One thing that really bugs me about road cycling is there is often an emphasis on being tough, like riding with hard rather than easy gears on your bike, and being eager to ride up long or steep climbs. I’d like to put it on record that I choose to ride with easy gears on my road bike and I choose to avoid very long and very steep climbs. I do accept that as a Sydney-dwelling road cyclist I need to ride up hills but I don’t seek them out. I ride them because I have no choice. It also
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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
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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
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A question that arises often amongst road cyclists is – Do I need a bike fit? And like many questions, there isn’t one simple answer. In short, a bike fit is to make you sit more comfortably on your bike and to help you ride more efficiently. From my experience bike fits are most beneficial to cyclists who are stepping to a serious competitive level, those who have a problem with discomfort caused by a myriad of things, and those who are returning from an injury. Like most riders, I didn’t have a bike fit when I started riding a
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Let me share my own experience first. I started riding almost 12 years ago to complete a charity ride and was hooked almost instantly. I recall when I rode that charity ride which was an 80 km ride on undulating and hilly terrain in the Barossa Valley that I got quite uncomfortable on my bike saddle and it wasn’t my bottom that hurt, it was the far more delicate soft tissue area that really felt sore. I remember laughing when a non-riding friend asked me if I had a saw bum after all that riding. By far the most commonly
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I’m a member of some great women-only cycling social media groups and one of the questions that comes up time and time again is – what to look for when you buy a road bike. So often the advice that is given by other female riders is based on their own experience which is fine but it is such an individual thing that you need to forge your own path. The frame is the most important part Before I worked in the bike industry, I was of the view that if you wanted to buy a road bike then your
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One of the upsides of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the increase in the number of people – women, men, and children taking up or returning to cycling but many need a bit of advice so here are my tips for new female road cyclists. If you’re a woman and you’ve been enjoying riding your kids or partner during this pandemic then I guarantee that you’ll like it even better if you ditch the kids and partner, take up road cycling and find some female (or male) companions. Many of my road riding pals are actually men but they have
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One upside of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the increasing numbers of cyclists, and one thing I’ve noticed particularly is the swelling numbers of families riding together and riding with kids. I must admit that while I’ve loved seeing so many people out riding, I’ve had to start avoiding some of the more popular bike paths in my area because they are downright scary. Children and other inexperienced riders are a hazard to others so I thought it would be helpful to share a few tips on riding with kids. There are several stages for kids to ride bikes. The
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I first wrote about the wonderful concept of ‘paying it forward’ last year when I thought about how pay it forward and cycling go nicely together. The idea of paying it forward is a concept that’s been around forever but was popularised by the movie Pay It Forward, which had a lasting impact on me. In the movie and the book on which it is based, the idea is described as an obligation to do three good deeds for others in response to a good deed that one receives. The good deeds should accomplish things that the other person can’t accomplish
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I find that men are particularly prone to last-minute Christmas shopping so if you’re still looking, here are my last-minute Christmas gift ideas for female road cyclists. I guarantee she’ll like any of these much better than diamond earrings. I’m actually only joking about that. Buy her the earrings and something from this list. Voucher from her favourite bike shop If you buy her a voucher from her favourite local bike shop she’ll be able to select something she really wants like a new bike (or at least the deposit), new shoes, helmet or this summer’s most fashionable kit. You’ll
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