Self Righteous Cyclist

Every now and then, an event screams, enter me and bring a few mates along with you. And so it was, that a group of five of us from Brunswick and Northern Cycling Clubs made our way to Darnum, east of Warragul for the Rob Monk Memorial Handicap on Saturday 28 th October. While none of us knew Rob personally, I found myself in the same Kinglake cycles bunch as Rob's son Cyrus a few years ago when he was riding with Drapac-EF and still have the PRs thanks to Cyrus' tenacity to drive things from the front. This led to me tuning into his podcast appearances on the Semi-Pro Cycling pod and following him on Strava. I'd go so far as to say, heading out to this race was my mark of respect to Cyrus, his family and the Warragul cycling community, who were remembering a man who meant so much, to so many, in the best way possible. Rob & Cyrus Monk Arriving with plenty of time to ride the 8km course beforehand, Andrew Gannon, Steve Saunders and myself headed out on our recon, but n...

After a cancellation last year at Lancefield because of the choppped up roads after weeks of spring rain, the day had arrived for the 2023 Northern Cycling Club Championships and Secret Handicap at Glenaroua, outside of Broadford. The circuit will be familiar to those of you who have ridden in the Northern Combine's Pop Stuart Handicap in recent times and is well used by the Seymour-Broadford club members for their local club races. First of all, let's take a look at what this is all about, because there are three races within one event: The Secret Handicap, Age Group Championship and Club Championship. All riders start at the same time, without knowing what their handicap is, which is what makes this such an interesting ride. It's every rider for themselves and turns every other rider into a nemesis who must be dropped at all costs. Age Group champions are for the fastest rider in masters categories and the Club Champion is the fastest rider on the day. Tom McDonagh and Mo...

Continuing on with the theme of people in their fifties living their best lives and achieving outstanding results, in this post we hear from Daniela Mollica, the mother of three from the St Kilda cycling club who recently competed at the UCI Gravel age group championships.   I met Daniela for the first time at the Amy Gillet Gran Fondo in Lorne earlier this year, when we rode in the same bunch along the Great Ocean Road, where she showed her dogged determination to stay with the bunch, no matter how hard things got.  To her credit, she won  the 50-54 age group. A week later, I bumped into her at the Northern Combine Pastoria race, where she won B grade women's. Over to Daniela to tell her story about a day out, that she is never likely to forget.   So on Saturday 7th of Octover in Treviso, Italy I rode the 2023 UCI gravel world championships.  The race was the hardest gravel race I have ever done. It was brutal…but magnificent! My body feels battered from ...

Achieving a personal best (PB) at any age is a great achievement. For those of us who have been around recreational sport for a long time, we know that the only person we are competing against is ourselves. Over the past few years I've come to embrace the saying "comparison robs the moment of joy" and I've used this saying to deflect the achievements of my kids against each other. I'm forever saying be the best that you can be. This story is from Paul Ioannou, one of my neighbours who has found form and acheived his goal of a sub 3:30 marathon, on a challenging course which is far from the fastest marathon course in the country. To put Paul's achievement into perspective, he came 26th in the 55-59 age group, and finished in the top 12% of his age group and top 27% of all male competitors.  Enough of the comparison.  At the heart of the story is an individual who was prepared to do things differently, to achieve a better outcome.  Over to Paul to tell his ...

Welcome to the 2023 Northern Cycling Pig & Whistle Handicap.  Love them or loathe them, handicaps have been a part of the Australian cycling tradition since the 1880s.  To quote the great Phil Anderson, the first Australian to wear the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France, "It's a great tradition and I think it teaches you how to rotate in the bunch and the side wind and the gutter" and that "it was those ridiculous handicaps back we had back in the day that hardened me up".   So take the hardened wisdom of one of our greatest cyclists onboard before you criticise another handicap.  It's a cracking morning for a bike race on a challenging course of 5 x 11km laps of rolling country laneways between Trentham and Tylden, just an hour outside of Melbourne.  The sun is shining, the wind ever so light and the temperature is hovering around ten degrees.  The 136 year old Pig & Whistle hotel exudes the true spirit of a quaint country pub.  The open...