Prologue
On the International Time Trialling scene, Eileen Burns is a well known cycling figure but her cycling journey isn’t what you would call a ‘traditional’ one...
Having only taken up cycling in 2012, Eileen’s progression in the sport has been quite remarkable, especially when you consider she works full-time (by choice), and seems to have found that elusive balance between training, working and personal life. Something we all strive to do.
When we met Eileen, there was no doubt she was an excellent fit for Scribe, and ultimately, we were amazed by her ability to consistently deliver incredibly fast times on 15 hour training weeks; and the following provides a light insight on this: 11th at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Individual Time Trial 2018, has a 10-mile PB of 20:03s (top ten fastest female times in the UK - set on N. Ireland roads too!), Irish National TT Champion 2017, has represented Ireland at Worlds and Europeans, multiple Irish National Track medals, And lots more, seriously.
11th place at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games - 2018
At Scribe, our goal is to power every riders journey in cycling - to help them do more, to go faster, further, higher, and it's amazing we can play a part in Eileen's incredible adventure. We are truly honoured to have Eileen as an ambassador for Scribe.
Over the next few months, we’ll be working with Eileen to explore (and create) product with a focus towards pure speed - Time Trial and Triathlon specific. At Scribe, we test, challenge and obsess over the smallest of product details, and Eileen will be helping us with the demands real life riding at Mach 1 speeds. In the next few weeks, Eileen will start putting our full disc wheel through its paces - a single skin carbon design that only weighs 970g, and we'll be introducing a selection of Aero optimised rim profiles shortly. In addition to this, we’re exploring grease technology for increased bearing speeds, and we'll be investigating carbon/ resin mixes for performance benefits; and much more!
Eileen Burns - The Person...
- Tell us something people don’t know about Eileen Burns?
I played the cello growing up and had to carry it back and forward to school twice a week for a year, 😂 about a 2-mile walk. Maybe helped my endurance. Lol
- I once pretended there was a Golden Eagle in the sky to win a 30-mph sprint (I did get it too) - do you have any sneaky road race tactics?
Tactics, and the unpredictability of road racing is what people love, but every race I've won has always been the same - a solo win. And even then it wasn’t intentional or pre planned.
- That one song that gets played to Max volume on the turbo?
Fighter by Christina Aguilera (not sure I spelt that right. Ha ha)
- What’s your favourite training session? (recovery doesn’t count!)
My favourite training session is usually my pre race/ TT activation session. This is usually an hour aerobic with some 3min TT efforts.
- What cycling advice would you give your younger self?
Advice I still tell myself, and that I would like to give to everyone is that although social media is a fantastic thing; it’s great to follow races, follow athletes and also link up with family and friends, but do not judge or compare yourself to others. Focus on you and your journey! That’s what I try to do, although it is difficult.