Cycle tours Archives -

Women’s cycling journeys: Jo’s journey through life with a bike

November 6, 2020 Nicola Children riding, Cycle groups, Cycle tours, riding with kids, Women cycling

I love to hear about other women’s cycling journeys, so I was pleased to hear that my club mate Jo wanted to write about her cycling journey. I immediately asked her if I could publish it as a blog post. Bicycles have played an important role in her life and I really enjoyed hearing about the different phases of her life, and how riding played a part. Over to you Jo Coverdale……. COVID has given me time to reflect on some of the important times in my life – and how riding my bike has been a part of them.

I’d like to share an inspiring women’s cycling story

March 5, 2020 Nicola Cycle tours, Life purpose, Women cycling

I’m a member of a number of social media women’s cycling groups and I really love regularly reading inspiring women’s cycling stories like the one I read last week. After reading this post from Kerrie I contacted her and said I’d like to write a longer post about her story. Here’s her social post……. This is encouragement for anyone who thinks they are too old, too unfit, too fat…In 2013 I was a sad and lonely woman and at 54 had NEVER ridden a bike, my mate Gail 😘 kept nagging me to come riding, eventually I gave in and it changed my

Idyllic location for a women’s race camp – the south of France

February 7, 2020 Nicola Bike skills, Cycle racing, Cycle tours, Cycling Club racing, Women cycling

I had the pleasure of speaking to US Masters rider Sarah Chubb Sauvayre via Skype from her hometown of New York last week about women’s cycling and a women’s race camp she’s hosting in France in July/August 2020. One of the things that really struck me during our conversation was that despite the geographic distance and her focus on racing, and mine on riding, we had lots in common. Particularly regarding our shared passion for getting more women on bikes. Diane Best who runs DBest Cycling tours in France who will be running the camp is also of the same

Women riding the Tour de France route for equality – a huge feat

August 7, 2019 Nicola Bike travel, Cycle tours, Professional cycling, Women cycling

I’m totally in awe of a group of female cyclists who just finished the most amazing undertaking by riding the Tour de France route a day ahead of the men’s professional race. There were two groups of these amazing women – the Donnons des Elles au Velo (a group of French women who I wrote about last year) who were tackling the route for the fifth time, and a new group call the InternationElles. This InternationElles group of ten women and their French sisters undertook the ride to highlight the lack of equality in men’s and women’s cycling. Riding each

enjoy a cycling adventure in new zealand

February 19, 2019 Nicola Cycle tours, Mountain bike riding, Women cycling

When Rachel from Adventurers Travel Company made contact with me a couple of weeks ago I must admit I thought why would a road cyclist be interested in a cycling adventure in New Zealand, especially a mountain bike adventure. But then I read a bit more and realised that Rachel’s tours are a great adventure for anyone who likes riding. So I asked Rachel to share her very own adventure with us…. Adventurer – A person who seeks or enjoys adventure. How my Biking Adventures started My biking journey started when I moved from Wales to New Zealand to live

Come with me on the Wheel Women Japanese Cycling tour

October 9, 2018 Nicola Bike travel, Blogging, Cycle groups, Cycle tours, Women cycling

I am super excited about heading off next week for the Wheel Women Japanese Cycling tour which will see me riding in southern Japan. Our fabulous tour leader Tina McCarthy describes the tour as a full immersion in another world, with the boundaries of the old and the new criss-crossing at every turn. “From sublime temples to the dazzling orchestra of neon signs in the cities, our Wheel Women Japan Tour takes you on a journey across the sea, over bridges and among friends,” Tina says. Wheel Women’s Tina McCarthy, who has been travelling to Japan since 1986 when her

Been looking for the ideal cycling holiday in the south of France?

October 2, 2018 Nicola Cycle tours, Women cycling

Women’s cycling enthusiast Diane Best contacted me recently to tell me about her cycling tour company DBest Cycling that specialises in a cycling holiday in the south of France. I wondered how a Scottish native ends up running her own cycling tour company in France, especially when she got there via the long way – a stint in the TV industry in New York. So I asked Diane to share her story with us. Q: How did you get into cycling? I had been an avid squash player but about 10 years ago, after a series of injuries, I got

Cycling Mums Australia – encouraging mums to ride their bikes

October 24, 2017 Nicola Cycle groups, Cycle tours, Women cycling

I read an article a couple of weeks ago about a group of women who are mums and have founded a group called Cycling Mums Australia to encourage mums around the country to return to riding. So I looked them up via Facebook and talked via email with one of the group’s founders Natalia de Clercq. Over to Natalia…. Q: Why did you start the group Cycling Mums Australia (CMA)? Well, what happened when I became a mum, my priorities changed, we have so many competing priorities that the bike got pushed down the list, ignored , forgotten about. I

What to pack for a cycling tour in Europe

October 17, 2017 Nicola Bike travel, Blogging, Cycle tours, Women cycling

I’ve always been intrigued about bike touring, and can’t say I have any experience of what to pack for a cycling tour. So when I read a recent post from fellow blogger Laura Rigby on her great blog Follow My Wheel, I asked Laura if I could reproduce it here. Laura and her husband Phil undertook an ambitious four week cycling tour that started in Nice and ended in Milan. They cycled 1,377 kms and climbed 26,900 vertical metres over 21 ride days carrying all of their luggage in panniers on touring bikes. Laura was good enough to share, and explain

Great fun riding around Dubbo Zoo

June 13, 2017 Nicola Cycle tours, Women cycling

My partner and some of my family members are just back from a great long weekend away where we found ourselves riding around Dubbo Zoo. It was a great way to see the zoo because you could ride right up to all the enclosures. But it got me thinking that tourist attractions like the zoo in western NSW is doing a great job of normalising bike riding. This is because most of the people riding bikes around the zoo are not regular riders so it’s promoting riding to them. I expect that some of them return home and start riding