KEY POINTS:
They wear lycra shorts, they're aged 30 to 50 and they are powering a huge increase in bike sales.
Midlife mothers have turned to triathlons in large numbers, pedalling, running and swimming their way to fitness and weight-loss.
Cycle imports have leaped 40 per cent in four years, and the number of women entering non-competitive triathlons has also soared, reaching about 30,000 last season.
"The sport is absolutely booming, with three national women's series," said Triathlon New Zealand chief executive David Beeche.
"Combine that with the Weet-Bix Tryathlon kids' series and the sport's really in a growth phase."
Mr Beeche attributes this to New Zealand's international successes and people wanting new challenges.
Triathlete Hamish Carter won gold and teammate Bevan Docherty silver at Athens in 2004, and Sam Warriner and Andrea Hewitt took the women's silver and bronze respectively at last year's Commonwealth Games.
They had attracted thousands, especially women, to triathlons and cycle/run duathlons, Mr Beeche said.
But weight-loss and general health played a big part for women too.
"A lot of women who are post babies, midlife; that seems to be the big age-group attraction in a lot of these series."
His observations match those of bike shops, distributors and event organisers.
Jeff Webb, part-owner of Avanti Plus Cycles in Henderson, west Auckland, said the biggest growth area in cycle sales was to women aged 30 to 50. Many bought fitness bikes, with flat handlebars, semi-slick tyres and a light frame.
Fitted with high-quality components, they can cost more than $1300 new; year-old models with less-sophisticated gear can be bought secondhand for less than $500.
Among the new triathlons is the Sun Latte Active Woman series. Its entry-level triathlon has a 400m swim, a 12km bike ride and a 4km run. A new event doubles those distances. The series also includes a duathlon and an 8km walk/run.
An organiser, Tania Tuck, said several thousand women took part in 2005 and last year.
This season's events looked likely to attract a similar number. The age range was 18 to 70, although most entrants were between 25 and 40, and they were from all backgrounds.
"I think people are wanting a healthier lifestyle, particularly ladies making time for themselves. It's so easy to get tied up in the family thing and you are the last one you think about."
Forty-year-old Aroha Saxon, an events manager and the mother of 5-year-old Kiani, has resumed non-competitive triathlons, completing nine last year.
Mrs Saxon admits to a feeling of reclaiming something for herself from family life, recalling that she used to do triathlons before she had family commitments.
"Then you have children and it all turns to custard. I've only just started getting back into it in the past 2 years."
"It's good fun," she said.
Fitness is her main motivation - she trains three or four times a week - and weight loss is "just a bonus".
Bike distributor Avanti said sales to women were a strong growth area, as were road bikes and children's bikes.
Bike boom
* 230,000 bicycles were imported in the year to last June.
* This was 40 per cent more than in 2002.
* More than 200,000 new and used cars were landed in New Zealand last year, 30,000 fewer than in 2005.
* About 30,000 women took part in non-competitive triathlons in 2005/6.
Sources: Health Sponsorship Council and Triathlon NZ.
