British Cycling: Barmby woman Val French marks 1,000 rides as Breeze Champion

The former PE teacher should know. She’s endured two replaced knees, two replaced shoulders, a broken collarbone and is only recently out of a medical boot after suffering a snapped achilles, but still managed to become British Cycling’s first Breeze Champion to lead 1,000 rides – supporting almost 5,000 women to get into the saddle.

Beginning in 2011 with the ambition of closing the gender gap in cycling – supported by Sport England and The National Lottery – more than 350,000 women have since attended over 80,000 free bike rides in their community with Breeze.

“The whole ethos of Breeze is to get women back on their bikes,” says Val. “We always go at the pace of the slowest rider so nobody's ever under any pressure. We never leave anybody behind. Once you start progressing, there's so many friendships. I think that's one of the best things – all the girls that are coming out, they didn't know each other before and now they've got their own friendship groups and we have a WhatsApp as well, so they could just message that they're going out (on a ride).”

Val was a PE teacher at All Saints in York, going on to become a school sports co-ordinator. The cycling officer at York City Council recommended that she learn about the Breeze training course. After she completed that in Sheffield, she set up a group, the Pocklington and Barmby Belles, back home.

At first she was stil working, but retired about six years ago.

"I'm a free agent now, I go out to four or five times a week. I just went crazy to get up to the 1,000, I’ve nearly killed myself.”

The programme started after research by British Cycling found an imbalance in the numbers of men and women out biking. Women reported that issues such as the sense of competition, specialist gear, traffic and safety concerns put them off, says Val.

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Since 2011 she has hosted sessions for all ages, with rides for up to eight women at a time. They ride at the pace of the slowest cyclist in the group, with Val at the back

There are groups such as the Rusty Riders, who Val works with in order to build up their confidence.

“I like to do a series for those Rusty Riders. I call it Couch to 20 miles, you know like they do those Couch to 5k runs,” she says.

“They do a series of six and it’s just amazing. They can always do far more than they think.”

She adds: “It’s so lovely round here and it's a fabulous way to see the countryside.”

Riders often stop by a cafe, too, for coffee and cake.

Val, though, is more determined than the average cyclist. It was a ride in Russia, from St Petersburg to Moscow, some years ago that got her “really hooked”. After that, it was John o'Groats to Lands End, and Vietnam and Cambodia.

Back riding with Breeze, she says: “Once I got to 500 I thought, oh, I wonder if I can be the first woman to get to 1,000. When I found I was in the lead as the first woman in the country as Breeze Champion, that was my mission. I’m very competitive as you can imagine.”

She toasted her achievement with a glass of “fizz” and slice of cake on her 1,000th ride and has received congratulations from cycling Olympic gold medallist Dame Laura Kenny.

Dame Laura said: “Leading 1,000 rides is such a fantastic achievement and I want to personally thank Val for all of her efforts, particularly for inspiring and helping women in Yorkshire get on their bikes and discover the joy of cycling.

"I first started cycling through my mum's fitness journey, and the fun and friendship element has given us both such invaluable experiences – the fact that Val has been able to provide that for so many women as well is just amazing.

"I hope Val will continue to support and inspire more women to discover the joy of cycling for many more years to come.”

Val, 67, and her husband Chris are also due to visit Buckingham Palace for one of King Charles’ garden parties in the next few months, representing British Cycling, though their black Labrador, Theakston (yes, like the beer), might have to stay at home.

Will she be cycling down? “I don’t think so, no. We will go by train and make a proper night of it.”

British Cycling’s interim sport and participation director, Amy Gardner, said: “This is such an incredible achievement and milestone for Val and for the Breeze programme, and we will never be able to thank her enough for the wonderful contribution she has made to cycling in Britain. Yorkshire is blessed with so many cycling legends, from Beryl Burton to Lizzie Deignan, and Val deserves to be recognised in the very highest order alongside them.

“Breeze simply couldn’t happen without our inspirational Breeze Champions. Their boundless energy, enthusiasm and commitment to getting more women on bikes has positively impacted hundreds of thousands of lives, and we want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them.”

Val also organises the ‘Ride for Marianne’ Sportive in East Yorkshire, a benefit ride in memory of her friend Marianne Kerr, from Rotherham, who died of cancer in 2019.

Her recent achievements have been on the television news, so it’s all made for a busy and fun couple of weeks.

“It's just been really funny. I’ve even had people bowing in the street at me,” she laughs.

“So it's been good fun. I'm heading for 2,000 now, I may as well carry on. In fact, I'll go for 10,000 before I drop.”

She sounds like she’s only half-joking.