usually around the beginning of the year we get a few new riders. sometimes it is the new years resolutions, or the weather is nice, or they have put on a lot of christmas cheer this year, that gets people out. make sure you take the time to say hello if there is someone new in the group. make sure that they understand the expectations of the rides and have a chat with them over coffee. not every rider that is new to the group is a beginner and they may actually have a story to tell. perhaps they have ridden at a high level in the past and could impart some knowledge on you that may help you with your riding. if you see someone that is hanging around at the start and looking a bit lost, make sure that you make them feel welcome.
ride leaders – give some of your time to the club by helping out as ride leader. it is important that developing riders understand what is expected of them on our club training rides. there are enough experienced riders in our groups to be able to impart some of their knowledge to the other groups.
state crit champs – we are running this event in conjunction with rccc on sunday. we will need some volunteers to help run the event. please see the previous post and put your name down in the comments if you can assist.
crit corner marshals – also, we need corner marshals. we are prepared to pay $50 per person to cover the juniors and $75 to cover the seniors ($125 for the whole day). we want mature people who can stay focussed on the job. we have had a couple of close calls in recent weeks with cars on the circuit. please email daniel at president@roueschaudes.com.au
giro d’perth – a fun event for the whole family. see the previous post for details and sign up for some low speed fun.
teams racing – this year we will be experimenting with a more structured approach to racing. initially focussing on ‘b’ grade men’s, we will attempt to get a teams based style of racing organised. this may mean that you will be required to race for the team win and therefore may have to sacrifice your own chances of glory. more info can be found on the previous post and you can put your name in the comments if you are interested.
2014 spr agm – on the 22nd march we will be holding our annual general meeting. please see the post on the blog or (if you are a member or expired member) you will receive more info via email.
ride routes – after a hot week, we are looking forward to a bit of respite. mid to high 20’s are predicted for both saturday and sunday, so i expect that there will be a few people out this weekend. look out for each other.
saturday 8th march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 6:00am
uci training – more info here
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday
transitional – trans reverse river 40.58km spr saturday
fast & main groups – tv stations 50.29km spr saturday
sunday 9th march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday
As there are 2 leaders for Tranies (Brett and myself), I am wondering if there is anyone who would like to cycle the main route but at the Tranies speed this Sat? An opportunity to cycle 10km further but not at a higher speed: a pre-cursor to a main 4 perhaps (i hope that’s Ok, Committee). Comments gratefully received.
john, i think that for a core group of tranny riders, it will not be an issue. however, you have to remember that there will still be riders that are leaving novice group and and need that distance ride to “transition” through to the longer main rides. i think that if there is a need for a main 4, then we should accommodate that, but not at the expense of the traditional tranny group ride. see who is there on saturday and see who wants to do which ride. you may even get a few from main 3 that would be interested in a main 4 ride. it does mean that we would now need 2 more ride leaders per week.
So we went for it and created a small (9) Main 4 group. Very well lead by John and an enjoyable ride at a good pace for us trannie riders. Managed to keep Main 3.5 (split as big group) in site for about half the ride.
Suggest it keeps up, but as elPrez said, a Main 4 ride will require additional ride leaders, as a number of the normal trannies were a bit put off by the extra distance and we need to cater for those just stepping up.
Anyway – thanks for the ride John.
I think the M4 experiment was a success, even though I didn’t finish (I stayed back to help another rider). Thanks for suggesting it, John. Personally I no longer need the skills training aspects of the Transition Group, but I’m short of the fitness I think is needed to go up to M3. M4 will help with that. Nevertheless, I agree that the first priority should be to ensure we have leaders and a good trannie group before we form an M4 group. Let’s see who’s there each week and who’s available to lead.
As for the TV Stations route, which I rode for the first time last week, can I suggest a slight change? As a local to the Vincent St area I’d suggest that the route turn off Wanneroo Rd on to London Street at Dog Swamp, and continue south along London as it becomes Loftus and eventually Thomas St. This way we would avoid the left side slip lane for Walcott St at the Walcott lights (cars on both sides of the bikes) as well as the right turn into Vincent St from Charles St (a bit hairy); and we would avoid the long wait for the left turn from Vincent on to Loftus (the lights there are heavily biased in favour of Loftus southbound, which we would be, if my suggestion were taken up). For consideration…!
I would like to echo Chris’ comments, the M4 ride on Saturday was brilliant – well lead John!
M4 ride was a good bridge between trannie rides and the main rides. After some months off the bike the extra distance at trannie pace provided a nice extra challenge.
I see M4 being very beneficial for people like myself who need to build fitness on longer rides or experienced riders who need a more moderate “recovery” ride over the same distance.
I understand the challenges with getting ride leaders and hope with enough interest M4 can continue 🙂
Just a quick shout out to all the guys (and girls) heading east to hit up the 3 Peaks Challenge – have a safe trip and best of luck – 4000m+ of climbing…..
Hi Pete / John K,
The M4 / Trannies arrangement proposed by John K went well. The trannies group was 25 strong and went well on Reverse River route lead by myself and Mark. I suggest we stick with the M4 / Trannies setup if leaders can be found weekly as it provides a better lead in for M3. We do need to look at the competence issue of riders coming up from Novice Group and particularly new riders to SPR bombing straight into Trannies without the fitness or skills to ride with the group safely and at the average group speed. This was an issue on Saturday when Mark and I had to ask two new riders to SPR to leave the ride and return from Burke Drive after only 8 kms due to fitness and riding safety issues.
Hope this helps
Brett R.
Oh I would have loved a Main 4 when I was moving up. I am happy to help out there as well.. I will put my name down for next week Trannies 🙂
Can’t BELIEVE you all did TV Stations on the one friggin saturday when I wasn’t around to enjoy it. Typical. Can I request more TV Stations please. We only seem to do this one once a year – and it makes such a fab ride ;0)
Funny, Jonny never listens to me half as intently as he seems to be doing in that Dome coffee shop snap.