Rider profile - Joanna Murawska
It’s time to meet the four riders who will be part of Between The Tape in 2022!
Next up is Joanna Murawska, a Women’s B Grade racer from Victoria who also dabbles in enduro racing!
Rider name
Joanna Murawska
Instagram handle
Team or worthy cause
#insearchofstoke
Tell us about your bike!
My CX bike (Trek Boone) is at the bike shop undergoing a frame warranty - fingers crossed I get my new frame built up before the season starts!
Otherwise I'll be doing as many races as I need to on my gravel bike (Trek Checkpoint). Love my Boone, it’s a great bike. Nothing flashy - just some carbon hoops.
What’s your goal for this cyclocross season?
To step up to and have a blast riding Women’s B Grade, I think it will be a great challenge. I I came 3rd in the overall C Grade [in the Victorian State CX Series] in 2019. I’m fitter now than I was then, but who knows what will come!
You'll find me riding or racing in...
Eastern Melbourne’s suburban bike paths and lesser known gravel spots...
My riding/racing is supported by...
Rob, my partner, who also raced the 2019 season.
In my day job I'm...
Employed by Trek Bicycle Australia, supporting our direct stores and IBDs [independent bicycle dealers] using our retail management and reporting system.
An interest I have outside of cycling is...
Veggie gardening, camping and reading about Australian politics.
What brought you to cyclocross?
Literally just deciding one day that it would be fun to try and proposed giving it a go to my partner in late 2018.
We both bought CX bikes and raced the 2019 season! Met some great people along the way, keen to get back into it in 2022.
What riding do you do aside from CX?
MTB is my primary discipline, I race gravity enduro.
I'm also a big fan of gravel riding and commuting - basically anything off-road and I'm into it.
Tell us about your first CX race!
It was at Broadford! My partner and I had no idea what to expect, but the atmosphere was so welcoming and the track was a great challenge.
Coming 4th in C-grade was unexpected as I wasn't paying attention to what position I was in (all I could think about was trying to catch the rider in front of me - but couldn't!), when I found out I was stoked! All this did was light the competitive fire in me.
What's your proudest achievement in CX?
Without a doubt, surviving Mt Beauty! It was wet, sloppy, steep, a proper CX race.
I lost some positions at the start of the race due to a silly mistake but managed to claw my way back to 4th.
Spent so much of the race laughing with and chasing after my fellow racer in 3rd position, but at the end of the day couldn't get ahead of her. It was a hoot of a time and I'm just proud I survived such a tough race.
How do we spot you on course?
Fingers crossed I'll be on a Boone covered in a crazy blue criss-cross paint scheme.