lowden

There is a new name on the Hill Climb trophy for women and it’s that of Joscelin Lowden, a bubbly, smiling and enchanting young lady who won the title on the climb to Hedley on the Hill on Sunday.

L-R: Hayley Simmonds, Joscelin Lowden and Mary Wilkinson

Lowden has had a stand out season in 2017 having only turned to competitive cycling in the summer of 2016 following her previous sporting success as a runner. Her rapid rise through the racing ranks saw her secure some impressive top five results in National Series races. Winner of the Eastern/Central & SE regional road race title, Joscelin was also second to GB’s Melissa Lowther in the National Series RR at Newton Longville this year.

Speaking after getting her Gold medal and trophy on the podium, Joscelin said of the victory “I am absolutely thrilled. I have had such a fun year, the road race season and the hill climb season have been really good fun but this weekend has been amazing”.

Asked does she get a lot of opportunity to do hill climbs around the London area, Joscelin replied “yes, there are a couple of ranges to the south of London and into Kent where its hilly with some steep climbs and Catford and BEC Hill Climbs are held there so there are no shortage of hills where I am.”
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Asked about the course for the hill climb championships in the North East, 300 miles or more from London, Joscelin replied “It was an interesting course. I thought of it as being in steps and that was my concern; how to push on on the flatter sections between the climbs as it’s not just an out of the saddle go for it sort of climb.”

“So there was a lot of thought of what gearing to use when , when to get out of the saddle, when to stay in the saddle and I Like to have these ‘pauses’ to reload for the next steep bit so it was a very interesting climb. Totally different to last years. I really liked it.”

Joscelin admits that she knew she had the potential to do well and in winning the title, Joscelin denied Hayley Simmonds who a month ago was riding for her country at the World Championships. “Hayley has done a lot this season and done phenomenally well” Joscelin explained. “To be on the podium with Hayley is like an honour in itself. I’ve raced a bit with her this year and she’s incredible”.
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Asked about her own year on the road, Joscelin explained, “it has been a good season for me. I like road racing especially if it’s a nice hilly course as I like the hills. I also quite like time trialling too and hill climbs; I just like riding my bike and I don’t really care what it is!”

Speaking of her move to Storey Racing for 2018, Lowden said, “I’m excited to be lining up for Storey Racing in 2018, from chatting to the riders on the team this year, they have really enjoyed being part of the set up and have lots of positive things to say about good communication and organisation. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in to the racing and trying to be the best I can be for both my own expectations and that of the team.”

Finally, we had to ask her about her coaching from a person who himself was pretty handy on the bike, Sean Yates, who held the yellow jersey in the Tour de France during his illustrious career. “He has been fantastic” says Joscelin. “He previously coached my brother and coaches a friend Lisa as well so I have really good support and people behind me. Since working with Sean, he just knows what he’s talking about and you have to trust him and he gets it right”.

“In the last few weeks, I have been doing proper intensity stuff in training. The way I ride normally, if I see anything that looks like a hill or a sign, I’ll sprint for it, so everything is intense and fired up anyway. What Sean has done though is take what I do and put some structure to it and thrown in some rests and try and control me a little bit! Put some sense to what I am doing and it’s come together really well.”

Our thanks to Joscelin for the chat and good luck for next season where with a new team, and even better form, she should be a name you will be hearing a lot more of!

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