Practice Bicycle Tours Began Many Years Ago
Today Practice Bicycle Tours to many of our friends is ‘PB’ the Practice bit is Paul and the Bicycle bit is Bridget.
This is how the Bicycle bit began…
Freedom, the sooner I get home from school, the sooner I can get on my bike!
Many years ago, I had only one wish and loved to do only one thing, that was ride my bike and follow my dreams of sport!
It all began on the local dirt roads of Queensland, Australia, the ‘hobby’ of BMX soon become my total focus and what I loved to do with my weekends.
Weekends couldn’t come quick enough, sport or week-end activity was far more important to me than anything else, my hobby gave me life’s opportunities including my very first international trip to America as an 11yr old.
Ride my bike in the USA unbelievable here I go, travel, meeting people, different culture an opportunity of a lifetime!
My passion for riding my bike took over everything, time off school, cycling excursions around Australia, State and National Championships to the pinnacle of my little life – World BMX Championships in Vancouver BC, Canada. (see Bridget’s Cycling Results)
My parents would call out ‘time for school Bridget’ I heard it was time for athletics, swimming, tennis, it was all about sport!
Thanks to both my athletic parents the ‘running gene’ was laid down early, especially track athletics and the 400m and 800m distance events. I wanted to be the next Cathy Freeman, I aspired to be just like her.
I ate, slept and breathed running, possibly too much too soon, it wasn’t supposed to include setbacks after setbacks with broken bones, stress fractures and an unhealthy female athlete.
By pure chance Triathlon was a good option to get healthy, injury free, have some fun in a group environment, just perfect. Deep down inside that ‘cycling bug’ was there again, I just loved it more than running. It wasn’t long before friends encouraged me to move to the next level with a local cycling coach.
Welcome to Paul’s Cycle Coaching, I heard about this English chap coaching elite road cyclists and triathletes on the roads of Brisbane Australia. One telephone call changed my life, not immediately but eventually. My phone call was something like ‘I would like to be an elite cyclist’, no problem came the response see you Monday morning for a group ride.
Unfortunately, being completely crazy to any sporting activity wasn’t always the best idea, a water skiing accident that weekend pushed back all my aspirations for 6 months!
I think the coaching response actually went something like this ‘give me a call when you have had enough of water skiing’. Angry but determined I called back later.
Later came with a ride meet of West End 5am ready to ride…
What an ‘introductory ride’ it was! I made one of the many early mistakes of talking seriously about wanting to race my bike in Europe and pursuing a cycling career.
Coach Paul wanted to see what I ‘was made of’ the novice in the cycling group taking part in a regular sprint interval session. The sprint effort went pretty good as I had no training buddies left with me at the finish of the effort, but what came next was highly unpleasant – complete exhaustion laying on the side of the road in a right state, we had an ‘untrained freak who could sprint’!
With a car needed to take me home, many hours later, I finally became human again…wow Bridget Evans has a gift!
That athletic 400-800mt effort running works when pedaling also, it just needed lots and lots and lots of ‘fine tuning’!
The rest is history, I raced my bike professionally throughout Europe and America for over 10 years, followed my dream, if you dream big enough, dreams do happen!
Welcome to the next chapter Practice Bicycle Tours….
