ride routes 21st & 22nd july

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it’s tour time and i should be excited.  i have been waiting all year for this and am currently feeling very blah about the whole event.  not really sure what it is exactly and maybe it is a combination of things that have made me feel a little disappointed.

  1. i know cadel could be riding better.  he has won it before.  the last 2 mountain stages of the 2011 tour were awesome and he just put the whole race on his shoulders and did what he had to do to win.  just not seeing that this year and it is a bit disappointing.  not that i think he should retire or anything, but he is just not on form like last year.
  2. the course.  what is it with getting rid of most of the mountain top finishes???  are they trying to make it easier for cav???  the alps hardly even featured and when it did, there was a big descent or even worse, a HC climb followed by a 100km flat section to finish off.  what GC rider is going to attack the climb so they can be pulled back by a team train.
  3. the sterile and robotic sky team.  besides the little “faux pas” when froome dropped wiggo, they have played the team game to perfection.  possibly too perfect.  i think that i like to see my tour winners show a little emotion, whether it is aggression or suffering.  the yellow wiggle has shown neither.  the only person that seems to want to animate the tour is nibali and as i write this he has attacked on the first climb.  shame he will just be reeled back in by a bunch of aussies in wolfs sky clothing.
  4. i totally suck at our tour tipping comp.  that makes it hard to follow when your tip seems to be the kiss of death for any rider.

spr pyrenees trip – as you may know, there are some of the spr crew over in france enjoying the scenery/race/hill climbs.  unfortunately, it hasn’t all gone to plan and cathi dixon took a tumble during a descent.  there were luckily no other cars or bikes involved, but she went over the handle bars and landed on her back.  as a result she was helicopter evac’d to Pau hospital with some broken vertabrae, rib, clavicle.  she is recovering and the spr crew over there are working through all of the insurance, flight home etc. and they have been in contact with her family to keep them informed.  as i am sure that she will eventually see the blog, if you want to post some well wishes to cathi, add them to the comments below and we wish her a speedy recovery.

upcoming events – you may have seen the previous posts about the Cerebral Palsy “Big Wheelie Challenge” and the Pinjarra Classic.  these are a couple of events that the spr crew will be involved in over the next couple of weeks.  click on the links for more information and let us know if you want to join in.

tour tipping – the tour tipping enters it’s final week and there is a clear leader in the gc competition.  still anyone’s game in the other divisions so keep your tips coming.  no-one has been able to pick the more obscure stage wins so the points have jackpotted. (i am sure that is not really a word).

ride routes – there has been a request for the main 3 hills ride to be a fortnightly event.  as long as we continue to get numbers then i am happy to do this.  it may even turn into a long and short hills the same as the sunday rides.  we will see.  there does seem to be an issue with the transitional ride at the moment.  the last few weeks have only seen 1 or 2 riders show up and as such have ridden with main 3 instead.  i am guessing the combination of tour, school holidays and the cold weather has scared a few off.  winter riding = just wear more clothes.

saturday 21st july

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 39.81km (shelley & bannister)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 49.69km (holmes rd)

saturday hills – spr sunday 90.23km (welshpool & observatory & kalamunda rd)

(head straight out shep rd to welshpool)

main 3 hills – spr sunday 52.25 (welshpool)

sunday 22nd july

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd)

long – spr sunday 101.86km (welshpool & mundaring & kalamunda)

25 thoughts on “ride routes 21st & 22nd july”

    1. Yeap, I have been the same way, not very exciting, few attacks apart from Cuddles attempt the other day, and Sir Nibs, but that has been it. Waiting to see if Orica can get the stage win in the next few days…

  2. Watching Wiggins ride fourth wheel all around France isn’t the most interesting way to spend 3 weeks. Combine that with Voeckler’s crazy face and Stevie Wonder impressions and it’s a bit hard to watch.

  6. I’m keen for the hills again, but the other half of the MOB is rather unwell – Leigh has the ‘real’ flu (ie, on Tammiflu), so her husband won’t let her come out & play 🙁
    So whoever would like to keep me company on the slow hills I would love to go up there again, however I’ve had to change from the 12-25 back to a 12-23, so I might be walking up the steep bits 😉
    Looking forward to a group ride!

  8. Cathi, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery. At least you have the security of the SPR family making sure you will be well taken care of. See you soon on the road.

    With you here Pete re: tdf 2012. The parcours and the strength of Sky – Froome, Rogers & Porte could be GC leaders in their own right in other teams – make for an uninteresting one this year, especially compared to last year’s. Wiggo hasn’t really ridden yet – just sucking wheel, except for a little downhill bit a few stages ago when he led out Edvald Hagen Das. So boring that Schleck sabotaged himself so he can get out of the tour without using a pansy excuse like being sore falling off his bike.

  11. This weekend will be my last lot of rides for some months. I’m getting a new accessory for my bike, a matching titanium knee joint. So i am going to persist Sat and Sun before my operation on Wednesday. The day after my birthday.

  12. Apparently Stuart O’Grady and Robbie McEwen from Green Edge heard about Cathi, and visited her in hospital in Pau yesterday. Which, considering all they’ve got going on, was pretty sweet of them.

    Best wishes to Cathi.

  13. Good one Cathi – hope you have loads of proof. Always a green (silver) lining.

    Shane, good luck with your new knee. Make sure they put lots of oil in it so it doesn’t squeak when you next ride. New knee probably comes in matching yellow/black colour, and perforated to save weight.

  14. Pete, do you have anymore SPR jerseys in medium left to buy? I need 2 for my ex-riding buddies as a gift when I visit them in Montreal & Quebec

  16. CATHI, very very sad to hear about your tumble.. 🙁

    I hope you make a speedy and full recovery.. Great of Green Edge to come say g’day.. The lengths one has to go through to get some Edge time.. 🙂

  17. I will be heading to France on Sat night 21/7 to assist with the medical team escort to bring Cathi back. Hopefully we will be back around 31/7 at the latest. She appreciates everyone’s wishes and comments. Thanks.

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