PIX: Cycling ace Victoria 'enjoys riding bike' post retirement

Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton has revealed that she is enjoying riding a bike more after her retirement from the sport, than when she was competing professionally.

The Guardian quoted Pendleton as saying that she had lost the fun of cycling in the competitive spirit.

Pendleton said that riding now after her retirement has liberated her as it reminded her of biking during childhood.

According to the report, Pendleton is enjoying her eating habits too as she can now eat what she wants, particularly vegetarian food, saying that eating vegetarian in the past was a bad choice as an athlete, adding that she feels quite liberated by the fact that she can now recklessly choose vegetarian food.

The retired cycling ace is on a mission to make more women cycle, believing that it is the element of competition that deters women from entering sports.

Pendleton also said that women are by nature competitive on lots of different levels, but they find entering a sports competition daunting, especially when they have not been brought up in a sporty or competitive environment.

Pendleton further added that she feels sorry for the women cyclists as she finds it insulting to witness the lack of support for women cyclists and watch the male counterparts acquire much more in comparison.