When 7mesh ambassador Lucy Schick won the U21 Enduro World Series overall title in 2019, she had no idea that only two years later, her reign at the top would be cut short by a concussion in the middle of 2021’s EWS season. But just like her fun-loving, flowing style on the bike, Lucy gamely fought her way back to health and competition, returning for the tail-end of the year to snag a top 20 Elite Women’s placing at Scotland’s Tweed Valley round.
A few week’s ago we had the opportunity to chat with Lucy about her journey back to the bike, her struggles, and tips on how other riders going through concussion recovery can work through and ultimately return to form.
Hey Lucy, nice to meet you.
Thanks, Pete! You too.
Where are you today?
I’m in Squamish today. I’ll be here for a little longer, then I’ll be heading off to school in Victoria for the next couple of years.
I guess you’re in Squamish for the riding, right?
Sure am! When COVID hit, school went online, so I went home for a bit until the semester started up again last fall, then decided to do online school and live in Squamish because my coach lives here. As you know, it’s just the best place for biking!
And the Sunshine Coast is where you grew up?
Yep. Specifically in Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast. To get there from Squamish, you take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to a little place called Gibsons. It’s not on Vancouver Island; it’s a peninsula that connects to Squamish across the ocean. But unfortunately, there are no roads to drive there, so you have to take a ferry, making it complicated.
What was it like growing up in a place that was not so well connected to the wider world?
Sometimes people think disconnected means small, but Gibsons isn’t as small as you might think. Forty thousand people live there, so it’s not teeny. It’s just that there’s no road, so you can’t drive to the mainland. But there are a bunch of mountains! I liked it.