Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio is one of the best climbers in the Women’s WorldTour. She has won mountain summit finishes in some of the world’s biggest races, leaving the likes of Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen in her wake. Manon visited Ashleigh in Girona to take a deep dive into the art of riding uphill and learn how to climb like a pro!
From BikeRadar.com
Deputy editor Jack Luke on his essential kit for any commuter bike
Cycling to work comes with many benefits – it will save you money, it’s good for the environment, it’s beneficial for your physical and mental health, and is usually faster.
While any bike can be used for commuting duties, it’s worth buying (or building) a dedicated commuter bike if it’s a regular fixture of your working week.
A specific commuting bike prevents wear on your pride and joy, and you’re more likely to fit dorky practicality-boosting accessories without the fear of abuse from friends.
That final point is critical – carefully selected accessories are what separates a run-of-the-mill bike from a true super commuter.
If you’re setting up a commuting bike, these are the six must-have accessories that will make your ride more enjoyable, safer and, in the long run, cheaper.
I’ve said this many, many times before, but life is simply too short to ride without mudguards.
The best mudguards keep you and your bike dry, prolonging the life of consumable parts and boosting morale.
You are much more likely to commit to riding year-round if you know you’ll arrive dry(ish). It also usually negates the need to change clothes when you arrive at work.
Provided they’re installed well, full-cover mudguards will last for years of rattle-free service.
There’s nothing wrong with carrying your stuff in a backpack but, if you’re a regular commuter, it’s worth investing in some kind of luggage system for your bike.
There are many ways to carry stuff comfortably on your bike, shifting weight off your back.
Pannier bags mounted to a rack are good for heavier loads. If you only have a small amount of stuff, a little handlebar-mounted basket will suffice.
I prefer a large platform-style front rack with a basket. A custom-made bag then fits inside this.
This is a better option for me, because I don’t like the ‘tail wags the dog’ sensation of riding with rear-mounted panniers (particularly on a flexible frame). I like being able to see my stuff when riding, too.
I also think this setup looks cool – and I’m a fashion victim. Make of that what you will.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
From BikeRumor.com
There’s just something beautiful about a rally. Take the race component out of a long-distance group ride, and what are you left with? Just a collection of people on bikes enjoying the scenery, the company, and the sheer joy of pedaling.
That’s the idea behind Rapha’s inaugural Yomp Rally: a 375-mile California gravel course that winds from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles starting on May 5, 2023.
“The concept is simple: complete the course in five days or fewer at your own pace, on your own or with your friends. Rapha provides the route, a celebratory send-off, one checkpoint, a bag transfer, and a warm welcome when you arrive in Los Angeles. The rest is up to you,” the company stated on the event’s web page.
60 percent of the Yomp Rally is on roads. For that reason, Rapha recommends a crossover, bikepacking-type build like a drop-bar gravel bike with good clearance, or a hardtail mountain bike with low-profile tires. In a similar vein, Rapha suggests gearing for long climbs while carrying loads. To complete the course in the required five days, you’ll need to average 75 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing per day.
Rapha athlete Dillion Osleger designed the course. Osleger is a scientist, environmental advocate, and trail builder in addition to the time he spends in the saddle. So rest assured, he paid close attention when dropping map pins.
“The route you will have traveled is not new. It is a reverse of the path the Spanish Padres took in 1769 to create the California Missions, which could have been noticed all along in Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, New Cuyama, and Santa Paula. The ecosystems you traverse — desert and coastal sage, high pine forests, and mountain chaparral — can all be seen in the construction material of Chumash baskets and Catholic Churches across the central coast. Every inch of land once belonged to the Chumash Indians, and their influence is still felt in supporting many of the projects that steward these roads and trails. Sooner or later, everything old is new again,” he said.
In the first video of a new Girona Uncovered series on GCN, Hank visits Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, one of the world’s best climbers, who currently rides for AG Insurance – Soudal Quick-Step. They chat about life as a pro cyclist in Girona, Ashleigh’s Rocacorba Cycling business and community, and then head out for a ride up the epic climb from which it takes its name.
From PeopleForBikes.org
By: Martina Haggerty, PeopleForBikes’ senior director of local innovation
With more protected bike lanes and low-stress bike networks being built across the country than ever before, we had a tough time picking this past year’s best new bike lanes. While numerous projects deserve recognition, we rounded up the top nine projects worth emulating.
In November, Jersey City and Hoboken completed construction on the Marin Boulevard and Henderson Street bikeway, which was first called for in the “Let’s Ride JC Bike Master Plan” as a way to better connect the two cities. The expansion of CitiBike into Hoboken also increased demand to ride between the two cities, says Mike Lydon of Street Plans, who worked on the project’s design. In 2022, CitiBike’s most popular route was between Hoboken Terminal and Jersey City’s Hoboken Avenue and Monmouth Street, which saw a total of 5,500 bike share trips. With the completion of the Marin Boulevard project, those rides can now be made entirely on protected bike lanes.
The bikeway is separated from traffic with plastic curbing and flexible posts, and it includes a textured painted surface that makes the bikeway more visible and improves traction. As a “quick build” project, the cities chose to move forward with somewhat temporary materials to expedite the project and improve safety, something that wouldn’t have been feasible with more permanent materials that require sidewalk reconstruction and drainage work, not to mention a longer timeline. According to Lyndsey Scofield, senior transportation planner of Jersey City, this approach “provides us with more flexibility to iterate on the design over time as we learn what works well and what could be improved.”
After being declared one of Rhode Island’s most dangerous streets, Providence worked with the local community to reimagine Broad Street with protected bike lanes, bus islands, and crosswalk improvements. While balancing the needs of local businesses, bus riders, and people walking and biking, Broad Street now serves as a key component of the city’s Urban Trail Network, improving safety and accessibility for some of the city’s poorest and most diverse neighborhoods to jobs and opportunities citywide, as well as access to three major urban parks and multiple regional trails. Space for the bikeway was created by removing a wide center turn lane, which also helped reduce speeding along the street.
From VeloNews.com
People often ask: What does the Bahati Foundation actually do? What are its successes or failures? The answers to those questions originate in the foundation’s formal vision statement: “Our vision is to expose under-represented youth to cycling and assist them in maintaining active participation as the next generation of cyclists by nurturing and encouraging alternative mobility.”
To get more detailed answers, we asked the foundation’s executive director Rashid Bahati and his son, the foundation chairman Rahsaan Bahati, for some examples of kids who have come through their programs and found success in life.
Rahsaan immediately came up with “a kid the same age as me, Kenny Burgess, that I met at the high school I went to in Los Angeles. I met him in class after he saw a small little article on me in the LA Times sports section after I went to the Pan-American Games with the U.S. team. After reading the article about me he went absolutely crazy, saying, ‘I want to do what you do.’ He ended up racing and I helped him join a program that got him into college, at Indiana University; he went on to do great things. He lives in Georgia now, has a family, has a great career, and of the three or four people in our circle he was the one with the least support coming from home. So, when people blow back on Kenny, they say how proud they are of him. He overcame a lot.”
Rashid recalled other young people that were helped by the foundation and went on to major achievements. “We had a young man in 2016 or ’17, Keyshawn Blackstone, who was greatly overweight before coming to us. He lost a bunch of weight, was cycling everywhere, doing a lot of good stuff, and we were able to get him a major scholarship through one of our supporters, to help in school. He was a high achiever and cycling did a lot for his life. It really turned him around.”
If you’re looking to improve your performance or fitness on the bike then it can be all too easy to fall into the trap of some very common mistakes. Conor and Manon go over 6 mistakes that can be easily avoided that, when rectified, will boost your training and help you reach your goals! 💪
From Bicycling.com
By Molly Hurford
“It’s just like riding a bike” might be the most common cliche, but let’s be honest: Riding a bike is rarely as simple as pedaling in a straight line. There is a skill element involved—unless you plan to stick to riding back and forth on your flat driveway. So when was the last time you thought about your bike skills? We often get so caught up in progressing our fitness, we forget about honing our skills.
“We talk about progression a lot when we talk about fitness: If you follow a training plan, you’re going to gradually progress each phase of your fitness,” says Lorri Lee Lown, founder of Velo Girls and longtime head coach at Savvy Bike. “But when we look at the ‘skill’ part of cycling, we don’t do the same thing. If I were to do anything else as an adult learner, I’d take classes and practice, but we don’t do that on the bike. We tend to think about how far or fast we can ride, but we don’t think about how precisely we ride.”
Not only do bike skills require dedicated practice and awareness, they also require slow, steady progression. Take climbs, for example. “Every little grade that I go up, I’m climbing, and every little grade that I go down, I’m descending,” says Lown. “It can be the smallest hill, but I still try to think about my position, my shifting, my braking—I’m reinforcing the skill set. Then, when you’re in a higher risk situation, like those 10% grades and higher, you feel more comfortable.”
Here, we dig into a few of the key skills for safe, smooth, and fun road cycling, with help from a few expert coaches and pro riders. Now, all you have to do is practice!
Photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash
From SFExaminer.com
The OmniBike Bill (AB-1909), written by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, changes how cars and bike riders share the road. The goals and purpose of the changes were to ensure that cyclists on California streets were safer and more protected, to help cyclists and motorists safely share the road, and to reduce collisions involving bike riders and motorists. The bill makes four significant changes to the vehicle code in California.
First, drivers passing a bicyclist travelling in the same direction must change lanes/move over into an adjacent traffic lane, if available, before passing a bicycle, just as it would when passing another car on the road. That is, vehicles must move into another lane with due regard for safety and traffic conditions, if practicable and not prohibited by law. This contrasts with the previous law — known as the “three-foot rule,” which required that a driver passing a bike rider do so at a distance of at least three feet. Many felt this three-foot rule was too hard to measure with two moving objects on the road, was difficult to enforce and did not provide enough room or cushion for the safety of a bicyclist. This change is a significant improvement over the previous three-foot rule. It offers clearer directives and makes it easier for cars to pass bikers safely while preventing and reducing serious and life-altering bicycle accidents. The requirement of changing lanes to pass will make it easier for police to cite drivers who fail to give bikes room for safety. Penalties may vary by county, but those who violate the law face fines and fees.
Second, cities and counties are now prohibited from requiring and enforcing bicycle licenses’ law.
Third, the new law essentially eliminates local authorities’ ability to ban electric bikes from bike paths. Class 3 electric bicycle riders are permitted on approved bicycle paths, trails, and lanes. In other words, there is no longer a statewide ban on class 3 (the fastest) electric bikes on bicycle paths, trails, bikeways, bicycle lanes, equestrian trails, and hiking and recreational trails. Notably, electric bicycles can still be banned from certain hiking trails and equestrian paths.
A fourth change that goes into effect on January 1, 2024, is that bicyclists can cross an intersection when a “WALK” pedestrian signal is on instead of only when there is a green light.
Another important change that came into effect as of 2023 is AB-2147, also known as the Freedom to Walk Act written by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. This law prohibits officers from stopping pedestrians for violations such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk (jaywalking) unless there is immediate danger of a collision. In that case, an officer can stop and cite a pedestrian. Crossing the street outside a crosswalk is now legal, and you will not get a ticket if the road is wide open. For more information, see our blog on this specific topic.
Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
Keeping your bike clean can often be a real hassle. After a long ride, the last thing most of us want to do is give our bike a deep clean. However, treating your bike with a hydrophobic coating that repels dirt and water can make cleaning it quicker and easier. Ollie visited Gtechniq to find out how ceramic coatings work and how you can apply this tech to your bike!
