The Weekly Rider - Mitch Vervaart

Mitch Vervaart is the Weekly Rider! When you ask someone what their dream bike is and they respond with 'can it be a dream garage', you know they love to ride.

Mitch is the Store Manager of Cycle Closet, a cycling apparel retailer that opened in the Adelaide CBD in November 2015, he's currently busy balancing full-time work with a desire to race well, and support his partner in her racing too.

Image - Ben Pilot

Name: Mitchell Vervaart

Where do you live: Adelaide, South Australia

Dream Bike

Can it be Dream Garage? I love my Cannondale Evo road bike because it has a great blend of handling, ride comfort and out of saddle stiffness. I would like a Cervelo P3 with di2, HED GT3 and HED disc to upgrade the current TT machine. And finally a Focus Mares CX with Force 1 to chase my partner Nat around the trails and gravel roads of the Adelaide Hills.

What is your favourite local ride?

I love a short and sweet hills ride. A pre-ride coffee stop in the CBD gets my legs going before chasing the power/strava pb's! Generally up Greenhill Rd is my favourite as it's a consistent, steady climb for just over 20 minutes. It's a good length of climb - short enough to not require you to take it too easy, but long enough that you need to stay focused and dig in over the last five minutes or so. Head back across Woods Hill Road and back down Norton Summit. I can get this loop done from home in under two hours which makes it manageable before work.

Image - Jake Thomas

What is your current cycling goal

I'm refocusing in on my strengths so spending most of my time on the time trial bike of late. I got hit by a car during a time trial a year ago, which resulted in a broken knee and a couple of months of work, so I was definitely back to zero fitness and it has been an interesting process to build back up to somewhere near past fitness. I have the SA State Road Titles in June and have the Time Trial as my main focus although the Road Race has a nasty climb to the finish which suits me too.

When I am on the bike I....

Bike riding for me is currently more about getting a task done. My bike gets me to work, or it improves my race fitness. I don't have the time or energy for 'just riding'. I just stick with quality over quantity. Riding a bike is definitely great for your mental state, but the spin to work or an interval session gives me the endorphin rush I need.

How did your love of bikes come about?

I watched the TDF on SBS from a very young age and always preferred to ride my bike over any other sport. I would have been about 12 or 13 when I started with Blackburn Cycling Club in Melbourne.

Share a cycling memory

Cycling has taken me to parts of the world that I have never expected to and offered it's up's and downs. I have raced up the slopes of Mont Ventoux, ridden the pot holed roads of Bulgaria, and frozen through many a town of country Australia. I have also enjoyed being in the support role for other riders, such as spending the past Christmas and January in Belgium helping my partner, Nat Redmond, in her cyclocross campaign was a great experience to be part of.

Image - Phoenix Cycling Collective / Vixen PR

I love to ride because....

Cycling is just simply a part of my day to day life. It's the best way to get to work, and it's how I keep a healthy body and mind.

Mitch has a generous list of suppliers at work that give him great kit to try out.... I love the kit from Velocio, Spin Cycle, Castelli, UVEX, POC, Swiftwick and Ridge Supply. The list could go on... It's great to start a store from scratch and stock all the kit that you love and wear yourself.

Check out Cycle Closet here.