ACROSS the table in a Glasgow coffee shop, Anne Ewing is sporting some impressive road rash, cycling parlance for the inevitable bumps and scrapes that come with the job.

There is a graze on her chin, a bashed-up elbow and a weeping cut on her right knee, having accidently knocked the scab off moments before.

But she's in better shape than last time I saw her. In that encounter, Ewing had taken a tumble in the British National Road Race Championships and, following a hefty bump to the head, was picking herself back up off the tarmac. She smiles at the memory. Or rather lack of it.

"Yeah, I don't remember that much about that," she said. "It's a shame because I was having a great race up until that point. I was definitely up there and feeling good. I was gutted and quite sore for a few days afterwards."

But Ewing is one tough cookie. Testament to that tenacity is the fact that, in less than four years, she has gone from enthusiastic amateur dabbling in triathlons for fun to taking the battle for this year's British Women's National Road Series down to the wire.

While in the end the 26-year-old lost out to an in-form Hannah Barnes, the reigning British criterium champion, Ewing has much to be pleased about, a mere 15 points separating the pair after 10 rounds.

"I honestly didn't expect things to go as well as they have," said Ewing. "There was a few difficulties at the end of last year, I was injured and then, well, my head kind of fell off a bit. Coming into this season I didn't have any real expectations. Then I got into a bit of good form. I started the national series with the City of Perth Grand Prix in April and that went better than I'd hoped."

Which is perhaps an understatement. Ewing not only won the road race but took overall victory in the two-day event. More importantly, it meant that, straight off the bat, she had a Commonwealth Games qualification standard in the bag.

A trio of third places, in the Carlew Cup, Essex Giro 2 Day and Ryedale Grand Prix further cemented that status, the four podium finishes meaning Ewing has now made the Glasgow 2014 selection criteria twice over.

A former amateur triathlete, she took up cycling in her fourth year as a medical student at Edinburgh University. "I'd been a swimmer but was never able to compete at the top level," said Ewing. "In 2008, British Cycling ran a talent ID programme called Girls For Gold and I signed up at the last minute. I managed to get though to the final eight from more than 2000 women applyimg for endurance mountain biking.

"Unfortunately in the end, they didn't keep anyone on but I had bumped into Scottish Cycling mountain bike coach Paul Newnham at a training session and he agreed to take me on. I got my elite licence and did okay, including a top-eight finish in one of the British national races, but was never technically good enough to take it any further."

Ewing had a hankering that she may be better suited to road racing. "I got on to the Scottish Cycling national programme in 2009. I applied eight months too late but head coach Graeme Herd gave me a chance for which I'll be eternally grateful. It was a massive learning curve - and still is."

She was part of Scottish-Dutch Team Ibis Cycles which folded last autumn after financial backers withdrew. "That was a huge blow because it was a great set-up with a good core of Scottish riders on the team," she said.

In February, she joined Breast Cancer Care Cycling Team in which Scottish Cycling is a major partner, an investment tailored at helping Ewing alongside compatriots Eileen Roe, Jane Barr and Laura Murray in their preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

There are six spots in the Scottish women's road team next summer and Ewing intends to claim one of them. "To have a strong team you need sprinters, climbers, lone breakaway specialists and time triallists, and I believe we have Scottish riders who fit all of those profiles," she said. "The foundation is there but the main challenge now will be ensuring everyone gains the qualification standard."

She is frank about her own ambitions. "I think that anyone who goes to a Commonwealth Games in their own country does so with the hope of winning a medal and getting a good result," she said.

"I would love to go there and do that, but ultimately cycling is a team sport and I'd be overjoyed if any of my team-mates did well and I could play a part."

Ewing, originally from Torphichen, West Lothian but now based in Edinburgh, finished her two-year placement as a foundation doctor last August. On top of cycling full-time, she does medical research and the occasional surgical shift. Becoming a fully-fledged surgeon will be the eventual goal, but for the next 12 months at least it's all about the bike.

"The big goal is the Commonwealth Games and after that I'll play it by ear," she said. "It's difficult to say because I've only been doing this full-time since last year and in that period I've progressed well, but it all depends now if I continue to see the same level of improvement.

"I would like to pursue it further and see how far I can get in the sport. If not, and I stay at the same level, there is high chance I'll call it a day after the Commonwealth Games and continue with my medical career. I'm going to give it my best shot."