Heather Fell, Olympic modern pentathlete silver medalist, writes about her life 'on and off' the track.

THE cycling bug seemed to sweep the nation last year after watching Bradley Wiggins bring home the coveted yellow jersey in the Tour De France. This triumph was followed by the deluge of medals won by TeamGB in the Olympic velodrome, and on a local level we had the Tour of Britain passing our doorstep.

It may have taken me a little while to react on the cycling effect from the summer but after my maiden ride on my new road bike I have certainly been bitten by the bug.

We have been made aware of the dangers of road cycling after two accidents with high profile athletes in the autumn but never expect it to happen to someone you know, so I was obviously shocked, and deeply saddened, when I heard of the tragic death of Junior Heffernan.

Having trained alongside Junior in the Kelly College swim squad I had kept an eye on his progress through to triathlon and then onto cycling. The fact he was soon to turn professional just proved his great work ethic which hopefully many aspiring young athletes can learn from. I know the loss of Junior has sent shock waves through the cycling and triathlon community which just reflects the amount of friends he had made within these sports. In my opinion the loss of a life so young should be celebrated; with this in mind I was back out on my bike over the weekend.

My thoughts go out to Junior's family and friends at this hard time.