Twins Alan and Frank Radford celebrate their 80th Birthday.

Alan and his wife Freda are founding members of Southern.

A life time of fitness, active sports and cycling gives the brothers and their families many fantastic memories.

Frank Left, Alan Right.

Correct inflation is very important to the performance of your bike, along with racing and control, cornering and general road use. This website Michelin USA site shows a great graph of inflation pressures to help guide you.

See Tyre Inflation Guide here

Also, other links on the Michelin Cycling site are great for explaining:

The Skinny (and Fat) on tyre Sizes, Why a Smooth Tread on Road Tires?, Mountain Bike Tyre Knobs, Their Shapes and Positions, Inner Tubes: Butyl or Aircomp Latex?, Tyre Casings and Reinforcements, and, Sidewalls Explained.

Tyre Care & Maintenance

1. Mounting Your Tube-Type Michelin Tyres
2. Mounting Your Tubeless Michelin Tyres
3. The Importance of Air Pressure (Road)
4. The Importance of Air Pressure (MTB)

Interesting Tip > Michelin show the difference between life and wear of inner cycle wheel tubes, Butyl or Aircomp Latex.

Video Changing a road bike tyre

(Great article, keep sending them in to the webmaster)

Masters sport is sweeping the world. There are Masters Games, Masters Golf, Tennis, Aussie Rules Football and now with Cycling rising to be the top sport for those who have passed the 30-year age group.

The wider acknowledgment of physical fitness being the key to hood health has possibly been the catalyst for 'Masters Sport' growing each year.

Whatever the reason, the 'masters' circuit has become one of the big growth areas of sport. It has brought many past champions out of retirement and has encouraged other newcomers to start the enjoyment of being fit again.

One such sport that is steadily growing in popularity in Australia is cycling. After such high profiles as given by recent Sydney 2000 Olympic Games events, 2010 World Championships in Geelong Victoria and with many successes by Australian riders in the Tour De France each year, the sport grows to newer and higher participation levels every year. A leading Australian club is Southern with weekly events held in and around Melbourne. Beginning around 35 years ago, Southern holds a range of short distance, long distance, Criterium and road races all year round. Riders typically are graded by performance for 'scratch races' where 5-7 grades start at different times in groups of 30-60 riders all keen to test their cycling prowness against similar graded riders. Club races like these are held in a friendly manner and are supported by family members eagerly cheering on their respective family member or friend.

Cycling is a sport that is is soft on the body. The bicycle takes most of a riders weight, thus less muscle and ligament, bone and joint problems are identified with cycling injuries, making the masters sport of cycling ideal for all bodies. Running on pavement, repetitive swimming and other athletic sports tend to be  harsher on the body as age becomes a factor of recovery after being hurt. Cycling is a 'less weight' dependant sport and exercises all muscle groups, aerobic and vascular with less long term injury outcomes. Cycling uses 3 pivots of motion which is ideal for the human body. Vertical or running style movement of joints and muscles, Sideways via torso and shoulder, and Forwards through curvature and extension movements. These three combine to create a strong 'CORE' muscle group, strong legs and joints, increased anaerobic and metabolic systems and is ideal for heart and cardio fitness. The more a person rides, the fitter, faster and longer the endurance rate a person achieves. Many cyclist say a 90 day beginning to the sport increases their fitness back to that of their teenage years.

Having recognised that a cycling sporting activity is important for all, many sporting associations now encourage age groups 30-years plus to participate in masters cycling as their prime sport, they also include cycling as a training activity and use cycling as a recovery exercise. Also... medical, gymnasium and health professionals recommending cycling as both a high level cardio training tool and entry level sport for people aged 30-years plus.

In past times, adults tended to reduce their sporting and exercise life while other life activities took their priority. It is now easier to find local gymnasiums and sporting clubs for the masters age brackets that actively promote cycling, such as a high spin class on a stationary bike or by training for an event such as a club championship, a long distance endurace race etc. The message given is that it is now the time to start so that within a few years, your health and exercise life continues to keep you strong.

Never too old to start.

While some people are naturally gifted at certain sports and begin their career at an early age, some do not find the right activity until late in life. "I enjoy the friendship at the club and cycling is an ideal way to keep fit" is typical of many Southern members.

Recently introduced by Southern is a fantastic way for new riders to start their new sport by entering 2-3 rides as a 'Come n Try' member. This allows a person to enter an event fully insured and participate in a grade that suits their current fitness level. This initiative is now widely being introduced nationally after Southern's success in helping new people attend and join in.

For information about joining a cycling club in Melbourne or around Australia, Southern has a easy to use website with relevant contact information. http://www.southernvets.com.au

Photos of recent transplant games. Through cycling, sport and games, competitors benchmark their renewed health and wellness and say thank you to organ and tissue donors

The Australian Transplant Games are a celebration of life received through organ and tissue donation.

They provide an opportunity to network with others in similar situations - transplant recipients, those undergoing dialysis treatment, those awaiting transplantation, living donors, family members of deceased donors and supporters. The Australian Transplant Games are Australia’s largest awareness event for organ and tissue donation and demonstrate ‘what a life difference’ transplantation makes.

Importantly the Games promote awareness of organ donation and have resulted in a flow on effect of increased organ donation rates in each year the Games are held.

Victorian cyclists competed very strongly with Southern being represented with a gold medal in both the time trial and the road race (SVCC's Peter Thornton)

Website: http://www.australiantransplantgames.com/Cycling.html

The idea was to make a short film that reflected the spirit and drive of Sean Kelly. I wanted to capture a sense of possibility by using him as an example of a man that knows how to suffer, and to identify his spirit with the potential of youth. Two Broad Arrows is about confidence, discovery and learning how to try.
– Adrian Moat

Click to watch this brilliant short film

Rapha presents...

Short Film about Sean Kelly by Adrian Moat

http://www.rapha.cc/two-broad-arrows--trailer