Sydney Australia cycling
Hi GW’s,
I wanted to start off my saying, the bridge collapse in MSP was front page
news down here and it was on all the news casts. I was very relieved to
hear none of you were hurt and way to go Dan S. for helping the victims.
Everyone down here sends their condolances to MSP.
My first two weeks in Sydney have been AWESOME! All I can say is 60 degrees
and sunny for winter is my cup of tea. I joined a bike club 4 days after I
arrived. Turramurra Cyclery sponsors Peloton Sports Inc., my Aussie cycling
club (website www.pelotonsports.com.au). They are the largest club in New
South Wales and have made me feel right at home. They do 5 group rides per
week, however the weekend rides start at 6:45-7am. It has been quite an
adjustment getting up really early for them. I did get to sport my GW kit
during my first few rides. As Ted Free predicted, the Aussie’s wanted to
know what a Gopher was and what we would ever name a team after one!
They have had ~50-60 very friendly people show up on the weekends for the
long rides. The rides are split into 3 groups A,B,C based on your
comfort/ability level (A are = cat 1/2). This style makes it very enjoyable
for all rider levels to participate without the fear of being dropped by
the super fast pro males. The bonus is that coffee is mandatory at the end
of every ride. The team is ~90-95% men, with only a handful of women. I
have been told that the women’s scene down here is not good at all on the
road. In fact, a lot of the races the women actually race with the men, but
are scored amongst their own groups. The other thing I thought was very
strange is that in the women’s scene there are A,B,C,D categories (similar
to our 1-4), but you can put yourself into any category you want aside from
the A group. You don’t have to obtain x number of points ot “up-grade”.
If you like to climb hills, you will love the northern suburbs of Sydney
where I live and the club rides. They do 4-5% grade climbs that are ~4km
long. I, not being a good hill climber have a lot of work ahead of me. It’s
been good fun though, as I always find a sassy Aussie teammate to gasp with
up the hills. My only consulation is leaving several of the experienced men
in my dust during the flat sprints at our Tues/Thurs hard core crit riding
session out at the olympic park.
I will be ordering my Cannondale track bike tomorrow, so I can rip it up
with the Aussies in a few weeks. I have 2 Velodrome’s within 45 mins of my
house and I have been told the women’s scene is much larger for the track
than the road. I have been told by my mates that I can expect up to 40
women at a race. How cool is that! I’ll let you all know how my first track
race goes.
Take care,
Amy
Take care