The beauty of bicycling.

There are so many benefits to cycling for transport but sometimes, it is just easier to drive. I am guilty of using the car when I should really ride my bike: yes! I know. Terrible. There are some simple ways to make the transport decision easier; I'm writing this post to remind myself as much as anything!

Keep your bike somewhere that is easily accessible
If your bike is stored in the back of a dusty shed and you have to clamber over the lawnmower, storage boxes and power tools to get to it, you're not going to be doing this at 8.25am when you're supposed to leave for work. You're more likely to grab the car keys - stored within easy reach - and jump in the car that's parked right outside your house. It's important to keep your bike secure but the easier it is to get to, the more likely you'll be to wheel it out and jump on! And if it's waiting at or near the front door, you're going to see it when you're getting ready to leave - what a great reminder!

Adapt your wardrobe to suit the ride
Now, I'm not talking replacing all your smart work clothes with lycra; it's about dressing to suit your commute. (Ka-ching! Cue corny rhyme.) I am lucky that it's a seven-minute ride from my front door to the office, so I generally don't raise a sweat, unless of course it is 45 degrees Celsius (which in summer, it usually is!). For me, now is the perfect time of year to be riding to work and general transport, with sunny, crisp mornings and pleasant daytime temperatures. When I had further to travel on the bike to work, I adapted by wearing cycling gear and getting changed (or showered and changed) once I got to work. It takes a little more preparation and organisation (forgot your undies? only packed one sock? forgot your work shoes? I am nodding yes to all these, and more) but you'll soon get into your own routine. I leave my tailored jacket at work and usually a pair of work shoes under my desk. Given that I've got such a short ride these days, I just wear my work clothes on the bike, usually dresses or skirts with leggings or stockings underneath and a scarf and warm layers when it's icy cold.

The little things count
Accessorise! And by that, I mean make sure your bike is prepared. Does it get dark early where you live? Add some flashing lights to your bike and leave them in place so it's one less thing to think about. Make sure you've got a lock or somewhere safe to store your bike once you get to your destination. Helmets are mandatory when riding on the road in all Australian states and territories, so make sure you've got one that fits correctly and meets Australian standards. Do you need to carry a backpack or does your bike have a basket or panniers to stow your things while you ride? Other small details include reflector bands in case you ride in heavy traffic, a chain guard if you don't want to worry about rolling up your pants, and clear glasses to keep your eyes protected and your vision clear on drizzly days.

Other ideas for making the decision to cycle a no-brainer include planning your route and timing it, so you know how long to factor in; incorporate as many cycleways, shared bike paths and bike lanes where you can, so you don't have to worry about traffic; find a buddy to ride with, if you need extra motivation; and start small by taking small trips on your bike on the weekend until you get used to cycling around!

One of my favourite things about cycling to work is the ride home again. It's the best feeling to leave the office, jump on my shiny red bike and pedal away the day. Once I get home I'm ready to relax* and refreshed for the next day.

What about you? Got any tips to share?



*Err, by relax, I really mean walking the dogs, making dinner and then hitting the textbooks for a couple of hours uni work...but you get the drift, yeah?

Alice Springs Sunday

Back home in Alice Springs, what better way to start off a Sunday than a leisurely bike ride and coffee. My friend and I have almost matching bikes so we set off for a lazy pedal along the river bike path, then back into town for a coffee. Just the right pace for a Sunday.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend, whatever you're doing!

The holiday feeling, it lingers.

Linking to the lovely collection of weekly Stills by Em at The Beetle Shack.

There's a new bike shop in town.

It would be true to say that I love me a good bike shop. There's a combination of factors that, I believe, make up a good bike shop. An interest in your customers is one of these things, and a willingness to listen to what their needs are. Also not being judgemental or elitist. Or talking down at people.

Notice I haven't said anything about what brand of bikes they sell or how much floor stock the shop carries or how loud and cool the music is.

Back in the Adelaide days, I used to do some weekend bike shop work in one of the larger stores. I'm not a super expert on all things technical and there were some questions I couldn't answer, but I always got a kick out of seeing a customer feel confident in their new bicycle purchase. Even if they had no idea about bikes and especially if they had initially felt uncomfortable in what can be a very 'blokey' space.

Anyway, I digress. There are now three bike shops in Alice Springs, and the newest of these is Smith St Velo. The chap there is friendly and the workshop is very well kitted out. There's a small-ish range of bikes but they're pretty on the mark in terms of the Alice Springs market (especially for non-cyclist bike riders), with mountain bikes, flat bar road bikes and a heap of Electra Townies and funky cruisers.

If you're in town, have a visit! Or check out their Facebook here.

Other favourite bike shops of mine are Treadly in Adelaide, Oxygen Cycles in McLaren Vale and Over the Edge in Melrose, South Australia.

I used to be a bike snob.

It's true, I confess. Bikes had to be superlight and superfast. Aesthetics combined with technical superiority were paramount. Admittedly, I was a little spoilt for choice. I used to test ride bicycles and write reviews as part of my job, so I knew what good bikes were made of. Usually carbon fibre.

These days, I'm not so snobby. Actually, not at all. I don't really care what a bike weighs or what it's made of, if it brings the rider the joy of discovering the world in a new way, or a healthier way to get to work. Here in Alice Springs, cycling is an ideal way to get around, as it's mostly flat and not too far to get around town. Bikes need to be able to handle rough and bumpy road surfaces, and thorn-proof tubes and tyres are a must.

I've just added a new little number to my collection of bikes. This one is red. It has a basket and a bell. It's a singlespeed. It's got shiny red mudguards and a rack on the back. It's a little bit heavy heavy and it rattles. It has a kickstand. It was cheap and I bought it through Facebook and what's more, I LOVE it. It's perfect for pedalling lazily on warm (hot) summer days. To work, to the shops, to the pub. I'm imagining lots of summer adventures on this little beauty.

There's nothing light or fast about this new bicycle of mine, and I like it that way.

Re-energising and restoring the balance.

New rhythms bring with them a new intensity and I'm feeling the need to weigh and balance how I'm spending my energy. This period of intensity will pass, but for now it means that there are the things I need to do, the things I should be doing and the things that will revitalise.

I need to stay on top of my uni work, as last weekend's deadline mishap demonstrates; this means preparing for tutorials, reading the endless chapters (which are actually really interesting!), and listening to the week's lecture.

I should be exercising more; time pressures make my morning and afternoon cycle to and from work feel even better, and taking the dogs for their evening lap around the neighbourhood is more satisfying, even if I'm not working up a huge sweat.

The things that revitalise are both hard and easy. Being disciplined with my bedtime routine is part of that; making sure to catch up with friends and getting out and about a little bit are important as well. Equally important, but harder to make time for, is resting. Really resting. Having a nap, staying away from a digital screen, just sitting in stillness.

Today I have revitalised by slowing right down. I lay down for only a short time, but it was enough to make me feel completely re-energised. A cool shower and a face mask (to try and combat this painful nose pimple!). Coffee with a friend and bumping into four other friends in the process (Alice Springs is wonderful for easy socialising!). Peter is making pizza for dinner and we'll wash it down with a gin and tonic.

And tomorrow, let's see if this slowing down will bring with it the energy to do some of the things that need to be done.

As for next week, I think I'll revisit my mini-detox. And I will finally get around to a couple of posts that I've had in the pipelines: my Liebster Award post, and an interview I did a couple of weeks back with a lady who is so passionate about cycling that she turned it into a fantastic business, teaching children and adults to ride.

I used to be a Tour de France tragique.

This is a big confession, for two reasons. First of all, it signifies the past tense: used to be. Meaning, no longer am. And secondly, because tragic I was, indeed. In all fairness, cycling was my life and my work. I was a staff journalist at one of Australia's biggest cycling magazine publishing houses. I was paid to write about cycling, talk about cycling and think about cycling ALL THE TIME. It was great! I loved it.

I also got very little sleep at this time of the year, Tour de France time.

Right now, as I write this, I can hear the all-so-familiar tones of cycling's famous English-speaking commentators, Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, drifting from the lounge room. I still know most of the riders' names. I can picture the team tactics in my head without seeing the vision - sometimes fuzzy, sometimes fragmented by dropped-out satellites, sometimes without the audio and just the cheering of the crowd and sputtering of the media motorcycle as it weaves around riders and team vehicles.

I can see the dramatic steep ravines, the fields splashed with yellow sunflowers, the moonscape mountaintop and the cobbled village streets. The shirtless fans running crazily up the road alongside their compatriot. The flags, the campervans, the media trucks and the finish arch.

The team colours and names have changed, as they do from season to season when sponsors chop and change. Each year brings a slight alteration in the syntax of cycling style; one year, jerseys were fashioned with loose-fitting sleeves and riders took to cutting them off with scissors; another year saw longer socks than the previous. And who could forget the bright yellow rubber wristbands that spread like fire through the peloton (much like the more unsavoury practices now associated with that shade of yellow).

Let's take, for instance, 2005. See up above here? That's my name, the author of the pre-race write-up of the contenders for that year's edition of le Tour. That year, my TdF daily schedule went a little bit like this:

5:45am wake up
6:00am training ride
7:45am breakfast, shower
8:30am ride to work
5:30pm ride home from work
7:30pm work at home
9:30pm nap on the lounge
11:00pm start watching tour
1:30am go to bed

The next day, I'd rinse and repeat. I really don't know how I sustained this, considering I was on deadline for a major annual magazine and also going through a massive life change. How did I manage to keep deadline, stay upright on a bike, keep my eyes open at work? I'm not entirely sure. I think I ate a lot of bananas.

I remember when I first started learning about the tactics and how the race actually worked. My dad explained to me the timing system and the points and the way that the teams operated to shield their favoured rider, or to increase tempo to try and drop riders off the back, or how a rider in a breakaway group didn't 'have to' pull a turn depending on who was where in the peloton and the GC. Once I understood, I was hooked. From then on, me and July and the couch had a 21-day (or night) date.

Until now. I don't know what it is. I'm mildly interested, in the sense that I'm following without investing any energy or time. Was it the doping scandals that have doggedly plagued the Tour? Perhaps, partially at least.

I think we've just grown apart, le Tour et moi.

For now, à bientôt.

Yep, that's me spruiking a Stuart O'Grady t-shirt.

Bike stuff: Grips, saddle, pedals

A week or so ago I promised to tell you about some of my favourite bike gear. What better place to start than the stuff that makes things more comfortable. The contact points are where your body meet the bike and they're the first place to start if you find yourself walking like a veteran cowboy after a ride. Think hands/butt/feet and I will tell you about grips/saddles and pedals.

Favourite grips: Ergon GP1 BioKork
I love the shape of these grips, made with 40% cork from sustainable sources in Portugal. The rest of the grips claim to have eco-cred and you can read more about it here. What I like about them is the comfort they give whilst riding; the platform is shaped to support your palm and you can adjust the angle to suit your hands. I've got these on my mountain bike. Other models come with bar extensions which can be useful for longer distance riding where you need to move your hands around more.

Favourite saddle: Specialized Jett 143mm
Finding a saddle is a supremely personal thing. Everyone has different preferences and what is comfortable for me might be horrid for you and vice versa. So I can only go by what I know works for me, and that's the Specialized Jett. The aim of the game is to reduce pressure on sensitive parts of the anatomy and this saddle is shaped with a cut-out and comes with three different widths. I find these saddles so comfortable that I've got two - one for my mountain bike and one for my track bike. If it works, stick with it. Oh, and one last word about saddles - the plushest and softest won't necessarily be the most comfortable. It's all about supporting the sit bones.

Favourite pedals: Shimano DX
These are the best flat pedals I've ever come across. Not only are they cool brushed aluminium but they've got a good sized surface area and just enough in the way of spindles to keep your feet in place. Technically, they're a BMX pedal but I use them on my commuter bike. I've had them for years and they're the bomb.

{This is not a sponsored post! This is stuff I use and love myself.}

Trails = happier days.

Life is good but it ain't always peachy. Sometimes your mountain bike, a couple of friends, some new (to us) trails and some bubbles go a long way in helping out (thanks to our friends for supplying the champers!). Here are a couple of snaps from Sunday's late afternoon ride.

I've just had an acupuncture session and my exam is tomorrow afternoon and hopefully the rest of the universe balances itself out soon.

Soon I'll post about my favourite bikey bits and pieces, so stay tuned!

{Taken with my Nikon 1 V1}

Stills: A weekly collection (and my first go!)

I thought I would have a go at a 'Stills' post, a la Emily at The Beetle Shack (linking here!). Here's a snippet of my week!

1. Winter light in the mandarin tree. We pruned these right back just before summer, and this winter they've been laden with fruit...
2. ...which is great, because I LOVE mandarins!
3. Our veggies loving the fact that they're planted in half soil, half cow manure.
4. Side kick #2, Missy.
5. Side kick #1, Toby.
6. From today's mountain bike ride. We stopped at 'Champagne Hill', and yes - we drank champagne.
7. Sally picked a tiny flower!
8. Late afternoon view towards the East MacDonnell Ranges.

{Taken with my Nikon 1 V1}