so this year has been pretty bad for me on the racing front. very few races early in the year and a failure to qualify for the uwct was representative of my form. mid year surgery and a month and a half off the bike (and any exercise) put a massive hole in my fitness. since that time i have really been struggling to be able to ride to the level that i want too. heading into last weekend’s state championship, i was not holding much hope for anything but some good solid training. however, very early in the race i found myself in the break with the other 2 gentlemen in this picture. unfortunately, they were both way too strong for me and they left me behind quite quickly. hoping for a steven bradbury, i kept plugging at it in the vain hope that one of them may have a mechanical. although it didn’t happen that way, i battled it out with a midland rider and managed to take a step on the podium.
ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for october is Discover Cycling. Founded and run by SPR member Leigh Outschoorn, Discover Cycling is a boutique cycle coaching provider who works with you to develop a personalised training program to achieve your cycling goals.
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.
technical regulations – there have been a couple of changes to the wa technical regulations in relation to racing. firstly, any juniors that renew their licences after the 1st october and move up an age group are then eligible to race in their new division. this means that some junior riders will now be able to ride in the tomr. secondly, there has been a technical exemption for the tomr to allow road bikes to use disc brakes. there have been lots of new bikes released in the last couple of years that have disc brakes and the tomr is meant to encourage more people into racing. as such, if your current bike has discs, you don’t need to find a different bike to ride. click on the letter to see all the details.
henk vogels foundation charity dinner – your chance to meet protour bmc rider, 2016 aussie olympian and former 1hr world record holder, rohan dennis. the henk vogels foundation is holding a charity dinner on the 4th of november. all proceeds from the dinner will go back into the sport of cycling. click on the flyer for more information and links to purchase tickets.
race licences – there are a couple of different types of licences that you can get when you become a member of spr. a recreational licence and a racing licence. recreational licences are for those that really only do the club training rides and want a bit of insurance coverage. it covers a full year from the time you purchase it. a race licence covers you for both training and racing and is necessary if you want to pin a number on. race licences are only valid for the calendar year which means that they expire at the end of december. however, the 2017 licences can be purchased from the 1st octoberand will then give you 15 months of coverage. if you are looking at upgrading to do some racing next year, or need one to do the summer crit races, then now is the time to join or renew.
ride leader pilot program – as mentioned previously, we have kicked off the ride leader pilot program. this is to ensure that we have a consistent message across all the groups. this saturday will be the final practical session of the pilot program so we will hopefully have some brand new minted ride leaders over the coming weeks. once the feedback from these sessions have been collated and actioned, we will then be looking for more people to be trained up as ride leaders. however, we will need some of our regulars to help out looking after groups. don’t worry, it is just about keeping people together and you may find that you enjoy it and want to learn more.
tour of margs spr riders – this saturday, instead of the main ride, anyone that is on the list for the spr tomr teams is invited to our ttt training. this includes people on the reserves list as there is still a chance that they may be called up. you will be taking the same route as the main ride as there are a numberof segments that are conducive to long roll throughs.
rac council voting – some of you may remember ronny low and his partner emma richardson as regular spr riders a few years back. well emma’s dad is on the rac council and is up for re-election this year. if you are a member of the RAC and have no idea of who to vote for, have a read of his introduction letter and lets start pushing for a perth where roads are not just for cars.
ride routes – an absolute spank-tacular weekend has been forecast. make up for lost time and get on that bike.
saturday 22nd 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 abernethy 39.96km spr saturday
fast & main groups – hale & ridgehill 50.58km spr saturday
tomr teams – hale & ridgehill 50.58km spr saturday
sunday 23rd 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 – coffee ride
short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday
long – carr peet obs 97.72km spr sunday
monday 24th october
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 25th october
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 26th october
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 27th october
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 28th october
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am