Maidei goes on a world tour-Part 1 of the Bicycle Mystery Tour

[kiwi girl]

apologies - I started writing this and I got a bit carried away, Shooting Star's question has really got my passion for the great state of women's cycling both as a elite and mass participation sport in New Zealand at the moment going...

I can't remember if I learnt about the event from seeing a poster in a bike shop window (and every bike shop I walked past for the 3 or 4 months before the race had one) or if I was on a mailing list because I did a (mixed) event by the same organisers last year. The ride had both a 35 and a 76 km option which opened it up to a range of riders.

Methven where the ride was is a small ski town, but Christchurch with a population of 335,000 is only 90 minutes drive away. One key thing is that there have been a couple of very very successful entry level womens only triathlon series (generally 200 m pool swim, 10 - 15 km bike 3 - 5km run) over the past 5 - 10 years that have been really positive in getting women to get into sports. Lots of people have gone on to these to be more involved in running, cycling or triathlon at a more competitive level. Most of the women I talked to at Girls on Bikes had started at one of these events

There are now lots of women who met through these events, various internet forums, training groups and (for triathletse) people who meet at the pool that word of mouth can be pretty good as well

Cycling is really on a high in New Zealand at the moment. There is a core group of men doing well in the pro circuit (two guys in the tour de France and Jesse Sergent won a stage in the tour de Gila a couple of days ago). The womens road programme doesn't get a lot of publicity but there is crossover from the track programme, particularly the coverage that the elite pursuters have got. Even though Sarah Ulmer has retired she is probably still one of the most respected athletes in any sport and of either gender in the country. She has put on a series of womens only rides around the country for a few years as well. Alison Shanks has carried on that success and that publicity for cycling (helped by the fact that a) she is really good, and b) her background in netball which is the highest profile womens sport in New Zealand.

[owlice]

You might want to use this site to track Maidei's travels: http://www.whereivebeen.com/

[Chile Pepper]

Sorry it's taken me so long to post this. Maidei arrived in Chile about two weeks ago. As it happens, I fractured my shoulder when I laid my bike down on Easter Sunday, so we haven't been able to go out for a spin in the Andes. However, she was quite amenable to helping out with the vintage, seeing as that's what we do here this time of year. Here she is inspecting grapes in the vineyard:



And now filling barrels:



And finally, with the finished product (our 2007):



Saludos from Chile!

P.S. where is she going next?

[shootingstar]

I love Maidei poking around the vineyard grapes and riding the barrels. You ought to feature her on your blog, Chile. It'll add an interesting twist to your blog but still wine related.

Who's getting Maidei next? Sooner, the better.

[Bike Chick]

Another thread was started with a couple of responses. I'm in the middle of the US but am traveling to South Carolina in June and could bring/pick Maidei up on the trip.

[tulip]

If the SE US is next on the itinerary, there are quite a few of us in this part of the world. I'm in Virginia, and I can help out.

[skinimini]

I'm in Atlanta, and I'd love to be a part of the Maidei tour!