Rider profile - Beth Jackson
It’s time to meet the riders who will be part of Between The Tape in 2023!
Next up is Beth Jackson, a promising young roadie who’s about to tackle her first full season of CX!
Rider name
Beth Jackson
Instagram handle
Team or worthy cause
ICE StepFWD IT Womens Racing Project
Tell us about your bike!
A beautiful Checkpoint ALR 5 gravel bike/ CX beast named Spike!
You'll find me riding or racing in...
Eastern Melbourne’s suburban bike paths and lesser known gravel spots...
What’s your goal for this cyclocross season?
Fun! In all seriousness that is the main goal. I am a roadie but had so much fun last season with my first two CX races ever I had to come back for my first FULL season. I am targeting CX Nats in Ballarat as a goal race, and a progression from B grade Womens to A grade Womens would be amazing but I just want to go, get super muddy, run up some hills, (lightly) fall off my bike trying to nail skills and have a good time!
My riding/racing is supported by...
Mainly my family, friends and myself (and my dog, but he barks too much to be invited to events). I am lucky enough to be racing for ICE StepFWD Womens Cycling Project this year heading to some bigger NRS races.
In my day job I'm...
A sales associate at Trek Bikes while also studying Sports and Exercise Science.
An interest I have outside of cycling is...
Music, art, sports in general (specifically AFLW).
What brought you to cyclocross?
My amazing friend Tam who told me I’d love it and she was RIGHT!
What riding do you do aside from CX?
Lots of road riding, racing, crits etc. A bit of gravel and taking my checkpoint through MTB parks 😅
Tell us about your first CX race!
My first race was Dirty Deeds CX at Brunswick Velodrome last year. I had 40c tyres on my bike and no clue what I was doing.
I’d done some basic skills with Tam beforehand but didn’t really know what I was doing. There was a pile up at the first corner and that was my chance, I attacked and rode away from the group. I was lapping members and had to do another lap because I was too far out in front (whoops) but most importantly I’d caught the bug and LOVED it. Even headed up to Beechworth [the next weekend] for their races and my first proper graded races on proper CX tyres.
What's your proudest achievement in CX?
I think finishing each race? My first race I was super proud of how I did, but there was not too many challenges in terms of obstacles so when I headed to Beechworth and had to learn to mount and dismount and get up hills…that was way more rewarding.
Learning how to dismount, jump and remount (and nailing it in the race) would probably be one of my proudest moments. Plus podiuming and winning some beer was pretty ace!
How do we spot you on course?
Bright orange kit 🤣 I also have a black and red helmet which tends to stand out a bit. But the StepFWD kit is pretty eye catching