We Three Women: Never Too Old To Take Up Racing

JULIE GARDNER ONLY RODE A bike once when she was young. She crashed and didn’t bother trying again until she was 49 years old – a chance meeting in a train hooked her up with a cycling coach who not only got her riding, but also racing In March, the 52-year-old hospital administration manager won a silver medal in her first major race at the NSW Masters Track Cycling Championships.

Taking the gold medal in the same sprint event was Julie’s riding buddy Kirstie Dalton, a former soccer and rugby player who started cycling at 44 when her knees gave out. Now 51, she has had success in road and track cycling, and even occasionally races with the elites.

Meanwhile retired HR manager Maria Nash, 60, only started racing February last year. She had ridden a hybrid bike around Homebush with friends for years, but never