Bicycling Australia

2023, IT COULD BE ARGUED, APPEARS TO BE THE YEAR WE DESERVE… touch wood. Without wanting to put the mockers on the months ahead, at this relatively early stage, the sun sure seems to be shining brighter on Aussie cycling. And literally! As the 2022/23 ‘Summer of Cycling’ draws to an end, we think back at what has been an incredibly memorable period for Australian riding enthusiasts. A standout summer for a myriad of reasons, many of us could get out and ride again during the first dry December in what felt an eternity. Dreaded Covid disruptions were finally behind us, the Tour Down Under & Cadel’s Road Race were back, and TDF superstar Chris Froome even rode the Melbourne to Warrnambool! We saw tens of thousands of keen riders and fans back in…

YES, WE HAVE HEARD IT SO often, but I’ll say it again ... how good is riding a bike in Adelaide! I’ve been visiting Adelaide for well over 20 years, it’s a mandatory annual trip for me as I’m married to the state! Each time I jump on a bike in Adelaide I keep saying “how good is this place for road cycling?” Or is that just the jaded perspective of an endlessly frustrated Sydneysider? The thoughts of a rider with a deep longing for high-quality hard bitumen roads, dedicated bike lanes and friendly motorists who appear to actually respect cyclists? Kitting up and cycling in Adelaide makes you want to ride more regularly and that’s the ultimate goal for the key players in our industry. The obvious mantra of more people…

THE BIKEPACKERS GUIDE TO THE WORLD If you’re ready to take your bike riding to a new level, The Bikepackers’ Guide to the World by Lonely Planet is ready to get you moving. Featuring 75 long-distance cycling routes from around the world, including Australia and New Zealand, this new guide shows you the way to get off the beaten track, design a local tour or plan an even bigger two-wheel adventure to far off places. Each route includes handy hints for the best type of bike to take, practical information on transport connections to and from each ride plus details of gear to take and when to go. Detailed topographic maps of each bikepacking route also help you visualise the ride and profile charts show you what to expect. Gain the confidence to set…

THE PATH TO THE TOP LEVEL OF GLOBAL CYCLING, the WorldTour, appears to have transformed in recent years with Aussie rider Jay Vine leading the way. At time of writing, late January 2023, the male and female winners of the most recent two WorldTour races – the Women’s Cadel Evans Road Race and at Men’s Tour Down Under – were reigning E-sports World Champions. Those two riders? Loes Adegeest of FDJ-Suez and Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates. Dutch rider Loes Adegeest is 26yo, has just started her first season at the top level of the sport, and indeed, beat in-form veteran Amanda Spratt in the final sprint of the Deakin University Elite Women’s Race in Geelong. A former speed skater, Adegeest’s journey to her first WorldTour victory has been far from conventional…

BACK IN THE AUTUMN OF 2021, I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE inaugural Mudgee Classic. Whilst I’d been reasonably close to the area before, having ridden several times around places like Bathurst, Orange, Hill End and Dubbo over the years, it was my first time based in Mudgee itself. I absolutely loved my four-day stay and have since returned on two more occasions with bikes and friends in tow. Yes, the riding in and around Mudgee is brilliant. But what really stuck with me on that first visit was the complete experience that comes with it. The food and the wine. The scenery. The history. The friendly and relaxed locals. There are some places where you just tend to feel more welcome – and Mudgee is one of…

IF YOU’VE BEEN RIDING BIKES FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME the chances are that you have used Ritchey products. From frames to just about every part on a bike has been made by the California based company started and owned by Tom Ritchey. Many associate Ritchey with mountain biking, and yet that’s just a part of the story. Tom was a classy national team road rider as a junior, and since his mid teens he’s been making bikes and parts for all kinds of riders. Tom is fully hands on with his business, which has been Ritchey owned since day one – an anomaly in the bike industry. He has put in his own design work to the products from the get go, and has stuck successfully to his guns on theory…