Things I Wish I knew before I became a Bike Rider

10 year old me set off on a bike for the first time without a regime, a goal, a worry, an understanding of bike riding or a destination. As these two wheeled machines took me from bike paths to rooty, rocky, steep, foreign soil, I learnt so much about the world I was entering (is that a little dramatic?). Fast forward almost 10 years later and I have compiled a list of ‘things I wish I knew before I became a bike rider.’ Although ‘things’ is a very ambiguous word, I am using it without any negative or positive connotation, they are simply just things. (i’d never want to shy anyone away from getting on a bike!)

 

 

Bike riding will become such a big part of your life and you will feel odd if you go a while without doing it. 

I used the word odd here because I cant exactly pinpoint the exact feeling. When I trained for World Champs I would feel somewhat guilty, or as if something was missing, as training had become such a big focus in my life. My dad is a classic example of this (sorry dad), as he gets VERY grumpy if he doesn’t go for a ride. Maybe we should all invest in a Yeti because it seriously works some magic with my dad (mum can vouch for this). I am currently no longer in training for a World Championship, and so my ‘odd feeling’ has shifted to missing my bike riding friends, missing the feeling of being super fit (being able to walk up a flight of stairs without being puffed (sad times)) and  travelling all over Aus and the World. I have come to realise that its okay if you go a while without bike riding, but I think it will take a while to breed the ‘odd’ feeling completely out of me.

Dad about to ride down a mountain in Adnorra! He is only smiling here because he’s on a bike (kidding, love you dad).

You will get lots of grazes, bruises and scars. And if you keep up the sport for years and years, I mean LOTS.

Now I’m definitely not saying there is anything wrong with this. In fact, many of my scars tell a different story and I’m often proud to showcase them to the world. But the grazes and bruises can hurt (I think every bike rider can relate to the pain of having to scrub a fresh graze in the shower!). I am often walking around with skin off my elbow or a major bruise on my leg. I would turn up to school after a weekend away racing and my friends would be eager to see my newest addition. I guess you could say the pain and injuries are all part of being a mountain biker, and although I wish former Ellie had have known exactly what that entailed exactly, I would never let it be the reason to stop me.

how happy I am when I don’t crash! (very).

You will have to take up 3 jobs, take out a loan and sell one kidney to keep up this sport.

By no means does this mean that you have to spend all of your pennies to be a ‘bike rider’ or to be good at it. In fact, my coaching has taught me that buying a bigger, better, and more expensive bike will not automatically make you Cedric Gracia (darn!). There are costs, and they tend to keep on coming (especially if you go through tubes and tyres like my little brother), but I promise you that the fun of riding your bike and travelling to beautiful destinations will make it all worth it. Just make sure that you save those pennies.

Cedric Cracia, Jackson Frew and I after Jackson came down in 3rd position at the Andorra World Champs 2015, oh the places you’ll go!

Do you agree with this list? Is there anything else that you would add? please feel free to share this to fabebook or leave a comment! Alternatively, you can get in touch with me personally  by emailing elliewale@hotmail.com.

-Ellie

My Favourite… with Em and Tegan

Em Parkes and Tegan Molloy certainly need no introduction within the mountain biking world. These two inspiring riders (let alone individuals) are definitely no strangers to the top step. Ever since I started riding I have had the benefit of learning from, and watching the success of Em and Tegan.

Em races cross country and eliminator (with a little slice of enduro on the side), and has represented Australia at the highest level (every cyclist’s dream). I was fortunate enough to be on the Torq team with Em, and I’m definitely lucky to have her as a friend and mentor (I’d have enough funny stories to fill another blog post). If you had a peek inside Em’s home (I’m not her stalker I swear) I’m sure you’d catch a glimpse of the green and gold stripes exclusively belonging to the national championship jersey.

Tegan, on the other hand, races downhill. It was such a special moment to watch Tegan win the 2014 Junior World Champion title. We were in the beautiful country; Norway, and the whole Aussie team went crazy as she crossed the line, securing her the fastest time and a World Champion’s jersey. She is such a humble person, and I always know I’m going to have a good race when I track walk with Tegan (and ‘borrow’ all of her sneaky lines). Tegan is currently overseas, probably riding a sweet downhill run as I’m sitting in rainy Melbourne writing this.

To celebrate how great these two are as riders and as role models for womens’ cycling, I wanted to do a “my favourite” just to let you guys get to know them a little better. So enough of my rambling and without further ado…

Whats your favourite…

Favourite bike?

Em: My Merida Big 9 Team edition, equipped with Rock shox RS1 fork and Sram Rise 60 wheels.

Tegan: That’s a close call between my Supreme Operator and Process 153. I’d have to say my DH bike.

Favourite place to ride?

Em: There are way too many awesome places to ride in this world! I have had the opportunity to ride at many amazing places in this world that there are too many to decide from.

Tegan: I’ve been fortunate enough to travel and ride some amazing places all over the world. Throughout the World Cup season I spend a fair bit of time in Bromont in between races. There’s loads of tracks and a good bunch of people to ride with. You can ride downhill all day and then hit the water park in the afternoon. That’s pretty cool. It’s pretty hard to beat Whistler. Dad and I travelled there in 2012 for Crankworx, which was my first ‘taste’ of riding and racing overseas and I loved every minute of it. It’s definitely home to some of the best trails to ride.

Favourite post ride meal?

Em: Strangely I don’t have a favourite post ride meal. I really struggle to eat after some rides so I usually have a recovery shake or a good old nesquik with some added Ribose and Glutamine.

Tegan: Lately I’ve been a massive fan of omelettes and chocolate milk as recovery and post ride snack.

Favourite song to listen to before a race?

Em: I’m probably not the best person to ask about favourite things.. I like too many things. Before racing I like to crank rap/hiphop music with a really good bass.

Tegan: I tend to only listen to music before a race if I’m really nervous or there’s lots going on around me, but my go to song at the moment would be Panda by Designer.

Favourite race you’ve ever raced?

Em: My favourite race would have to be XCO, National Champs in 2015. The race itself wasn’t extremely fun however winning the National Championship jersey was by far a highlight.

Tegan: My favourite and most memorable race would be World Champs, Hafjell, Norway 2014. Just hanging out with the Australian team and riding was awesome. I had so much fun riding that track, there was a great mix of features too, with loads of jumps, rocks, roots and some flat out fast sections.

Favourite bike related joke?

Em: Putting bearings covered in grease in your mates handle bars.

Tegan: Why couldn’t Cinderella win the bicycle race?

She has a pumpkin for a coach!

Tegan and I after a VDHS race. Champagne in the eyes does not tickle!

Photo: Duncan Philpott

Em and the best race face I have seen in a long time.

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Guys Dig Scars (I hope)

As a young kid in the school yard I was always proud to boast “well I have broken 3 of my arms!” (disclaimer: my primary school self meant I have broken my arm 3 times, I do not have a hidden third arm). Since then I have rounded my count up to 6 breaks.

My mum always questioned whether or not to take me to see a bone specialist, but quite frankly I do not have a skeleton made of butter. Instead, it seems that I have always had quite an adventures side (or poor judgement).

Throughout my 9 (give or take) years of riding bikes I have had enough x-rays to finance the system, and I’ve laid in my fair share of hospital and physio beds. Therefore, I thought it’d be fun (I really have to get out more) to illustrate some of my most memorable injuries I have attained over the years.

1. I separated the ligaments in my cervical spine after crashing at Barjarg in late 2015, which left me in hospital for a night and a neck brace for six weeks.

2. In 2015 I broke my clavicle after a silly crash on a jump ((which I have since revisited and showed who’s boss!)(kinda))

3. A few weeks out from World Champs in 2014 (I was racing cross country), a stick made my front wheel come to a complete stop, catapulting me over the front wheel and bursting my bursa sac (in my shoulder joint).

4. I have a scar right across the middle of my shin from when I slid down the Andorra World Champs track in 2015. Luckily, Anne-Marie was there to steri-strip me up so I could keep riding/sliding!

5. During a game of chookball (silly name, basically netball), I tore pretty much all of my ankle ligaments (more painful than a broken bone I believe) which meant I was on crutches instead of on a bike for the first round of the 2015 National Series!

6, 7, 8 and 9. Not so bike related, but over the years I have broken my left arm twice and my right arm twice (you know, just to share the load). I have fallen victim to a slide, swing (I was a very adventurous 6 year old), harder than usual low ropes course and a snowboarding crash.

I have also broken my nose when I was little, which I believe deserves an honourable mention as it was broken after I was bear hugged from behind, my arms were therefore trapped, and I fell straight onto my face.

So there you have it, I definitely hope I don’t have to do an updated version any time soon.

As always, feel free to leave any comments of contact me at elliewale@hotmail.com

About to go in for surgery (not sure which one)

 

Anne-Marie giving my shin some much needed care, I don’t know what I would do without her at races!

-Ellie

 

 

Why I Ride

I have lost count of the amount of times I have been asked “Why do you ride bikes?” So why do I ride?

This question has come from so many different sources.

My experiences on the bike are mostly positive, but in this crazy and imperfect world there is always going to be some negativity. I have asked myself this question many times. It has crossed my mind as I am struggling to get out of bed for a 6am training session. My mum has asked me this question as she’s sitting by my hospital bed, following a scary crash and a day full of spinal x-rays. I don’t want to sound too dreary, but I would not be honest with you if I said I hadn’t questioned my choice to commit myself to bikes. The thing is though, I always have an answer, and so I keep on riding my bike.

Riding delivers such a unique thrill. I’m smiling as I’m writing this just thinking about the smile that is plastered on my face after a sweet downhill. I love being able to feel my heart, beating so fast inside my chest as I’m about to ride a scary, technical feature for the first time. I even (sometimes) like climbing, and that warm feeling you get at the top of a hill.

Throughout high school we would spend hours discussing and writing about “gaining a sense of belonging” and the satisfaction it delivers. Honestly, being a bike rider helped me to ‘belong’ to something special. The mountain biking community is so friendly, so open and so, so much fun.

Now I don’t want this blog post to be too soppy. I am, however, forever grateful that bike riding has allowed me to travel the world, achieve my goals, meet life long friends and be a part of a large group of such great people.

And that is why I ride.

If you want more information about coaching clinics, racing or how to get into the sport, please feel free to email me at elliewale@hotmail.com

-Ellie

My coach and now life long friend JZ

Track walking the very beautiful Cairns World Cup track

Going off a drop in 2014 with some ‘hecklers’ track side making lots of noise!

Mountain Biking ‘Firsts’ with Sian and Jess

Do you remember your first race? For some of us it was a very long time ago, but for nine year old Jess, her first ever race was May 22nd. Jess raced the ‘mini muddies’ event at the first round of Victoria’s King Of Ballarat downhill series.

Were you one of the lucky ones to race on international soil for the very first time? Sian Ahern did just that over in Scotland for the third round of the UCI Downhill Mountain Biking World Cup on June 5th.

I caught up with both girls after their events to gather their reactions following their own, personal mountain biking ‘firsts.’

How long have you been riding for?

Sian: I have been riding for just about 2 years now. Which isn’t a very long time but I have been putting in a lot of effort to get to where I wanted to be, and all the hard work definitely pays off in some way!

Jess: I have been riding for 6 years, I started at 3.

What event did you last compete in?

Sian: I last competed at Fort William, Scotland for round 3 of the UCI mountain bike World Cup, and at Fort William I qualified 19th in elite, and 1st in juniors. On race day my run didn’t all go to plan but still managed to come 21st in elite, and take out the win in juniors!

Jess: King Of Ballarat, the mini Muddies race.

What was your race weapon of choice?

Sian: My race weapon of choice for this event was of course my Norco Aurum C7.1!! The bike was set up absolutely perfect, and felt amazing throughout the whole weekend. Shimano did some awesome work in making everything run smoothly, and making sure my bike was in perfect condition the whole weekend.

Jess: Giant Liv

What was going through your mind as you were at the start gate?

Sian: At the start gate I try not to think about anything but my race, I look at the awesome crowds and I look at the track and say to myself “I can do this.” I take a few deep breaths, spin my legs, focus on what I’m about to and and I’m off.

Jess: I was nervous and I didn’t want to fall off during the race.

If you could do the race again, would you change anything? if so what?

Sian: at this particular race, if I could change anything I probably wouldn’t change much at all. Possibly hit a few more jumps as I know I could have done them. But overall the weekend went pretty smoothly. My race run I was trying too hard that I kept stuffing up my lines and not riding as smooth as I know I can, which is something I learnt about this race, sometimes you have to relax and not try TOO hard!

Jess: I should have slept more the night before. I thought the track was pretty good so I wouldn’t change anything.

Overall, if you could describe this event in one word what would it be?

Sian: FUN!!! This race was so awesome, the track was so rough but so much fun, the crowds were absolutely amazing and there were so many people! Having so many people was so motivating and made me have so much fun. It was so awesome to be in different country so far away from home and ride my bike. I never would have thought this opportunity would happen!

Jess: Amazing!

Do you have any advice to anyone who wishes to race this event in the future?  

Sian: Yeah I do, have as much fun as you can and enjoy everything about the race. Its an awesome experience. one more thing also the track is so long train hard, and bring your strong hands!

Jess: Don’t be nervous to go down the track it was an awesome track and I really loved the rock section and the corners.

Sian pedalling out of the start gate at Fort William.

Sian and I waiting to head up for our race run at this year’s National Championships. 

 

Jess racing to the finish line at the King of Ballarat mini muddies event.

Jess and I after her race. 

Good luck to both girls and their mountain biking adventures. Be sure to follow Sian’s journey as the rest of the World Cup season unfolds!

-Ellie

Trail Names guaranteed to worry your mum

Why is it that all mountain bike trails have uninviting trail names? It seems that the more frightening and ‘gloomy’ you can make a trail sound the better. I’ve created a list (some I have come across and others I found on the internet) of five trail names that are surely designed to scare your grandma. So without further ado and in no particular order;

1. Graveyard (one of my local trails in Victoria, Australia)
2. Coffin rock (Barjarg, Victoria, Australia) check out the Life of Bikes team video from Barjarg here.
3. Crusher (one of my local trails in Victoria, Australia)
4. Kill me thrill me (Whistler, Canada) I found a sweet ‘shreddit’ of the trail, check it out here.
5. Aneurysm (Lysterfield, Victoria, Australia)

I am certainly up for the thrill and adventure of bike riding, and don’t get me wrong I am proud to showcase the scars on my shins from falling off features such as ‘coffin rock.’

My mum was my inspiration for this blog post, who gains a new wrinkle and grey hair every time I tell her I’m going to ride ‘Crusher’ or ‘Aneurysm.’ Do you have any others you would add to this list? let me know in the comments!

An unlucky rider sliding out whilst riding Barjarg.

To the left of this picture you will notice a caution sign! my bike at the top of aneurysm.

-Ellie

 

My Top Two Most Embarrassing Times

Although I have been riding, racing and speaking the bike lingo for almost 10 years now, I have had my fair share of embarrassing moments. These are my top two, bike related, and highly embarrassing moments.

• In 2014 I had the chance to race the Cairns Downhill World Cup alongside the world’s best. Nathan Rennie is such an admirable bike rider and human being, and the junior team was lucky enough to have Rennie as a staff member. It was leading up to race day and as we were doing the track walk, I attempted to make small talk with Rennie. I am embarrassed to say that I asked the former World Cup Series Winner:

“So, do you ride bikes?”

(I have since learnt that Rennie did, in fact ride bikes and to the highest possible standard. I was relatively new to the downhill scene, but I now make sure that I am respecting and constantly learning about mountain bike royalty and history!) Check out Nathan Rennie racing on one of my favourite Victorian tracks; Mt Baw Baw here.

• I can honestly say that bike mechanics is a field that I need to work on. This next embarrassing moment occurred at Life Of Bikes (my favourite bike shop EVER by the way). My dad had sent me a last minute text meaning to say “ask if they could check the bearings.” As most smartphone users know, autocorrect can be both a blessing and a curse. The message auto corrected to say “ask if they could check the Bee rings” and so, you guessed it, I walked into Life Of Bikes and asked;

“Could you please also check the Bee rings?”

(Lucky for me I know the staff well and they’re super friendly. They had a laugh and then (superbly) fixed my “bee rings.”

Track waking in Andorra with another Australian team staff member; JZ.

My Life Of Bikes team jersey on top of a Maldon lookout tower.

Please feel free to leave a comment and contact me.

Email: elliewale@hotmail.com

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-Ellie