Freya Rawlins is a pro cyclist from the UK who currently resides in Girona, Spain. For this year, Rawlins is racing for InstaFund Racing with a focus on mountain biking and gravel racing. Freya took a moment to chat with us about the new team, the start to the season, and why she is excited to come to Canada to race TransRockies Gravel Royale.

What has the start of your year looked like? Any racing so far?

It’s been busy! I first headed to California to take part in The Coast Ride, my first time riding there and first ever back to back 200km days. What a ride, I would totally recommend it as it was such an awesome experience.

From there it was straight back to Girona to prep for the MTB season. So far it’s been a little riddled with injury but I’ve gotten one race under my belt and came away with 3rd elite, not bad for my first ever XCO!

This year you are racing for the InstaFund team. How did that come about?

I’ve admired InstaFund from afar at how they’re coming up with solutions to be a team that’s doing better for our planet–from going single use plastic free, to wanting to be the first ever carbon neutral professional cycling team. Originally I was going to head to the US for the crit season and I had met Isabella through my work with one of their sponsors, La Bruguera, and we got chatting about that. They offered to look out for me while I was over in the US, which was super lovely. However, when I got on the mountain bike for the first time I was hooked. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do since I began riding and so I made the choice to go full focus on that. Chatting with the team again they offered me a place to ride on their Dirt Squad. With our ethos on the environment so aligned, we fit really well and I’m stoked to be riding for InstaFund and representing all that they’re doing.

How have you been approaching training and preparing for both MTB and gravel races?

It’s a juggle that thankfully my coach has to do the mental rubik’s cube on. For XCO, the races tend to be around 90 minutes and are gassy, whereas for gravel, you’re looking at much longer distances. So I’ve split my year into XCO, and then XCM and gravel later on to give myself space to prep for them. I will have a gravel and XCM race a little earlier but will use them to help prep for my goals in Canada later on in the season. This is all still very new to me, and my coach and I are looking at long term development with some big goals in the future.

What inspired you to sign up for TransRockies Gravel Royale? What are you most excited about?

Since I was about 16 I have wanted to head to the Rocky Mountains with my bike. Having done a few multi day races and rides which have been supported, I have to say it’s a wonderful way to see a place. A number of my friends recommended the TransRockies Gravel Royale and TransRockies Singletrack 6, and seeing that it was an option to race them this year and to represent my team in their home country, I thought, hell yeah!

I honestly couldn’t think of one single thing, I am stoked for it all. The riding, the views, the experience of being in the Rockies on my bike after all this time dreaming. I’m so excited to head over and make more bike friends and be a part of a TransRockies event.

Do you know what your bike setup will look like for TransRockies Gravel Royale?

Yikes, not yet. I’ll be deep in discussion with my mechanic, bike sponsor, and fellow Canadians that’ll chat with me.

Any other thoughts or things you want the world to know?

The Maple Leafs rock