winner, winner striped shirt wearer. not quite as catchy as a chicken based meal, but spr had a couple of jerseys on the podium at this years state criterium championships. it was hosted by spr and rccc, so i had the honor of handing out the champion jerseys. amanda took our her master’s category and then had a crack at the open race. sarah was on the podium for her masters race and elar did a truck load of work to keep the break away in his masters race. fresh off his ring championship series win (unassailable lead with 1 round to go), mike madsen had a crack at the over 50’s masters. the problem with aged based racing is that it encompasses a wide variation of abilities. there are some +50 riders in perth that still ride a grade and they made themselves known early on. overall, it was an excellent turnout and a great finish to our crit hosting for the season.
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 – hey, eyes up here!!! this is not in reference to the fact that we all wear skin tight lycra, but more about being aware of what is happening around you while riding in the group. when starting out, the fact that you are riding so close to another wheel often freaks people out. they all know that they need to be close to get a draft, but they get scared about accidentally hitting the wheel in front, or worse, crossing wheels and coming down. therefore, new riders tend to concentrate very hard on being the “correct” distance from the wheel in front. to do this, they look directly at the wheel and nothing else. now the wonderful things about our eyes is that our peripheral vision allows us to see things that we are not looking directly at, and warn us to have a closer look. by this i mean that if you are looking at the back of the rider in front, you can still see the wheel, but probably not exactly see how far away it is. judgement, however, allows you to understand that if the riders body moves closer, then their wheel is probably doing the same. conversely, if the rider moves away, then a gap is forming. it is this second part that usually catches people out who are focusing too intently on the wheel in front. the group surges and next thing you know, you are riding by yourself. by keeping your eyes up, looking about 3 riders ahead, you will see any changes to the groups speed and be able to react sooner. you will also be able to better see the hand signals, parked cars and the ocean views as we pass by cottesloe.
club agm – the club agm is to be held this saturday after the main ride at the Dome in westralia plaza. It will be accompanied by a buffet breakfast ($15 cash) for which you will get a coffee and a selection of awesome post ride foods. please ensure that you sign on if you are a member attending the agm as we need to keep a permanent record. this is an official meeting and we will be electing a new committee for 2017. please see the previous post for more information.
ben oakes marathon effort- some of you may know one of our members ben oakes is doing the london marathon on the 23rd april. however, most of you may not know why. he is doing it to raise funds for parkinson research as his dad was diagnosed 4 years ago. he has a fundraiser page set up as well as a blog to chronicle his challenge and give you a bit more background on his motivation. if you would like to make a donation, you can either visit the webpage or throw a bit of loose change his way when you see him at the agm.
changes to kit ordering – current kit orders close at the end of this month. after this point there will be some changes with a slight price increase and less orders per year. please check out the previous post to understand all the details.
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.
t
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.
ride routes – the sunday hills ride has been getting bigger and bigger lately and so a few times we have split it at the carpark to keep the groups under control. there still is a risk, however, that the groups will still merge at traffic lights along the way. to counter this, we will trial sending both groups on different routes this week. although they are both based around kalamunda, the short hills will start with the goose and the long will start with welshpool.
saturday 25th 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 shelley 40.59km spr saturday
fast & main groups – canning vale & welshpool 49.74km spr saturday
sunday 26th 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 – goose kal 63.41km spr sunday
long – wlsh obs kal 90.32km spr sunday
monday 27th march
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 28th 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 29th march
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 30th march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
see previous post for ride groups
spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)
ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am
development group – interval training kings park
friday 31st march
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am