so, the tour de france is almost over but what a roller-coaster ride it has been.  the peloton being neutralised, the cobbles smashing the field, cadel crashing..again, favourites losing hunks of time and the big debate over whether contador should have attacked or not.  i was checking out the official online website while i have been writing this tonight.  it seems that sammy sanchez (currently 3rd) had a crash.  so what happens next, well contador slows the peloton down so sammy can get back on.  well he is a fellow country man after all.  they replayed the schleck chain slip this evening on sbs and i kept an eye on contador.  he was quite a few bike lengths behind schleck when it happened and saw what was going on.  he was also in front of sanchez and menchov for quite a while after the attack so he can’t even say that he was just following.  right or wrong, he certainly lost a lot of respect that day.  luckily we wait for people that have a mechanical.  maybe contador should come out with us to learn a few things. 🙂

races – mtb enduro on sunday.  atta wandi following sunday.

200km challenge – we are aiming for the 8th august for this event.  there will be a 200km challenge plus a 100km challenge that leaves a bit later and will be lead by mark from the transitional group.  expect a post this coming week with more info and some “rules of engagement”.

website – as of this weekend, we will be switching over to a new website.  www.southperthrouleurs.com.au is already up and running but is not live yet.  once it is setup, the current blog will be ported over to it and we will run everything through it.  you can bookmark the site now as it is running, but expect a bunch of new email addresses.

pilates- we have now opened up the pilates training on monday night to both members and member families.  see the previous post here for more info.

ride routes– the groups will all be making their own traverse around different sections of perth on saturday.  if all the routes were superimposed on one map it would make a nice four leaf clover.  maximise the advertising potential for the kit sponsors.

saturday 24th july – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 39.04km (benara rd)

main 1 & 2 – spr saturday 50.97km (river ride)

fast – spr saturday 55.32km (maddington & hale & ridge hill)

sunday 25th july – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 67.96km (greenmount & zig-zig)

long – spr sunday 95.04km (greenmount & parkerville & mundaring weir)