The Weekly Rider - Jake Thomas
Our Weekly Rider is Jake Thomas - a man whose commitment to bikes is quite staggering
Jake Thomas - Adelaide, South Australia - @lilbikenerd | Tready Bike Shop | Bombtrack Treadly Racing
I am in charge of nearly everything at Bombtrack Treadly Racing, and in charge of slightly less at Treadly Bike Shop, where I make it my mission to learn the ins and outs of nearly everything possible on a bike - so that when the wild stuff comes in I've got a head start (hence @lilbikenerd on the internet). The team takes up nearly every minute of my life outside work, and some of my time at work too - but that's what it's all about, right? Full on bike-life saturation.
Dream Bike
I'm a little stuck at the moment on the idea of building a Tokyobike up as a randonneur - it just seems like it would be so much fun to do a 26" rando bike to commute on and do some light touring. All-time dream bike would probably be the Daccordi I had and sold a few years ago but built up with eTap... yeah, that'd be my dream bike.
What is your favourite local ride and why
My favourite local ride would be the semi-regular Wenesday night shop ride, Lazy Wednesday. We started doing it in April 2016 as a nice little staff ride, and then invited friends as we went along through that Winter. Things have slowed down a bit this year as I've found running the CX team takes up a whole lot more of my life than I thought and so this ride (among other things) has fallen a little by the wayside, but we'll be back in the Spring, no doubt.
Photo: Lana Adams
What is your current cycling goal?
Well, as of last weekend I am currently leading the NCXS Expert Men Series and I'd like to do well enough over the last three races of the season to keep that - it wasn't ever really on the cards but it just kinda happened!
When I am on the bike I.... ...am somewhere between frustration at getting dropped again, and total elation at the freedom of it all.
How did your love of bikes come about?
The first thing I bought with my own money was a BMX when I was a kid, and I rekindled riding in my teens with my mums old Peugeot. I was riding that or a Fuji fix into town every day and hanging out at Treadly, then started working there and the rest is history!
Photo: Lana Adams
Share a cycling memory
One of my favourites would have to be this year's Swift Campout's last 5 km on Day 1. A few of us youngsters (Sam R, Lana, Harry, Sam M and myself) left the main group to take a few-km detour along The Nuggett Rd in Mt Crawford forest, and something just switched in all 5 of us - this was no longer a cruisy tour, we were absolutely legging it down this sketchy, slippery, pot-holey back road, not a care in the world. By the bottom we all had the biggest smiles I'd seen on anyone all day, and it was just a perfect moment. They feel like they happen all the time, but that one's fresh!
I love to ride because....
It just makes so much sense - especially commuting, which feels like all the riding I do at the moment. Why take a car you have to park into the city when you can scoot along the paths through the parklands, practice corners around trees on your way to work, and then park the thing wherever you want - it's a no-brainer. I mean, the recreational side of things is great too, but commuting is really where bikes make the most sense, to me at least.
Photo: Genevieve Deveraux
Who are your supporters?
I run the Bombtrack Treadly Racing CX team, and through that I'm supported by Bombtrack Bicycle Co, Treadly Bike Shop, MAAP Apparel, Chrome Industries, Praxis Works, Schwalbe Tires, Tony Tomatoes, and Nuun Hydration.
