Dinosaurs cycle amongst us

It bewilders me why it still needs to be explained, but it is not appropriate to use half naked women as clickbait. Is that quite clear? Unless your story is about half naked women, or they are part of your art and your website/story is about that, lose the naked women.

So why this statement now?

Well, quite a while ago I read an article on a blog about a friend. The article was cycling related. The blog was cycling related. Yet I had to scroll through picture after picture of women in various stages of undress, in various poses with a bike. Few of these women looked like they knew how to ride the bike, given the way that they were posing. Few of the pictures seemed to have anything to do with the articles they were paired with. By the time I got to the article I was really irritated. This man thought that cycling was all about men! And by the pictures he included he thought women couldn't cycle. As a woman who is a cyclist and who knows lots of women who are cyclists, this really offended me. So I provided some feedback, noting that the article was excellent, but the pictures were unnecessary and offensive. 

Just recently I got a response. This is probably best summed up as that he considers his pictures are on par with things like bachelor/ette, firemen calendars and Who Magazine, so he doesn't see the problem. Further, he thinks this won't satisfy me and I should stop reading his blog. 

Damn straight this doesn't satisfy me! Sure, you can put what you want on your blog and likewise I can choose not read it. This doesn't diminish the fact that you, and through the examples you gave, mainstream society, see women as mere eye candy. They are seen as less competent, less powerful and generally less than men. Unless they are being pretty or sexy. Then they are valued.

That's not good enough. Women are human, just like men. They are competent, capable and powerful. They are strong, brave and amazing. And they should be valued for what they do not what they look like. And here's a hot tip, if you're talking about a women as a pro cyclist, or as any athlete, I don't care what they look like. I don't care what the men look like either. Any athletic endeavour is about what you do, not what you look like. So talk about what they do, it's really that simple.

I must admit it's not all bad news. The number of sites that are objectifying or belittling women in the cycling world are dying day by day as women vocally tear them apart. And rightfully so. 

People are learning. Hats off to sites like Apres Velo, who recently posted something inappropriate and acknowledged it, apologised for it and strive to do better. Or better still, sites like Cycling Tips, that recognise that women that cycle deserve their own voice, and created a site specifically to allow for that (Ella Cycling Tips).

There are also bloggers out there that celebrate the tough women who they cycle with. Fat Cyclist regularly writes about how tough the women in his life are, on bike and off. His nicknames say it all; his wife is known as 'The Hammer', his daughter 'The Monster', not to mention ex-pro mountain biker Rebecca Rusch aka the 'Queen of Pain'. 

If you really want examples of companies that simply get it, take a look at Strava and Wiggle. Strava recently put out a series of  promotional videos focused on team work, perseverance and friendship. Wiggle are the driving force behind a strong women's pro-cycling team as well as supporting initiatives like the Amy Gillett Foundation, which aim to make it safe for everyone to ride. Their advertising focuses on people. All sorts of people. People with all different capabilities actually using their products. Not one sexy women pic. Full disclosure - I'm a Wiggle fan girl and they accidentally sent me a free pair of socks once.

So where does that leave us? It goes without saying that I'm not going back to his blog. His response has made me realise that there is still a lot of work to do to make people realise that women have value for more than their looks. So I will do what I can to promote the many women I know who do awesome things. I will stop sitting quietly in my corner of the internet, for fear of offending someone, and stand up and call out when things are not right.

To the guy behind the blog, you mentioned you were getting a CX bike? Well, if you're brave enough to come out to CX, you'll have to meet the CX bros. They're the toughest bunch of women out there and I guarantee they will leave you, and your outdated thinking, in their dust!

Swimming upstream

Blue skies - happy days!

The other day I went for a ride. Nothing particularly surprising about that, I ride my bike fairly frequently. But my mind was different. For the first time I was not worrying about whether my body was going to seize up on me, not getting frustrated that everybody else can ride without getting broken but I can't. I was just riding, going with the flow and enjoying myself.

Challenging

The first half of this year has been full of challenges. I have pushed myself to overcome the mental and physical barriers that have stopped me from doing fun things like mountain biking. I have watched others easily pick up bikes and ride things which terrify me and I have been frustrated. I told myself I was happy with what I had achieved, that I was able to ride things that I couldn't before, but I still felt frustrated.

I watched my friends fill their lives with activities, on bike and off, while I just felt tired. I wondered how these people fit so much into their lives, when I was struggling just coping with work. I tried to do things, to cook, to ride, to be social, but I just ended up curled up with a book, trying to get away from the world.

Small moments of joy

I felt like I fought so hard, but I had nothing left. I was worried that this was the rest of my life, watching others live, while I struggled to get through each day. I remembered having energy, feeling like life was full of interesting and wonderful things, but I didn't know how to get back there. I had set my sights on a goal upstream and I was trying my hardest to get there, but the current was just too strong.

I'd been keeping an eye on a movie I wanted to see, which a friend of mine helped put together. The movie is called "Embrace" and, while I haven't seen it yet, one of the questions it puts to people is to describe their bodies in just one word. My instantaneous response to that was "frustrated". I was frustrated at my body's inability to do the things I wanted to do. But I was blaming the wrong part of me.

More blue skies

The night before I went for a ride, I finally let go. I "treated myself" by watching some meditation videos that I'd been meaning to watch for ages and hadn't because I hadn't done all the other things that I kept telling myself I needed to do. I lay on the couch, in the warmth, and listened to a beautiful soothing voice. And then I relaxed.

The next morning, when I got up, instead of focusing on whether or not I would make it up the hills, whether I would complete the distance I wanted to do, I told my body it felt good. I told my body that it was going to be an awesome day. I told my body that it was going to be fine. And I told my mind that it didn't matter how far, or how fast. I told my mind that the day was going to be awesome, that I would go with the flow.

Then I got on my bike and rode under blue skies with my best mate by my side. And you know what? It doesn't get much more awesome than that!

Riding with my best mate - good times!

Dirty Weekend 2016 - Dust, Mud and Rain Edition

Bikes - prepped and ready

The big day dawned, dry, dusty and windy. There was no more time for training, it was go time! Our bikes were ready, our campsite set. The weather dictated that our tent be secured to a nearby tree and most of my fear was actually about the tent flying down the hill, not me!

Team Educated Guesswork
(c/o Carl Purczel)

The team gathered for pre-race photos and a rough plan. Our managerial staff, Rob and Jill, were on hand to provide support, motivation, timing estimates and if all else failed comedic relief for our frayed nerves. 

Ready to go!

Anthony was to be the first cab off the rank, given his previous racing experience we figured he could deal with the hectic nature of a start better than the rest of us. The crowd gathered at for the pre-race briefing and the starting riders lined up at least somewhere near the start line. Anthony was in amongst it, far enough back not to get caught up in a fight for first position, but far enough forward that he hopefully wouldn't be held up too much.

Awesome Fashionista!

Anthony blasted through his first lap in under 50 minutes and then I was on. I went out way too fast, the excitement and nerves getting to me with my heart rate struggling to get under 170. My switchbacks were messy but I rode the first part of the outcrops which I had previously struggled with. About halfway through I felt completely done, and wondered how on earth I was going to do another lap, let alone the 5 or 6 I expected to do! But after about an hour everything settled down and I felt good about continuing. I came in at about 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is pretty much what I expected.

Mr Speedy!

Carl was out next and blasted out our fastest lap for the entire event, at 48 minutes flat. Unfortunately while he was out I started to get a splitting headache, which would persist the entire evening. Pizza and panadol did nothing to help, though the pizza was delicious. Once Carl came in, Meg went out, lights blazing!

Lights (and Grin) Blazing!

In between laps there was time for snacks, chats and weather watching. It was a generally jovial affair, with many friends racing or just coming up to say hi! But the weather watching had us all on edge as the temperature started to drop and the clouds gathered on the horizon. The question on everybody's lips was, how long before the rain and how bad would it be?

What would those clouds do?

Waiting . . .

Anthony turned in another lap after Meg finished, and then it was my turn to head out once again. This would actually be my first official night time mountain bike ride. The previous weekend when we had intended to practice this, my lights decided they didn't want to participate (apparently user error we later discovered), so there was some amount of trepidation as I rolled out onto the track.

. . . cause I had a flat :(

My nervousness was totally unnecessary, as night riding was so much fun! I began to feel like I was settling into this mountain biking thing, feeling the flow as it were. Well, right up until I suddenly felt the air go out from under me. Spot on half way I suddenly felt myself riding along on my rim. Wanting to complete my lap, I pushed my bike up to a nearby fire track and proceeded to try and fix the situation.

Jo rocking the rocks!

I had a certain amount of good luck, as the spot I had chosen to effect my repairs was right in front of the Coomealla Club's campsite. After watching me ineffectively attempt to pump up my tyre, a kind gentleman came down and assisted me. His attempts at pumping up the tyre were as effective as mine, so between us we worked out I had totalled the tube. 

Solo 24 hours - tough lady!

Thankfully I came fully prepared and had a spare, even better another gentleman joined us and between the two of them they changed my tube in record time. For the record, I can and have changed tubes, but it is neither fast or efficient and usually involves some of the more eloquent phrases in my vocabulary. So I was very grateful to the two gentlemen, who it turned out were renegades from Broken Hill, rather than Mildura where the Coomealla Club is located.

With a suitable amount of pressure, I was underway once more. But the pressure was mounting, would I beat the rain?

Rain on the way

As it turns out, the answer was no. But it wasn't as bad as I thought, and gentle rain drifted through the trees, creating a pleasant atmosphere as I rode through the dark. Only on the last couple of kilometers did it get a bit slippery and I almost came to grief on a switchback. But after a slightly longer lap than I intended I rolled in and Mr Carl rolled out.

Managment!

It was about this time our managerial staff went home, although they kindly stayed long enough to see me safely in. I was somewhat jealous of them heading home to a warm dry bed, especially as the wind was picking up and the rain coming down in more regular intervals. Not to mention my head was pounding. But this was my bright idea, so I had to toughen up.

Bravely taking on for the team . . 

As it turns out, I wasn't the only one having second thoughts. Both Meg and Anthony were keen to get some sleep, particularly if the weather got worse. Meg was planning to head out after Mr Carl got back and then hit the hay, and Anthony was keen for one more lap then sleep as well. When Mr Carl returned, we informed him of the plan and he valiantly volunteered to do one more lap after Anthony. I must admit I was a little concerned at this, as the weather was meant to get noticeably worse, but I figured he's a big boy and can make his own bad decisions!

 . . . which resulted in this!

As it turned out, Mr Carl did brave another lap, heading out at about 11:30pm, while I was tucked up in my sleeping bag. Shortly after he went out the worst of the thunderstorm hit and as I lay in the tent I worried that this would prove too much for him. But I must have dozed off as I have no memory of him coming in, drenched and caked in mud from what he described as a "hellish" lap.

Morning light

As a team, we had a rough plan that Meg would kick things off for the next day about 5am, so we could maybe get a few laps in before it got hectic with the start of the 6hr race at 8am. But the wind and the rain were unabated, lashing the tent and any riders still crazy enough to be riding. 

What happens when
 you play in the mud at 5am

Shortly after 5 we received a message from Anthony saying he wasn't that keen on heading out in this mess and we thought we ought to tell Meg that she could stay curled up in bed as well. Unfortunately we were too late, as she had headed out to brave all the rainy, muddy mess that was now the track.

Serenity
(when the wind stopped)

Carl selflessly volunteered to go and meet her at the finish, so she knew that no one was going to follow her, and I curled up and went back to sleep. The light of day brought a lessening of the rain, but the track was a muddy mess. Knowing my skills are limited at the best of times, I was pretty reluctant to go out in these conditions. Meg had also had her fill of playtime in the mud at 5am and was less than keen to play with other riders as well. So we all eased into the day, snapping shots of a beautiful clear (and cold) morning while sipping hot cups of tea.

Those grins,
they're up to no good!

Anthony was the first to get motivated, heading out for a lap at 7:30am, to assess trail conditions. While he was out, the 6 hour and 12 hour races started and restarted respectively. Suddenly the trail was full of people. More the point, it was full of fast people who were actually racing, as opposed to us 24hr peeps, who were happy just to pootle around a bit.

Grins to the end!

Anthony returned and was keen to call it a day. His legs were done and the trail was a bit messy. Give that he'd done the most laps of all of us at this point, we weren't going to argue. Also, the rain had returned and trapped us in the main marquee with hot pizza, so heading out was the last thing on anybodies mind.

Speccy Shot!

Once the rain cleared, it was time for photos! With so many riders on course it was an excellent opportunity to grab some happy snaps and the odd speccy pic. It was also time to return the favour I received the previous night, as a couple of guys punctured near us. While I didn't actually change their tubes for them, I did volunteer the services of Carl and our track pump, which was at least helpful to them!

Jo - always grinning!

Eventually the track started to get drier and we started to feel a bit guilty about not riding. So Mr Carl donned the lycra and went for a spin. I decided that I'd also have one more go, depending on the state of the track. Mr Carl rolled in just before 1pm and gave me the low down on the track. He thought I'd be fine, so with no excuses left I rolled out.

Julia -  
showing me how it's done!

The legs were a bit weary, but I soon found my rhythm and began to enjoy myself. The general fatigue meant that a lot of the switchbacks were taken with my patented one legged riding method and I walked the outcrops, but I was out there having fun. I heard them call the end of the race with about 1km to go, but that was ok, I knew my lap would still count. I rolled into the timing tent with tired legs, but happy and smiling as I had just had a ball!

FAT BIKE!!!!!

Our team, with 14 laps total, came dead last in our category, but only by three minutes, which is pretty cool in my books.  What's better is that we had fun, we worked together as a team and didn't stress out when things didn't go to plan. I wouldn't say I'm an expert mountain biker now, not by a long shot, and if I'm honest, I'd barely call myself competent. But I achieved what I set out to do. I completed the Dirty Weekend, and along the way I learnt how to ride a bike in mountains with a bit less fear and a bit more skill. So now I am officially a Mountain Biker!

24 hours, 1 major fall, 2nd place
 and still grinning! Top Mountain Bike Chick 
and Awesome Coach!

On a separate note, I have to say a huge congratulations to some of the hard core riders that participated in this event. A couple of mates came second and third in the single female 24 hour category and both completed 10 laps. That's about 100km and 3,000m of climbing! The winner of that category completed 16 laps. The winner of the single male 24 hour category completed 29 laps, which is over 300 km and just under 9,000m of climbing. That's about the same elevation as climbing Mt Everest. Truly some amazing hordcore athletes.

Skillz!!!!
(I may eventually learn)

I'd just like to finish this post by saying thank you to everyone who has helped me get to the point where I felt like I could participate in this event safely. Cathy and David who came out to watch. Rob Cannon who always kept me motivated, taking interest and offering advice and comic relief, even though he couldn't ride himself. And Jill who always kept Rob and I smiling! Nic Chaffey, who is the best mountain bike teacher I could have found, she is always so upbeat and fully convinced that I could do it, even if I wasn't. My teamies, Anthony and Meg, who put up with a fair bit of disorganisation, and spent a lot of time waiting for me to catch up on group rides. 

And finally to Mr Carl, who often sees me at my worst, when the stress from fear causes me to be short tempered, or break down in tears, and is still willing to ride with me. Without all your patience and support, I'm not sure I could have done this, so thank you.

Until my next crazy adventure, "Breathe Deep, Fear Less".  

Dirty Weekend 2016 - Challenges for the newbies!

Reason 1 to love Mountain Biking

I have a confession to make. I love Mountain Biking! I love being out in the bush, no cars, just trails and tranquility. But I have a problem, the mountain component of mountain biking causes me a great deal of discomfort and fear. Fear of tumbling down a hill, flying off the side of the trail into nothingness, these are the thoughts that go through my head as I ride, which makes many rides uncomfortable to say the least. But I really want to be out there, so I needed to find a way to solve this problem. My solution - entering a 24 hour mountain bike race at Fox Creek!

Ok, on a scale of 1 to 10 of daft ideas I've had, this one probably rates up there with the time I built a raft out of rotten wood as a kid, or forgot to hold onto the saddle of a cantering horse. In my defense, I was only planning on doing the 6 or 12 hour version as part of a team (stop rolling your eyes), but Mr Carl pointed out that if we were going to haul all our gear up to Fox, we might as well go the whole hog. So 24 hours it would be.

Reason 2 to love Mountain Biking

With the two of us committed, the first thing we needed to do was find some willing victims teamies. We first approached Captain Bob and Brett (aka Nutella Bob), but some serious mileage last year had meant that Captain Bob was relegated to managerial duties, and Brett was facing impending parenthood, so we needed some new blood.

The Experienced Anthony

Our first recruit was an old work colleague, Anthony, who we knew did a bit of racing in Alice Springs. He wasn't too hard to convince and the three of us went out for our first training ride. Now we are all groundwater modellers and spend most of our time working with computers. So naturally we relied on tech to help us navigate. This appeared to be a major disadvantage as garmin thought it needed to find a road for us to u-turn on when we missed a turn by 50 meters or so. The road it found was 5 km down a hill. So u-turn we did and went 5 km back uphill. We clocked up almost 600 m climbing in 20 km (strava file here) and earnt all the beer and pizza that Anderson Hill Winery could provide!

Our Compass - Meg

After that somewhat epic training ride, we decided our final teamy needed a sense of direction. Someone who might have a bit more practical experience in the world beyond computers. As it turns out, working for the government has it's advantages, lots of people are keen environmentalists and ride bikes. They also have people that go outside and deal with the real world on a regular basis! Without stretching the truth too much, we persuaded one of these "field hydrogeologists", Meg, to join us. Little did she know what she was getting into!

Beer and Grins!

As it turned out, there were a few other people at work who were planning on riding the Dirty Weekend, and some of them even had a passing familiarity with the trails at Fox. Taking advantage of this sudden influx of knowledge, we organised a training ride. This was a relatively successful event, with no one getting too lost and everyone lining up for beer and pizza at the end of the ride.

One thing that was becoming increasing evident to me was that one of my (many) weaknesses were downhill switchbacks. I'd finally mastered the uphill versions, but the downhill variety seemed to require a level of speed and flow that I wasn't comfortable with. 

Super Awesome Coach!

But I had a secret weapon. An absolutely brilliant mountain bike teacher! She took me out to some switchbacks I had failed to ride in a previous event and patiently guided me through how to ride them. Then she stood and cheered me on as I cautiously inched my way down, in what was probably one of the most horrendously ridden switchbacks in the history of mountain biking. But I rode it. It's really hard to give up when someone else is so convinced you can do it! 

Reason 3 to love Mountain Biking

So, after a few more training rides, progressively getting less lost each time, we, the team appropriately called Educated Guesswork, were ready. Or at least that's what we thought.

We even practiced with the tent!

Feel the rush - Tour Down Under 2016

It's been that time of year again when Adelaide goes crazy for all things bike. Pros, amateurs, social riders and everything in between comes to town in one big party. And this year we had the week off to enjoy it! 

The first official day of the tour went out to the Barossa, but somebody forgot to mention it to the weather. Instead of the postcard perfect blue skies and vineyards the Barossa is famed for, we got wind, dust, heat and rain. I felt sorry for the peloton as they struggled in these conditions, getting faces full of dust as they headed to Lyndoch. 


I was perched on Yettie Road with the camera and I'm not sure I've ever seen pros ride that slow, the wind, dust and Whispering Wall all taking their toll. But there were three guys in the break, doing it tough, struggling to stay away and making the race interesting. The last one held on until about 20 km to go and then it was a bunch sprint to the line. Caleb Ewan of Orica Greenedge managed to squeeze through and nab the win. Definitely a hard day out for the guys.

The girls also did it tough that day (and the previous three) with the heat and the humidity making for a draining criterium race that was the final of the Santos Women's Tour. They raced hard and fast while I dripped sweat and took pictures. Their faces say it all really, these were some really tough ladies and this year they were racing for international points, so there was some serious international competition. Kimberly Wells (High5 Dream Team) won the criterium, but Katrina Garfoot (Orica Greenedge), the Australian time trial champion won the series.

Day two saw us head up to Stirling to catch up with friends, eat cheese and watch the race. We snagged a prime position 500 m from the finishing line thanks to a mate who happens to live at this convenient location. The riders came by six times, so there was plenty of time to get a few happy snaps. The highlight of this stage was Adam Hansen deciding to do a one man time trialling effort for most of the race. Maybe the rest of the peloton stank, because he did not want anything to do with them and sat off the front of the race for five out of the six laps. It was awesome to capture this cycling legend doing what he does best!

Corkscrew was the highlight of the third day of racing, with the riders tackling this tough climb and often equally challenging descent. I've only ridden the descent a couple of times and I don't remember it being super technical, but it always seems to cause the pros grief, either with mechanicals or crashes, so something must be going on!

Anyway, Mr Carl and I wanted to spin the legs over in preparation for the Challenge Tour the next day, so we thought we'd ride up to the Corkscrew turn off with the point and clicks. We actually ended up at the base of the climb after trying to find good spots to take photos. The front of the peloton were going hard when they reached us, but there were a lot of riders that had done their job for the day, or been involved in crashes, and were happy just to take it easy up the climb. They didn't seem to be too keen on carrying their water bottles either and Mr Carl scored two souvenirs.

Finally it was Friday and our turn to ride. And hurt. And ride some more. The Challenge Tour was here. Sometimes I think the biggest challenge of the challenge tour is riding with so many other people of varying skill levels. We also had the additional challenge of a storm going through the night before and leaving a lot of rubbish on the road. But for once nobody want to be a hero, at least where I was riding, and as we climbed up Norton Summit people seemed to take it easy and look out for one another.

There were two surprises waiting at the top of Norton Summit. One was Cadel Evans, the other was our mate waving his crank about. Apparently he broke a bolt. I have suspicions that he'd spotted Cadel, put the power down and snapped it, but they have yet to be confirmed. He later managed to fix the bike a local bike store, though did have to spend the last 20km tightening the replacement bolt as it didn't fit all that well.

From Norton Summit, the ride was undulating, though I mostly remember a lot of up. I also remember being my own personal shower as the humidity was horrendous. Someone had forgotten to tell the weather about our pleasant, mediterranean climate and substituted it with something from the tropics! Eventually the humidity eased off and then it started to get hot.

Except it didn't. We had about half an hour where you could start to feel the radiant heat from the road and then it backed off. When we came to the second to last rest stop we found out why. There was a storm headed straight for us! 60 km/hr winds, lightning, all the fun things you really want when you're just about to pedal up the King of the Mountain! We were booted out of that rest stop and told to hurry, which is easier said than done when you're facing a hill that gets up to 10% gradient.

So off we went. At least it wasn't too hot and the humidity had died down. But the hill awaited us. And what a hill it was. Deceptive at first, at the 5 km to go sign the road was flat even a little down hill. Same for the 4 km to go and the 3 km to go only kicked a little bit. 

But at 2 km to go, the hill kicked hard and the grinding started. Slowly, about 7 km/hr, I pushed my way to the 1 km to go sign. And then the hill really decided to turn it up. That last kilometer took all my stubbornness, but I wasn't going to get off. And I didn't! The view from the top was almost worth it and even better, we had yet to be rained on or struck by lightning! So on to Victor Harbor.

We rolled into Victor Harbor with no real issues and well before the peloton, although there were some unpleasant rises in the last 10 km. To avoid the rain we thought was coming we jumped on a bus and headed back to Adelaide. What we didn't know was that the storm that was meant to hit us had actually taken out Adelaide! At least we didn't get wet!

Saturday was the Queen Stage at Willunga Hill and like previous years we joined some mates for a barbie in a prime position. We got there a little late due to a certain amount of exhaustion, but still managed to drag the cameras out and take a few snaps. A breakaway tried hard to stay away, but the peleton were in full swing and hardly let them have any time before the headed up Willunga Hill. Richie Porte (BMC) danced everyone off his wheel and took the stage win, but Simon Gerrans (Orica Greenedge) still had a nine second lead in the general classification.


 

Nine seconds doesn't sound like much, but when the final stage is a criterium, there's not much opportunity to get that time back. The final stage saw us reunited with many friends on the corner of King William and War Memorial taking pictures like there was no tomorrow! Well, there was certainly no race tomorrow! 

The riders went round and round as we swapped lenses, tried different positions and generally had fun with the cameras. No idea what was going on the race, but I figured the general classification wasn't going to change much so I might as well take photos.

And with that final click of the camera, the Tour Down Under was done for another year and I had a lot of photos to process. Some of my favourite photos were not of the pros, but of the casual cyclists riding each of the stages and the spectators cheering them on. So I put together this video to celebrate what I love about the Tour Down Under, the cycling community that makes it so special!