FEMME MATTERS | WOMENS CYCLING VLOG | EPISODE 4 | MANON LLOYD | RETIRING FROM CYCLING + BODY CHANGE

Welcome BACK to the fourth episode of FEMME MATTERS. A new cycling vlog series, shining a light women’s cycling, celebrating incredible women within the cycling space and their stories. The series features female riders from every bike discipline – road, gravel, mountain biking, track.

This week we interview the incredible Manon Lloyd – beagle Mum, top GCN presenter and ex-professional cyclist who raced both track and road and represented GB and Wales. Starting her cycling life with a triathlon, Manon fell completely in love with the sport.

In this vlog we chat about her cycling career, her proudest moments, advice to women wanting to start cycling, thoughts and feelings on retiring from professional cycling and the honest struggles and changes that come with it.

A must watch for anyone.

You can find Manon’s instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/manonlloyd5/?hl=en

My instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/pelohun/

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A little about me
Thanks for dropping by.
I’m your classic runner turned newbie cyclist.

For years I feared riding a bike – I was afraid of traffic, clipping in, couldn’t get my head around lycra, chamois cream and clambering up hills on a bike.

I didn’t believe that riding a bike would give me the same de-stress, mental download or sense of freedom that life as a long distance runner had given me before my knees ground to dust.

Fast forward to 2021 and picking up a second hand CAAD10 changed my life for the better. Not just physically and mentally. But also providing a sense of community and belonging – which is magic. The cycling community is just magic.

So I’m here. To hopefully inspire others to not fear the bike – the lycra, the clipping in. And come share the passion, freedom and indescribable joy that comes from being on the bike. I truly believe that the bike life is the best life and everyone should be able to enjoy it.

Come with me on some adventures.

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A few items featured in the video are incredibly kindly gifted by some amazing partners (feel so lucky, thank you).

Garmin Edge ( @garminemea )
Garmin Rally Power Pedals ( @GarminInt )

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Because we all love a bit of a bargain, some discount codes from some super lovely partners:

£25 off LAKA bike insurance: https://my.laka.co/WEJ30

Thanks so much for all the support, really appreciate any likes, comments and subscribes ❤

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good morning uh I am coming to you from the car uh for this episode I am sat in good old L alir which might give a clue as to which way I’m heading very very excited to go and meet up with someone who has been making me laugh on YouTube uh and also with their content for quite some time now um track cyclist um retire Pro shall we say I think there’s going to be a little beagle waiting at the other end um of this Motorway so very very excited GRE hello Yay good boy all right welcome to the next episode of fan and guess who I’m with hi guys it’s really man and Lloyd your expr and uh GCM present there got our legs out you forced me to we’re ready we’re good to go H we’re here today we’re going to do some riding around bath uh surrounded by absolute Hills came down to 16center so I hope we’re not going up that we might be we might be in to in zone two in zone two for those who are checking and watching so yeah we’re about to go for a nice little ride uh we’ll ask questions as per usual dig into the background of man and Lloyd’s life um and yeah take you with us on a little journey of bath let’s go so first question we’re out and about on these beautiful leans can you tell us a little bit about how you got into cycling yes so I got into cycling when I was probably about 13 14 I was a swimmer and then basically I got really bored of staring at the bottom of the pool I just had enough and I was like right I need to find something else I could run my dad was like oh why don’t you start Triathlon or give Triathlon a go cheers Dad yeah thanks Dad thanks for this um and so yeah got a secondhand bike from like his friend at work I went to my local Cycling Club and absolutely loved it and yeah I just kind of B literally fell into it like just went to Cycling Club wanted to have fun yeah and then ended up doing some races really enjoyed it and yeah got on the W team and the GB team casual and then GCM yeah that’s it filming over we’re done that’s all see you next time started off in Triathlon I did one Triathlon one Triathlon Trion how did you get on uh I think I got like second not bad yeah and then straight into the the Wales team did you say yeah we’re not straight into I went to like a few of their training sessions and then yeah went from there did a few track races mainly track we’re going left we’re going left all right we’re going to turn it off we’re we’re going to turn it off where were we before getting interrupted by the hill I wanted to know about track oh yeah so track is that’s that’s really different for me I’ve never done it have you not never done it we need to get you on the track tell me tell me about it so have you seen a valad Drome yes basically you’re riding around it’s like it’s like swimming you’re just like riding up swimming up and down but you’re riding around in circles all the the time no brakes one gear um but it’s going to sound really lame but you do get like really at one with a bike like you have to be so smooth with your pedaling OB you can’t like you can’t stop pedling otherwise you’re going to fly over the handlebars yeah um and yeah it’s really good and if you especially if you like like speed and you know everything’s done off the clock yeah um yeah it’s completely different style of racing um or riding in general but yeah it’s really good fun so were you you went from chlon onto track so was that like the first thing that you you tried or the road I did um I did cycle cross and time trials so that was like my first experience of kind of racing I feel like time trials is quite a big thing in in the UK and especially in Wales we just rid up and down a dual Carriage all day but yeah so I got into that and I think everything that I’ve kind of done has always been you know like progression like you’re doing time TRS and you’re wanting to like bet time and stuff so I really enjoyed that um and then how how old were you when you did your first cycle cross race then I think I was 15 or 16 maybe 16 yeah um and then I did a crit on the road like a town center crit yeah um and that was my first like Road Race but it was yeah like a half an hour 40 minute crit oh my gosh um I can’t remember what my first track race was I think it might have been um um like a development World Cup which isn’t a thing anymore um and I basically crashed and took everybody out which is super embarrassing um did you yourself yeah yeah yeah yeah I had like a few Burns and like I dented my bike yeah pretty embarrassing actually oh my goodness so that’s unreal so at the at this time were you like still in school yeah yeah I still in school yeah yeah I think it was that year 11 that that was I can’t remember how old I was go that’s kind of so instead of boys it was bikes yeah yeah yeah maybe a little bit boys joking voice no further question in oh my God I love that so much so you you lit just spent your entire time like learning track yeah were you in a team at that point then yeah so that time I was on the Welsh cycling team yeah um and then when I was 16 or 17 I made the transition onto like the GB like Junior Academy um and yeah I was on that amazing and what did that look like in terms of training for you so obviously balance in school being on the GB team um how yeah how did you fit it all in um that’s a lot as a kid right yeah I feel like school was not my thing I was like I could not be bothered but I think it’s cuz I was so like invested in cycling and loved that so much that it basically took over and I remember just like going to school and having to leave early to go to Newport to ride on the track um and obviously like couldn’t have done it without my parents because they had to drive me everywhere at that age um but yeah um I actually left school after my first year a levels when I got onto the the academy program where I moved to Newport for a year to basically be a fulltime bike rider yeah I knew that that’s what I wanted to do and I was like well I’m not going to get much from being in school right now so I’m just going to go and yeah be be a bike rider pursue your dreams in Newport Good Old Newport a little stop at Che Valley Lake I always stop here for snacks when I’m riding I’m gotten you today though I was going to say what I didn’t see you C be snack no well we’re going to stop at a cafe so okay I’ve got one emergency J what is your snap of choice um I don’t know really like desperate yeah I’d love like just a packet of crisps and like a chocolate bar or something probably not the best dried food just like so tired you need like salty sweet yeah bit of sugar yeah I get that this is super nice yeah I’ve got one emergency gel if needs be but I feel like would you share it if I was really struggling um could we go half and half or is that not something you do for me I think I yeah yeah yeah yeah if wish com no I would I would appreciate it where’s the calf over over thank you so much CH sausage r absolutely ruined Artic sorry about that I had one job so nice little coffee stop gorgeous bikers that have also joined us yeah absolutely smash the Jack potato we made an absolute mess so let’s try and avoid that possible um curious to know so want to talk a little bit more about your cycling Journey obviously you’re very modest there’s no Awards in the house which I wish I wanted to see some like you know bits and pieces what are you most proud of oh um I’d say just like my whole my whole career I think like growing up when I was in school like year six onwards I never thought that I’d be able to make a career out of this or be successful in you know a sporty world and go on to represent GB and Wales so I think yeah just my whole career in general um but probably like a highlight would be representing Wales at the Commonwealth Games I think yeah that was PR special yeah I thought your family were buzzing yeah they came out to it was when in Australia well which was even better they came out and it was great that’s amazing and then I guess um if you were to go back like when you first started out you know now you’re you’ve retired you’re enjoying your retired life and you know working for gcn if you could go back and give yourself like baby Manon any advice what advice would you give oh I think it would be just to like enjoy the successes and it’s so easy when you’re in it you’d such a high press environment that you’d like work towards a goal you’d achieve that goal you’d win it or whatever and then you wouldn’t really enjoy the winning you just move on to the next thing so quickly like you wouldn’t have any time to be like wow we’ve just like achieved this we’ve won this it’ just be on to the next thing like as soon as possible so I think just taking time to enjoy and yeah to like just be proud of yourself for that whatever you’ve just achieved that’s really nice I feel like that’s like a nice lesson in life as well isn’t it I think everything you do like should be like that enjoy the moment um and what advice would you give to any kind of ladies who are maybe think about picking up a bike and just kind of venturing into the cycling space cuz even though there’s lots of changes happening it is still quite male dominated and there’s lots of fearful moments and stuff like that what advice would you give I think just take it at your own pace like enjoy it do what’s what you’re comfortable with if you’re not comfortable going out with the male group and going at a certain Pace then go out on your own like still riding a bike on your own is absolutely fine if you know you don’t want to grow on your own just find someone that you’re comfortable riding with that’s a partner or a friend or plan your route know that you’re you know you’re going somewhere that you know and you’re going to be safe yeah and yeah just enjoy it cuz it’s such a great sport yeah don’t take it too seriously yeah don’t just just just chill have a good time stop for coffee enjoy yourself I can’t look at you like this I feel like like hi hi hi there hi angle Switcheroo by the way love this hope you like it hope you like it if you could change anything about the cycl world what would it be if anything it would be to make it more inclusive exive so like cheaper bikes were cheaper cycling kit were cheaper so more people could get into it so it’s more accessible cuz I feel like it’s not the cheaper sport is it like even like cycling kit yeah and it’s a wedge it does like you can’t you can you know go secondhand bike but still like expensive so I think if it was just yeah a little bit cheaper yeah which Riders do you admire is there anyone out there that you absolutely love and thinks killing it oh I think cassia numad I think she’s like such a trooper like she won won a race last week and she’s been yeah I think she went quite a while without winning a race but is like so desperate for it yeah um and just like that fight to like keep coming back and keep trying and keep pursuing her dream yeah I think that’s yeah I think she’s admirable yeah yeah that’s fair do you watch a lot of B gron yeah I watch quite a bit yeah yeah do you not get sick of it with your job yeah there’s a lot of bikes B but no I I do love the women’s racing so try and watch it as much as I can are you going to get to any this year um I’m not too sure hopefully I know the women’s tour Britain is back this year so I’d love to go and watch that cuz that was I remember racing in it was such a Savage Race but it’s yeah it’s like the biggest race of Britain so also it’s in North Wales this year I know yeah yeah B Wales represent what currently excites you about cycling what are you loving the fact that it’s getting to Summer and there you can wear shorts like out yeah um I think just the amount of coverage that women cycling is getting at the moment I think it’s such a demand for it the racing is exciting and brands are really pushing to get more women into cycling so yeah that yeah and what have you got coming up yourself any races any events or you kind of enjoying a pressure-free summer the plan there not too many big plans just kind of ticking along um might have a plan to do a gravel race in June which is quite a long one so I feel like I need to work my way up to that but hopefully it’s just going to be a nice children one not going to get too carried away and too competitive um yeah I’m just all about enjoying riding my bike not too fast these days and how’s your Zone 2 block going cuz you’re in how many weeks of Zone 2 this is fourth week okay fourth week end of the fourth week it’s it’s going it’s it’s quite boring I’m not going to lie there’s been a lot of long turbo sessions yeah where it’s and especially like zone two you just sat at one pace you know you’re doing intervals you’re like the time goes a lot quicker but when you just set at zone two it goes quite slowly and also you’re surrounded by Hills so doing zone two outside here is it’s really like I’ve definitely struggled up here it’s yeah like you have to get out of Zone 2 just to get uphill so it’s um it’s not ideal but it’s not when the weather’s like this it’s nice to get yeah and so I guess when you were training when you were younger you did a lot of riding around Wales where’s your favorite place to ride oh I do love Wales yeah um where else have I ridden there’s so many good places I remember going to New Zealand for a track race and I got to do a little bit of riding outside and that was really good um but yeah can’t beat whales also love meorc yes Rose are so good um which you’ll get to experience yes very soon next week yeah yeah so you reckon new zealands to up there yeah where whales of course on a sunny day in the mountains maybe a little bit of flat as well yeah um yeah have you got a favorite wellsh climb uh I do like the Black Mountain that is very good that was the dragon ride one yeah I know that very well is there anywhere in the world that you would love to go and ride that you’ve not been to yet Japan yes yeah oh my God I don’t yeah just somewhere totally different yeah there’s meant to be like some good riding spots out there so yeah Japan yeah that’s good that’s a very good show do you reckon it’s is it hilly I don’t know I haven’t really probably is Tokyo looks flat yeah one way to find out one way to find out since you’ve retired I’m curious to know because obviously a lot of training gets involved in being a pro you work super hard to kind of reach your goals has it changed how you feel about cycling now you’ve retired yeah definitely and I found that like transition from being a full-time bike rider to not being a full-time biker so hard cuz it’s all I did for years like driving twice a day for x amount of years like everything was like super intense and then kind of it almost come into a stop yeah it does take quite a bit of transitioning and now I’m only getting slower on the bike I’m never going to be as fit as I was I’m never going to train like 22 hours a week again and I think that’s hard mentally to know that you’re getting slower your legs aren’t as muscly you’re not going as fast um it’s taking a while I think I’m still like adapting to it as well um even like what near like five years later and finding like the balance between like riding and still having fun on the bike as well cuz I think there was a point where I I like oh I don’t really want to ride cuz I’m cuz I’m slow now but now you just find different enjoyments in it so like literally coming to the cafe on my bike and a lot of spin is like my favorite thing to do now that’s so nice that’s so nice and I suppose it’s like um it became did it become your identity in a way like you know like the bike yeah yeah definitely it’s all I feel like I am I am I am a bikee I am a bike you’re not a bike I am a bike I am bike but you know what it’s like literally like it’s all like everybody I feel like Associates me with cycling and being a bike rider and so yeah I think yeah it’s been hard but we’re in a good place now yeah for sure and I feel like maybe with gcn that’s great that you still got the bike life yeah exactly I think if I maybe retired and I didn’t have anything to do cycling I think I’d maybe miss it a bit more but because I’m still involved it’s quite a nice balance of you know still be involved in cycling but not at the not the end where I’m beating myself every day on the bike yeah what do you think has been um one of the most challenging things that you found since stopp and recently obviously you kind of mentioned like the life adjustment and the change of relationship with bike has there been anything else so it’s probably like the changes in my body I think going from being like a full-time athlete to being as you know musly and as light as you can can when you’re a cyclist to stop in yeah not doing as much exercise kind of having that freedom to you know eat what you want and not really worry because you spent x amount of years being like right I need to eat this and this and I need this much protein and this much carbs to then like just relax in that and just enjoying life obviously your body is going to change from being a professional athlete so I think that as well and then coupled with obviously being on social media a lot and YouTube um and people notice those changes and feel the need to comment on them sometimes which isn’t very nice but outrageous there are people that do it um but yeah I think it’s just like accepting those changes and I think it’s not spoken about in all sports enough that when people retire their body is going to change to some extent depending on how much exercise you do so yeah that’s probably like one of the challenging things yeah yeah for sure um interesting around the body comments I don’t think we should be commenting on people’s budes no it’s just not necessary uh but yeah I guess bodies change over time and they change with age my friend you know exactly embrace it yeah but I get it I get it that must be really hard yeah so it’s been a nice little uh how many C 37k 37k Loop of a bit of Lake action bit of banter bit of banter bit of Cafe Vibes lots of questions asked thank you so much for your time me thank you so much for having me on your channel it’s been an absolute pleasure yeah hopefully see you soon and make sure to like And subscribe to palah hun on her YouTube channel and follow on Instagram if you don’t that’s right and you give me a follow as well oh yeah make sure you follow M see you soon bye bye