MORE THAN A FEELING HOW EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAN M AKE YOU A FASTER, HAPPIER RIDER

Looking back on his preparation for breaking the world record for cycling across Europe, in 2018, one memory particularly stands out to Leigh Timmis. The 40-year-old recalls a member of his team telling him: “You can be the fastest cyclist in the world on the start line but it doesn’t mean anything unless you have the mind to get you to the finish line.” Timmis took this to heart and used his head to ensure his training embraced the emotional demands of the record attempt. It worked. By focusing on his emotional intelligence, the Derbyshire rider smashed the previous record by eight days, crossing the entire continent from Portugal to the Russian city of Ufa in just 16 days 10 hours.

Emotions are instinctive responses that function like signals, often directing our attention to whatever our threat system senses is most important at that time. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to notice and understand our emotions and how to express them. This involves an exploration of the causes and