Issue 00
Broom Wagon...
Welcome to the first issue of Voiture Balai - your fortnightly (don’t hold us to that) briefing of everything cycling and culture in Australia and beyond. This is an Extreme Leisure production, so you know it’s going to be full of shit informative, unconventional and a bit chaotic.
For the uninitiated, Voiture Balai translates to ‘Broom Wagon’, a van that travels at the very back of the race and 'sweeps up' any riders too far behind the rest of the pelotón. If that still doesn’t make sense to you, please send any questions or concerns you may have to @calebewan. He is an expert on this topic.
The question on absolutely no one’s lips - “What is Extreme Leisure?”. We’ve had a few good guesses over the past year. A cycling cult, a clothing brand, a bunch of fuckwits (highly commended guess), unreliable… we’ve heard it all.
No one has come close to the correct answer as of yet, nor will they get close, because to be honest we still don’t really know who we are. What started as a creative outlet combining our affinity for riding bikes with our day jobs*, has allowed us to document our stupid exploits, create a community and provide a platform to share our unsolicited opinions to a few thousand people.
*We all work in the creative scene (It’s pretty much Liam and Tom). Nathan works in marketing for aged care (doesn’t really count, does it) and Ryan, just ask him, he’ll tell you, tiling is a fucking art form.
There is one thing we are really sure of though, is that the cycling community is desperate for something different than the traditional cycling media out there today, because quite frankly, it’s mostly shit. Don’t worry, we don’t think we are the second coming of Jesus Christ, but fuck if we can reduce the time your eyes see the following clickbait:
“Research shows KISSING your dad will save you 50 watts!”
“CONFIRMED, the new Giant TCR will get you laid!”
New York Fashion Week 2024: JERRY GAPS now on trend!
That’s more than enough for us.
Okay, what even is Voiture Balai? Look, you know how we gave you that long-winded spiel about how we don’t who we are, yeah well we kind of feel the same away about this newsletter. We see this as a boiling pot of ideas and concepts influenced by you, the readers. We hope every time you open your inbox and see something from us, it makes you feel as good as that time your Hinge match told you they love you as a cyclist (Don’t lie to yourself, that will never happen).
There are few things you CAN expect from Voiture Balai though:
Detailed race recaps? Nah, but you can sure as hell bet your bottom dollar we'll keep you in the loop about Harry Sweeney just as much as Tadej Pogacar, and Sarah Gigante just as much as Demi Vollering
We'll shine a spotlight on the unsung heroes - the little guys you might overlook but all have one in your hometown. They wake up at 3am, pedal for hours, work like a dog for eight hours in a workplace where Red Bulls, meat pies, and ciggies constitute a balanced diet, only to get home and dream about doing it all over again. They're not in it for fame, race wins, or bragging rights; They just
fuckinglove riding a bike.We will identify and provide you with content we enjoy, ponder profound questions and provide you with our opinions, most of them unsolicited.
Each issue we will get someone to curate a playlist just for you. Nothing is off the table, Taylor Swifts eras tour setlist? Perfect, two hours of Beethoven? Works for us.
Taking a cue from our friends at @forthekudos, we will dig into and break down something we find across socials each week (for all the wrong reasons). If you are wondering what kind of content we will be dissecting, we will leave you with this one. Sorry in advance.
Yay!
Nice!