Author: Sonya Gencheva
Yana Shengarova is 56 and since the beginning of 2021 has cycled more than 3000km.
I met Yana in 2018 at one of the meetups of the Plovdiv womens’ amateur cycling club – RIDELIKEAGIRL. The goal of the club was to promote road cycling while more experienced female cyclists help and motivate the beginners. The very first time I met Yana I was in awe by her vivacious spirit and her great sense of humor.
Flattered by my invitation for an interview she said she was feeling a bit shy and we probably won’t get as many jokes as usual.
We meet on a Sunday afternoon at the Rowing Canal when the cycling group returns from a ride to Poppovitsa via Assenovgrad (80km in total). The cyclists managed to beat the rain all day long and the moment we sat on a table under the big roof of Bamboo Garden, it poured down.
In the beginning, Yana accompanied friends who took part in a cycling competition on Thassos island in 2017. She then decided that the next year, instead of sitting and reading her book while the others compete, she is going to start cycling herself. “And I can’t stop cycling ever since”, she said gladly. When she started she wasn’t even sure how to handle the brakes. It took a few falls until she got used to the track shoes but other than that it appears she is doing pretty well. In 2020 she clocked 12 000km on her Strava profile. If you are not familiar with Strava, it is a mobile application to track sports activities, take challenges and achieve targets. For Yana, it is a great and useful tool for motivation.
What keeps her motivated? It is just a hobby now, but with a healthy dose of competitive drive and ambition for more achievements. Recently Yana has been cycling with the mixed or male cycling groups, actually the more advanced ones. Each weekend they meet at the Rowing Canal at a certain time and according to the weather forecast, they pick a route.
She knows most of the cyclists in Plovdiv. They are people from all walks of life, ages, and professions with one hobby in common, and oftentimes many more shared interests. It is just a wonderful experience.
The longest route she has cycled is Kazanlak – Buzludzha – Plovdiv. Around 162km with a challenging ascend and rain on the way home – some adventure. Since the beginning of the year, she has recorded over 3000km on Strava, which includes her commute to work – 15km a day. Every weekend she cycles in the countryside.
Together with the rest of the cyclists, they attend competitions. One of them was in Edirne, where 1200 people took part. As her first competition, Yana finished in the top 10 in the womens’ category or 230th place out of the entire group. At the end of May at the Cycling Tour of the Northwest in Bulgaria (northwest.bg) she won 1st place in her category.
Another favourite hobby of hers for many years now is folklore dance. Which explains the stamina and energy she possesses, I assume…
I have tasted delicous food Yana has cooked for our meetups, so I got curious about what is her relationship to food and how it affects her sport performance. “Food is the most important thing in sport. People who want to be more successful and have more energy must pay attention to their diet”, siftly replies Yana. It turns out that she has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and should plan her diet carefully. It includes a lot of seeds and seaweed, she always makes her own bread. Her food is clean, healthy and nutritious.
To be honest, meeting Yana for our chat inspired me to take my dusty road bike out of the attic and rediscover how nice it is to commute in Plovdiv by bicycle. Thank you, Yana!
Photos: Sonya Gencheva