represent. we did talk about representing the club a while ago, but this time i want to talk about the potentially negative effects of your club representation. last weekend, there was a discussion on facebook about a rider in full club/team kit that rode through 2 sets of red lights right in front of another group. now the kit wasn’t named, but this is just a reminder that you are representing the club when you put on the jersey. what you do (or not do) reflects on the club and it usually ends up coming to my inbox. we are not saying that it was someone from the club, but we are not saying that it wasn’t, so you all need to have a good look at what you did last week and could anything you did while representing the club reflect poorly on the rest of us. we enforce strict rules when we are riding in the group for your own safety. don’t let your actions away from the group give the general public a poor view of what we are. you need to represent our values, even if you are running late for the group ride.
ride leader sponsor – our ride leaders for march are proudly sponsored by ilberys lawyers. providing a range of legal services, ilberys lawyers also handle personal injury cases such as when you have a bike accident involving a third party. if you are in need of any legal advice their contact details are on the previous post.
tips and tricks – aerodynamics, why are they important? having the cool deep dish rims or the bike frame that claims to be slipperier than all others is great when you are riding in a wind tunnel, but the biggest gains you can make in regards to aerodynamics is with your body position. your greatest foe in regards to moving forward is your frontal area breaking through the air. this is why holding a wheel and drafting off other riders is so important to maintaining a fast pace. sometimes, however, you may not be getting all the advantage that you need to keep up with the group. there are times when you have oh so slightly dropped the wheel in front and you feel like you are working ten times as hard and getting nowhere. this is where aerodynamics can help. where are your hands? where is your head? as soon as you start to feel like you are catching too much wind you need to lower your frontal area. put your hands in the drops (curvy bit) of your handlebars (not on the hoods). this automatically brings the rest of your body down. then bring your head closer to the handlebars. just this small change may allow you to make up ground to get back in the draft. too many times i see people dropping off the back of the group and wondering why it is so hard. normally they are already sitting tall in the saddle so as soon as there is a little break, they snap off the back. get down low and go, go, go.
do you even brake, bro? – following on from our tips and tricks, rob has some very important advice about using your brakes…or not. please make sure that you have a read of the previous post as you don’t want to be responsible for the crash that happens behind you where you come off unscathed.
state criterium championships – this sunday we will be hosting the state criterium champs at technology park in bentley. there are masters divisions as well as the open category for those that consider themselves fast. registration closes tonight, so if you are interested, get in quick as there will be no late entry.
club agm – please pencil in the 25th march for our club agm and breakfast. we will be voting on our 2017 committee as well as opening it up for any discussion that members want to have. please see the previous post for more information.
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.
race reports – there have been a few race reports posted recently from the tour of bintan and the pemberton classic. have a read to see what your fellow spr riders have been up to.
ride routes – there is the potential for a slight shower on saturday morning. it will still be +20 degrees though, so if anything, it will be moist. there is a predicted change in the wind direction, though. so we are taking advantage of it and heading to the coast and back.
saturday 18th 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
development group – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday
transitional – trans rebold 38.69km spr saturday
fast & main groups – scarbs beach & hale 51.21km spr saturday
sunday 19th 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
development group – coffee ride
short – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday
long – wlsh weir kal 101.71km spr sunday
monday 20th march
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 21st march
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 22nd march
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 23rd 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 24th march
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am