One unavoidable issue was that of sweat building up in her socket liner. While it's turned into a bit of a "party trick" for Elsie, it's certainly not ideal for her performance. Her dad, Paul, said,
"We tried talcum powders, antiperspirant blocks, all sorts but nothing was strong enough. She likes to do jumps but if her arm got too sweaty in the liner, it would lose its stick, and her arm would pop out of the socket and suddenly you’d see her on the floor. Falling off is expected to a degree in cycling, but if her arm comes out as well she then has to spend time repositioning it and that could cost her her place." To help combat this, her prosthetist Steve prescribed her the
SoftSkin Air silicone liner which features a distinctive structure and special micropores to reduce the build-up of sweat and draw moisture away from the residual limb.
Backed by a supportive community
The cycling community and more specifically, her club here in Yorkshire, are Elsie’s biggest supporters. One member of her club has helped by building her a custom frame with additional length to compensate for discrepancies in her handle position, and another member engraved her socket with "Go girl, go!". Paul said,
"If anyone, of any level or ability, is thinking about getting into the sport, definitely go and speak to people at your local bike shop or your local club. All the people we’ve met in the community have been so knowledgeable and very helpful." Her club are also making a conscious effort to support women and girls entering the sport and has noticed numbers increasing over the past 4/5 years with the introduction of women-only races. Elsie said,
"I've met so many friends through my club and they keep me motivated. I think I'd find it hard to want to go and train all the time if I knew I was going to be the only girl there."
Elsie's own piece of advice for women and girls wanting to get into cyclo-cross and other competitive cycling sports is,
"You don’t have to win it to enjoy it. You've just got to ride it." Something she'll be reminding herself as she faces new challenges rising up the ranks.
The future is bright!
Elsie's future is looking brighter than ever. Her name is already on the lips of many throughout the industry with the para-cycling team inviting her to in-house development camps and in just two years, she'll be ready to race adults at national para-cycling events. We look forward to working alongside Elsie providing optimal prosthetic solutions for her cycling as she continues to rule the track.
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