The Weekly Rider - Faz Zamani

Faz Zamani is the Weekly Rider! Faz is a jack of all trades - lawyer, PhD candidate, university tutor, great hugger and peanut butter destroyer!

A Phd on women's rights law/international human rights law has Faz chasing a United Nations dream -goals! Also I may get shot for saying this but I do love swimming and running. No I didn't say triathlons ... *quickly hides all her tri gear*. AND ... I have thing thing for running marathons ... overseas. Paris and Berlin done and heading to the US-of-A in October for the Chicago Marathon.

Name: Farinaz aka. The Faz Zamani Ashni - Lives: Where the coffee flows & the the bikes roll (Melbourne!)

Dream Bike

Gooooooood question ... *ponders what she would do if she could wiggle her nose and get her dream bike*. I always had a soft spot for my tassel-adorned bike from when I was 6. That bike made me realise what it really meant to be alive. I'm not even kidding. 

Ok but ... 

I have this connection with the Liv Giant Envie Advanced Bikes. They're just mint. Sebastian - my current Liv bike - makes the batmobile look like a leaky old boat. He's also faster. Just sayin'.

Favourite local ride

I think it depends on the mood, no? 
Nostalgia = beach rd. yeeeeeah i know but everyone has a maternal/paternal connection to this rd.
Getting lost = wildwood. the air is different there. it's also nice and quiet. 
Heart-rate-smack-down = dandenongs. who thinks that the 'super crucifix' is a 'great' ride?! come over here and let me slap you!
Adventure = bright. you know that scene from romeo and juliet when they 1st met. yeah that was me when I was driving towards bright with my bike in the car. 
Cawfee hangs = brunswick. Did you know bike and brunswick are one word now? (yet to be confirmed by the Oxford Dictionary)
Pain = mt donna buang and surrounds. donna took my skin. her and i have ... issues. 
Love = the dirty side of mt donna buang and surrounds :) don't you feel like you're about to enter never never land when the road goes dirty?
Feeding-speed-addiction = pretty much any descent anywhere. the longer and harder the better. #nobreaks

There is one ride/route though ... but I would have to kill you if I told you. It's too nice and precious to share ;)

What is your current cycling goal

I have so many. SO MANY! Does going on an EPICLY-MASSIVE cycling adventure across all of Iran count? I have this thing for human rights and especially women's rights. I also have this thing for cycling. I could combine my things and make that a #bossgoal :)

Yup.

It's a pretty hard goal but ah have you met me? I can't even spell eieeezy. Cycling isn't just a sport; it's a language. An empowering one - especially for women.

When I am on the bike I....

think this: 

oh man thank god no one can hear me sing. the backstreet boys were cool once! i'm starving. definitely didn't pack enough food. is that a pub or a mirage? The next 2 kilometres are going to be eieeezy. WTF - it's been 10 minutes and I've only done 500m?! What's that creaking noise in my left crank? I am so alone; so absolutely brilliantly alone. Where are the boys? It's so cold that I think my upper lip has frozen and is now stuck to my nose. This view - as if it's real. I should stop and take 50 million photos. I'm wonder-woman; would you take a look at the vert numbers on my garmin? Need to slow down. No, let's amp it up! Shit, not another steep pinch. CANNOT wait to gun it down the descent. god i love this kit. what am I going to wear next ride? whoa! where did that wallaby come from? I'm going to eat my weight in peanut butter when I finish this. My legs are getting tired. I am so going to SMASH it up this hill Eddy-Merckx-style. Ok pro-wannabe let's sit your ass back down in the saddle and take it easy, yea? damn this feels so freaking good! ... Bliss :)

How did your love of bikes come about?

Once upon a time (2013/2014) I went overseas (chasing dreams etc) and it was AMAZE-BALLS but sort of life-changing in a hard/bad way. I came back with a broken wing so I thought I could (a) drink every bottle of gin in the world; or (b) sign up to a 145km ride with 2,500+ m of climbing on a VERY heavy road bike I had ridden ... once ... for 30km. in bike shorts that had no padding and no garmin. 

I WAS HOOKED! Love, obsession, lust, have-to-spend-all-my-money-on-bike-stuff-now-and-forever ... ensued. You know :)

Image - Harold Lord

Share a cycling memory

The first time I rode my current bike. 

I had just spent an exorbitant amount of money on a push bike. yup definitely the most expensive thing I owned (still do!). It was utter panic ... what have I done? Is there buyer's remorse. Oh my god big mistake! Hahah. Yeah that SO didn't last long. That awesome memory is on par with the one where I finished the Peaks Challenge Gold Coast 2016 ride in August under the 12 hour limit - BOOM BABY!!

Imagine if I had returned the bike?! :)

I love to ride because....

Simple. It makes me very happy. I like what I see, who I meet, and how I feel when I am on a bike. I get to be me :)