Things that cool people do: drink multi-coloured coffees, tweet dank memes, and… cycle their brains out. This, I’ll have you know, is not a game of Spot The Odd One Out, but fact.
Cycling is no longer for oldies needing a hobby other than golf. Evie Richards, a 21-year-old British cyclist, is proof that the sport is growing, and better yet, it’s cool. Case in point: her competing schedule, that kept her busy all through high school. “My friends would be like, ‘What are you doing this weekend?’ and I’d be like, ‘Just going to France,’ and then you’d be back on Monday at school and it was just surreal, really. I just felt so lucky for the experience I had,” says Evie. Casual.
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Now, she’s a two-time Cyclocross World Champ, having won the race in her under-23 division this year and in 2018. She started competing while she was in high school, juggling her time abroad with a job at a nearby supermarket and school.
Cycling has never looked this fun, and Evie’s created a community of 22K (and growing) members actively engaging with her and her sport. “It’s great for them to be inspired by it,” says Evie about her followers. “I get quite a lot of messages from young girls who are racing [asking] questions. I feel like if that social media wasn’t there it would probably be harder for them to find out things about me or ask questions that they need help with,” she says. At just 21 years old, Evie’s part of the ‘grammable sport.
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It’s definitely harder than it sounds: cyclocross racing, Evie’s sport, consists of many laps around a short, muddy terrain. Yes, plenty of make-up is ruined in the competition. After one event, Evie uploaded the picture of herself, face spattered with mud. The caption read, “My bronzer was wasted in today’s muddy xc race.” It’s funny and completely relatable. “I like doing my hair when it comes to racing, it’s nice to see that you don’t have to be muddy all the time and you can have a life as well as cycling and for girls to see that is just always good as well,” she says.
