Cycling Club racing Archives -

You should commit to some 2020 Cycling New Year’s resolutions

January 1, 2020 Nicola Cycle groups, Cycling Club, Cycling Club racing, New Year's resolutions, Women cycling

Happy New Year to all the wonderful female cyclists who read my blog regularly, this post is all about committing to 2020 cycling New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are often criticised for being a waste of time because they are hard to achieve, but I’m a keen supporter of goal setting and to me, it’s just an annual way to test your self-discipline. My own 2019 New Year’s resolution was to ride more than 5,000 km in total which I achieved, with a total of 5,481 km, so for 2020, I’m aiming for 6,000 km. Some of you might

What are the seven types of female cyclist?

May 9, 2019 Nicola Children riding, Commuting by bike, Cycle groups, Cycling Club racing, Mountain bike riding, Track cycling, Women cycling

For a bit of fun (please don’t take it too seriously), I’ve identified seven types of female cyclist. I’ve deliberately used the word cyclist because that’s what I call myself, but I know that many of the groups I’ve identified wouldn’t use that term. With my arbitrary categories I also acknowledge that some women move from one group to another – An ‘Occasional rider’ could catch the bug and become an ‘Obsessed road cyclist’. And women can be more than one category at the same time – an ‘Obsessed road cyclist’ can also be a ‘Commuter’, a ‘Mountain biker’ and

Success at the National Junior Track Championships for Keira

April 11, 2019 Nicola Children riding, Cycling Club racing, Track cycling, Women cycling

One of the areas I really love to cover in my blogs is female professional cyclists and this week I’m profiling a young rider who just finished a very successful National Junior Track Championships and aspires to greater things. Her name is Keira Will and she’s just 13 years old, but to meet her you’d think she was older. At the recent Championships, where she competed in the Under 15 girls category she won five medals – three gold and two bronze. Plus she took home the coveted Champion of Champions jersey for being the Under 15 girl with the

FEMALE ROADIES – YOU SHOULD TRY CYCLOCROSS IN AUSTRALIA

February 5, 2019 Nicola Cycle racing, Cycling Club, Cycling Club racing, Cyclocross, Mountain bike riding, Women cycling

The sport of Cyclocross in Australia is relatively new to the local cycling scene. I first wrote about it in 2014 and have my interest reinvigorated by my friend Niki (who I met on a cycling tour in Japan last year) because she’s very enthusiastic about cyclocross and its potential to grow in Sydney and Australia. So what is cyclocross, I hear you ask. Some describe it as a combination of mountain biking, road cycling and criterium racing into one challenging event. Most races last for 30 minutes to an hour on a closed, twisty circuit of 2.5 to 3.5

Calling all road cycling women – You need some 2019 cycling New Year’s resolutions

January 1, 2019 Nicola Bike maintenance, Cycle racing, Cycling Club racing, New Year's resolutions, Women cycling

Happy New Year everyone – 2019 is going to be a great year, and to help you kick it off here’s my favourite ideas for your 2019 cycling New Year’s resolutions: Ride new places I’m very guilty of riding the same routes all the time – you know, the ones within my comfort zone. We all need to try new places on a regular basis. It keeps your mind active and you get to see new scenery and locations as a bonus. It even works when you are away on holidays, and is a great way to see a new

Get out of your comfort zone using your magic bicycle

July 24, 2018 Nicola Cycle racing, Cycling Club, Cycling Club racing, Women cycling

I believe you should regularly get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. I’m not always great at practising what I preach, but I’m happy to report that I completed my first road cycling team time trial over the weekend. For a lot of riders that would have been well within their comfort zone but for me it was a stretch. Not a huge one, but still a stretch. Apparently there’s some science behind the concept. The ‘comfort zone’ is described as the behavioural space where your activities and behaviours fit a routine and pattern that minimises stress and

Read the latest research into women’s cycling participation from Cycling Victoria

June 13, 2018 Nicola Cycle racing, Cycling Club, Cycling Club racing, Women cycling

I’m always interested in research into women’s cycling participation so I was intrigued to see a piece of research from Cycling Victoria last month. I’m a member of the Women’s Commission of Cycling NSW (the neighbouring state and key rival for those who aren’t Australian), and within my role I often look to Cycling Victoria for their leadership on the topic of women’s participation. This piece of research conducted by a University collaboration for Cycling Victoria has some interesting conclusions. I was particularly interested in their methodology in which they used desk research, interviews of only 11 people and observation.

Wollongong Women’s Cycling Club getting more women on bikes

September 26, 2017 Nicola Cycling Club, Cycling Club racing, training, Women cycling

I love hearing about female cyclists encouraging other women to join them, and Wollongong Women’s Cycling Club is a great example of just that. I first heard about them from some of my colleagues on the Cycling NSW Women’s Commission and made contact with them via fellow Commission member Kym who is the secretary of the club. Here’s the result of our email chat: Q: Why did you start Wollongong Women’s Cycling Club as a subgroup of an existing Club? Who are the women behind it? Jules Verheyen founded the club in late 2015 after running She Rides cycle coaching

Give Club Cycle racing a go with Women’s Come ‘n’ Try racing

September 12, 2017 Nicola Cycling Club racing, Women cycling

If I think back to my pre-cycling me, I would have been amazed at my devotion to cycling, and I would have thought it was extraordinary that I’d given racing a go through the Come ‘n ‘ Try racing program. I’ve spent my whole life being the ‘non-sporty’ type. I remember being reasonably involved in little athletics and other sport when I was at primary school but once I reached high school I tried my hardest to get out of any sporting endeavour, particularly any competitive one!!! At my school the sporty girls were encouraged to be involved but if

Road bike disc brakes are here, and all women are going to want them

August 1, 2017 Nicola Bike retail, Cycling Club racing, Women cycling, women specific bike, women's bikes

Cycling Australia made an interesting announcement last week, allowing the use of road bike disc brakes for most road bike racing within Australia, effective immediately. It was interesting because the international body, the UCI is still dragging the chain on the same issue, despite some of the big name riders like Marcel Kittel in the recent Tour de France winning several stages on a disc brake-equipped bike. Apparently disc brakes have been allowed in the US club scene since 2015. So I suspect that from January 2018 the UCI will allow them too, but we’ll have to wait and see.