I was very nervous

At the start of the day, well, I was really scared and not quite sure what to expect. I was nervous as well as buzzing. As we got closer and closer to the Olympic Park, that’s when I really became excited about my day even though I was still nervous about cycling round the track. When I saw the track I got even more nervous because of how high the track actually went. I didn’t expect such a gradient and couldn’t work out how cyclists didn’t fall off.

I got changed into my cycling gear, health and safety was explained and finally I was sitting on my bike with my feet locked in knowing I couldn’t go back now. The trainer explained about how different the bike is to a normal road bike which worried me even more because I knew I needed to get used to this new bike and the new riding technique it required.

Boom, we were off. My nerves vanished as I pushed onto the pedals. I got control of my bike and there was no stopping me. I started gingerly, which you would expect, but after a few laps I was flying. We were moving higher and higher up the track until I was virtually going round the most outer part of the track. At this point I was determined to do my very best. It felt like I had only been going for five minutes when the trainer told us to stop.

I felt disappointed but also happy in a way – because I couldn’t feel my legs after all that pedalling!