{"items":["5f7c4298b7dbe50017af5eb9","5cf717c66744fe00152d92c3","5f7c4298b7dbe50017af5eba"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":5,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":false,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":["SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","SHOW_BELOW"],"galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":26,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":65,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1000,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_12","value":"rgba(220,226,233,0)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","targetItemSize":1000,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":26,"externalInfoWidth":0.65},"container":{"width":300,"galleryWidth":305,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}
Carlijn Kerdijk
You are Dutch, work for a cycling organisation and you ride your bike every day?’ – Yes, that is me!
I rode a bike for the first time without training wheels when I was four years old, the summer before I went to primary school. I remember it was at the campsite and I was so happy, that after a few meter I rode straight into a hedge! From then on, you could find me riding around my hometown Delft on two wheels.


Riding a bike was something I did to get from A to B, I definitely didn’t consider it exercise or classified it as sport. My choice of sport was field hockey, which I started playing at the age of seven. The local hockey club was my second home and family - training three times a week, playing on the Sunday, coaching junior athletes, organising the youth festivities and pouring beers behind the bar as part of the ‘Bierteam’.



Hockey was my life and the reason I ended up chasing a degree in Human Movement Sciences / Sport Psychology. After finishing my Bachelor’s degree in 2012, I went on to study in Lund, Sweden. From then, I kind of never moved back to Holland - sorry mum!
I moved to Melbourne in September 2013 to finish off my Master’s degree with a research at Victoria University. Why Australia? My dad has a sister and brother who moved to Sydney more than 40 years ago. In 2001, 2005, 2008 and 2011 I had visited Australia for holidays with my parents, younger brother, sister and loved it!
The first thing I asked my aunt when I got to Australia was whether I could borrow her bike to take to Melbourne. She replied: ‘You do know cycling here is not like cycling in Holland?’. I just said ‘Surely it is not that different…’. Can now say I was pretty naive back then! Riding in Melbourne was so different - barely any bike lanes, hills and weird hook turns. But I managed to ride almost everywhere, saved a lot of money by not taking the tram for every single trip and by the time I finished my thesis I knew my way around Melbourne.

My planned nine months stay in Australia turned into a full year. After my research in Melbourne I travelled the country and did 89 days of regional farm work, picking kiwifruits in the highlands of Victoria. After a few months back in Delft to earn money and pack up my things, I moved to Sydney in January 2015. Soon after I started an internship with Bicycle NSW, which definitely sparked my passion for cycling. I kept telling anyone who wanted to hear: ‘Look it up on Google Maps, I swear you will be faster on a bicycle than by car or public transport!’ From an intern position, I rolled into a part-time and then full-time, sponsored role as an event manager for Spring Cycle and Gear Up Girl.

In Australia I had slowly picked up running, but an injury in late 2015 caused me to mix it up. I started swimming and, for the first time ever, riding a bike for a non-commuting purpose. The injury went away, but I had caught the triathlon bug and signed up for my first sprint race. After completing this one on a borrowed bicycle, I realised I needed a bike the right size. I walked into Park Bikes during a lunch break at work and a couple weeks later, at the end of January 2016, I walked out with a road bike. I named it Carel (Dutch version of Karl), as this was my nickname back in Delft because my friends considered me to be a bit of a tomboy.

For some crazy reason, in May 2016, I decided to sign up for L’Etape - this was before I had even completed my 100km ride!!! Looking back, I really think I had no clue what I was getting myself into or how much training I should be doing for this. However, training for L’Etape turned out to be the best thing ever! By race day I was definitely not ready to tackle this, but through training rides I had created this amazing group of friends around me; pacers from my runclub that were now riding bicycles, girls I met through the Rapha Women’s 100 ride, a group of Instagram famous triathletes and the Park Bikes / Parklife green army!

After L’Etape I didn’t really think about triathlons anymore, it was replaced with thoughts of racing crits. Thanks to some encouragement from my new gained friends I started racing and haven’t really looked back since! Hilly long rides are still on the program every now and then, but hill anxiety is a real thing! I rather avoid them if possible and race around a crit track instead. Triathlons are also not completely off the menu yet, as I have one thing on my bucket list: a half Ironman! Hopefully I will finally get to tick that one off at the end of 2018.
This #DutchieinSydney cannot be happier to be part of the green army. Leaving behind friends on the other side of the world, only to find a whole new group in Australia is an amazing feeling. Big thumbs up for a special group of friends - the Jungle Girls! Finding this many girls in a man dominated world, is something I am not taking lightly. Getting to ride with or race against only girls, it is just something special. Big shout out to the two original Jungle Girls that have been a major part of getting more women on the bikes. Be proud!
So whether I ride around Sydney on my old, red, rusty commuter or Carel on a race track, every time I am riding I proudly advocate to get or more women on a bike. I stopped comparing the Dutch cycling to the Australian way, because it is never going to be like back home. But here is to hoping that one day, we have a 50/50 split of women and men riding and that we all can respect every type of road user. Because in the end; smile today, be happy tomorrow!
Carlijn
