Category - Cycling

Talk about good timing. We’ve just had Bikeweek in Western Australia, which is a week promoting cycling. It was capped off by around 7000 people cycling up the freeway on Sunday. The freeway was closed to traffic for a few hours while people cycled around 30 km from Belmont to Joondalup. The Freeway Bike Hike raised money for Asthma research.

Now the price of petrol is surging again.

I wonder how many of those who pulled their old treadlies out of the shed and put air in the tyres for the first time in years just to take part in a Bikeweek event are now looking at the price at local petrol stations and deciding to keep riding. Some commentators are saying that the days of petrol being under a dollar a litre in Australia are well and truly over.

New bicycles in Australia continue to outsell new cars and I can’t see that trend turning around any time soon.

I must admit that I get a feeling of great satisfaction every time I cycle past a petrol station, knowing that my fuel is a lot cheaper and healthier than what they’re offering.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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I’ve been a keen cyclist for many years. I’ve been a huge fan of the Tour de France for many years. My 8 year old daughter was even in Paris for the final day of the Tour this year. (Not that I’m jealous or anything.) However, it was only last night that I had my first dream about the Tour de France.
For some reason I was riding in the race. I was riding along side fellow Australian Robbie McEwan. I don’t know why one of the world’s greatest sprinters would be towards the back of the peleton but he was …. along with me. I think he had some mechanical problem which put him toward the back. I also don’t know why an overweight forty something like me, who has never raced in his life, would be riding in the Tour de France.

In the sprint toward the finish we weren’t all that far back …. but we were at the back. In the final lunge for the line Robbie and I were battling it out trying to avoid being last in the stage. It may surprise you to know that Robbie got over the line just ahead of me.

Once the stage was over I was thinking about the stages to come and I was a little worried about the time trials. I was particularly concerned about the team time trial (even though I didn’t know what team I was in) because I didn’t want to let my team mates down.

The other thing running through my mind after finishing was the time difference back home in Australia. I wanted to ring home and let folks know that I was sure to be part of the highlights on TV because I had been riding with Robbie.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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It’s a wonderfully fresh day in Perth today. We had some great rain overnight.

I managed to avoid the showers on my way here this morning. It bucketed down soon after getting here. The only problem I had was a slowly deflating back tyre. I stopped once on the way to pump it up a little. It got me here … but only just.

I can see that I’ll be changing tubes before I head home this afternoon. I think the signs are there that I need a new tyre as well in the near future. I can live with that. The advantage of cycling everywhere is that I can buy a brand new tyre for around half the cost of a tank of petrol and it’ll keep me going for thousands of kilometres.

I never like handing over money but if it helps me save money I don’t mind so much.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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I mentioned late on Friday night that with rain on the way there wasn’t likely to be anyone out for our usual Saturday morning ride.

The rain never eventuated but obviously most of the other cyclists had heard the forecast and switched their alarms off.

I turned up on time at our meeting place to find only two others ready to take advantage of the great cycling conditions. (It was humid and windy but I reckon most conditions are still great for cycling.)

The other two wanted to forgo our usual ride in preference of searching out a larger group we know of across the other side of Perth.

We headed off toward the city and then continued through Bentley and beyond. After riding for some time we found the group we were looking to find. There were about 35 to 40 cyclists heading in our direction so we quickly turned around and joined them.

The Barrack Street group moves a little quicker than we would normally on a Saturday. At one point we were sitting on around 50 km an hour before we settled down to around 40 km per hour.

There was a couple of times that I was stretched but it was exhilarating. It’s great to get out of your comfort zone and push yourself like that.

My only question, When can I do it again?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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Saturday morning. Time to go ride.

My Saturday morning ritual involves riding to the local bike shop, joining a bunch of other cyclists, then heading out for about 40km of great group riding before stopping for coffee then heading home. It means that by 9:30am I’ve usually cycled about 55km, had a coffee, enjoyed good company and made it home to start the day.

This morning I looked out the door and noticed that there was a light but steady rain falling. I didn’t think too many would be out for a ride today but I was determined to go.

I got dressed, got on my bike, and off I went. I arrived at the shop about 5 minutes early and waited. Then I waited some more. No one. The rain had all but stopped and it was perfect for riding but I was the only one there. What scared them off? It’s only water.

I headed home again, got out of my slightly soggy cycling stuff, had a shower, got dressed and took James out to the coffee shop to see if anyone would turn up for a cuppa. I had my usual long black, James had a baby cino. (Warm chocolate drink in a tiny cup with ‘cappucino style’ frothed milk on top.)

We met one of the regular cycling crew who had ridden elsewhere this morning and was supposed to be meeting someone else to go on another ride. He left after waiting a while with no one showing up. I knew just how he felt.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

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