Victoria Pendleton: Cycling's Golden Girl

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summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Very interesting and a lot more going on than I realised. I would like to have found out more about her training etc.
 

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
Bugger the missus? What, again?
is that legal
 

Doseone

Guru
Location
Brecon
Great program, but I think she,..... you know I can't quite put my finger on it. Emotionally difficult? Complex? Fragile? Needs constant reassurance? Not quite sure. There's something different about her, I guess a lot of people at the absolute top of their game have a few issues.

Having watched that program I almost feel guilty for fancying her!
 

AnythingButVanilla

Über Member
Location
London
She came across as quite good fun and it was lovely to see a feisty, inspirational woman who wasn't plastered in make-up and with giant perfect hair. I like her.
 

deptfordmarmoset

Full time tea drinker
Location
Armonmy Way
Very difficult father-daughter relationship there. And to the extent that it's internalised in VP, any success she earns hurts both her real and her own internalised father. A win's a loss.
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
Victoria, Victoria,
Some cyclists adore ya,
But you dont get my bike lights all lit.
Your legs are quite lovely,
Personality bubbly,
But you just don't have any Pendletons.

-----------------------------------
Despite her lack of Pendletons (ie i don't fancy her) I really enjoyed this cyclo-mentary, she came across really well, if mildly troubled, and i warmed to her. Which I'm sure will spur her on to olympic victory.
 

Mad Doug Biker

Just a damaged guy.
Location
Craggy Island
Which I'm sure will spur her on to olympic victory.

She trains with a picture of you on the wall Fnaar. Whether she is pretending to cycle towards you or away isn't recorded, but most people in the 'know' know what way she's pointed.

On the bright side Fnaar, if she's cycling away from you then at least your picture will be able to get a good oggle at her bum..... :laugh:
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Very difficult father-daughter relationship there. And to the extent that it's internalised in VP, any success she earns hurts both her real and her own internalised father. A win's a loss.
Indeed, and I understood exactly how she felt. I remember going in to university to wait for the final year exam marks to be posted on the departmental notice board and sinking into a deep depression when I saw my result, while other students graduating two grades below me were whooping with joy, hugging each other and drinking Champagne. I went back to my flat, closed my curtains and spent 3 weeks trying to come to terms with a deep sense of failure.

I hope that VP finds happiness once she retires from competitive cycling, but I fear that she will not. It is very easy to find things to feel unhappy about if that is how one's brain is wired ...
 
I'm glad I watched that programme last night as it gave an insight, intentionally or not, as to what makes the girl tick, I sort of warmed to her. She struck me as being a nice but insecure person, maybe clingy and needy in her personal relationship.

I do wonder though if her father is living his life through her and that places immense pressure on her to succeed.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
The father-daughter thing is a common enough phenomenon. My own Dad put all his hopes in his first daughter, my older sister and pressured her hard to succeed in several ways. His best friend had two daughters and pressured both of them so hard that both gave up and went off to do completely different sports.

I also found VP surprisingly fragile and I couldn't help thinking that the reason why the team sacked her new fella was simple jealousy - they should have had the professionalism and the intelligence to sit around a table with a few beers and work out how they could turn the relationship to the team's advantage.
 

Nearly there

Veteran
Location
Cumbria
I do wonder though if her father is living his life through her and that places immense pressure on her to succeed.
I think this is common there's a lot of parents putting pressure on their kids to succeed at sport etc I think we have all seen the fat dad in a track suit shouting instructions at his kid playing football
 

deptfordmarmoset

Full time tea drinker
Location
Armonmy Way
Indeed, and I understood exactly how she felt. I remember going in to university to wait for the final year exam marks to be posted on the departmental notice board and sinking into a deep depression when I saw my result, while other students graduating two grades below me were whooping with joy, hugging each other and drinking Champagne. I went back to my flat, closed my curtains and spent 3 weeks trying to come to terms with a deep sense of failure.

I hope that VP finds happiness once she retires from competitive cycling, but I fear that she will not. It is very easy to find things to feel unhappy about if that is how one's brain is wired ...
A couple of little Pendletinis might make all the difference for her.

BTW, did you notice that her mother was completely silent? I hope that was because she didn't want to participate rather than because the director thought she didn't matter.
 
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