Lady and the Bike

10 Reasons to Love Being a Professional Ladies Cyclist

A couple of years ago a worldwide competition was run where the prize was the “best job in the world”.  The job description was to stroll the white sands of a tropical island in Australia.  I think my job as a professional cyclist deserves that title and you do not even need lady luck to win this job.

Here is my job description:

1.       Weekly massages are considered mandatory

2.       Most companies block social media websites but my job encourages the use of Twitter, Facebook as well as blogging

3.       You get to wear tight fitting clothes without any excuse

4.       Whether you use shopping as retail therapy or as part of your socialising routine cycling does give you the perfect excuse to shop for the best brands because they can actually make you go faster

5.       Without food you cannot perform so it is considered essential to eat a lot

6.       Coffee shop rides (ride to a coffee shop with a group of people) form part of our daily training regimen and drinking the occasional glass or two of red wine is actually a part of the cycling culture

7.       Get paid to work on your bikini body all year round

8.       Travel the world

9.       For all those single ladies out there:  The number of men racing greatly outnumbers the ladies so it is the perfect scouting ground for Mr Right and that cute view a few meters in front of you gives you just the little bit of extra motivation to go faster

10.   If you are lucky enough like me to be part of Team MTN Qhubeka which has MTN as title sponsor you even get to chat on your phone as much as you want

So get on a bike and you might just end up with the best job in the world.

P.S. remember that thanks to waterproof mascara you have no excuse not to look pretty while out cycling

Qhubeka Bike Handover - Luphisi, Mpumalanga

This past weekend teammates Charlotte, Sarah, Adrien and I had the privilege of joining Qhubeka and Wildlands Conservation Trust staff as well as MTN employees for the Qhubeka bike handover in Luphisi, Mpumalanga.

"Transportation is a fundamental element of development: Most of Africa’s rural population have no access to transport and people have to walk long distances to access opportunity, education, healthcare, shops and community services. Rural schoolchildren are particularly badly affected by lack of mobility. In South Africa, of the 16 million school going children, 12 million walk to school. Of these, 500,000 walk more than two hours each way, spending four hours getting to and back from school each day. Bicycles are the most effective and economical method of quickly addressing this problem."
http://www.qhubeka.org/qhubeka/HOME/HOME.html

This is where Qhubeka comes in. Many people are already aware of the great work that is being done by Qhubeka.  Qhubeka is an Nguni word that means "to carry on" and "to progress".  This bike handover was part of their "Trees-for-Bikes" project where children (called "Tree-preneurs") grow trees to earn bikes. 

For me the most memorable part of this experience was to hear the stories about the "Tree-preneurs".  Kids that used to spend hours walking to school can now use that time to study.  Something like a University degree that previously seemed impossible becomes possible.  Another boy was planting trees to get a bike for his little brother.  There are many more stories like these of how this project has changed the lives of children in rural communities.  With so little you can do so much.

"Tree-preneurs"patiently waiting for their new well-earned Qhubeka bikes

The trees planted by one "Tree-preneur"

Sign-in of a different kind - Maybe one day one of these kids will sign the sign-in boards at a UCI race or even the Tour de France

Teammates Sarah and Charlotte helping with the assembling of the bicycles

Getting ready to take one of the Qhubeka bikes for a test drive