Racing, Cyclocross
Lisa Jacobs
Let's get this party started!

Eight races down, one to go... 

Let's get this party started!
Cyclocross, Lisa's Mum
Lisa Jacobs
Lisa's Mum answers your CX questions: The Mud ...

Lisa's Mum answers your questions on the big issues. Today: Mud. 

Lisa's Mum answers your CX questions: The Mud Spectrum
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My riding happy in Adelaide photos

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20110628-060459.jpg I took the chance while I was in Adelaide to find some bike pictures from my childhood. Despite finding everything from my first day of school to my last Magic Cave visit, I couldn't find any of me riding a bike. I put this down to the fact that our family car was a Triumph 2500, which was a great and noble car but also a SEDAN. No chance of fitting two little girls' bikes in on Summer holidays.

So here are 2 pictures I did find. The first is the tricycle pic above, with my sister Cathy, me in the middle and our friend Christie at the helm.

The second (below) is my sister on her tricycle, fending me off.

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And this (below) is as close to recumbent cycling as I'll get.

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Tracking the Tour

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This weekend, the biggest men's and women's races in the world kick off- the Tour de France for the blokes and the Giro d'Italia Feminin for the women.I've just installed the SBS Cycling Central TDF iPhone app (it's free- avail on iTunes) which has tour routes, results, videos and a lot more. It looks unreal. Next stop is to finalise my TDF tipping team for Milesini's 'Le Tipping' comp run out of Canberra (a real highlight of the tour for me).

The Giro Donne, or women's Giro d'Italia, is the biggest women's pro race in the world. I raced it last year and it remains the hardest thing I've done. What an awesome experience. This year, the Aussie national team won't be racing it but there are several women flying the flag- Ruth Corset, Shara Gillow, Rachel Neylan, Carla Ryan, Bridie O'Donnell, Tiff Cromwell and others I can't think of right now. Special mention to TE's Sharon Laws who is coming off 3rd at British nat champs last week to race for Garmin-Cervelo. Go Shaz!!

Best of luck to everyone and I'm looking forward to some sleepless nights ahead!

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Travelling 700km for a bike setup

20110628-015429.jpg Just touched down in Adelaide for a 24 hour whirlwind visit to get my bike setup done (again!), this time by the Guru Brian Hayes at AIS. For those of you who know me, you'll know I've been trying to get the better of a pesky hip for the last 9 months or so. I have a crack team of specialists at the VIS and I couldn't be in better hands. Hopefully a fresh set of eyes at my bike setup will offer an answer.

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In the meantime, here's a picture of a recumbent rider I passed on the weekend. Glorious.

More riding happy in Adelaide

After putting up some of Adelaide Cyclists' photos recently of readers with their first bikes, I really enjoyed going back to the site and seeing what other photos had been put up. I wish I could add some from my childhood but my photos are all in Adelaide too. I'll try to track some down when I'm back there next.
Anyway, here are some more beauties that had been posted. They're named according to the people who sent them in, so some are forum names. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. If you have any others, I'd love to include them in a future post. Just email them to me at lisa@ridehappy.com.au.
Enjoy.

 

Riding Happy in Adelaide

I've only recently come across the site Adelaide Cyclists after their founder Angus sent me a message. Adelaide Cyclists is a site devoted to all cyclists in Australia's coolest city, Adelaide. On their forum today, readers sent in photos of themselves with their first bike. Some of the pictures (and the bikes) are classics. There is something really lovely about seeing how, now matter how times change, some things (like the pride and excitement that comes with a new bike) never change.
Below are a few gems. You can check out the rest at their site here.

What You Wish You'd Worn This Morning

I love Cycling Tips. It's one of my favourite cycling websites. If Wade Wallace weren't such a nice guy, I'd hate him for getting to spend his days doing such cool bikely things. One of my favourite CyclingTips columns is What You Missed This Morning, which shows cycling photos taken from places you'd rather be. It's inspiring, beautiful and envy-mongering, all at the same time.

In the spirit of What You Missed This Morning, Ride Happy is starting a photo column of its own. It's not quite in the same league as the beautiful photography you see on CyclingTips, but hopefully it will make you smile.

What You Wish You'd Worn This Morning is a celebration of the glory of the everyday cyclist. Readers are invited to submit photos showing the best crimes against cycling fashion, the most offensive bike setup and the most outrageously pimped bike. And anything else that gets you smiling. Marks will be awarded for originality, brazenness, and photos taken on Beach Road. Fabulous prizes will be awarded (most likely a Ride Happy t-shirt from our good friends at St Mel).

Our first entry is from @gplama, who has captured a native 'Old Leatherback' in its natural habitat on Richmond Boulevard in Melbourne:

He's also snapped some brilliance here:

And here:

SO GET SNAPPING! If you are stuck for inspiration, you can find some of Lisa's Mum's advice on the subject of cycling fashion here, here and here. 

PS - While it should be obvious to most of you, this is not an attempt to alienate people who do not wear the right kit or make fun of people who are just enjoying the simple pleasure of riding a bike. It's a celebration of how these people sometimes just have really, really bad judgement.

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