winner, winner chicken dinner. mike has been quietly plugging away putting in the k’s for the last year. his consistent cycling over this time meant that he took out the rockingham round of the ring series for e grade a couple of weeks ago and is now sitting 2nd on the overall points table. racing is one of those funny things. some people never want to pin a number on but are the most competitive riders in the group ride. others throw themselves at it and enjoy the challenge. luckily we try to cater for all types of riders, but we do encourage you to have a go at racing. you never know, you may just like it. also, you get some good photos of you from zac, so have a look at his facebook site if you have been in any of the crit races.
ride leader sponsor – there is no ride leader sponsor for this month. if you have a business that you think would benefit from advertising on our blog/facebook/emails then get in contact with the club. all money goes towards providing vouchers for the ride leaders who give their time to ensure that the group is riding to our standard.
tips and tricks – your modern road bike will have either 10 or 11 gears on the back. there would not be many bikes in our group that would be that old that they would have less than that. combined with the 2 on the front, you generally have around 15 gears to choose from (due to similar gears). back in the day, you used to change gears from a lever on your down tube. they didn’t click between gears, so you had to fine tune them as you changed. since the lever was all the way down there, you generally changed infrequently and a few at a time to minimise the action, especially if you were standing and climbing. with the invention of the sti (shimano total integration) and the campag equivalent, you can now change gears without taking your hands off the bars. this means that you can continually change as the road grade changes to make sure that you are in the best gear. however, it is amazing how many people that are new to cycling don’t do this. being in the right gear makes all the difference and it often means reading what is coming up ahead in the ride. if we are approaching a traffic light, make sure you change gears to an easier gear before you stop. if we are going through a corner that you need to brake for, change before you stop pedalling so you can accelerate out. as you approach a hill, change gear before you start, as it may be too hard to change once you are climbing. by being ready for these types of situations, you will be able to smoothly hold your place in the pack and not disrupt things by leaving gaps trying to push a massive, knee shattering gear.
saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning. please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate. this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts. see the previous post for more details.
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hursday training ride – this week we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable. we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities. have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit. there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.
kit collection – the latest run of spr kit has arrived and will be available for collection at the coffee shop after the saturday ride. please be aware that andrew will not just be sitting around waiting for you to collect as he will also be on the ride too. if you cannot collect from the coffee shop, please contact the kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au email to arrange another way of receiving your goods.
ride routes – a hot saturday is predicted for the final weekend of summer. please make sure that you are prepared. water, food, sunscreen (zinc for the vp) and cover up if necessary. it is looking like being 30 degrees by the time we hit the coffee shop.
saturday 25th february
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 canning vale 42.34km spr saturday
fast & main groups – holmes rd 50.42km spr saturday
sunday 26th february
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – coffee ride
short – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday
long – wlsh obs cam goose 88.67km spr sunday
monday 27th february
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 28th february
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)
ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
wednesday 1st march
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 2nd march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30arm
spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)
ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
friday 3rd march
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am