My Road to the Worlds - On-Road with Mitch Docker

Rapha presents Life in the Peloton!

Well, here we are, it’s the last pod of the year and I’ve got a bumper one for you! As you’ll know the UCI World Road Race Championships were held in Australia this year, and I made the 1,250km trip from my home in Lancefield, near Melbourne, to the race in Wollongong by bike, and I documented the trip for the pod.

I gave myself five days for the trip, which meant I was doing big days on the bike, but without any ridiculous pressure, and it turned out to be an amazing pilgrimage through my own backyard here in Australia.

Australia is a huge country that I’ve been away from for my whole career. I’d never ridden this route before, so I based my plans around staying and visiting some well-known pub stops and trying to catch up with other cyclists and friends, and anyone else I could find to have a cleansing ale and a chin wag with along the way.

Sure, the riding got hard at times, but it really was an incredible experience to meet so many people, soak up the culture, and discover communities in Australia that I’ve never had the chance to meet before.

I’ve got so many of these amazing characters on the pod, from keen cyclists to landlords wondering what the mad guy in pink lycra was doing in their pub! I spoke to locals who were bike racers, and to locals who had no idea what the Cycling World Championships were, let alone who Wout Van Aert was.

Overall it was an amazing experience. I had a blast in Australia, and I learned a lot about local cycling cultures and everything else along the way. I loved the time on the bike, both alone and with the company I picked up on the route, and I hope that comes across in the pod.

I also hope that it can even inspire you guys to go and plan a trip yourselves. Remember, it doesn’t need to be epic or for the fastest known time, it can be whatever you want; just get out there and do your own fun trips; have fun on the bike, visit some pubs (of course), meet great people and get out and ride!

I want to say a big thanks to everyone who met me out on the road, gave me a tow, a beer or stopped to chat. Thanks to Tim, Gene, Pykey, Neil, Tom, Jordan, Chris and Stu, Tas, Ryan, Avie, Matilda, Lila and Lou, Kelly, Tom, Hans & Malia, Ben, Jay & Randy, Greg, Jamie, Murray, Shane, Kev & Erin, Gavin, Sam & Talia, Dave, Dan, Chris, Kirk, Tom, Sinna, Frano & the whole Rapha Cycle Club peloton.

This is the last Life in the Peloton episode for 2022, as we take a break for the cycling off season and get ready for another great podcast season next year.

Stay tuned for our final Talking Luft of 2022 with Luke Rowe next week!

Cheers, Mitch

Listen

Listen & subscribe to this series on the Life in the Peloton website, at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GooglePlay, Stitcher, Youtube or your favourite pod app.

Show Notes

This episode is proudly sponsored by Restrap – Yorkshire based makers of top quality, handmade and sustainable bike packing accessories. Hear my setup on the pod.

Use the discount code PELO10 or PELOTON10 for 10% off your next order.

This episode is proudly sponsored by QUADLOCK. Their phone mount was crucial to keeping me on track and connected to you all on this trip. Check out their fantastic range of phone mounts for your bike or every kind of activity out there!

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Check out photos from the trip below or head to the Life in the Peloton Instagram story highlights for more pictures and videos from the trip.

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This episode is brought to you by Rapha, makers of the world’s finest cycling clothing & accessories and the worlds largest cycling club, RCC. Find out more about Rapha: their kit, their club, their events and awesome clubhouses at rapha.cc.

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Merch

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Keep in touch

Find all our episodes, LITP news and merch on our website www.lifeinthepeloton.com

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Life in the Peloton’s Theme Music

The theme music for Life in the Peloton was composed by Pete Shelley, who was lead singer of the punk band Buzzcocks. It was commissioned by the production company behind Channel 4’s coverage of the Tour de France in the 1980s and was used as the theme music for the nightly highlights show.

I grew up watching those highlights and the music became part of my childhood. When I set out to create Life in the Peloton I knew that theme song was what would set the scene and capture the essence of Life in the Peloton.

Pete died in December 2018. We were given permission by Pete’s widow and his manager to continue using the music for the theme tune to Life in the Peloton. To hear more about the music, listen to the Andre Greipel episode of Life in the Peloton.