GOING from 18 wheels down to two has been a quite a journey for former truckie Jamie Stanton.
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And now he’s on the road to building Tamworth’s cycling culture and getting more women back on the bike.
Mr Stanton opened his new shop ‘The Broken Spoke’ just over a month ago and he hopes the store will help open up more people in the community to the world of cycling.
It has been a unique career trajectory for the businessman, who has previously served in the military and spent time as a truck driver.
Mr Stanton says there is still some negative attitudes still surrounding road-cycling in particular, but the bicycle-peddler says there’s a family-friendly culture in the cycling scene and he’s keen to get more females into the sport.
“Especially on the road, it is a male-dominated thing,” Mr Stanton said.
Cycling has become the new golf.
- The Broken Spoke owner Jamie Stanton
The keen pedal-pusher said there’s a social aspect to cycling that can’t be ignored.
“We go out to ride to simple enjoy it,” he said.
“We don’t race, we have maybe 30 riders in our group and maybe two race, we don’t take it that seriously.”
The cycling enthusiast said it could be intimidating for women to get into the hobby, but emphasised it was judgement-free.
“We have people from all different backgrounds, professionals, tradies, people you’d never meet otherwise,” he said.
Mr Stanton said the riding community was free of judgement when it came to things like weight, cycling capability and the bike you ride.
Cycling’s popularity has dipped in recent years, according to the shop-owner, who said it “could be promoted better”.
But pedal power is gaining with momentum with a mature demographic who are more and more conscious about their health.
Mr Stanton says cycling has become the new golf for the middle-aged demographic.
But the cycling cliche of the MAMIL (middle-aged man in lycra) is well and truly alive according to Mr Stanton, which is partly why he is keen to get more women interested in the two-wheeled pastime.
Recent industry reports show the biggest demographic for purchasing bikes is males aged between 35 and 55, Mr Stanton said.
“The MAMIL is not a myth, it’s where there’s disposable income, and they’re thinking about getting healthy, not necessarily fit,” he said.
Riders can get a bad rap in the often antagonistic relationship between cyclists on the road and motorists, but Mr Stanton said there’s only a few riders who do the cycling fraternity “no justice”.