"It was really quite daunting": Christina Mackenzie back on her bike after "horrific" hit-and-run recovery

Record-breaking cyclist Christina Mackenzie this weekend managed her first outside ride since being seriously injured in a hit-and-run last September.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme, the women's Land's End to John O'Groats record holder recalled her challenging rehabilitation, which involved learning to walk again after her pelvis was broken in four places during the collision in Stirlingshire, Scotland, four months ago.

> "Everyday tasks have become my new challenge": Christina Mackenzie in "excruciating pain" after being struck by hit-and-run motorist

Despite a police appeal the driver of a sports utility vehicle towing an agricultural trailer [below] has never been caught, with Ms Mackenzie previously saying she was "disgusted" by the person who "left her for dead" and in "excruciating pain" in hospital.

On Saturday she was able to go for her first bike ride since the collision having built up strength riding indoors on the turbo trainer.

Ms Mackenzie admitted feeling "twitchy" during the 45-mile ride which passed the crash site near Kippen and told the BBC programme "it was really quite daunting" and the collision "knocked my confidence completely".

"I just felt really twitchy, looking over my shoulders the whole time," she said.

At the time of the crash, Ms Mackenzie spoke of the difficulty to understand the driver not stopping to help, saying "I'm disgusted by it. I'm not just a cyclist, I'm someone's sister, I'm someone's daughter."

Her injuries left her housebound for the first month and even after that the first two months were "just horrific, the pain that I was in, no mobility whatsoever" and had a serious impact on her mental health.

Ms Mackenzie described the knowledge that the motorist responsible still has not been caught as "frustrating" and a "complete disgrace" and explained how the police had told her they had made door-to-door inquiries, spoken to local farmers and attended markets, but came to the conclusion the driver was not local.

And while the police investigation continues, Ms Mackenzie says she knows "on the physical and mental side, if I can get over that, I can get over anything". She is planning to return to competition at the International Island Games in Guernsey in July in the road race, the time trial and criterium.

The horror crash scuppered the end to what was a sensational year for the Scottish endurance athlete. In May, Mackenzie set a new women's solo record for the famous North Coast 500, covering the 516-mile route in 36 hours, 39 minutes and seven seconds.

In August she became Scottish 100-mile time trial champion and at the start of September took her second British 12-hour championship, recording 263 miles on the Monmouthshire course.

The Stirling Bike Club rider's impressive season built on an equally successful 2021, which featured her smashing of the 19-year-old Land's End to John O'Groats female record by an hour and half, covering the length of Great Britain in 51 hours, five minutes and 27 seconds.