New faces and voices at CyclingTips
If you’re an avid reader, listener, or watcher of CyclingTips you may have noticed a few new voices in recent months, and you’re about to notice one more starting this week.
Allow me to introduce the latest additions to the team: Abby Mickey, Ronan Mc Laughlin, and José Been. You may already know Abby and José, and Ronan’s name may ring a bell (more on why below).
Before I go into what these three will be up to here at CT, some appreciation is in order. These hires are directly connected to the support from you, our VeloClub members. You made them possible.
VeloClub is the backbone of what we do here, allowing us the flexibility to experiment, investigate, and grow. When you click around this site and think “Hey, I’m glad a giant flashy auto-playing video advertisement didn’t just hit me straight in the eyeballs while I was reading this inspiring/hilarious/insightful story about bikes,” stop and say a quick thanks to the VeloClub members who keep our site clean, with no hard paywall, plus allow us to hire fantastic people like Abby, José, and Ronan.
Thank you. And if you’re not a member, but want to support what we do here (and what we don’t do here), please consider signing up.
Without further ado, welcome to …
Abby Mickey – Associate Editor
You know Abby even if you don’t know you know Abby. Abby’s been hosting the Freewheeling podcast for a year now, as well as writing and reporting on a frequent albeit freelance basis for the site. She’s now taking over much of the production duties behind all of our podcasts. That includes the CyclingTips Podcast, where she’s also a host, plus Freewheeling, Nerd Alert and From the Top. She’ll also continue to write and report, leaning on her deep, insider knowledge of the peloton for race coverage, breaking news, and features. She loves Taylor Swift, bad puns, and, for some reason, multiple people named Tom.
You can find Abby on Twitter or email her at abby.mickey@cyclingtips.com.
We asked her five very important questions, a sort of final test in the hiring process. Luckily she passed with flying colors:
Favorite ice cream: The vegan, sugar-free chocolate at la Bombonera in Girona. Don’t @ me.
One thing you’d rather people didn’t know: I watch the entire Gilmore Girls series probably twice a year.
Favorite bug: Ladybug, the rest can keep their distance, please
Guilty Pleasure: I can eat M&M’s by the pound. Specifically the special edition Easter pastel ones.
If you could only own one bike, what bike would it be: Yeti Beti SB5 (in pink)
Ronan Mc Laughlin – Tech writer
We’ve always believed that while writing about bicycle tech is something many cyclists dream of doing for a living, it also requires an unusual combination of attributes. As we were sifting through the 300+ applications we received for the role, Ronan Mc Loughlin’s certainly stood out.
You might know Ronan as the person who knocked Alberto Contador off the top step of the Everesting podium, and he’s indeed an accomplished racer across a range of disciplines. But what caught our eye is that he buried that little nugget on page four of his application. Instead, what he wanted us to know about more was his general excitement about all things pedal-powered with two wheels, and specifically his hands-on advocacy work with UK alternative transportation non-profit Sustrans.
In his own words:
“The attention to detail, bike hacking, and marginal gains involved in my Everesting record generated the most headlines, and, I suppose, give an insight into my love for bike tech. Everything from gear ratios to tyre pressure and from system weight to CdA was analysed over and over again to give me the best chance possible. The knowledge and experience to be able to seek out and implement these marginal gains comes from that near-life sentence I have spent in the world of cycling at all levels and disciplines. Couple this interest in the technical aspect of the sport and my love for CyclingTips (I have been a VeloClub member for the last few years), it was a no brainier to apply for the tech writer role. Little did I think I would be successful and be offered the role, but, here we are. I am super excited to bring my love for all things techy and nerdy to the CT audience and look forward to casting my opinions on all sorts of bike-related tech.”
Joining Dave Rome and James Huang on the CT Tech Team, Ronan will be based out of Northern Ireland. We’ve already sent all the rain gear James has been trying to test in wildfire-dry Colorado for the last few years.
You can find Ronan on Twitter or email him at ronan.mclaughlin@cyclingtips.com
Favorite ice cream: Anything with salted caramel or cookie dough
One thing you’d rather people didn’t know: My lockdown low point was eating cornflakes for dinner but trying to keep some sort of healthy intake by supplementing the cornflakes with raw veg directly from the fridge
Guilty Pleasure: Butter two slices of bread, put Nutella on the opposite side of one slice and mascarpone cheese on the opposite side of the other slice. Put them together with the butter on the outside and then fry! Instant diabetes and artery-clogging but so worth it.
You’ve had a power meter on my bike since: I have had a power meter on my bike since 2008 with nearly all of roughly 3000+ rides since 2012 all with power data.
When my daughter grows up, I hope she_______: I solely hope that Sophia is healthy, happy and believes anything is possible.
José Been – Contributing writer
You may know José (pronounced Yo-say) from her TV commentary, or perhaps her Twitter feed, or maybe from her insightful contributions to the CyclingTips Podcast every day during the Tour de France. Since early summer she’s been podcasting and writing for CyclingTips, pushing us to tell the stories too often left untold. Her personality-driven feature writing has become a staple here, and she’ll continue to hop on both the CyclingTips Podcast and Freewheeling as the race season winds down.
You can find José on Twitter or email her at jose.been@cyclingtips.com.
Favorite ice cream: Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough. I always eat the dough and husband eats the vanilla ice cream
One thing you’d rather people didn’t know: I love the Eurovision Song Contest and have a pretty eclectic playlist with Hungarian, Turkish, Serbian music. And I know most of the lyrics too.
Guilty Pleasure: A hot bath after autumn and winter rides
Best bike you’ve ever owned: The bike I now have is the most amazing bike I ever owned. It’s a trek Domane SL with sram etap axs and zipp 303s. Especially those wheels are so amazing in the Dutch winds.
Last book you read: Crooked River by Preston and Child. I read mostly thrillers.
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