Photography: Michelle Cutelli.
When Jeanette Davies took her daughters to the local BMX track, she didn’t expect to discover a passion that would take her around the globe and see her become a two-time world champion.
“I’ve always been competitive,” the Rotorua local tells.
“I entered quite a few events when I did mountain biking and I made the New Zealand secondary school football team when I was younger. But I’m not competing against other people – it is all internally driven. I like to do my best.”
In 2013, after watching her daughters Jaime, now 16, and Sophie, 15, race for a season, the mum was tired of sitting on the sidelines and decided to give it a try. She was a natural. A few months after her first ride, she applied for a wildcard entry to the UCI BMX World Championships in Auckland. When she was selected, she committed to an intense eight-week training programme to give herself a fighting chance.
Her tenacity paid off – Jeanette placed third in her category, igniting a desire to claim the world title.
“That’s what kicked it all off for me,” the humble home renovator explains.
“I wasn’t expecting it – I was just happy to be there. But getting third, I was like, ‘Wow! I’m actually quite good at this.’”
She qualified for the world championships the following two years, finishing fourth and second, respectively. However, when her daughters started school, Jeanette found it challenging to balance parenting with training and something had to give. Nearly a decade passed before she raced again. But after watching the 2023 world championships, she realised she was just as capable as the
riders competing.
She explains, “I watched my age group race and I thought, ‘I can ride like that. I could be as fast.’”
Since her return to the bike two years ago, Jeanette has dominated. She has claimed multiple national titles and is the back-to-back world champ in the 40+ women’s cruiser class, successfully defending her title in a nail-biting race in Copenhagen.
She went in hoping to win and for most of the final race, thought she would have to settle for second. It wasn’t until she was in the final straight, with the finish line in sight, that she finally pulled ahead.
“It was elation,” she says of the win.
“I wanted it but I wasn’t expecting it. I was excited that I pushed right till the end and I didn’t just follow the leader around.”
Being the best means pushing herself to the limit and Jeanette’s endured some scary injuries. Her worst came after she was knocked off her bike during a race and run over by several competitors.
She cracked multiple ribs and had a shoulder injury that took months to heal. Her first few rides back were nerve-wracking, but her success has always come from trusting her skills.
“You do have that hesitation for a little while, then you get your confidence back,” she reflects.
“You can’t think of those what-ifs. I always assume that whatever I try to do on the track is going to happen.”
Jeanette already has her sights set on a third world title next year. With the competition taking place closer to home in Brisbane, she might even have her daughters cheering her on from the sidelines.
“They support me and they’re proud of my achievements,” she smiles.
“Even though they don’t ride, my older daughter loves the club atmosphere, so she volunteers and helps in the kitchen.”
Although she’s dealing with a few niggles, Jeanette says she’ll keep racing until her body won’t let her get on a bike any more – which she hopes is many years away.
“They announce the world champ hosts three or four years in advance and I always think, ‘I wonder if I’ll be able to make it to that one,’” she admits.
“This year, there was a woman who was 62 and she made the final. She was amazing. I don’t have a set time of when I’ll stop riding – I guess life will decide that.”
