Bicycle Network: Ride2Work Program

Check out our National Ambassador profiles Sarah Wilson and Helen Cocks below

Sarah Wilson - Host / Journalist / Columnist

Sarah Wilson is an Australian media personality, journalist and blogger with an integrated voice across television, radio, magazines, newspapers and online. She’s the former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and was the host of the first series of MasterChef Australia, the highest rating show in Australia in TV history. She’s now the host and program developer for the country’s newest channel Lifestyle YOU, writes a weekly column for Sunday Life magazine about how to have a better life, and is a weekly guest on Channel 7’s Sunrise.

Sarah is an adept social commentator, following a career that’s spanned politics, health advocacy, restaurant reviewing, opinion writing and trend forecasting. She’s also qualified as a Health Coach with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York and is currently writing a book for Pan Macmillan.

Sarah is also a mad cyclist and rides her orange and white single-speed bike most places. In her heels and wearing a dress. Whistling.

Helen Cocks - Project Manager (and Cadel's Mother)

Helen has ridden to work for a long time. Living in a small community in the Northern Territory, her commute was a short one even with a detour for a swim in the creek on the way home.

After moving to Melbourne it all seemed a bit too hard but Cadel encouraged her to replace her very pink, very lady’s bike (it had been a prop in a play) with a new hybrid. With faster wheels she started commuting again, going greater distances and without the creek stopover. By the time she inherited two of Cadel’s outgrown training bikes; a mountain bike and a road bike, she was riding into the city most days, doing a round trip of about 60 kilometres.

Now she commutes on an aging but much loved red and yellow Cannondale road bike. These days the distances are a bit too much to ride all the way so she does a combined car and bike commute, 45 minutes in the car, 45 minutes on the bike.

Helen says just one of the benefits of riding to work is it solves that grim time problem. A desk-bound job means fitting enough exercise can be tricky. Riding to work means exercise and all of its health and happiness benefits are built into the day.