Full Moon Rides

Hooray Full Moon tonight – Let’s ride!!

The Strawberry Moon

Tonight is a particularly special full moon (especially if you are in the Northern hemisphere) because over there it is The Strawberry Moon.

There are heaps more astronomy details and cool stuff to know about why this month’s moon is so special.

But essentially it is because it is a micro-moon or mini-moon, which means it is the smallest full moon for the whole of 2017.

Tonight the moon will be about 30,000 miles (50,000 km) farther away from Earth than the new moon supermoon of May 25, 2017.

I went down to the waterfront at sunset to watch the moon rise – and it was stunning!

Tonight will certainly make for a spectacular night ride!

If you are not a regular night rider, or have not been for a full moon bike ride – I highly recommed it.

Not only is it lovely to ride at night by yourself or with others, but riding under full moonshine is very special and not something you get to regularly do – so if you have the chance try it!

Many bike groups and/or places and urban riders host regular or special event Full Moon Bike Rides (FMBR).

If you have not been on a FMBR before, I’ve listed a few below to share how much fun they can be.

So tonight get on your bike and get out riding under the full moon!

Brisbane’s Full Moon Bike Ride – Full Moon River Ride at Orleigh Park

Full Moon River Ride (Brisbane, QLD). Experience a unique perspective of our beautiful river city riding around Brisbane under the lights of the full moon. Starting at Orleigh Park in West End, this route is exclusively on bike paths around the Brisbane river through South Bank, the botanical gardens before returning via the Go-Between Bridge.

Date/Time & Venue: Friday, 9 June 2017, 6 – 8pm. Orleigh Park, 68 Hill End Terrace, West End, Brisbane, QLD.

Meeting point: Car park, corner Riverside Drive and Hill End Terrace. Cost: Free. Just be at the meeting point 15 minutes before the ride starts.

Requirements: Bike, helmet, water bottle, money for a coffee.

For more information contact Ross at Brisbane By Bicycle on 0413 253 366. Bookings: Not required.

Bikes and equipment can be hired for $15 per person per activity but this must be arranged in advance.

Elsewhere is Australia

LUNACY RIDE – Sacred Rides in Jindabyne, Kosciuszko (Nov – March) Guided Summer Full Moon MTB Ride. This FMBR is an organised (paid) ride and only happens in the Summer months and thier website boasts that it is .. something a bit different, why not try the BEST POSSIBLE mountain biking experience in the Snowys – (or anywhere else in Australia): Our extemely fun ‘Lunarcy Ride’ up the higest Mountain in Australia – in real Style.

During this ride you ascend Australia’s highest mountain, Mt. Kosciuszko, which for most riders is “a once-in-a-lifetime experience”. This group organises the bike ride and has a tour guided tour and support team. You leave at 5.30pm and ride up to have a drink at the top and see the sun set and the moon rise over Australia’s iconic mountain range. You then ride back down in full moon light. Awesome!

A few USA examples

Tosa Full Moon Bicycle Rides in Wauwatosa (Wisconsin USA). This ride is a social, slow paced ride which promotes a NO SWEAT pace. All are invited to ride (bring freinds and family) through urban Wauwatosa where ther are stops for drinks and nibbles.

Philly Full Moon Bike Rides – These guys are super organised and have a strong Facebook community and get a regular turn out (see photo above).

ATex Full Moon Group (Austin, Texas) have regular Full Moon Bike Rides – as does their ‘brothers’ in Houston Texas.

These guys are extra special as they start their ride at 11.59 pm and ride til 2am so that they can ‘be closest to the full moon’ – Wow!

Atlanata Moon Ride is not just as social ride, but a supercolourful fundraiser and live music event with best decorate bike and costume awards – they get up to 5,000 riders to their event. Imporessive!

Full Moon Bike Rides — Source: Bike Rumour. By Gary. Preston Theler, one of our shop mechanics and master wheel builder, took this picture on a full moon ride up Mt. St. Helena, Napa, California.

New Zealand, Palmerston North

The Sw amp Rads Bike Gang rove the trails and streets of Palmerston North – where they “rove the sweet Manawatu bicycle trails stopping at taverns, cafes, beaches and picnic benches. The rules: pedal power only, no lycra, no hierarchy”.

Global and/or start your own

International Awarewolf Full Moon Bike Rides. International Awarewolf Full Moon Bike Rides are now happened in San Diego CA, Dallas TX, Tempe AZ, Las Vegas NV, Bristol England, Johannesburg South Africa, Oslo Norway and a few other places. Awarewolf wants to have more cities around the world hosting similar AWLF inspired FMBRs to raise awareness for Safe Cycling Advocacy. Plus they have some cool statements, like: We are a pack, not a mass and Don’t be a negative example of a positive movement.

Get out riding tonight!!

Where ever you are, and however you can – be sure tonight to get on a bike tonight and check out the beautiful Strawberry full moon.

Enjoy your full moon ride!

Howl, Howl!!

04/06/201706/06/2017

National Reconciliation Week 2017 & Indigenous Olympic track cyclists

National Reconciliation Week 2017.

This week, Australia is celebrating National Reconciliation Week 2017.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) celebrates, reflects and builds on respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other non-Indigenous Australians.

This year is particularly important as 2017 marks 50 years since the 1967 Referendum (May 27th), and 25 years (3rd June) since the historic Mabo decision.

The theme for #NRW2017 is ‘Let’s Take the Next Steps’, and there are many events and activities on offer throughout the week.

Griffith University has a strong commitment to Indigenous issues and positive Reconciliation.

One of my favourite annual events is the Walk and Talk event, which was held this Tuesday. It is a great event to connect, reflect and acknowledge. I love doing the bushwalk between the Mt Gravatt and Nathan Campus, a trail I regularly walk or ride by myself, with a host of other students, staff and locals – and I always meet someone interesting and learn something new.

Aboriginal participation in cycling

It also gave me pause for thought about how Indigenous riders had opportunities to participate in mainstream Australian cycling culture. This is an area that needs serious concentrated effort and commitment. There are a few rare programs that focus on encouraging and increase access to biking for indigenous riders.

For example, this blog has previously featured the NSW Indigenous Mountain Bike Project as well as for NAIDOC Week 2016, the Aboriginal Bicycle Safety Program in NSW. So to celebrate NRW 2017, I searched for some other cycling program that was creating some positive cycling change for Aboriginal Australians – and this is what I found..

The Indigenous Talent Identification and Development Squad (ITID)

Last year, The Indigenous Talent Identification and Development Squad (ITID) was initiated at the Midvale Speed Dome (Perth) for young aboriginal riders aged 10-14 by Amanda O’Connor (Coach) to help identify and develop Australia’s first Indigenous Olympic track cyclist.

Reports from this time last year indicate there were 8 Indigenous boys and girls riding in the squad.

Just after its conception, the ITID introduced some of the young talents, such as LeMarna Valentine and Rory Charles – as these up-and-coming ITID cyclists were due to participate with their teammates in a junior Pacific tournament in September 2016.

I also found a 3’ 26” ABC segment which gives a little more about the ITID development squad – New ABC Radio: Program in WA to identify the next generation of Aboriginal athletes.

More support, access and recognition for Indigenous riders please!!!

It was great to see a forward-thinking program that provides instruction and coaching for track cycling for young aboriginal cyclists. Considering the immense investment in time and effort required to success at track cycling, it is a step in the right direction to provide a safe and encouraging environment for new and younger cyclists to try their hand at track.

Considering the success Australia has had so far in 2017 in track cycling, there certainly looks like there room for fresh new faces to get amongst it – and it would be great to see some aboriginal athletes representing Australia in track cycling in the future.

National Reconciliation Week 2017 & Aboriginal track cyclists — Source: Hills Gazette. Young cyclists in training: LeMarna Valentine, Rory Charles and Jacqualene Williams. Picture: Steve Lloyd

01/06/201702/06/2017

Bayview Blast 2017

On the weekend, I participated in Brisbane’s Bayview Blast MTB Event.

This event is held by the RATS Cycling Club in conjunction with other partners.

I signed up for the social ride ‘Havablast 25 kms Women’s Chicks in the Sticks’ event to help populate and support the category.

Here is Zoe helping me ‘pack’ on the morning of my Bayview Blast ride – she never misses an opportunity to go for a ride!!

This event is held over two days and the order of event looks like this:

Sat Race briefing

The Bayview Blast MTB 2017 Event

It was a stunning, sunny Brisbane day.

I had two mates and Zoe (who all came as supporters for the day) with me and we had time to set up a lovely picnic camp in the bush near the race start and get organised before race briefing. The junior events were still being held. I was on my singlespeed and had decorated it with flowers.

How was the ride?

For this event, I was resolute to keep my ‘ride not race’ perspective. For periods of time, I made sure I did this by forcing myself to ride behind a fellow rider, and not pushing to overtake for 10 minutes, but just to be content to sit on the speed set by the rider in front and go at their pace. It was an interesting exercise to deliberately ‘slow down’ – and one I admit was not all that easy to do, but I was glad I did it and I think it was a very valuable exercise to undertake nonetheless.

It was great to be back on a bike after a couple of months off. I was certainly not race fit, but really enjoyed the physicality of riding, riding a course I wasn’t familiar with and testing my mental training on the challenging hill climbs and long slogs. I didn’t see any other singlespeeds on the day and it was an interesting experience having to charge up sections to keep onto of my one and only gear, while those I was passing looked on at me often very incredulously as if I was making a deliberate personal point on the uphills!

Nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, my approach for the ride was to do what I needed to do to get up sections, knowing that I would be gasping for air (like everyone else at the top – so my approach was to keep pedaling while going up and over (not just to the top) and to use the down sections where I was technically more confident as my ‘recovery’ period. Given my lack of fitness, this approach served me well on the day as I finished in a respectable time, did not blow my muscles out and felt surprisingly perky despite the hard work.

Me giving the XCers a little bit of scare – GOLD!!

Post-ride?

An added bonus was that, on crossing the finishing line, I was accosted by the race MC who was calling the day and was quickly interviewed and awarded the ‘best decorated’ bike for the day. This little accolade landed me a free hour-ling massage voucher – Hazah!!

After that little interlude, I returned back to our picnic location to regroup and recharge the batteries. Later on, I was invited back to explain more about my PhD and this blog over the race megaphone for an impromptu interview, which went very well and saw me chatting with a few friendly female riders soon after. A very productive and satisfying day overall!!

Our picnic spot trackside – Zoe & Sara holding the fort.

I’m glad I went and supported the Saturday event and helped fill up the Women’s category. The more ‘serious’ riders were registered for Sunday and I managed to talk one of the 100km Marathon competitors to write a blog post about that day – so stay tuned!

I think the organisers did a great job putting on the event, it must have involved some serious organisation and planning and I super appreciate the effort that was put in and the commitment of the volunteers. It is certainly no mean feat to stage such an event, which is why I wanted to support the local MTB club by participating.

Below is a Course Preview (video 2’55’).

25/05/201707/06/2017

Cairns 2017 UCI World Champs Working Bee

Hooray!! UCI World Cup starts this weekend!

I love the UCI World Cup events – in particular, the DH. It is my favourite annual race.

Much to the delight of Southern Hemisphere riders, Cairns has been included on the DH and XC schedule for the last couple of years.

For me, that has meant an annual pilgrimage to Cairns for the big event.

This year the World Champs round will be in Cairns, which means local tracks need prepping early.

So this post is a review of the last two UCI World Cup events – and an invitation to join the Cairns 2017 UCI World Champs Working Bee Team!

Great memories of the last 2 Cairns UCI World Cup Events

Last year I went to the Cairns UCI World Cup with mates and it was an all social affair.

Last year I posted about what a great event the 2016 event was and what blast it was catching up with old friends, making new ones and soaking up the World Cup vibes – here’s a few mates I managed to catch up with…

Above: Me and Ratboy (Josh Bryceland) – Peatty’s Team Mate/Mentee and British DH Champ and World Cup Racer. He has been on the UCI World Cup podium 9 times. He is also well known for his mad riding and hard partying ways. It was great I got to catch up with Josh last year as it ended up being his last year racing the Pro circuit and he retired soon after this photo was taken.

Above: Me and Julien Absalon – the most winningest (and considered the best) Elite Men’s Cross Country (MTB) rider in the world …ever!! Too many accolades to list here…Woohoo!!

Above: Me and Troy Brosnan. Brosnan was Junior DH World Champ for 2010 and 2011. He won the overall junior world cup in 2010 & 2011 and Aussie DH Champion in 2011 & Oceania Junior Continental Champion 2011. In 2012 he went Elite, with a third overall in the DH World Cup (2014) and won the Fort William third round. He also won the DH World Champs bronze in 2014 and third overall for the 2015 and 2016 DH World Cup series. He is Australian National DH Champ for 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (*Phew!*).

Last year’s UCI World Cup in Cairns

For me, last year was a total contrast to 2015. I worked the 2015 Cairns event, which was epic given that it rained non-stop a week prior to race day.

This turned all the tracks into slick and slippery death-defying shoots covered in thick gluggy toothpaste!

Boy did everyone work hard that round!!! Ahhhh the memories!!!

(See Instagram @Bicycles_Create_Change for more past UCI DH World Cup pics).

Remember Cairns UCI World Cup 2015- aka ‘Rumble in the Puddles’?

If you need to refresh your memory of how epic the 2015 UCI DH Cairns round was – check out this 2’32” Badass mashup video…

…and yes…that is me in the opening sequence!!

But this year will be a little different. I’ll be watching remotely as I won’t be making the trek to Cairns this year for the big event (*sniff*).

2017 UCI MTB World Cup Calendar

Redbull’s Official MTB website has the follow details outlined for the current 2017 UCI World Cup Calendar schedule:

There are six rounds each for XCO and DH – and the World Cup 2017 is starting this weekend – woohoo!!

The World Championship heads to Australia and Cairns at the end of the World Cup season with a full program of XCO, XCE and DH racing on show.

I can’t wait!!!

The UCI is expected to confirm the calendar in late June and the dates will be subject to change until then so don’t go booking trips to the events until then! Scroll down for all the downhill (DHI) and cross country (XCO) rounds.

April 29-30: (DHI) Lourdes, France
May 20-21: (XCO) Nové Mesto, Czech Republic
May 27-28: (XCO) Albstadt, Germany
June 3-4: (DHI) Fort William, Scotland
June 10-11: (DHI) Leogang, Austria
July 1-2 (XCO/DHI) Vallnord, Andorra
July 8-9: (XCO/DHI) Lenzerheide, Switzerland
August 5-6: (XCO/DHI) Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada
August 26-27: (XCO/DHI) Val di Sole, Italy
September 5-10: (XCO/DHI) UCI World Championships, Cairns, Australia

Cairns MTB World Cup Working Bee Shout-out

As a member of Cairns MTB Club, I received this shout-out invitation for World Cup working bee helpers. So if you are keen to be part of the action and for anyone in the area… here are the details as sent to me FYI:

With the UCI MTB World Championships just around the corne, there is a way you can be involved now. The Cairns MTB Club has been asked to construct a new spectator/media trail in the “Vines” section of the Downhill track. We have been offered an incentive to get it done ASAP and we want to pass some of that incentive on to the people that help build the trail.

We need are people to help out on regular Saturday/Sunday morning working bees from 7:30am-10:30 am, for about six – eight weeks beginning on the 10th of June.

We do have a budget to meet so the quicker we can get it done, the less we spend on it, giving the club more funds to put back into trail maintenance and development. The job is to create a 1.5m wide riding/walking trail in “Vines” area running alongside the downhill track. There will be a lot of shovel and mattock digging involved.

The Reward

For every working bee (3 hours long) you can attend and do productive work you will receive a gift voucher to use at the bike shop of your choice.

You can put it towards that new something you have wanted or you can donate the money back to the club to help fund the Black snake rebuild and extension. The Gift Vouchers will be handed out at the end, once the work is completed and has been approved by National Parks. All workers will need to “sign in” with their details at each working bee so we can keep accurate records of attendance and hours worked.

If this is something you are interested in getting involved with, please email Club President Craig at President@cairnsmtb.com with your expression of interest.

Reminder

The first Working Bee will be held on Sunday 10th of June and then every Saturday and Sunday morning until the job is done.

22/05/201725/05/2017

3 Day Startup (3DS)

A week ago I got an email about an upcoming 3 Day Startup (3DS) intensive.

3DS is a 72-hour learning-by-doing workshop that comes to your campus to teach entrepreneurial skills to university students in an ‘extreme hands-on’ environment. In doing so, this program helps university students develop and translate their research into a start a company over the course of one weekend. Intense!

So as part of the Advance Queensland program, 3DS offered their program exclusively for Griffith University Higher Degree by Research candidates. The Advance Queensland program has an extensive suite of services, events and programs under its Entrepreneurs and Start-up banner, with a strong focus on supporting academic research and industry collaborations.

So I applied.

And today I got word that I have been accepted to attend next week’s 3DS intensive!

3DS – An unsettling space for me to be in

I am intrigued to explore possibilities of how I can commercialize my research. Taking an entrepreneurial approach to layer over my predominately community-based, NGO grassroots practice will be a very interesting exercise in reframing my current conceptual, ethical and professional perspectives. This is the main aspect I am most interested in having challenged during the 3DS intensive: scaling up and operationalising my bicycle research (and programs) for profit.

This is a very uncomfortable space for me to consider as all my previous ventures have been staunchly community-driven and non-commercialised – as evidenced by this blog, and IG, my research and myself being completely ad-free, unsponsored/unfunded, and non-monterised.

So what happens at 3DS?

During the event, participants work with peers from different backgrounds and get mentorship from some leading entrepreneurs.

One the first day, participants form teams, develop an idea, conduct market research, talk to customers, create a prototype, and pitch to real investors by Sunday night.

Participating in 3DS means getting connect with talented people, exploring ways that your research topics can be commercialised, create something collaborate from the ground up, and learn about what it takes to establish a company.

The 3 Day Startup (3DS) program

Image Source: 3DS Website

Bootcamp (1 week before program date): Participants meet, get introduced to key entrepreneurship principles, and learn best practices for maximising the 3 Day Startup program experience.

Day 1: Participants arrive – with or without startup ideas – and a facilitator leads the group through dedicated brainstorming, preliminary pitches/feedback, and team selection modules. Some teams work late into the night, and others prefer to rest up in preparation for day 2.

Day 2: Customer Discovery (teams exit the building, hit the phones or social media, and talk to potential customers), structured mentorship, intermediate pitches and feedback sessions. Day 2 places heavy emphasis on business model generation.

Day 3: Continued execution (including pitch workshops) leading into final pitches/demos to an esteemed panel of mentors and investors.

Phew!! Sounds super useful and super concentrated!

I’ve also been checking out some of the material and online content 3DS provides through their blog. I’m feeling inspired already!

So what might eventuate?

I don’t know yet!!! But, I am keen to be challenged and ready to get inspired.

I’m also very interested to see what ideas might develop and explore ways to operationalise my research.

I wonder what opportunities this experience may present and what direction this could take me…. some unique possibilities I hope!

I’ll let you know!

See the 1’48” video below for an overview of 3DS.

17/05/201720/05/2017

Tirana Gay (P)ride March

Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia!!!

Officially today is the actual day of celebration (17th May), however there have been a wide range of events happening worldwide for the whole week.

Of particular interest to lovers of life on two-wheels is the Tirana Gay (P)ride March in Albania.

Source: Watermark Online

Tirana Gay (P)ride March

The Tirana Gay (P)ride March was first initiated in 2006 has been gaining significant participation and coverage over the last couple of years and is fast becoming one of the most colourful, cultural community-driven events in the Albanian calendar.

This story is great for a number of reasons. Aside from being an awesome international event addition for this weeks general celebrations, it is also great as Albania doesn’t usually make headlines (at least not enough for positive reasons). Also, most people do not usually associate progressive, fun, international bicycle-inspired community demonstrations for gay rights to come out of small Southeastern former Eastern Bloc European nation. But there you go!

So kudos to the Albanians for being such a wonderful and supportive international example.

(Queensland take note!!)

A dual protest for 2017

This year was an extra special event. To mark the international festival, participants in Tirana’s Gay (P)ride Parade rode bikes for one cause, whilst elsewhere in the city two hours earlier (yet overlapping), another protest was being held in response to the country’s political opposition. The city was inundated with bikers strewn in multi-colored costumes with balloons, flags and pennants flapping the wind as they rode past a protest tent erected in front of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office to raise awareness and support to pressure the current Albanian government to extend their 2009 anti-discriminatory laws to legalise same-sex marriage and also to recognise trans-gender citizens.

People taking to the streets to protest is not new, but the inclusion of highly decorated bicycles adds an extra element of personality, intimacy, community and creativity which is hard to beat and difficult to ignore.

Best of luck Tirana …our bicycles are with you!!

We hope you have a fun and successful ride to celebrate your 2017 IDAHOT!

Source: Fox News

Below is a 7 minute video of the 2017 Tirana IDAHOT (P)ride March.

More details:

Official International website.

IDAHOT Facebook Page

Twitter: @may17IDAHOT

Official hashtag #IDAHOT2017

13/05/201718/04/2018

AWCC Abstract Accepted

Great news!

Late last month, I submitted an abstract to AWCC 2017 to present a conference session entitled ‘Bicycles Create Change’!

This week I got an email from the Australian Walking and Cycling Conference organiser that started with…

Hooray!!

It was a lovely email to receive and I am very excited about doing this conference roundtable presentation.

I’m going to draw on insights, outcomes and learnings I arrived at after designing and managing some of my community art bike projects. The session will focus on providing some important, interesting and constructive considerations that could benefit other community bike events.

BUT!! The next couple of months are going to be a very busy time!

Funding submissions for the collaborative community art project The Albatross. 70 assignments to mark now, then a series of end of course exams. Also, need to prepare my PhD confirmation paper and presentation for early August. Phew!

So – that’s my limit for taking on any extra projects! My answer from here on in is NO MORE!

(Although I did register for the 2017 Bayview Blast Ride/Race this morning! But riding is different!!!)

So aside from riding…..

I am officially at full capacity (and very happy with my lot!)

PS – to see how the conference presentation went – see blog post for July 21st, 2017: Conference Presentation: creating memorable community bike projects. Or click below!

Conference Presentation: creating memorable community bike projects

11/05/201722/05/2017

Bike Week Queensland 2017

This week is Bike Week Queensland 2017.

Bike Week is an annual cycling festival that hosts a range of events in and around Brisbane from Sat 6th May -to Sunday 14th May.

There were many events, meets, rides, conferences and seminars (as you can see below) that were registered events for this bike festival. You can get more info about the program here.

It is the largest cycling festival in Queensland and caters for a range of cycling disciplines, styles, levels and interest groups.

This event is organised by Bicycle Queensland and has been running since the 1990’s.

Bike Week Queensland 2017 – Ride2Work Breakfast.

I attended a few official (and unofficial events). Today I rode in early to meet with the rest of the Griffith University BUGS to participate in the Ride2Work Breakfast Event. I have ridden once before with the GU BUGS from Brisbane city to Uni, but today was extra special. We met at the Law Courts in town and Bicycle Queensland had pavilions set up, the QLD Minister for Main Roads, the Hon. Tim Bailey, spoke (and it was great to see he had ridden in on his bike as well) and there were stalls, prizes, coffee on arrival, a basic breakfast and lots of cyclists to meet. The police were there offering a service to photograph and log your bike to your license as a theft-protection service, which many cyclists took advantage of.

Bike week – Bike Summit (Friday 12th May).

I would have loved to have attended tomorrow’s Bike Summit, but alas it is my busiest day teaching at Uni. After such a positive experience discussing bicycle policy, programs and advocacy in Melbourne at the Bike Futures Conference earlier this year in Feb, I was keen to hear what the changes, trends and differences are in Queensland.

Although I was a little disappointed with the lack of detail in the program that was distributed – to me it did not give quite enough detail to really explain what each session would entail. I know there were many BUGs groups going in for the afternoon session, but the program scarcely recognised if/how the advocacy and Q & A sessions might be run – didn’t really instil much confidence.

So I stuck to attending the practical and active events this year and had a great time! See Instagram @bicycles_create_change for some additional photos from the day.

All in all

I had a great day today. I appreciate all the planning and hard work that went into organising the events that were held.

For those events I went to, I made an effort to mingle and make the most of the social and community participation aspects.

It was lovely to be around people who were happy to talk bikes and it was very reaffirming to see so many cyclists in one place.

If only this dynamic could be the mainstay and not only a once a year week-long event!

But, I ‘spose you gotta start somewhere!!

05/05/201708/05/2017

Giro D’Italia 100th – Forte! Rapido!

This year is a very special year, in addition to being the 200th ‘birthday’ of the modern bicycle, it is also the Giro D’Italia 100th edition Race – Horray!

The Giro D’Italia starts today and this year features a 3,572km course from Sardinia to Milan and includes six mountain top finishes as well as two testing time trials – I can’t wait!!!

What is the Giro anyway?
The first Giro D’Italia was held in 1909 to sell more copies of the local newspaper La Gazzetta dello sport.

In the initial first ten years, there were some major changes regarding classifications and format until its current race design was finally settled on. An Italian won every Giro for the first 40 years until the Swiss rider Hugo Koblet took out the event in 1950. It was pretty much an Italian only affair from 1909 – 1953.

After that, Italian champions often prevailed, but by then there were many other international riders winning such as Eddie Merckx (5 x winner) Bernard Hinault (3 x winner) and Miguel Indurain (2 x consecutive).

It took until 1988 for the first non-European, Andrew Hampsten (US) to win a Giro.

Who else is celebrating the Giro D’Italia 100th Race?

Er, anyone who loves the pro tours of course! ….and heaps of others people….. like you and me!

As you would expect, the media was in full celebratory flight, with the Independent, and the history of the race (and a focus on British rider successes of course) being promoted by The Telegraph. On a different note, Eurosport contributed 10 things to look for in this year’s race, whilst Sky Sports celebrated with a preview the 2017 race and a prediction that Nairo Quintana (who has featured on this blog before) will take out the gong this year.

I like Google’s humble and playful homage to the Giro, complete with a quirky little animation of riders going over the hills in the background, with today’s banner being:

What’s the fuss – it is just another Grand Tour race, right?

Well-known for its brutal weather and hill climbs, the Giro has a very special place in many cyclists’ heart. Famous for testing rider’s endurance, stamina and mental fortitude, the prominence of snow, rain and regularly produces a gruelling slog-fest race that is remarkable by anyone’s standards. On a number of occasions, the weather has gotten so bad, that races stages are flat out cancelled.

Hardest stages, whatever – I could totally to that!!!

I like this short 4.20mins video as it gives a super quick overview of just how brutal the Giro can be. It has some of my favorite historical stages like; ‘the day the big man cried’; when 81 riders started, but only 8 managed to finish; and (as a fellow Aussie who lived in the same areas where he grew up), I am extremely delighted to see the stage where Cadel Evan is wearing the leader’s jersey (Maglia Rosa) for one day during the 2002 Giro (which Cadel ended up coming 14th in overall).

So this month, be sure to yell ‘Forte!! Forte!! Rapido!! Rapido!!’ full volume at your TV on all of those unrelenting snowy mountain stages!! Woohoo!!

28/04/201713/05/2017

Australian Walking and Cycling Conference 2017

So many good bike conferences in 2017….

There are a number of bike-related conferences coming this year that I would love to attend.

This year is the 200 year birthday of the modern bicycle, so I feel an extra special pull to get together with other like-minded bike enthusiasts and celebrate our common love of all things two-wheeled.

Outside of sports and pro-cycling meets, there are two main conferences this year that have caught my eye.

Asia Pacific Cycle Congress

The first is the Asia Pacific Cycle Congress to be held in Christchurch, (NZ), 17-20th October, 2017.

Mike Lloyd, a NZ academic who has published a couple of papers analysing a well-known mountain bike rage incident and then subsequently reviewed the same scenario from a mirco-sociological video analysis stand-point, reminded me about this conference.

I would love to go to this one, but have a prior date booked that overlaps, so will have to hold onto this one for next year. Plus I will be post PhD confirmation by then, which means the Uni will pay for me to go! Woppee!

Australian Walking and Cycling Conference

The second conference is the Australian Walking and Cycling Conference. This is being held on 17-18th July in Adelaide, Australia. Their website boasts that:

The simple acts of walking and cycling have the potential to transform the places we live, our economies and how we engage with our environment. The Australian Walking and Cycling Conference, to be held in Adelaide on 17-18 July 2017, explores the potential for walking and cycling to not only provide for transport and recreation but solutions to challenges of liveability, health, community building, economic development and sustainability.

The conference theme is Low tech movement in a high tech world.

After handing in my PhD Early Candidature Milestone Report last month, I am keen to take a step back from the theoretical, conceptual realm of ideas and connect back with one of the primary reasons I started my research – making positive community connections.

So I applied to this conference to do a Learnshop session based on some past Bicycles Create Change events.

I am planning a fun and interesting session – so fingers crossed!

Here is the abstract I submitted (parallelism much?!).