Two days before the September Road Cycling National Championship last year, Alicia was in a major bike accident.
‘I was pretty upset because I wanted to race well and get my name out there,’ she said.
Her bike pedal ripped her hip open to the bone, requiring 17 stitches and also damaged her AC joint.
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READ NOW‘She still managed to compete in the time trial, even though she had her arm in a sling right up to the start line,’ Alicia’s mother Jan Buchanan said. ‘Her injuries were too severe to compete in the road race, but to even be there was an amazing achievement and I was so proud of her.’
Due to her bravery, the Mindarie Senior College Year 12 student has been nominated in the Community Newspaper Group’s HBF Junior Sports Hero competition.
After two months of recovery, Alicia got back on her bike and came first in the under-19 women’s pursuit final at the Western Australia track championship last December.
Before her trip to the Hong Kong International Track Cup in January, Alicia suffered from a white-tailed spider bite along with food poisoning and a virus.
Despite her misfortune, Alicia still competed in some of the events and came second in the individual pursuit race and eighth in sprints.
‘It felt pretty good to finish second in an international event,’ she said.
Alicia hopes to continue her cycling career and pursue personal training study next year when she has finished school.