Nicola, Author at

Spring has sprung – Watch out for swooping Magpies attacking cyclists

September 17, 2020 Nicola Aggressive birds, Magpies, Women cycling

Every Spring the cyclists of Sydney lament the arrival of the humble Aussie Magpie breeding season when you need to look out for swooping Magpies attacking cyclists. For the record I really love birds and think they play a key role in our urban environments. I particularly enjoy hearing the beautiful warble of the Magpies in the early morning but I’m not so keen when they dive bomb me while I’m riding by. Spring is an awesome time of the year to ride a bike, but it also means that there are a lot of angry birds swooping cyclists in

It’s R U OK? Day but make sure you fit your own mask first

September 10, 2020 Nicola Brain health, Magic, Mental health, Mindfulness, Women cycling

Today is R U OK? Day which is a fantastic initiative to encourage us to pause for a moment and ask the people around us – R U OK? This is a topic that I’ve written about before because I feel really strongly about playing a role in making mental health a priority for everyone including our healthcare workers and Government decision-makers. The reason I’m writing about this topic within my cycling blog is that I know that cycling, and exercise in general, have so many positive benefits for mental health conditions. I’ve written about it several times before today so I’m

Meet Australian female road cyclist – the fabulous Lauren Kitchen

September 3, 2020 Nicola Cycle racing, Professional cycling, Women cycling, women in sport

It’s been a while since I interviewed one of my favourite Australian female road cyclists so it’s about time I caught up and this time I’ve been speaking with Lauren Kitchen. I was lucky enough to see Lauren race in person at this year’s Tour Down Under in January, and was thrilled to meet her mum who was cheering her on. Lauren and I chatted via email because she’s in Europe at the moment. Before I share our conversation I’d like to highlight her great work on social media and namely Instagram. I picked up this great quote on a

Lazarus sees cycling as an anti-ageing strategy

August 27, 2020 Nicola Anti-ageing, Heart health, Women cycling, Women's health

My regular readers will know that I’m a huge fan of exercise, and specifically cycling as an anti-ageing strategy. So I was excited to read about the aptly named than Norman Lazarus, a King’s College Professor who has researched the huge benefits of exercise to slow down the ageing process. And he’s a keen cyclist. At the age of 50, he was unfit and overweight and decided he needed to change his life. He lost weight, started to exercise, and embraced life with new vigour. Now 84, he still works as a professor at King’s College London. He has no

Come on female roadies – female cyclists should wear bib shorts

August 20, 2020 Nicola Bicycle clothing, Bike retail, Lycra cycle clothing, Women cycling

A topic that often comes up amongst female road cyclists is whether or not female cyclists should wear bib shorts, also known as knicks. I’ve been wearing them for years and wouldn’t consider anything else because they are just so comfortable. When I started riding nearly 12 years ago I did what most people do and headed for a bike shop and bought the cheapest plain black padded shorts I could find. These were relatively comfortable, affordable and served me well. As you would expect they weren’t bib shorts. At the time I probably wasn’t even aware that bib shorts

Happy Ninth Birthday Women Who Cycle

August 13, 2020 Nicola Blogging, Women cycling

It’s nine years today since I wrote and published the first Women Who Cycle blog post and I’m proud of myself for sustaining my weekly posting for so long. When I started this blog I had no idea how long it would last. I came up with the idea and launched it within about two weeks which was quite unusual behaviour for me. I’m a cautious, organised and planning type of person and it’s rare for me to act so fast. I had no idea that nine years later I’d still be going with no end in sight. The longevity

Fit and fabulous at 50 – Why not take up cycling?

August 6, 2020 Nicola Anti-ageing, Women cycling, Women's health

When I was younger, I remember my partner’s aunt saying to me “Everything starts to fall apart when you turn 50”, so as a consequence I was not looking forward to reaching this milestone, and never thought I’d be fit and fabulous at 50. However, I’m happy to report that if you’re fit and healthy turning 50 is not as bad as she suggested. In fact, for many women, it can be quite liberating. In researching this topic I was horrified to find that when I googled ‘fit at 50 female’ I got a whole lot of images of women

You should add some resistance training for female cyclists to your life

July 31, 2020 Nicola Resistance training, Women cycling, women in sport, Women's health

Whether you’re a competitive or recreational cyclist you can benefit from regular resistance training for female cyclists. Cycling is an endurance activity, while resistance training is an anaerobic activity, that is, periods of work interspersed with periods of rest. But regular resistance training can improve your strength, help you maintain bone mass and aid in injury prevention. I’ve been doing a weekly resistance training session for about 15 years which is longer than I’ve been cycling. I believe it plays an important part in my exercise program which also includes jogging. My focus has always been on general resistance training

Changing your own flat tyre on your bike is a fundamental skill

July 23, 2020 Nicola Bike maintenance, Bike retail, Women cycling

To me, changing your own flat tyre on your bike is a fundamental skill that you really should learn but you’d be surprised how many riders don’t know how to do it. I worked in a bike shop for quite a few years and it never ceased to surprise me how many customers visited the shop to have a flat tyre repaired. My bike shop buddies tell me that type of business has increased markedly since the rise of bicycle delivery people on our local roads. They could all be saving themselves time and money by learning to do it

Here’s a book about cycling to enjoy – Wild Ride

July 17, 2020 Nicola Bike travel, Cycling book, Women cycling

When you’re obsessed with all things cycling, like me and many of my regular readers, you definitely enjoy a book about cycling. My latest cycling read is Wild Ride by Daniel Oakman that was sent to me by his publisher for review and I’m certainly glad they thought of Women Who Cycle. Oakman’s book chronicles a bunch of intrepid cyclists who undertook amazing transcontinental rides across the vast Australian continent. The official description says “This book tells the story of cyclists who were overcome by the need to venture into the wild on two wheels; the courageous men and women