breakfast report/annual report by peter.

well our third group breakfast and this one was to be combined with our christmas ride, which is always the last saturday before christmas day.  we would usually do a slower circuit around the city and then have a longer than usual coffee at the belltower.  this year, however, we were doing a proper spr, lorraine catered breakfast.  legendary stuff.  now the first breakfast was in winter time and you kind of expect there to be rain.  the next one was in spring, so you may get a shower. but for me to wake to the sound of rain dripping along the downpipe in the middle of december was just typical.  we have a guaranteed drought breaker if we just scheduled in more spr breakfasts.  if wasn’t too bad though and the road was hardly wet. 

unlike the other breakfasts, this one was to be held at jerry’s house in city beach.  as son #2 was actually due the day before the breakfast, it was always going to be a stretch to think that a horde of sweaty cyclists could descend on our house.  as previously reported, #2 had arrived and kate timed her discharge from mercy hospital in time for attendance to the breakfast.  i however, would be on son #1 duties and would not be actually riding with the group.  it didn’t stop me from riding though.

so with half a santa suit (hat, beard & jacket) and ben on the mountain bike, we set off to the usually starting point.  as more a more people turned up, it was good to see that most had gone to the effort of decorating themselves or their bike.  there was tinsel everywhere.  i set the group on it’s way and headed off on a more direct route to city beach.  for a change it was good to hear the toot of a car horn as lots of people honked and waved to ben and i as we came up past kings park and along hay street.  we usually get a bit of attention with the seat on the front of the bike, but the santa suit must have turned us from target of aggression to spectacle of delight.  it may be our new kit for next year.  a full santa suit.  imagine 50 santa’s sprinting along mounts bay road on a saturday morning.  or even full elvis sequin suits.  that would be cool.

anyway, all was fine until we skirted around bold hill and it started to rain again.  i stopped and popped a rain jacket on ben to keep him relatively dry, but by the time i got to jerry’s a bedraggled and waterlogged santa was i.

lorraine had everything under control and she had a few extra helpers on board as well.  i thank those ladies for their time and effort and i especially thank them as it has meant that it was something extra that i didn’t have to worry about.  the food was being laid out and lorraine had outdone herself once again.  there was all kind of delicacy ready to be sampled and it was just waiting for the horde to descend.  i just stayed out of the way as best i could, and tried to stop ben destroying jerry’s house.

the waterlogged crew finally arrived and filled the house with christmas cheer.  socks were quickly escorted to the quick wash cycle and tumble dry as we had discussed, oh too late after the last breakfast.  who would have thought we would have needed it in summer.

after all had gorged themselves on the wonderful spread, lorraine brought out a cake for bec who decided to celebrate her birthday with us today.  i took the opportunity to keep the group together and present some gifts for each person in the group.  instead of a raffle this time, i managed to scrape together enough funds from various sources (pbk and google mainly) to get everyone a south perth rouleurs hat.  if you had ordered any kit (jersey at the minimum), then you would receive a hat.  i do have some extras though, so if you want to buy any for you kids, supporters, etc, then let me know.  lorriane was also given a well deserved gift for her tireless (get it, it was tyres) efforts within the group and jerry’s wife tanya received some flowers for allowing us to destroy her house.

the presentations didn’t finish there, as unbeknownst to me, jerry and lorraine had some surprises as well.  jerry made a few presentations for some of the more memorable moments of the year.  mark schneider received some bandaids for sampling the most tarmac this year, melvyn a spare tube for obvious reasons, ryan some bike wash for having the dirtiest bike and mark decastro some gu for being a wheel sucker.  lorriane also received a giro sprinters jersey for her outstanding effort last sunday where she took out the “b” grade women’s race at the joondalup classic.

but the fun didn’t stop there and it was my turn to be surprised as a special order had been placed with cannibal and a yellow spr jersey had been made up with my name on the back.  now i am not sure whether this denotes, team leader, protected rider, or just makes it easier for me to be targeted, but i certainly appreciate it, and the effort in getting something made.  the presents didn’t stop there, as i also received a plaque which read –

“in recognition of your outstanding contribution and commitment to the south perth rouleurs”. this will have to go “straight in the pool room” with my two masters medals this year.  in recognition of the family sacrifices that have been made in keeping the group together, kate and ben also received some gifts.

it seems strange writing this from two different perspectives.  one as the receiver of a gift but also as part of the group that has given it, i feel compelled to try to explain the reasons behind it.  i really appreciate the efforts that people have made in regards to the group and supporting the group dynamic.  it hasn’t even been a full year and already we have a very strong core of cyclists that can only be referred to as regulars if not stalwarts of spr.  the turn out for the joondalup classic was nothing short of outstanding and when mark conveyed his story about the surprise from some other riders on how many or us there were, i can say it made me smile.  just getting the name out there has been an important thing to me and getting people to recognise who we are and more importantly, what type of group we are. 

i can remember the apprehension i felt the first saturday that we met at coode street and the fear that i would be the only person to turn up.  the saturday rides this year have been growing and i appreciate the effort that people show towards helping other riders or even working together when the ride gets too fast for them.  i also appreciate the restraint that some of the fast boys have shown in keeping the ride together until the designated sprint sections. 

the sunday ride has been a great success with the numbers regularly sitting around the 15-20 mark even though everybody knows it is going to be a hard day.  the supportiveness of the group has allowed this ride to grow as well and we are often getting new riders coming out to play. 

lately a couple of people have commented on the group dynamic and what it means to them.  the word “community” has been used but even more so the word “family” was also thrown around.  the plaque recognises my efforts in guiding the group, but i do it all for you guys cause you are my cycling family and i wish to see that feeling continue. 

even before spr existed, one sunday coffee stop i was commenting on how we would eventually be moving back to victoria to be closer to family.  dr carl straight away said “but we are your family”.  it is for this reason i have worked to keep this group together and it is the reason that the group works so well together. 

so have a great christmas and new years and i hope to see you out on the bike soon.