Rebecca Eliot’s Post

LNP cycling policy? For the last year the Queensland leader of the LNP - Liberal National Party has been walking around with a glossy document titled "The Right Plan", was there anything in it about cycling, not from what we can see. Last year at the Bicycle Queensland Christmas drinks LNP transport spokesperson Steven Minnikin MP stood before those assembled and stated the LNP would release a comprehensive cycling policy before the state election. We are unaware of Steve Minnikin releasing any such policy. Last weekend the CBD BUG contacted LNP Candidate for the seat of McConnel (ie Brisbane city) enquiring where we would find the LNP's cycling policy. As of the drafting of this posting (Thursday night) the CBD BUG has not received a response from Christien Duffey on behalf of the LNP. It appears the according to the LNP's published "The Right Plan" for Queensland does not include cycling despite - Cycling provides cost of living relief to families (eg not spending money on petrol) - Cycling boosts local business (savings on petrol can pay for a night out) - Cycling saves on public health (people riding have better general levels of health) - Cycling reduces housing cost (car spaces are a huge cost of housing construction) - Cycling save on road construction (bikeway cost a fraction of a roadway) Considering all the benefits of cycling why has the LNP not included it in their published plan for Queensland and therefore Queenslanders!

Throughout the 20th century, Britain rarely won any cycling events. They had won only one Olympic gold medal and not a single title in the ‘Tour de France’(the biggest cycling tournament in the world). This started to change when Britain’s professional cycling governing body appointed Dave Brailsford as its new performance director in 2003. Soon, the British cycling team started gaining momentum. They won 60% of the cycling events at the 2008 Olympics, set multiple records in the following Olympics, and won ‘Tour de France’ multiple times between 2007 and 2017. The secret to these achievements is attributed to Dave’s philosophy referred to as ‘the aggregation of marginal gains.’ What is this idea, and why is it so powerful? That’s what I’m sharing in this week’s post. The basic idea of this philosophy is that when one breaks a bigger task into many smaller chunks and tries to do each of them a little better every day, those small improvements accumulate and make one significantly better at the task in the long run. AS SIMPLE AS IT SOUNDS. Dave and the team continually made small changes like improving the suit quality for maintaining ideal muscle temperature and better aerodynamics, testing and finding the best massage gels for faster muscle recovery, and even things like finding the best mattress for better sleep. These small improvements, which seem to make no impact on performance in the short term, had accumulated slowly over years of consistent training, leading to astounding results. In life, we often overlook life-changing moments, drastic improvements, hard work, etc., and underestimate the power of tiny changes, small habits, and consistency. This case study is a solid example of how seemingly insignificant changes and habits at the moment can compound into remarkable results in the long run. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this post. Comments, suggestions, and improvements are welcome! You can click on the hashtag to read the previous posts and follow if you like. #TheCuriousNeuron

The Maryland Classic, the only professionally sanctioned race in the United States, announced it would postpone this year’s race due to the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Organizers said the race would be back in 2025. Let’s hope so – but given the hits road racing has taken in the United States over the past decade, it’s unlikely. The Maryland Classic has suffered one concussion after another. The race was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID and now delayed again due to the accident (the timing of the Olympics also contributed to the decision… typically, teams would fly to Canada for two major races, but those events were pushed back a week making it unlikely teams would send riders to stay in North America for two weeks). Nevertheless, the 2022 and 2023 races proved exciting. It attracted top teams, including Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy EF Pro Cycling Lidl-Trek among others, and allowed American cyclists, including Scott McGill, Riley Sheehan, Tyler Stites, Quinn Simmons, and Neilson Powless, to compete against the world’s best Europeans. The course also proved to scramble the race—very hard in the early going along the punchy climbs in the Baltimore suburbs and exurbs followed by four 7.5 mile loops in downtown Baltimore. And the past two years, it was VERY hot and humid. This is one area where USA Cycling could step up and encourage lawmakers at every level of government to fix our roads and bridges--and do it now, not 10 years from now. Very sad... and for Baltimore and US cycling, let's hope the race bounces back in 2025.

Aggregation  of marginal gain theory The aggregation marginal gain  theory which simply is; improve by 1% in all area . Sir David Brailsford took over the the British cycling team in 2007 which then was one of non performing or mediocre cycling team in the world. He introduce this theory into the team to enhance their performance  in the coming cycling games. First he advised that the tyres  of the  bikes of the team should be replaced with a thinner tyres. Also he brought in medical  surgeons  to show his cyclist how to wash their hands in order not to catch a cold before any cycling event and after He brought 12 different pillows and asked his cyclist to choose from  any of the pilows the one they slept better in. Sir David also has a different make of  massage gel for each of his cyclist that soothes them better in order for them to heal faster. These are the results : 📍 The British cycling team won 57% of all road and track gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 📍 In London Olympics in 2012 the British cycling team set 7 world records and  9 Olympics records. 📍 From 2007 to 2017 British cycling team won 178 championship, 66 olympics gold medals and won 5 tour de France. This 10 year span  made the Britisg cycling team the most successful cycling team in history . What does this story tell us; a person wil get better in what he/she does if that person could make an effort  to improve by 1 % in all areas of his /her live each day. For example you want to improve on your health through exercise,if you do for instance one extra push up or jumping jack at the end of each exercise you will improve  on it and get better. Also,If someone could read one page of a book each day and stay away from distraction like social media that person will get better in his/her studies or academics. If someone could improve by 1% in his career each day, over time he/she will be a great employee to his/ her organisation. Improve by 1% each day in all areas of your life  and see  a tremendous improvement of you. If you love this post please comment and share. Thanks #marketing #management #socialmedia #startups

What a weekend! In fact, what a last three weeks! Canadian Road Cyclist for Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy, Derek Gee making Canada proud at the Tour de France finishing 9th in the General Classification on Sunday in Nice. That's out of 22 teams, 176 Riders, 21 Stages, 3,498 KM's through four countries. Cycling continues to boom. The global bicycle market size was valued at USD 113.73 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow from USD 122.52 billion in 2024 to USD 274.14 billion by 2032. The Tour, btw, is broadcast in 190 countries, with over 110 hours of broadcast, covered by over 2,000 accredited journalists on 100 channels reaching more that 1 billion hours of viewership. Road cyclists typically demonstrate a Type A personality characteristic. They have a dedicated work ethic, aspire to the C-suite, love to travel, have a high HHI and enjoy spending money on "the finer things" in life. As we head towards the Olympics Paris 2024, athletes like Derek Gee and Mike Woods (5th in the last Olympics) are tremendous options for brands to help tell their story in a relevant and meaningful way. Engaging with highly valued customers through a platform (the bike) around which there is a shared passion. Makes so much sense. Inspire Athlete Management is an Athlete Management business dedicated to the sport of cycling. We understand what brands desire out of a partnership and we help navigate a collaboration between athletes and brands that works. Feel free to DM us and discuss how our athletes can propel your brand forward through a meaningful partnership. Simon Williams Michael Chan Source: https://lnkd.in/gM2aMeEp https://lnkd.in/gnrJFvad

Huge boost for Namibian cycling : Namibia’s stature as a leading cycling nation in Africa has been underlined by the fact that it will host the inaugural Africa Gravel Championships in August this year. Besides that, Namibia will host several other international events during 2025, while the Namibia Cycling Federation has also released a calendar jampacked with activities throughout the year.  The Confederation of African Cycling (CAC) last month announced that Namibia will host the Africa Gravel Championships when it issued its calendar for 2025, and yesterday the president of the NCF, Tauko Shilongo confirmed the news.  “It’s quite huge for Namibia and it shows that Namibian cycling is making waves internationally,” he said. “It will be accredited by CAC as well as the UCI (International Cycling Federation), with the result that we can expect top cyclists to compete, who will be out to get international points,” he added.  Gravel racing is one of the fastest growing cycling disciplines in the world and last October, Namibia hosted its first National Gravel Championships, the Khomas100, to much acclaim, when more than 400 cyclists competed over a distance of about 140km from Windhoek to Gross Barmen, through the Khomas Hochland. Alex Miller and Vera Looser became the inaugural national champions and with the sound organisation and professional marketing of the event, it has now been elevated to a higher, continental, ranking. Besides that, Namibia will host two mountain bike cross country events on 12 April and 31 May that will form part of the Africa Continental XCO series, as well as the UCI Class 1 Junior Series, with the result that top international cyclists can also be expected to compete.  Namibia’s premier cycling road race, the Pupkewitz Megabuild Tour de Windhoek, has also received official recognition from CAC and UCI, who will for the first time officially accredit the women’s Tour de Windhoek.  “It will be the first time that a Namibian tour will receive international accreditation from UCI with the result that top international teams can be expected to participate. We are also expecting strong male teams, but it’s just the women’s tour that will receive UCI accreditation and UCI ranking points,” Shilongo said.  Besides that, the NCF has announced numerous other events that will form part of this year’s cycling calendar. The Nedbank Windhoek Pedal Power road race series already kicked off last Sunday with the first leg at Teufels Schlucht, while two more legs are scheduled for January. The Nedbank National Road Race and Individual Time Trial Championships will be held in February, while the Nedbank Cycle Challenge reaches a special milestone this year when the 40th edition will be held on 13 April.  The Nedbank… https://lnkd.in/dmYCFqBy #NamibiaCycling #AfricaGravelChampionships #CyclingNation #GravelRacing #InternationalCycling

Melbourne-based cycling apparel brand MAAP and GreenEdge Cycling have today announced a multi-year partnership, bringing MAAP to the UCI WorldTour as the official technical supplier to Team Jayco AlUla, Liv AlUla Jayco, and Liv AlUla Jayco Continental Team for the 2025 season and beyond. https://lnkd.in/de5cAmTZ

Cycling UK has published a five-year strategy, which aims to get more people to appreciate the many benefits of cycling, even if they don’t cycle themselves. Cycling UK describe their mission as being to enable millions more to #cycle. ‘Imagine a country where cycling is a safe and popular mode of transport for people of all backgrounds and abilities,’ they say. ‘Where #airpollution is no longer poisoning our children, obesity has been eliminated, and traffic congestion is gone. This is Cycling UK’s vision’ The film below has been produced by Cycling UK working with #Leeds-based poet Erin Bolens to emphasise how cycling can help everyone. As Erin says in the video; ‘people who drive, people who walk, people who say they’ll cycle one day, even if it’s just talk. Children, teenagers, 50 something middle agers, the early starters, the young at hearters. We’re all on the same team.’ Sarah Mitchell, chief executive of Cycling UK, said: ‘The next five years is a pivotal time for us to demonstrate the wider benefits of cycling. As some politicians have sought to reframe cycling as a culture war issue over the past year, using rhetoric to divide all road users, we are acutely aware of our responsibility to remind people of the overwhelming positive impact of cycling. We already know cycling is a fantastic transport option for millions of people across the #UK, and we want even more people to see how it can improve #publichealth, boost wellbeing and enhance our environment.’ The charity believe that by engaging people beyond the core of cycling enthusiasts, debate can be broadened and support generated among a new constituency – people who my not be interested in riding a bike but are concerned about #climatechange, air quality or mental and physical health issues. As such, Cycling UK’s five-year strategic objectives are: - Improve perceptions of cycling so that everyone sees the benefits - Boost the number and diversity of people who cycle - Make cycling an even more positive experience - Increase transport choice by enabling and encouraging more people to cycle local journeys - Achieve greater impact by becoming the best possible charity we can be Sarah again: ‘Cycling UK has delivered decades of community and campaigning work, and we have a proven track record of making change happen. We are proud of the accomplishments we’ve already made to make the UK greener and healthier, and with our new strategy, we are committed to having an even greater impact in the coming years.’ 🔻🔻🔻 Click/tap image below to see video on YouTube 🔻🔻🔻

Epic new Balkan cycling route now links eight European countries

I’m pretty big into cycling so naturally I made time to watch both the men’s and women’s Tour de France this year.  They were both exciting, but the TDF femmes had an incredible ending at the climb up Alpe d’Huez.  There were eight stages totaling about 590 miles with the winner of the General Classification coming in at a total time of 24h 36’07”.  What is wild is the razor thin margin of the win because second place was only 4 seconds behind.  The runner up, Demi Vollering crashed on stage 5.  Only one of her 3 available teammates waited for her.  At the time of the crash, she was the leader in the GC.  The two teammates that did not wait went for the stage win and ultimately succeeded.  A stage win is no small thing, some teams only aim to win stages.  But had the entire team waited and pulled her back into the race, they would have easily made up the 4 seconds difference and a whole lot more.  (Road cycling is largely dependent on team dynamics and taking turns on the front). They got the stage, but in the end the SDW team lost the Maillot Jaune (Overall/General Classification) by only 4 seconds.  Imagine a 24+ hour stage race coming down to 4 seconds…and ultimately trading a stage win for a GC.  Of course there is probably more to it (there was some talk about a malfunctioning radio and not having knowledge of the crash) but I think there is a direct and clear correlation to small team dynamics and leadership that needs no explanation.