My name’s Floren Villanueva Scrafton, I’m a British-Bolivian female road cyclist from Bristol and last week I won my first Bolivian National medal (silver) and got selected to represent the Bolivian Cycling team at the Pan American Champs in Brazil. I'm trying to raise money urgently* to support my international cycling expenses and have created this page so friends, family and any new followers can jump on board and help my international cycling journey!

*I hope to raise £2000+ in a very short time frame - two weeks, by the 27th May. Every little helps!

I have been fully dedicating my time and focus to the sport of pure road cycling since last October after handing in my PhD thesis, where I researched the Bolivian crop quinoa at the University of Oxford. Having competed at a high level in other endurance sports previously, I am now determined to make it to the highest level in professional road cycling (Women's World Tour) and crucially win medals for Bolivia in important international competitions. I hope that by pursuing these goals I can inspire the next generation of 'Bolivians On Bikes'. A key early milestone for my cycling career was to race in this year's Bolivian National Road Cycling Championships in Santa Cruz, which took place 3rd - 5th May.

Problem

The financial cost of getting to the start-line of the Bolivian National Champs was far beyond my own budget, yet I knew I needed to be there to test myself against Bolivia's best cyclists and hopefully showcase my talent to the Bolivian National Team selectors.

The gamble paid off and I won a silver medal in the individual time trial and animated the Women's elite road race, where I finished 4th in a breakaway sprint. Off the back of my performances at Nationals I've been selected to race for Bolivia at the Pan American Champs in São Paulo, Brazil 20th - 26th May in both the 25 km time-trial and the 115 km Elite Women's road race. I am over the moon with this achievement, but the sudden change of plans has produced significant further financial strain.

The cost of my participation in both Bolivia's National Cycling Champs & Panamerican Champs will reach over £3000. Bolivia's National Cycling Champs cost me £1750: £1500 through travel (two flights, a bus and taxi journey with my bike box and luggage) and £250 through 12 nights of accommodation, daily city travel expenses and necessary pre-race preparation and race-day assistance support (massage, transport and private support car hire). I've been living on the tightest budget I can!

The cost of my participation in the Pan American Champs in São Paulo, Brazil will cost me over £1500. Travel to Brazil from Bolivia has already cost me £150, which constitutes each cyclist's personal contribution to the Bolivian Cycling Federation's budget-limited travel costs. Paying for a private room in our hotel is costing me £35/night (6 nights expected). Next I'll need to buy a replacement flight home from Bolivia to the UK after I finish racing in Brazil which will cost me another ~£1400. I am currently trying to sell my Redchilli FR3 road bike locally in Bolivia to make up the remaining money. This will be a win-win for me and Bolivian cyclists as my bike is the perfect size for your average Bolivian and will be more affordable than heavily taxed new bikes that get imported from Europe!

The immense time-demands for organising all the necessary logistics on a minimal budget for competing in the Bolivian National Champs, and now at the upcoming Pan American Champs, whilst continuing to train and prepare the best I can for my races, has left me in a very difficult, and stressful, financial situation.

Solution

I have created a Just Giving page as a last resort to help fund these shortfalls of my recent cycling career. I hope this page offers more people the chance to make a personal contribution to support my early cycling career and be a part of my ' Bolivians On Bikes' mission. I am extremely grateful already for the people who've helped me out through lending me cycling kit, or helping me with their time or hospitality.

Further info

If keen to hear more about my cycling and previous sports background here's a link to an article published on the UK cycling platform VeloUK: VeloUK Rider Feature Article . I wrote this piece to help get my story and ambitions out there. My follow-up VeloUK article Road to Bolivian National Champs details my unconventional, obstacle-filled journey to the start-line of the recent Bolivian National Cycling Championships.

You can follow my cycling training, progress and experiences on social media platforms Instagram or Facebook (Floren Villanueva Scrafton ) or on the sports training platform Strava for specific training session details!