Imogen Cotter spent her teenage years in County Clare running and swimming, but when she reached her early twenties, she decided to give cycling a try.
The now 32-year-old made it onto the national team and was mainly doing track cycling, but eventually ventured into road cycling, which is when she moved to Belgium to learn from the ‘best of the best’. She then won the national championship after almost three years of hard work and became a professional cyclist.
Speaking to RSVP Live, Imogen said there were many ups and downs along the way. “I was working very odd jobs, I spent time in a pastry factory, putting cakes on a conveyor belt all day, and I also worked as a post lady. It was all so I could race my bike and live my dream,” she said.
Once she won the championships, Imogen was offered a professional contract, which she described as a ‘dream come true’. She used the money to move from Belgium to Girona, Spain, in 2022, where she planned to do some ‘good training’ to prepare for future races.
Just three weeks into her Girona stay, Imogen was hit head-on by a van driving on the wrong side of the road. “As much as I didn’t want it to, I think it ended up defining that period of my life. It was a really difficult process to come back from. I had very severe injuries in my knee and wrist, so I ended up having to get five surgeries that year. I didn’t realise what had happened to me until a week later, and I didn’t know what surgery I had on my knee. I remember waking up after it, and they were bringing me to the traumatology ward, but I thought they said dermatology, and I was thinking, ‘Oh God, my face must be destroyed’, I didn’t know anything that was going on because there was such a language barrier.
“It was meant to be my breakthrough year, and all of a sudden I was in and out of the hospital and physio all year.”
The driver of the van, who was 19 at the time and had just passed his driving test, was never charged with dangerous driving, never received a driving ban, nor did he get penalty points or have to pay a fine. Imogen said the impact should have killed her, as the survival rate of a crash at that speed is almost 0%.
Imogen eventually made a more or less full recovery and was able to get back on the bike and race again, but she said her relationship with cycling had completely changed since the accident, “I was so much more afraid than I had been before, and also I just had a different perspective on how imporant cycling was, and for me, winning a race wasn’t that important anymore. I just couldn’t find it in me to actually care, and I didn’t have the same drive to win at all costs like I used to have. I had this life-altering accident that had made me see so much outside of the world of cycling.”
She hung up her helmet halfway through 2024 and retired from racing, instead going on a big journey of discovery to find the path she wanted to take, which turned out to be sports media. Now, Imogen advocates for road safety and runs an Instagram account (@imogencotter) with almost 130k followers.
Imogen is now also an ambassador for Cycling Ireland’s Cycle Fest, which takes place in Grand Canal Dock Square tomorrow, Sunday, May 17th. As for what it means to her to become an ambassador for the event, Imogen said her goal is to promote cycling as something that is open to everybody and not just those at an elite, top level.
The family-friendly fest will round off National Bike Week and offer a full programme of family-friendly events, including an inclusive cycle on the closed city centre streets, a balance bike race for younger participants, and a Brompton folding bike race.
Spectators can also enjoy an event village showcasing leading bike brands, interactive activities, free bike stencilling for children, as well as BMX and bike polo demonstrations. Vendors in the village include Orbea, Scott Bikes, Specialised Ireland, Cycle Ways and Decathlon.
They can also watch cyclists from across the country descend on the capital to compete on a closed-road circuit through the Dublin Docklands, offering a unique opportunity to experience high-speed racing up close on a spectator-friendly circuit between Hanover Quay and Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in the heart of the city.
For more information and to register for free, click here.
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