BMX Career To 2007
In 2005 she raced the National series with the men all year, despite being only 17 years old. She commented on racing against men in a Descent World interview:
I am usually always top 3 when racing the guys. I have been racing them now for 2 years and I was almost the National Champion last year though had to settle for the No 2 spot. The boys in BMX are all cool, some spit their dummies out but I just let them get on with it! It's really quite fun to watch when I kick their booties..Reade fractured her knee two weeks before the UCI World Championships in July 2005 at a national event in England. She raced the World Championships with her knee wrapped up and on pain killers but crashed in the quarter finals.
Known for her power, she developed her strength racing against boys and older amateurs, including men up to the present time. She won her first professional race in the Girls Pro at the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Winternationals in Phoenix, Arizona on 1 April 2006. She also won the following day. In 2006 she became British National No.1 in 19 & Over Elite Men after racing the National series with men all year, despite being only 17 at the time, 1.72 metres tall and 76 kg.
In June 2006, Reade broke a metatarsal bone in practice. Her first race back was the 2006 European Championships where she competed only in the last two race events before the final Event. The cast came off four days before the European Championships Final Event.
Pain, though, is nothing new, even at Reade's age. Injuries are common in this aggressive form of cycling. This is not the first time she has broken her foot and other crashes have broken an elbow and a bone at the base of her spine.She won the World Championships in Brazil in August 2006 despite an earlier injury to her foot.
Her BMX victories at junior level include three World, eight European and five British BMX championships. Reade is also a champion track racer, riding on Velodromes. In July 2007 she became the Women's Senior UCI BMX World Champion and at the 2007 UCI Track World Championships, she won the gold in the women's team sprint with Victoria Pendleton. It was only her second track race ever. Not only was she the first ever to win a track championship in her rookie year, she completed the feat after only six weeks of training. She had originally taken up the sport to keep her fit for BMX competition.
Read more about this topic: Shanaze Reade
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