so last week when roberta and carla where stuck down during the charity ride, another rider on that ride had a case going through the courts.  wes opie was hit by an unlicenced, drunk, 21 yr old driver who had blown a tyre but continued to drive home.  one of the main reasons why this court case made the news was that the victim specifically requested that the driver not serve any jail time for what she did.  the driver had shown a lot of remorse for her actions and this shows a lot of compassion on behalf of the victim.  the reason given was that –  “prison would do her more harm than good.”  now this is probably true. what would the driver actually learn while they were in prison and what benefit would that be to society.  however, mr opie will probably have long lasting physical effects from this incident and i think that the driver needs to understand that these things do not just go away overnight.

the driver has paid some compensation towards a new bike and also donated to the charity ride, but maybe we need to rethink the longer term effects of accidents and the needs of the victims.  somewhere in scandinavia the traffic fines are based on a percentage of your annual salary.  this means that a nokia president once had to pay multi millions of dollars for a speeding fine.  maybe we need a longer term approach to victims compensation where by the perpetrator gets taxed a certain amount for the next number of years to help the victims with any ongoing issues. this way whenever they want to have that holiday to bali, or buy a house, they will have a reminder that they made a choice to drink, a choice to get in their car and those choices have consequences.  i am not trying to speak on behalf of wes opie, but already the article lists some ongoing issues relating to the accident.  it is not just this incident either.  too many times we are seeing people getting drunk and then causing irreparable damage to innocent parties whether they are riding a bike, pushing a pram, walking home from a party, or even just sitting in their lounge rooms when car smashes through the wall.

ride leader sponsor – no ride leader sponsor for october as the one i had lined up was no longer available.  i kind of ran out of time to sort out an alternative, but i know there are a few companies out there that are interested.  i will sort you out for next month.

rules of engagement – please read the previous post if you come out on any of our rides.  it is up to all members to enforce these rules.

halloween saturday ride – this saturday is halloween, and although we don’t “celebrate” all hallows eve in australia, we always love an opportunity to keep it interesting by doing something different.  so, if you want, this saturday for the main ride, add some face paint or decorate your bike.

westcycle bike safety survey – as the peak body for cycling in western australia, increasing bike safety is one of westcycle’s key targets. their key challenge is creating an environment where people aren’t afraid to ride.  to do this we need to transform our streets, roads and communities into places where traveling by bike is safe and normal. this survey will assist westcycle and their member organisations to develop a bike safety manifesto to make riding a bike a safer option. this survey is for everyone – the people who already ride bikes, people who drive cars, people who would like to ride more but are concerned about safety. please take the time to fill it out and pass the link on to your friends.  take the survey here.

tour of margaret river – the tour of margaret river teams have been set and we have 2 teams of women and 2 teams of men with a couple of reserves.  these teams head down next week to compete in a three day, 4 stage event.

italy trip – would you like to ride your bike over in italy next year.  there is a trip being organised where you can join/leave at your leisure.  if you are interested, more info is available on the previous post.  an info night will be held on the 12th of november so if you need more info before you take the plunge, have a look at the other previous post.

smashfest criterium series – the dates for this years smashfest criteriums at tech park are just being finalised.  at the moment we are looking at 2 before christmas and 2 in the new year.  this year they will all be held on a saturday afternoon on the following dates – 21st nov, 5th dec, 9th & 16th jan.  after this we will also have on the same circuit, the aussie day crit, renae’s race and the state champs.  discussions are also on around an spr/rccc club crit champs for just our riders with a social event on afterwards.  stay tuned for more info.

ride routes – so i had a bit of feedback from the public on the behavior during the earlybird ride on tuesday.  apparently the lead rider descending majestic hill cut the corner to gain an advantage.  unfortunately there was a few cyclists coming the other way and our rider had to take evasive action.  now i looked on strava to see who was on that ride and messaged a few people.  apparently no-one saw anything, but obviously enough was seen by an outsider to warrant an email through to the club.  at the end of the day, there are 2 simple things to remember; obey the road rules and be aware of other road users.

saturday 31st october

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

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional – trans reverse river 40.58km spr saturday

fast & main groups – river ride 51.80km spr saturday

sunday 1st november

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

slow hills – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday

short – khna weir 72.23km spr sunday

long – khna can mills 94.55km spr sunday

monday 2nd november

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

main group – south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 3rd november

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

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers carpark at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 4th november

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

spr wednesday 14.22km (uci masters)

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

development group – stock road repeats

thursday 5th november

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

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers carpark at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 6th november

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday development ride