INDOOR INSPIRATION CRAIG NEEDHAM

An Aussie triathlete who transmits a motivational frequency straight into your pain cave

- Vern Pitt

Who do you turn to when you need a bit of inspiration? A little pick-me-up to help you get back on the bike when motivation is low. We’ve all had those times, but thankfully we probably all know someone we can message to arrange a ride or get a date in the diary to give us something to aim for.

For the Australian triathlon community, that person is Craig Needham. Since Covid-19 hit last year he has been the driving force behind a Zwiftbased group that has grown from single figures to a 4,000-rider community.

He hosts regular rides from his home in Cairns, Northern Queensland, that bring together not just Aussie triathletes, but now people from all over the world. He was nominated for this award by multiple riders who, although they have never met him in real life, have become a firm part of this supportive and welcoming community.

“It just started as a simple meet-up,” he tells us after we join him for one of his early Tuesday morning group rides on Zwift’s Tempus Fugit course. “Then Triathlon Australia needed someone to lead their rides. I knew a few people in the triathlon world and apparently they’d said, ‘Craig is probably the best man for the job.’”

Smart cycling

He then started ride leading for the Zwift Academy, but to add some entertainment ran a quiz during the slower recovery rides. Points were tallied by riders’ nationality in a light-hearted bid to find the smartest cycling country.

He was soon running two Zwift rides per week for Triathlon Australia and introduced a ‘hot segment’ where one rider would be shepherded over the 8km segment on the Tempus Fugit course before a final sprint to get a PB.