I’m excited – and more than a little nervous – to be launching B Grade Cyclist today.
Cycling is my passion. I’ve been watching cycling for 9 years, riding for 7, and racing for 3. What started as mere curiosity about the scenery and tactics of the Tour de France has become a dedicated hobby and, starting from now, the subject of my job, my studies, and this blog.
I recently resigned from a comfortable role in commercial law to take up a part-time sports administration position with Cycling NSW. I plan to study Sports Media, focusing especially on cycling.
This blog will show cycling from my perspective. Starting with my hometown, Sydney, I hope to promote grassroots bicycle racing. I want to show that there’s a place in the sport for everyone – not just the ultra-lean dudes on TV, but also us ordinary folk who ride around the suburbs at humbler speeds. I hope to shed light on the passionate, friendly community that exists around cycling clubs and their volunteers. And I want to showcase Sydney’s cycling roads to the world, proving that despite the negative press, there’s plenty of great riding to be had around here.
In Australia, cycling is still a growing sport. In fact, it was recently voted the second most boring sport to watch. I think that opinion can be changed. For me, cycling is exhilarating, beautiful, challenging, emotional and exciting. As a cycling community, we can convince others that cycling is not just a legitimate sport, it’s something amazing that they’re missing out on. I hope this blog plays some small role in that.
No doubt I will fall short of these lofty objectives in many ways. You could see me as just another guy on the internet, starting yet another cycling blog. And you’d be right. I’m still new to the racing scene; I’m not particularly athletic, nor do I know the “right” people in the sport. I have minimal digital media experience and I’m pretty much making things up as I go. But I’m going to give it a crack, and I hope you’ll be here for the journey.
In fact, there’s something simple you can do right now to help: share this blog with your cycling friends. Yes, the ones who race, but especially those who’ve never raced. Maybe we can get them to pin a number on, and starting with them, grow this sport we love.
Ryan.
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To find out more about me and this blog, see the “About” page.
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