October 2017
Inside the Issue
WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
CHICKS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
BEGINNER'S CORNER
In this issue we take a quick look at Rims and Tyres.
We turn the spotlight on one of our favourite Chicks, Carmen Weier.
We discuss going commando and the benefits of bib shorts.
BC BIKE RACE We talk to Ashley Watling about her experience at the BC Bike Race. Is it really the ultimate single track experience?
in this issue Message from the Chief Chick - 3 Chicks in the Spotlight - 4 BC Bike Race - 5 What The Hell Is That? - 10 Beginner's Corner - 13
A Message from the chief chick
by Jordana Blackman
If you follow mountain biking and downhill racing, September was pretty eventful. Being injured of hip and lazy of spirit, I went down to my local pub with a bunch of friends to have a beer and enjoy the televised festivities up at the 2017 UCI MTB World Championships in Cairns. Here are a few things I jotted down after my 4th pint.
5 Things I Learned From the MTB Worlds 1. There’s no place like home. If you aren’t a follower of mtb racing, the world championships are held every year, but this is the first time since 2009 that it has been in Australia. This gave a lot of Aussies the opportunity to compete on home soil, surrounded by friends and family. Let whatever your dreams are be your very own world champs on home soil. Let your friends and family support you, and you’ll be golden. 2. Anything can happen on the day. In one of the practice runs leading up to the race itself, world #1, defending champ, and all around kickass athlete Rachel Atherton broke her collarbone. Not only that, but next-in-line favourite, Tracey Hannah, crashed (rather spectacularly) during her run, costing her the top spot on the podium. The point is, you never know what’s going to happen on the day. Turn up to everything in your life with the right attitude and you never know where it will take you. 3. You do you. Racing a mountain bike is all about finding what’s right for you. What line choices you make, what bike you ride, what training you do… it all shapes who you are and ultimately what you’re able to achieve. When was the last time you took a minute to assess your life and the choices you made? Is what you’re doing really what’s right for you? Or are you pandering to what you think other people want you to do? 4. You can only plan so much. A lot of us like to plan our lives to the Nth degree. It makes us feel in control and like we are the masters of our own destiny.Yet, so much of what happens around us isn’t the result of perfect planning, it’s a result of taking things as
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Photo: Stewart McLean, The Cairns Post
they come. Plan if you must, but don’t underestimate the power of taking things as they come. 5. Take the win. With Rachel Atherton not starting and Tracey Hannah’s crash, it really was anybody’s day. But in the end, it was Canadian Miranda Miller’s victory. After she won, she told reporters, "It's pretty crazy," said Miller. "I don't think it has sunk in yet. I feel like I had some luck on my side, but I'll take it. It's pretty cool.” Whether that’s in your personal life, professionally or something in sports. Take the win. Take the compliment. Take the luck. Your success is deserved. Love, CHIEF CHICK xoxo
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Chicks in the Spotlight: Carmen This issue with talk to Carmen weier from Brisbane Name: Carmen. Age: 46 and a half. I started riding: 4 years ago, because I was no longer allowed to play full contact Gridiron. I have: 6 bikes including two roadies, one in the process of being rebuilt. I also have an MTB, FatBike, BMX and a Single Speed. I'm also looking for a decent reasonably priced Steelie. You did the Epic recently, tell us what was it like?: I entered the 52km Epic at Hiddenvale Adventure Park, Queensland.
Although I did not complete the whole distance, I gave it my best shot on the day. I have a small health issue that I need to monitor and for this reason I didn't finish. I am glad I entered, it now gives me a goal to reach for next year. One thing I learnt from this, you need to do some training for these sorts of rides, even if you are only doing it for the social aspect. So for now I won't see it as a failure, it is a learning experience. I must also mention that the day before this event I completed a 55km road event at the Gold Coast. What is the best thing about riding bikes?: The thing I like best about riding bikes is the freedom and stress relief it provides. Also the friends I have made along this journey and the friends I hope to make in the years to come. LIVE LAUGH LOVE RIDE
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BC Bike Race, CANADA Touted as the "Ultimate Single Track experience", we find out from CWRB Ash Watling just what it's all about ...Â
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CWRB: Tell us a little about yourself? AW: I’m from Toronto, Canada! I was relocated to Australia for work 7 years ago and could not have been luckier. I’m based in Brisbane now, home to the best weather on earth! CWRB: What is the BC Bike Race? AW: The BC Bike Race offers 7 days of mountain biking through British Columbia’s West Coast. Competitors tackle 7 stages which can range from 18 to 60km. The race is boasted as the Ultimate Single Track Experience and it absolutely is. Think fish bowls for berms, and never ending sounds of cash click. Plus a lot of climbing. The race is in its 12th year now so it’s well established, organised and supported. CWRB: How do you get selected for it? AW: By repeatedly clicking the refresh button at 5am a year before the race! There is no selection process, just first in best dressed. Registration opens 1 year in advance, and is typically 50% sold in within the first hour, and 100% sold out in the first
"There is no selection process, just first in best dressed"
day. CWRB: What bike did you take to the race? AW: My gorgeous 2016 Specialised Camber. It is my first full suspension bike and I purchased it specifically for the event from the crew at Planet Cycles. She worked like a dream, and was the perfect balance for the considerable amount of climbing and north shore style descents.
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CWRB: How did you travel between the
CWRB: What was the accommodation
stages?
like?
Transport between stages (if not riding
Tent city is the best! The crew set up and
directly from point to point) was via ferry,
take down your tent each day, so
seaplane and bus. It’s all organised for you
everything is ready for you when you arrive
so really just show up and follow the crowd.
‘home’ each night. It’s a great social
atmosphere that truly adds to the event.
CWRB: Did you have a support crew?
They host a guided yoga session each
AW: I went with an amazing group of 8
night to add to your evening ritual of foam
friends from Australia including my partner.
rolling, copious food consumption and
It was such an unbelievable experience to
painful cheeks from smiling all day while
be able to share the joys (and pain!) together
smashing dirt.
with loved ones. My family also flew over from Toronto to see me cross the finish line in Whistler to top it off. CWRB: What was the one thing you couldn't do without during the race? AW: I wore Queen of the Mountain cycling kit throughout the whole race and my lady bits thanked me for it! You just feel confident putting on gorgeous kit each morning, and knowing nothing down there will be holding you back. The days are hard enough as is!
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"tent city is the best! the crew set up and take down your tent each day."
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CWRB: What was the most challenging part of the race? AW: The descending is significantly more technical and aggressive than in Brisbane. Riding a variety of terrain between Parklands, Derby, Taupo and Rotorua helped massively to know what I would be up against. I’ve only been mountain biking for less than three years, and I am a risk adverse engineer so I’m naturally not much a downhiller.
"I am a risk adverse engineer so i'm naturally not much of a downhiller."
Upgrading to a full suspension bike with a dropper post gave me significantly more confidence to let the bike to the work, get my ass back, relax the arms and just point in the right direction! CWRB: So how did you go? After all it is a race! AW: 15th out of 36 solo women and overall 289th out of 625 competitors. CWRB: Most importantly, given the opportunity would you do it again? AW: 100%. Only 10 months until 2019 registration opens.
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RIMS AND TYRES - FACTS AND STUFF This section is dedicated to helping readers gain a bit more of an appreciation for the wondrous machine that is your bicycle. How? By understanding what it's made of, how it fits together and how components work to let you ride on the road or your local mountain bike trails.
Rims
The rim is the hoop which gives the wheel its round shape. It has two main jobs: holding the bicycle tyre in place and providing a surface on which to attach the spokes. Rims can be made of many materials, each offering different benefits and drawbacks. These materials can include an aluminium alloy, a carbon fibre composite or steel.
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Although they all perform a similar job, there are a wide variety of rims which are specifically designed for different uses. If you cut through the rim of 5 different bicycles and compared their cross sections, you will see a big difference in what they look like. As with any bicycle component, each has been designed for a very specific purpose. An example is that some rims are designed for rim brakes (where the brake pads squeeze on to the rim of the bicycle to slow you down) and so need to provide a smooth braking surface for the brake pads to grip. Bicycles with disc brakes or hub brakes will not require this surface so can be a different shape or even made of different material because they don’t have to withstand the same braking force. Quick Facts: Before the 1980s, most bicycle rims were made of steel. Historically, they were even made of wood! Aerodynamics, mass and inertia, stiffness, durability, tubeless tyre compatibility, brake compatibility and cost are all considerations in how a rim is made. Rims and spokes work together to distribute the force of moving the bicycle.
Tyre The tyre (or tire for those in America!) fits on the rim of the bicycle and provides suspension as well as generating the forces necessary to balance, turn and brake. There are a few techniques for attaching the tyre to the rim, the two most common being "clincher" and "tubular". Clincher tyres go with clincher rims and tubular tyres go with tubular rims. Clinchers are U-shaped when cut in half. The outer edge of the tyre hooks over the edge of the rim and is held in place by the air pressure in the tyre. Clincher tyres are made of 3 components: 1. The bead: this is the edge of the tyre that hooks onto the rim. Mostly, this is a hoop of a strong type of cable. 2. The fabric: stitched between each bead, making sure the tyre is strong enough to maintain air pressure while remaining flexible enough to conform to the ground surface. 3. The rubber: this is the part of the tyre you can see. Tread is simply the part of the tyre that contacts the ground.
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Tubulars are (shock horror!) tubes when cut in half! They don't have beads like clinchers instead, the tyre is sewn together around the inner tube. Tubulars are glued into special rims.
Tyres Quick Facts: Most bicycle tyres are clinchers. Tubular tyres attach to special rims with adhesive. Every tyre has an optimum range of inflation pressures which depends on the type of riding you're doing. Not all tyres hold inner tubes with air in them. Just like in your car, some bicycle tyres have air pumped directly into them. Bicycle tyres come in all sorts of sizes, depending on the type of bicycle it is. For instance, mountain bikes can be 26", 27.5" or 29" whereas BMX bikes are generally 16" or 20".
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BEGINNER'S CORNER This issue we discuss the benefit of bib knicks and the importance of the chamois... and going commando. Not wearing underpants was so foreign that for the first year riding bikes, I absolutely refused to do it. It was too weird. Too... squishy. However, there is some logic to going commando: 1. REDUCE THE CHAFING! Less items under your cycling gear means less seams which leads to less chafing . Less chafing = happy hoohaa and therefore a happy cyclist! 2. UTI's! Despite the chamois looking like a super absorbent maxi-pad they are actually designed to wick moisture away from your body. Some are even made from antibacterial material. All these features can help in preventing UTI's.
Image source: Wiggle.com What are the benefits of bib knicks? 1. The bibs keep the knicks and chamois in place which reduces movement and chafing. 2. The higher waist on bib knicks mean your lower back won't be exposed if your jersey rides up, providing you with extra sun protection. 3. The quality of the chamois will be the difference between feeling like you're supported on the bike, and feeling like you're sitting on a bag of rusty razor blades. What are the downsides of bib knicks? 1. There is no elegant way to go to the toilet!
Image source: Wiggle.com LIVE LAUGH LOVE RIDE
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Advertising and Sales Enquiries Heather Brammall Brisbane, Australia +61 410 643 720Â social@chickswhoridebikes.com
Contributions and Editing Jordana Blackman Adelaide, Australia +61Â 417 262 614 info@chickswhoridebikes.com