My name is Lisa Jacobs. I am a rider with the Rapha-Focus CX team in Australia. My physical prep coach is The Supercoach (aka Donna Rae-Szalinski) and my CX skills coach is Neil Ross.

I started out in road cycling in 2007 via an Australian National Talent ID & Development program which took me from duathlon and multisport racing into the world of elite cycling. I spent 7 awesome years in road cycling programs with the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), and South Australian Sports Institute (SASI). These places are full of inspiring, energetic people who spend their working lives helping people like me.

Up until 2014, my career highlight was representing Australia on the national road team in 2010 in a heap of races, including the women’s Giro d’Italia. I love tour racing, and in women’s road racing it doesn’t get any bigger. In 2012 I jumped on a cyclocross bike for the first time and in 2013 I became Australia’s first female national CX champion. Wearing the green and gold at the 2014 UCI World Cyclocross Championships became a new career highlight, and winning back-to-back CX national titles in 2014 became another.

My career lowlights have been the huge disruptions caused by injury, particularly in 2009 and 2011. It sucks but so do taxes.

I am also a lawyer. Don’t hold it against me. After stints with law firms in the UK, Belgium and NZ, I realised that I missed dim sims too much to contemplate a career anywhere else but Australia. (International readers: if you do not know what a dim sim is YOU ARE MISSING OUT) I work full time and train when I can. In between I’m also Chair of the Cycling Australia Athletes Commission.

I came to cycling relatively late in life, and after I’d begun my legal career, which has shaped my experience and perception of elite sport. I was given a chance to do something completely different from the career path I had chosen, and the challenges have been unlike anything I’ve experienced in any other part of my life. Cycling is like that.

Ride Happy is dedicated to all things bikely. I try to keep it entertaining, and to keep the fun of cycling going.

One last comment: Occasionally, you will see posts written by Lisa’s Mum. This is NOT my actual Mum. Lisa’s Mum is a fictitious character that visits occasionally and drinks more Earl Grey than she should. My real mum does drink Earl Grey, but only in sensible qualities and never, never, dabbles in blogging.

Enjoy – and Ride Happy