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Women Who Cycle’s 2019 Christmas Gift ideas for female road cyclists

December 5, 2019 Nicola Bike retail, Christmas, Christmas gift, Women cycling, women's bikes

I always have a bit of fun compiling my annual Christmas gift ideas for female road cyclists. Here’s my list for 2019. I’ll also run a last minute Christmas gift idea closer to Christmas for all those peeps who shop at the last minute like my beloved partner. Specialized Tarmac Disc Comp I always include a bike in my Christmas shopping list and this year I’ve chosen the Specialized Tarmac Disc Comp. Last year someone told me that my choice of a $12K bike was ridiculous so I’ve paired it back this year with this $4,500 model. This a really

Anything is possible with the talented Sarah Gigante

November 28, 2019 Nicola Cycle racing, Professional cycling, Women cycling

It’s always an honour to interview Australia’s best female cyclists and Sarah Gigante is no exception. She upset the field in the National Road Nationals at the beginning of 2019 to take her biggest victory and she’s got a great future head of her, both on and off the bike. Q: You started this year with a fantastic victory at the Road Nationals in your home state of Victoria, was that the highlight of your year? A: Winning the Road Race Nationals in Buninyong in my first year racing against the elite women was definitely the highlight of 2019 for

What is the best pre-ride food for cycling?

November 21, 2019 Nicola Nutrition, training, Women cycling

A few times recently I’ve found myself in a conversation with other riders about what is the best pre-ride food for cycling. For me, I actually don’t eat before a short ride like my regular Wednesday ride of 30 km because it’s not high intensity and I feel like my meal from the night before provides me with enough fuel. On my longer more intense rides usually on the weekend I eat a banana before I ride which gives me enough fuel to get started. But every woman (and man) is different so you need to experiment and decide what

A few tips for women training for a long bike ride

November 14, 2019 Nicola Bike maintenance, Indoor trainers, Long ride training, training, Women cycling

Training for a long bike ride is essential for me because I’m not capable of riding long distances without getting some kilometres in my legs. I’m a huge fan of setting goals and committing to an organised event because it provides me with an incentive to get out of bed early in the morning and get on my bike. By long bike ride, I’m thinking of 100 km or more. Of course, this is all relative so this advice applies to whatever the definition of a long ride is for you. Get some ‘Ks’ in your legs There is no

how to return to riding your road bike after buying an e-bike

November 7, 2019 Nicola Commuting by bike, E-bike, Women cycling, women's bikes

A friend of mine suggested that I write a blog post about how to return to riding your road bike after buying an e-bike. She recently bought herself an e-bike to commute to and from work, and due to a holiday and other life obstacles had a break from riding her road bike. She found it difficult to return to the human-powered riding mainly because of the physical exertion that was required. She actually answered her own question while we were discussing this quandary, but I thought it was worth exploring the topic. For her, the answer was to think

Do you want to improve your road bike descending skills? Your answer should be ‘yes’

October 31, 2019 Nicola Bike skills, Descending, Women cycling

I’m riding in the annual Gong Ride on Sunday so it’s timely for me to brush up on my road bike descending skills because there’s a couple of big descents in the ride. When I first started riding a road bike, 11 years ago, I thought you just jumped on and away you went, but it didn’t take me long to realise that there were more skills involved than I had first thought, and for me one of the hardest to master has been to descend safely on a road bike. Here are a few tips to hone your own

Cycling does get easier. Greg Lemond was wrong

October 24, 2019 Nicola Bike skills, Heart health, Women cycling, Women's health

US cyclist Greg LeMond famously said, “It never gets easier; you just go faster” but I’d like to challenge that assertion, because in my opinion, over a number of years cycling does get easier. I used to think that this was a phenomenon called muscle memory but I’ve been doing a little research which suggests there’s more to it than just muscle memory. I recall when I was about two years into road cycling an older gentleman on a club ride said to me that he thought it took three years of riding to really get comfortable and confident on

Calling all Female road bike riders – you should try clip-in shoes for road bikes

October 17, 2019 Nicola Clip-in shoes, Pedal stroke, Women cycling

I’ve recently joined a couple of social media groups for female road cyclists and the issue of wearing clip-in shoes for road bikes seems to be a recurring thing. While it’s obviously an issue for both men and women, from my experience female riders often get a little nervous about the idea. They fear falling off and injuring themselves, or worse still embarrassing themselves. I’m really lucky that my partner coerced me into riding my road bike with clip-ins from day one and I never looked back. So to make it a bit easier here’s some background information about clip-in

HOw you stay upright on a bicycle

October 12, 2019 Nicola Bike skills, Magic, Women cycling

I confess that I don’t have much of a ‘science brain’ so the wonderful world of physics has never been a strong point of mine but given my passion for cycling, I’ve always been a bit curious about how you stay upright on a bicycle. In the past I’ve often explained to riders who are nervous about going around corners faster they feel is possible is that there are centrifugal forces that will stop you from toppling over. In doing a little research this is certainly one of the factors but there is actually quite a bit more to it.

Do you worry about not keeping up? You may be suffering from FONKU

October 3, 2019 Nicola Magic, Mental health, Mindfulness, Women cycling, Women's health

I have to admit that I’m not a great fan of silly acronyms but I was rather proud of myself when I came up with FONKU – Fear Of Not Keeping Up. For me, it really sums up my own fears and lack of self-confidence and from talking to other female road cyclists it really is an issue. When I first wrote about this in February 2018 I got some great comments from other riders like “Great acronym – I knew straight away what you were talking about! I think another “fear of” that stops me riding with bunches at