Author Archives: Admin

How to turn a cycleway into a don’t-cycleway in three easy steps

Cook’s River Cycleway is part of the Ryde to Botany Bay Cycleway here in Sydney, and it runs basically past my house (well, about half a kilometre from my house)

This being the case, it’s been a semi-regular part of my riding since I got back on the bike in January 2012. Back then, of course, I had fortnight legs*, so it was very nice to have a relatively low-speed stretch of flat-ish path, away from traffic. I used it a lot.

It has things wrong with it, but what doesn’t?

But lately, there’ve been a few changes, around where the cycleway meets Broughton Street in Canterbury.

First, let’s explain how it was, with the aid of a handy overhead view known to specialists as “a map”

Broughton Street Continue Reading →

My new favourite cycling media thingy

Cosmo Catalano, he of How The Race Was Won, has a new show and it’s really good. You should check it out. Much snarkier than GCN, and not prone to promoting quack remedies either. So that’s good. Also, mighty fine t-shirts.

You should probably also check out his HTRWW from the 2014 Tour Down Under, while you’re at it.

Recovery Drink

I raced at Newington Armory this evening – B Grade – and finished somewhere around tenth in a field of nearly 30. Not spectacular, but I feel entirely validated, having done enough work on the front to elicit positive comment from my clubmates.

So I figured I deserved a recovery drink. Belgian, obviously, for preference. We are cyclists, after all.

Well, it’s Belgian style. Australian brewed. And entirely delicious. It’s called “An American Werewolf in Belgium”. Recommended, if you’re not riding the morning after, obviously.

da864180fa6a5f837df62f123b682a29_640x640I’m certain that it’ll make me at least a couple of watts stronger, once it’s fully digested.

Cheers!

For sale

I’ve just been having a bit of a tidy-up around my studio, which is, to be honest, not much of a studio any more. It’s more a bike workshop and garage, really.

Anyway, I’ve rounded up a whole load of surplus components which I don’t need any more. So below the fold, I’ve posted a list. Pretty much everything here is flexibly priced. If you think it’s too pricey, make me an offer. Continue Reading →

How to be a road biker

Ummm…. yeah.

Road Racing again – this is becoming a habit

Giving it some stick off the front

Giving it some stick off the front of the bunch

I made my second road race outing – yes ever – on the Australia Day public holiday, heading out to Eastern Creek Motorsport Centre for a Waratah Masters CC graded scratch race. 70 minutes of racing around a quite well-known and popular motor racing track? Yes please.

As you may know, I’m quite new to this whole road racing thing, and while I’ve come over from the MTB racing scene with fairly good legs and a competitive nature, I’m still not what you’d call a seasoned road racer.

And so it was with Monday’s race. Continue Reading →

LACC Newington Armoury Twilight Crits Round One

LACC Armoury Crits Round 1 23 Jan 2014

Pic courtesy of the Park Bikes Twitter feed

Last night saw the first official foray into a regular weekly criterium event at Sydney’s Newington Armoury event centre, hosted by LACC. I finally got round to paying up my road racing licence, and went along for a first foray into crit racing. I really liked what I saw. Continue Reading →

WSMTB Summer Series Round 2

Photo credit: Bikeminded

What was effectively round one, since the original round one was cancelled, went off this weekend at Yellomundee Regional Park in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. A strong turnout, very dry conditions and monstrously loud cicadas were the order of the day

It was the first race outing for me on my Bianchi Methanol hardtail. I raced 2013 on my BMC Speedfox SF29 full-suspension rig, and I was itching to give the new hardtail a good hit out, even though Yellomundee is one of my least favourite circuits, mostly due to a broken rib I picked up there late in 2012. It’s a fairly short track, technical in nature with a nasty rock garden climb in the first half of the lap, often dry and dusty and with a couple of fast rocky descents. Suspension would be nice for those, but overall a lighter, more chuckable bike would be the better choice. Continue Reading →

In praise of the group ride

The author (following) on a SOP group rideSo I’ve been, historically, a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to riding bikes. My background as an MTB rider probably has a lot to do with this – we don’t tend to ride in big groups – but now some six months or so after buying a new road bike, I’ve started getting out on regular group road rides and getting a feel for riding in a peloton.

And I really like it.

The first thing that struck me about riding as a group is that you have to start redefining what ‘fast’ means. Solo, I can put down some pretty quick times, and average a bit over 30km/h over 100km or so, depending on the route and the conditions. But in a good, fast, disciplined group, average speeds can skyrocket and even short sprint sectors can go faster as you benefit from the lead-outs offered by the group.

For example, I recently did a short training ride at Sydney Olympic park that averaged over 40km/h for the five laps of the circuit. I did a slight double-take as the times popped up on Strava later. Nearly 25km at more than 40km/h. Inconceivable. Well, not with a group. And that wasn’t even the fast group.

The next thing, obviously, is the camaraderie. Finding a good group delivers friendships, alliances, rivalries and, it’s true, the occasional bit of friction. But a bit of friendly barracking, a solid ride to fire up the endorphins and a coffee, a chat and cooldown afterwards can really set you up for the day and drive your motivation for tomorrow. It’s also a great way to fight off a hangover.

Third, it’s an education. The more experienced riders of the group have a wealth of knowledge to pass on, and those lessons can appear in surprising and sometimes painful ways.

For example, in the last few weeks I’ve blasted down fantastic roads I wouldn’t, ordinarily, even know about. I’ve been yelled at for splintering the group too early in the ride after chasing down another rider’s break. I’ve been hung out to dry with my nose in the wind by two much more experienced riders who blew past me after what seemed like an eon at the front. I’ve swept up by the freight train of the peloton, completely shattered, shortly afterwards. I’ve had my riding position and cornering technique critiqued in detail – both of which I’m now working on closely. I’ve chased NRS racers down breakneck descents, showing that the aforementioned focus on cornering  can pay dividends.  I’ve taken Strava KoMs thanks to the benefit of a group lead-out and I’ve been impressed and inspired in turn, every time.

I really recommend, if you’ve got a road bike, that you find a local group and get out there occasionally. It’s an experience every cyclist ought to try. You don’t have to be an A-grader or aspiring pro to get out with a group. There are rides for all experience levels, fitness levels, ages and genders. Just go and give it a crack. You’ll love it.

Some good advice

Source: wikimedia commons

I did a group ride with LACC today. On it, I got some good advice.

If you’re smashing it off the front, don’t look back. Keep your head down and pedal harder. If there’s someone holding your wheel, he’s got enough speed to stay with you and you don’t need to check he’s there. If there’s no-one on your wheel, you’ve broken away and you need to go hard to stay away, and looking back won’t help.

Don’t. Look. Back.

Also: being hung out to dry on the front because you’re the new guy and being a bit cocky. Ouch.

Also also: Holy shit, a full peloton can pass you like a truck when you eventually crack.

Also also also: If you’re not smashing it off the front, looking back now and then is a really, really good thing.

(Thank you Scott, I actually really, really appreciate the advice)