Indholdsfortegnelse for January-February 2020 i Bicycling Australia

THE 2019 UCI WORLDTOUR SEASON HAS BARELY finished. It’s just a week since the London Six-Day. But for the Sydney-born, Southern Highlands-raised, Monaco-based Caleb Ewan, 2020 has already begun in earnest. In between changing nappies and cramming in quality time with wife Ryann and baby daughter Lily, the 25-year-old is already training hard for the Australian summer – his second since linking up with Marc Sargeant and Belgian squad, Lotto-Soudal. “My off-season is a bit weird,” Ewan explains, just minutes before setting out on his first official training ride of the 2020 season. “I basically finished racing at the start of September and had a few weeks off. Then I had three weeks of training leading into London, followed by another week off after the six-day. Now I’ll continue [training]…

GRAN FONDOS, THEY ARE ONE OF THE FASTEST growing aspects of the sport of cycling and, when you stop and think about it, this is for several very good reasons. The pre-event training, the personal challenge, the charity fundraising, the joy and fulfilment plus of course the pain and suffering. Oh, and the cold drinks and great times with like-minded others afterwards. Proudly leading the nation’s Gran Fondo scene, Bicycling Australia now have four major annual events – the Noosa, Clare, Mudgee and Bowral Classics. The original and in a sense our signature event, the fourth Bowral Classic was held in October with more than 3300 riders participating. In this article we speak with two well-known riders who were there – Matilda Raynolds of Specialized Australia, who rode the 175km…

AH, MY NEW KIT ARRIVED! “ECSTATIC SQUEALING” … Time to casually arrange myself atop my bike gazing at the camera as if I’m a house rug asking for a mattenklopper. I’ll snap that selfie, slap on a hashtag #newkitday, and post myself dancing about the room in my fresh bibs like it’s 1999. BLAH! Flick through Instagram you’d be forgiven thinking we cyclists choose apparel based on looks. The reality? It’s a bevy of frustrated women disheartened with the state of womens’ cycling apparel. Furthermore, they consider Instagram fakery with disdain as opposed to using it for “kitsperation.” Listening for years to constructive feedback of women, I decided to go proactive and relay the news. Sit back, this ride is gonna get wild! CYCLING INDUSTRY It’s time to wake up.…

BUT WHERE IN FRANCE? Competitive cycling is mostly about who can go up hills the fastest, so let’s locate next to an epic climb – something that defines the spirit of climbing in competition. There are a lot of fantastic cols to pick from in France across the Pyrenees and the Alps, but I’d probably choose neither and go to Provence because of the scenic countryside and the terrific flat terrain available to ride on. That means somewhere near the Giant of Provence – Mont Ventoux – is where I’d host my ride out of all the places on Earth. VENTOUX CALLING I have no idea what thought process Michelin went through leading up to their decision to hold a press camp at the foot of the Ventoux, but they…

He’s one of the world’s leading cycling photographers and again was there for the Bowral Classic. Beardy McBeard again enjoyed a unique viewpoint at this year’s event – watching and photographing the action from the back of the lead motorcycle. Speaking with Bicycling Australia after the event Beardy, AKA Marcus Enno, said nothing beats the crisp highlands air and the 2019 edition of the Bowral Classic a cracker with clear blue skies and perfect riding conditions. “The crisp air comes with one small drawback,” Beardy said. The mercury was in the single digits as I arrived at Bong Bong Street greeted with a flurry of excitement as the riders huddled together on the start line. “It’s a delicate balance as a cyclist of ‘what to wear’ as the cold morning…

MORE AND MORE WOMEN ARE RIDING BIKES IN AUSTRALIA. According to the latest figures from AustRoads about 30 per cent of women ride bikes, and while that’s cycling overall it is also reflected in the pursuit of road cycling. And while there’s no specific breakdown for road cycling participation, anecdotally there are more and more women riding road bikes. In 2010 only 15 per cent of the sport’s governing body Cycling Australia members were women, and by 2018 female riders represented 21 per cent of members. Women often come to road cycling from other sports or fitness activities like rowing, triathlon and spin classes at the gym. And like most road cyclists they become hooked and immerse themselves in the pursuit. But it can be daunting when you start out…

WE COULD LABEL IT ‘THE urban stroll litmus test’… and, simply put, it’s this. The number of glances, drawn-out looks and comments one of our review bikes receives when being walked through the CBD prior to the start of the testing process. Walked…pushed? Yes. The pedals always seem to be at home. So that’s where the bike must be taken the night before that very first trip to our #1 road-testing ground, West Head Road at Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park north of Sydney. Headphones on, loudly rocking an unmentionable big hair, 80s rock ballad, I felt a tap on the shoulder. “Super cool Orbea mate,” he said. “I’ve not seen that model before, I love the discs….” One of several comments during that hour-long commute across the sprawling city, I…

WHEN IT COMES TO mechanical engineering, people seem to sit up and take notice if the product has a German flag on it. This is the case with the the vast majority of products and bicycles are no exception. Focus are a German-based bike company who have had some great success in the past with their Izalco Max range. From the WorldTour to your local beach run, the Izalco Max was the light-weight, high-performance machine to be seen on. Currently Focus have their eyes set on the ever-evolving and fast-moving world of the e-bike. As an old-school former Tour de France rider who raced on a steel bike with downtube shifters and toe clips, naturally I am a sceptic so far as motors on bikes go. Like many I’ve always…

‘ROAM IF YOU WANT TO, ROAM around the world...' Ah yes, that glorious, upbeat and colourful song from the B-52's way back in 1989, a year when the latest cycling computer – an Avocet 30 for example – featured four, maybe five functions. How times have changed right across the cycling sphere and particularly with cycling computers which now boast literally hundreds of functions! For the past couple of months we've been reviewing the latest from the Wahoo ELEMNT range, a standout unit known as the ROAM. “...THE SCREEN OFFERS MORE REAL ESTATE THAN THE BOLT, and displays various colours in addition to the monochrome we’ve become used to...” Around the same size as the original ELEMNT but styled more similarly to the aero BOLT, this unit sits around midway…

WHEN THEY SIGNED BROTHERS Andy and Fränk Schleck to begin their debut season as Leopard-Trek in 2011, the former a runner-up-cum-winner at the previous year’s Tour de France thanks to the belated disqualification of Alberto Contador, this team probably thought it was not inconceivable they would one day win Le Tour. Had it not been for Andy’s woeful time trial ability, they almost certainly would have done so. Instead, on that 42.5 kilometre penultimate stage TT around Grenoble, Schleck the younger conceded two-and-a-half minutes to Cadel Evans, who reversed a 57-second deficit and catapulted himself from third to race leader, and thus became the first Australian to win the greatest bike race on earth. Somewhat of a consolation, Frank would finish third and flank Cadel and Andy on the Paris…

AN AUSTRALIAN CYCLING HOLIDAY Before you head overseas for your next cycling holiday you might like to consider a holiday closer to home with Mulga Bicycle Tours. Designed with the social rider in mind, their tours start each day at a respectable hour; travel at a relaxed pace and focus on the journey, not on the clock. There are support vehicles every day so you can ride as much or as little as you please and each tour is restricted to 15 guests, so you’re assured of personal attention. All their destinations are places owners Mark and Denise especially enjoy, and they finesse each of their routes to ensure you travel through the best scenery and experience unforgettable stories rich in historic and cultural connections. Each day you’ll eat fantastic…

PERHAPS THE ONLY THING MORE COLOURFUL THAN Mike Turtur’s time in charge of Australia’s premier bike race, is the gloriously candid way he reflects on the past 22 years. Get him started and the stories come flying out faster than Andre Greipel at Victor Harbour. But all great rides come to an end and for the former Olympic and Commonwealth Champion that will happen when the 2020 Tour Down Under draws to close on the summit of Willunga Hill. Turtur’s final race day in charge also happens to be Sunday January 26, Australia Day, which seems entirely fitting, for surely few recent figures have been more influential in shaping Australia’s place on the world cycling stage than the proud South Australian. PETER MANIATY: MIKE TURTUR, YOU’VE BEEN RUNNING THE TDU…

WOMEN’S CYCLING: HOW FAR HAS IT COME IN Australia since the days a generation ago where it wasn’t unusual for a woman to be the only female rider in her club; championships were contested by only a handful of women and what female races existed were placed at the unpopular end of the program (and rarely covered by the media). In the 1980/90s clothing was “unisex” and bikes were “men’s racing frames”; there were few defined pathways for women serious about racing as a career; prize money was doled out to winners without regard to sex and sportif events were unheard of. Society deemed that women were the homemakers, so often a talented rider would stop cycling to raise children in her 20s and 30s and we would be fortunate…

OFFICIALLY I’M HERE TO PREVIEW THE 2020 EDITION of the world’s second largest cycling trade show, TAIPEI CYCLE. Yet somewhat ironically, I’m not even in Taipei. I’m actually sitting in a press conference about 140km to the south of the Taiwan capital, in Taichung City. This is no mistake. Since the 1970s, the thriving industrial region of Taichung has grown to become the world’s epicentre of cycling manufacturing. Some estimates suggest well over two-thirds of all medium and high-end bicycles and components are now made here in Taiwan or in Taiwanese-owned factories in China, Vietnam and, increasingly, parts of Europe. Colnago, Specialized, Giant, Merida, Bianchi, BMC, Cervelo, Cannondale, Pinarello, SRAM, Zipp, Tektro/TRP, 3T, FSA, Fuji, Louis Garneau, Jagwire, KMC, Lezyne and Marwi, the world’s largest pedal manufacturer, all have production…

WHO? SHARLENE’S BUNCH WHERE? GLENELG, ADELAIDE POST-RIDE? CAFE EUROPA I AM SEEING MORE AND MORE women enjoying the freedom that riding a bike gives them. They don't always wear Lyrca and that is just fine, if riding a bike puts a smile on their face, but I often see women in their sneakers and trackies look at those female roadies in a tight bunch enjoying a tailwind to the coast thinking "WOW look at those women I want to be like them" and you can! Cycling Australia’s 'She Rides’ women’s program has programs running throughout the year and is particularly popular here in Adelaide. There are also many clubs that welcome women into cycling, including the Skinny Lattes Cycling Club which is Adelaide's only incorporated women's specific club. Adelaide has…