Friday 24 March 2017 12:40, UK
Lucy Garner has barely had time to catch her breath with a new season of road cycling season almost upon her.
The 21-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar from Leicester has just about overcome all the bruises picked up during her last campaign that saw her stock rise as one of the country's rising stars in the saddle.
A pre-season training camp in Spain with her new team is coming up and over the next few months the battle to compete at the Rio Olympics will get even more fierce.
Here's Lucy's latest blog as she reveals what she's been doing in the off season and how she's been preparing to race again....
The off season has flown by. It was lovely to have some down time with friends and family, catching up on what I've missed over the season.
I know that the next year is very important to take my rest as it will be a very long season.
I had around four weeks off the bike but tried to keep doing a few core sessions, a bit of running (or fast walking haha) and a few fun off-road bike rides to keep the legs ticking over and to raise my heart rate every now and again.
The first bike ride is always tough. I almost felt like a beginner on a bike again and it takes some time to get used to the position. After a few days I started to feel like myself again and the hours on the bike get easier and easier.
I start with very easy bike rides and each week to build up the hours.
A few days a go I was ill with a stomach bug so it was very important for me to take the rest again and make sure I was fit enough to continue upping the hours - which luckily I was.
At the moment the weather is great in Holland- we've been very lucky. It definitely makes the hours on the bike much easier when you aren't wrapped in a hundred layers of clothes.
I already feel a lot better on the bike. I'm mentally and physically in a good place at the moment and at the end of the month I will be attending my first training camp in Spain with my new team Wiggle Honda.
I'm really looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and getting to know everyone.
It's such an exciting time of the year!
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS
NOVEMBER 23+: Elise Christie, World Cup, Nagoya
NOVEMBER 26: Jack Bateson and Savannah Marshall, GB Boxing Championships, Sheffield
NOVEMBER 28: Jess Judd, European Cross Country Championship trials
NOVEMBER 21-29: Sam Oldham, Tokyo training camp
NOVEMBER 31: Elise Christie, World Cup Shanghai
25 NOV-DEC 21: Holly Bradshaw, South Africa training camp
