The Weekly Rider - Brodie Mai Chapman
Brodie Mai Chapman is the Weekly Rider! Brodie lives and breathes bikes and encompasses everything that the Weekly Rider is about. It's clear she loves any bike she can get her hands on and is willing to give anything a crack!
She's currently working at Cycles Galleria in Melbourne, while riding with the Holden Women's Cycling Team... and aiming for a stellar NRS season! We think Brodie's got a massive future ahead with a positive attitude and a plan to learn and get faster. Watch out for her name when we hopefully see her racing overseas some time soon!
Words and Images - Brodie Mai Chapman
Name. Brodie Mai Chapman
Lives. Melbourne
Dream bike
I would really like to ride a Canyon road and mountain bike, otherwise a Gellie or Curve custom build!
Favourite local ride
The Belgie! Best bunch ride, hard, fast, fun and features dirt, hills and coffee. Any arvo mountain bike ride that involves friends, wheelie practice, skids and jumps are also high up there.
My current cycling goal is...
To race my first NRS season, give it my all, learn the ropes and see where cycling can take me from there. I also want to learn how to wheelie my road bike…
When I am on the bike I…
Am having fun. I feel so at ease and so capable to go anywhere at any time on my bike. I like to go fast, corner low and just be constantly stoked on the feeling of riding bikes.
How did your love for bikes come about.
I guess it started with getting a BMX and going to the skate park with Dad at 12, and being exhilarated by the feeling of getting just a little bit of air (really, just a little bit).
Then I remember riding walking trails on an old mountain bike at 15 and loving this new feeling. When I started to work Mum encouraged riding to get places, and so the super commuter in me was born…because the minimum commute for me at this point was 15km or so.
Years later I decided I wanted a BMX again, so I applied for a job at my local bike shop in the hope that I would be able to get myself a cheaper BMX. From there I just got involved in this awesome community of mountain bike racing, downhill runs or races every weekend!
Road cycling was really just another place I could use my energy to get around, get fitter and have fun. I raced at Uni Games in 2013 and realised I loved road racing too, such a different game with its tactics and teams. Last year I joined the University of Queensland Cycling Club and did some races, won some races and I realised I wanted more!
So now I am pursuing elite cycling. I love every step of the process as challenging as it can be. Holden Cycling has graciously taken my naïve ass on board to give me a taste of what it really takes to make it as an elite cyclist! It's tough!
Share a cycling memory.
A really good memory that comes to mind is when CMWC (Cycle Messenger World Champs) was on. I had just wrapped up working as a messenger myself and some crew from America came to hang with our crew in Brisbane. We basically spent a few days showing them around, taking them up crazy climbs and camping out.
We rode to Stradbroke Island on our steel single speed and fixed gear bikes. We went for a dip in the ocean, I had to assure the Americans that the chance of getting attacked by a shark was extremely low…riding back in the sunset with backpacks and salty hair will always bring back good memories.
Any ride on my steel single speed is usually synonymous with adventures and good times!
I love to ride because...
Because it is fun, It brings incredible independence but also brings a worldwide community – you ride bikes, I ride bikes – friends!
There are so many different elements to riding; you can race, you can socialise over sunrise and coffee, you can challenge yourself to crazy distances and terrain, you can tour the world on a bike and you can make a career out of racing them.
You can get to work, you can deliver things by bike, you can be a creative person who makes bikes, you can backflip bikes and you can write about bikes. You can watch bike racing as a fan and you can get to places that cars cannot! So many subcultures and niches exist in the bike world that are all encapsulated by a human powered machine on (mostly) two wheels.
Thanks to Holden Cycling, Specialized Australia, Premax, The Mind Room, K3, My riding mates and UQCC
Instagram/twitter: brodie_mai
GUIDES.
Learn what the best types of cameras are to capture the magic moments from your bike adventures.