Ruth Berry
Triumphing in epic multi-day events and challenges with 1-1 VIP Njinga coaching
Achievement Highlights
FTP SCORE IMPROVEMENT
20 watt increase in just 8 weeks from 188 watts to 208 watts.
POWER-TO-WEIGHT
3.64w/kg - 9th highest female score in the Lab.
CAPE ROULEUR
Finished as the 3rd fastest amateur female. (Cape Rouleur is a four-day stage race.)
100-mile time
Improved 100-mile time by over 30m from 5h15 minutes to 4h4m.
Before Njinga
I've always been sports-mad and enjoyed playing a few school sports (hockey, tennis, netball, and athletics) at national level. But once I moved to London and work took over, the team sports fell by the wayside. I cycled an old mountain bike to work to avoid the tube and did a few triathlons but it wasn’t until I met this fabulous new boyfriend (now husband), Scott, a super cyclist, that I had to get real.
Catching the cycling bug
I followed Scott to the Alps to watch him in an amateur multi-stage race and ended up cycling up my first cols, too. I couldn’t believe you could cycle up hill for 2 hours and still be climbing! And who knew so much climbing would result in me catching the cycling bug? I was good and bitten.
Ruth cycling with fellow Njinga riders at the Giro d' Sardegna.
Ruth quickly got the cycling bug thanks to her husband Scott.
Official Triathlon event photo
Ruth competing in a triathlon.
What else to do but forge forward to conquer my next cycling challenges? Ride London and a couple of events in Cape Town: the Cape Rouleur and the Argus. The latter two races are in March and cover 1,000km in a week between them. But training through the cold, wet London winter for long distances and balancing a demanding international job was a terribly dangerous way to go about it.
Njinga's FTP builder programme & the Cape Rouleur
For my first Njinga experience, I took on the FTP builder Group Indoor Training Programme led by Togo and learnt techniques for cycling I didn’t know existed like smooth pedal strokes and threshold zone training.
Ride100: from 5h15m to 4h46m
I've always had a mental block with hills – I seem to slow up before I've even started climbing for fear of what's ahead. This mental block resulted in a finishing time of 5h15m for my first Ride100 which I did as an enthusiastic leisure rider.
There was no way I was stopping anytime soon. I set my sights on qualifying for UCI Worlds; committed to indoor training sessions with Njinga twice a week for constructive, quality training; then onto the roads at the weekends dodging potholes. The training sessions I did with Njinga were varied and the instructors supported my nutrition, too. I was set to qualify but, alas, the Worlds clashed with our honeymoon and bikes were banned!
Togo and Josh are phenomenal coaches and really bought out the best in me. They always pushed me towards my goals, further than I ever imagined possible, and the rewards were always huge.
After a hectic couple of years of events, I wanted to give something back to the Njinga community so I joined the Njinga Collective as a Ride Captain to encourage and support other riders to get as much out of it as I do. It's been a really rewarding challenge and a fantastic way to keep fit.
Official Giro d'Sardegna Photo
Ruth competing in the 6 day stage race: Giro d' Sardegna.
Ruth qualified for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.
Ruth became an Njinga Ride Captain.
Ruth completed 2 ways up the iconic Tour de France climb Mont ventoux in 24 hours.
Ruth completing a longer weekend ride out to Windor.
Baby Myles.
Pregnancy-safe training
It's just as well that the boyfriend turned husband because I fell pregnant and husband was about to turn daddy! The idea of not being able to ride for awhile was a challenge but, luckily for me, Togo was on hand to help me swap the road for the safety of indoor cycling.
He worked with me to taper my training to 'safe pregnancy tick-over' to help me maintain a level of all-important pregnancy fitness and muscle memory.
Post-baby training: I'm back!
Six weeks after having our baby boy, the doctor signed me off and I was able to get back on the wattbike and start the road back to recovery and fitness, all supported by the fabulous team at Njinga. Hopefully, I'll be back to Ride Captain soon enough and maybe back to the Worlds one day – perhaps with Myles in tow!
Are you looking for VIP Coaching to take your cycling to the next level?
Our ELEVATE 1-1 coaching service is customised to suit your specific goals and built around your lifestyle. Benefit from in-person and online coaching, weekly performance review calls and expert mentoring and accountability to keep you on track.
Results guaranteed... Or your money-back.
Insert text.
Insert text here.
– Togo Keynes, Head Performance Coach at Njinga Cycling Academy
