Women’s Fitness Australia — May 2017

Cyclocross

Best for: Winter warriors and

multi-sport types.

The wheel deal: A sport for the

colder months, cyclocross is your new

fave workout if you like getting muddy!

A sort of hybrid of road racing,

mountain biking and cross-country

running, cyclocross is almost exclusively

race-orientated, but accessible to all

levels of competence and fitness.

Riders normally participate alone,

in races that involve laps of a set course,

often in a park or similar space, and you

can expect sharp inclines, obstacles

and plenty of mud. When a section is

unrideable, you just pick up the bike

and run with it until you can ride again.

The perfect partner to road racing

(as it maintains fitness levels), cyclocross

gives a fun focus to fitness at a time of

year when the struggle is real.

Kit you’ll need: Regular cyclocross

riders use lightweight bikes that

resemble road bikes but with knobbly

tyres and greater mud clearance.

However, mountain bikes are often

allowed, making it easy to give it a try

without buying a new bike.

Ride this

way

BMX

Best for: Thrillseekers and speed

demons.

The wheel deal: Thanks to Aussie

stars like Caroline Buchanan killing it

on the international circuit, competitive

women looking for fast, thrilling, high-

octane races are turning to BMX.

BMX racing requires explosive power,

cat-like reflexes and nerves of steel. The

races in this style of biking feature a mass

start of up to eight riders over a purpose-

built course derived from motocross, hence

the name BMX (bicycle motocross). You’ll

have to navigate hills, banked corners,

jumps and tabletops over a number of

rounds. Sometimes you might just do a fast

single lap. The pay-off is a sweet workout

and huge amounts of adrenaline.

Kit you’ll need: A BMX bike, obvs.

Also used for competitive stunt riding

(freestyle) and recreational riding, a

BMX bike is an off-road sport bicycle.

From the thrill of the race to

off-road adventures, there is defs

a biking type to spin your wheels

72 womensfitness.com.au womensfitnessaustralia @womensfitnessmag @womensfitnessau

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