CYCLIST Tracey Burge is lucky to be alive after her brakes failed on one of Stroud's steepest hills - sending her plummeting into a busy road at 40mph.

The PE teacher and fitness enthusiast was training for the local half-marathon with a friend when the terrifying incident happened on Bear Hill in Woodchester.

Tracey - who has two teenage girls - realised her brakes weren't working as she hit the first corner.

"I was going faster and faster and was getting up to around 40mph," said the 41-year-old, of Kingscourt.

"It was just awful, I thought I was going to die."

Her friend, Sarah Read, 32, who lives in the same village as Tracey, was screaming at her to throw herself off the bike.

"I just couldn't, I was desperately looking for somewhere to pull over," said Tracey.

By now the bike was hurtling towards the A46 Bath road.

Amazingly, instead of hitting a vehicle, she shot between two cars waiting at temporary traffic lights at the bottom of the hill before being catapulted over a 4ft wall and landing in a garden.

Although battered and bruised, Tracey is just relieved to be alive.

If it hadn't been for the traffic signals - installed while road works are carried out - Tracey doesn't think she would have survived.

"That road is always busy," said Tracey, who was cycling rather than running because of a knee injury.

"The signals were just changing and were on red at both ends, so when I went through it was clear."

Stunned onlookers called for help and nearby workmen covered her in their coats to keep her warm after last Monday's accident.

Paramedics were soon on the scene and she was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

"Everyone at the scene acted really quickly and I was treated really well by hospital staff," added Tracey, who works at Berkhamsted pre-school in Cheltenham.

"I had a lucky escape. It must have been horrific for the onlookers - a lot of people thought I'd been killed.

"One of the paramedics told me it was my lucky day and that I should buy a lottery ticket."

Tracey has severe bruising, a black eye and needed to use crutches for several days.

She is off work and recovering at home with her daughters Laura, 17 and Becky, 15, and husband Richard, 41.

Her bike was broken in two by the force of the collision with the wall. She is hoping to return to work next week and is determined to carry on training for the Stroud half-marathon in October.

Although doctors say she can start again in a month, Tracey confessed that she is not sure whether cycling will be part of her fitness regime. "If I do cycle again I will be avoiding hills," she joked.