The Southern Highlands cycling community recently came together to hold a Women’s cycling information night. Matt and Rebecca Snowden from The Physio Space in Bowral hosted the event for local women to hear other about cyclists’ experiences, learn about basic bike fitting, simple mechanics and meet other like-minded local female riders. Bowral Classic junior correspondent Maizy Evans was the opening presenter on the night – here’s her report.
On the evening of July 21 I enjoyed the honour of sharing my cycling experiences with a group of enthusiastic female cyclists from the Bowral region. Having started riding when I was 5, racing in the U6 category and racing nationally at age 9. I am now 4 X National Champion in the U15 Category. I spoke about why I ride and the fact that when I’m on my bike I feel like I can achieve anything. The crowd is my motivation and the competitors are my strength, and this is something I explained during the talk. We then discussed the ultimate goal of representing Australia in the Olympics but, for now I’m just gonna keep smashing it out on the dirt.
Maizy Evans opened the Women’s Cycling evening by telling the audience a little about her cycling experience along with discussing future goals and aspirations.
After a small break, with catering supplied by The Physio Space, we heard from Meaghan who explained buying, fitting and racing bikes! Meaghan is a local cyclist who races nationally in the Masters 3 category, she took up the sport at the age of 33. Meaghan enjoyed riding her bike with her 3 daughters as a family activity. She started to race local club racing and then decided to buy a road bike to start training for bigger races. Meaghan shared her opinions on which bikes are suitable for riding and making sure your purchase is worth it. One of her major points was saddles!
The Importance of Finding The Correct Saddle
Finding the right saddle is a huge task and making sure the one you choose is right for you takes time and effort. Meaghan used a visual presentation to show the correct helmet fit and the always annoying pony tail issue! We were lucky enough to have different types of cleats supplied by the Fixed Wheel to take a look at correct positioning. Meaghan was a huge inspiration to all the ladies that attended.
National Team Mechanic On Hand
Peter Dowse is the Australian Mountain Bike Team Mechanic and we are lucky enough to have him working locally at the Fixed Wheel bike shop in Bowral. Pete and Meaghan demonstrated how to change a flat and how to prevent getting a pinch flat. Pete then showed us how to do the basic clean and lube of the chain. Those annoying times when you drop your chain in a race can be quickly fixed now thanks to their presentation on how to quickly put a chain back on. Pete and Meaghan also showed us the simple way to remove and replace both the front and back wheels.
Bike Fit 101
Matt Snowden from the Physio Space talked about how his bike-fit assessment enables “the rider to fit the bike and bike to fit the rider.” The assessment looks not only at how the set-up affects comfort and performance, but how he looks at personal musculoskeletal factors including flexibility, strength and biomechanics to get the best fit.
He also often gives exercises for the rider to work on any deficits in strength and flexibility to improve performance. Matt uses video assessment to compare before and after making on the spot changes to aspects such as seat height and angle, stem length and height and handlebar position. Matt can do bike-fit assessments for any type of cycling.
Thanks To The Physio Space Bowral
As a local community, it was an amazing experience for everyone who attended. A huge thanks to Matt and Beck from The Physio Space Bowral for running this event along with Meaghan and Pete for sharing their knowledge. It was a great experience to share my achievements with local women and meet some new friends.
