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Why cycling makes us happy: the positive psychology of being on the bike

Cycling is a beautiful sport. We hear it all the time. We experience it when we ride and race. For the ever-increasing number of us that have caught the cycling bug, we know how happy cycling makes us. But what is it that makes us love cycling so much? Why are we so compulsively drawn to […]

Twenty women cycle the height of Everest on Mt Donna Buang

At midnight 22 women stood at the bottom of Mt Donna Buang near Melbourne in the light of the moon, steeling themselves for the many hours of pain ahead. They were about to spend nearly all of Saturday in an 8,848 metre high battle with their legs, lungs and minds. The aim for each one […]

Roadtripping Cairns - Part I

I know the sound of adventure. It’s the distinct sound of cleats clicking into pedals. Ready to roll. We came together in Cairns as strangers or casual acquaintances to share in this adventure together. We quickly moved beyond the introductory chatter to discuss our hopes and our dreams and our fears. We shared our stories, […]

Eat your dinner: Tips and tricks with Mara Abbott

I read Mara Abbott’s first Daily Boulder column shortly after landing the women’s cycling editor position at Ella. I’m pretty sure I emailed her to ask her if she wanted to write for us before I reached the end. Mara’s talent with words rivals her talent on the bike, and we’re lucky she so graciously […]

High Performance program cut is a symptom of a bigger problem

If there were a manual on how to become a professional cyclist, “don’t be female” would be an apt opener. The scale of the women’s professional cycling industry means there are precious few opportunities for talented riders to progress to the top level of the sport. The Australian women’s European Development Program that had been […]

Letter from the Editor: Welcome to Ella

I’m incredibly grateful to share the labour of love that is Ella with all you today. It’s both a beginning and an end – as the behind-the-scenes work that we’ve been tirelessly plugging away at to prepare for launch begins to die down and the demands of running a live website with a real audience […]

Ella Explained

The website was nameless. We had been referring to it for well over a month as the ‘sister site’ and despite tossing around lots of ideas as to what we would call our women’s cycling website, we had yet to land on a winner. We crowd-sourced the site name in the comments section of my […]

Trek Silque SLX review

The Silque is the latest addition to Trek’s women’s-specific road bike range and in this review Caz Whitehead puts the Silque SLX through its paces.

Gracie Elvin Q&A: The vulnerability of the pre-race favourite

It was inevitable that Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS) would line up for the women’s road race at the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships as a marked rider. The defending champion had taken back-to-back titles (2013-2014) and the possibility of a record-equalling three-peat was a favourite discussion point amongst media and fans alike. Elvin projected a […]

Nicole Cooke video interview part II: “Women’s cycling was at its height in the 1990s”

You can watch part I of Dave Everett’s interview with Nicole Cooke here. As a former world and Olympic champion, double World Cup winner and victor in races such as the Giro d’Italia Femminile, La Flèche Wallonne, the women’s Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race, Nicole Cooke is one of the best female […]