The Beginning
With no background as an athlete or in sporting pursuits I decided to take myself for a bike ride for Valentine’s Day 2018. Pedalling out in the middle of the day, it was a way to do something for myself and support my mental health.
The ride was not long, only 30km, but took me many hours to complete, leaving me with a sense of accomplishment as well as tiredness. This simple act of going for a bike ride at the age of 46 started my ongoing love of cycling to this day.
After a couple of months of riding, I entered myself into the Dams Challenge. The day before the event I went into a bike shop to buy some spares and came out with a new bike!
After this first event I went on to do the Rapha Women’s 100km ride in September where I met some fabulous people who introduced me to the world of road cycling and included me in their wonderful community.
The First Challenge
For my first big challenge I entered myself into Le’Tape in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, this was a road ride of 170km and 3,500m of climbing and was held in November 2019.
I trained as much as I could whilst juggling family and work life. I finished the event well within the cutoff and it remains a very special day mainly due to my husband, sons plus my mum and dad cheering me on from the roadside along the way. These memories are very special and poignant.
Expanding my Cycling World
In early 2021, the rest of the family also started cycling. We focused on mountain biking which was a natural extension of our early years of bushwalking. We initially just went riding on the local heritage trail and around Kalamunda. As the years progressed we all learnt new skills at different rates, with the boys taking on bigger mountain bike challenges.
For myself, I expanded my cycling experiences to include three Tour of Margaret River road races, several XCM events such as Cape to Cape, and participation in the Seven event twice and the Five event three times — riding both my mountain bike and later my gravel bike.
Progress Not Perfection
Over the years, my cycling skills and fitness have gone up and down depending on health and life/family commitments.
The one constant I noticed is that over time with the accumulation of practice and lessons, my bike skills have improved. This doesn’t mean every time I ride I feel like I’m able to ride every feature consistently, but instead, it means recognising and respecting how I feel on the day.
Building Community
Regardless of the type of cycling, a shared experience in each discipline has been the building of community. Whether this has been sharing a friend’s first gravel ride and seeing the joy in their eyes, a casual river loop with friends including the all-important coffee stop or a mountain bike ride with my sons.
It was through one of my sons who wished to start riding in WAGE in 2025 that I got to know the Huck it team. I remember my first event in Margaret River where I was taken under their wing and shown how the event worked – similar to the buddy system being offered in 2026. At each WAGE event in 2025, I felt part of the pink team by osmosis and was very proud to wear the pink jersey.
What’s Next
At the time of writing this, I am in the midst of completing the Volcano Epic event in New Zealand. This has been a huge stretch for me in terms of fitness and skills but once again the community within the cycling world has prevailed, turning this into a memorable event, connecting with old friends and making new ones.
Post Volcano Epic, I am proudly looking forward to riding with the Huck it Team for WA Gravity Enduro for the upcoming 2026 season. Riding WAGE has improved my skills and fitness whilst having a whole lot of fun.
An aim of mine is to encourage more mums into mountain biking rather than being the support person. Your children will be proud of your achievements and provide a shared experience (even if at times a different one).
I would encourage any person who has thought about trying cycling to just give it a try. You don’t have to be the fittest or the fastest, however the simple act of just trying will build skills, confidence, fitness and community.
You never know where the journey will lead to and it’s never too late to start the journey!
