a week and a bit till christmas.  where has the year gone.  i will write up a year in review some time…when i get the time but here is a sample:  how another year has changed the club in so many ways.  at the end of last year we had about 57 members, now we are just short of 200.  i remember in january we first split into multiple groups with novice, transitional, intermediate and advanced.  now we have had to split a couple of those groups in half as well.  who know what things will look like at the end of 2011.  the club has developed for a number of reasons but i see it primarily due to our inclusiveness (novices to a grade racers), our organisation (not turning up asking “where are we riding today”), our focus on safety (or putting ourselves in danger) and our social interaction.  we hope to continue these aspects to our club into the new year and beyond, but this year we may also be involved with a lot more organisation of events.  our collaboration with the rccc has been very successful and we will look to build on this in the coming year to provide a lot more opportunities for our members that want to race.  for those that don’t want to race, but still want to be challenged, we will look at running some more events like the 200km challenge we held this year.

blog posts – been a bit light on as far as ride and race reports are concerned lately.  we pride ourselves on having a very up to date website so that we let everyone know what we are up to.  there are lots that have done it before and still have access, so no excuses.  also, there was a race on last sunday where a whole bunch of spr riders were involved, and there hasn’t been a squeek…yet.  if you need access to write a blog, let send me and email and we can organise it.

spr kit – we finally signed our last sponsor for the kit and will get the order underway very soon.  the new design ins on the website and can be found here.  prices are as marked, but as previously stated, if you already have an item, you may be able to get a replacement one for a reduced price.  i.e.  if you have 7 spr jerseys, you can get 1 for the reduced price and as many as you like for the full price.  we will let you know when orders open and the final list will be sent through to cannibal in the first week of january.

crits – the running of the second race in the crit series with the rccc was a success with were over 100 riders taking part across all grades.  no excuse for you not to be having a go at the next event which will be a “twilight” race starting at 3pm on saturday 8th jan.  it was a good turn out by the spr crew but not without incident.  the bigger field means more people are vying for success and unfortunately jen had a crash in c grade and ndcc nic came off in b grade.  jen snapped his collarbone but has since had it pinned while nic slowed himself down with his face and needed a few stitches.  we wish these guys a speedy recovery.

ride routes – t’was the last ride before christmas and all through the streets, lots of spr riders were clicking in their cleats.  anyway, this is the christmas ride so you are encouraged to dress the part.  whether it be a full santa suit or a bit of tinsel on the bike, it is all about looking like christmas.  we will split the groups as usual, but make the ride whatever you want it to be.  sprinting santa’s or just a nice easy cruise around the river.

saturday 18th december – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional 1 & 2 – spr saturday 41.18km (reverse river ride)

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

sunday 19th december – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 82.79km (brookton & weir rd)

long – spr sunday 101.29km (roleystone & observatory)