sacrifice. you all know that this guy regularly sacrifices his own ride to drop back and help someone that has a flat tyre, or can’t keep up. but that is nothing compared to the sacrifice that he made for me over the weekend. as many of you are aware, i didn’t head to amy’s grand fondo last year due to work related stress leave and so targeted the tour de bintan as my next chance to qualify. andrew had already qualified at amy’s so told me that he would help me get a spot at the bintan race. to that end he spent 117kms of the 144km race looking over his shoulder to make sure that i was hanging on. he dragged me back a few times, but i eventually hit the wall with 25kms to go and told him to push on. he was riding strong, so i though he had a chance to get on the podium. i kept on riding trying to maintain position so that i didn’t fall too far down the list. the qualification is based on finishing position, not time, so it is important to stay ahead of others in your age group. coming into the finish i sprinted around a couple from my group that caught me and pipped another on the line to finish 23rd. as i came down the straight, i saw andrew on the side of the road talking to amanda and toby. i assumed the he had finished and then turned back. that was not the case. he got a flat with 5kms to go and since he was not in the running for a podium, he stopped short 100m from the finish to make sure he didn’t grab a qualifying spot from me. i was happy to just finish, but then 20min later found out that i got the very last qualifying spot. if it was not for andrew’s work during the race and then sacrifice at the end, i would not have secured the spot. be this guy.
ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for march is Nutrition IQ. The main force behind Nutrition IQ is a deep desire to help individuals achieve their long-term diet and nutrition goals. Whether you’re seeking help with weight loss, sports nutrition, or disease prevention, each client is individually evaluated by a professional Dietitian and provided with a well-researched and comprehensive plan they can follow for the rest of their lives.
2017 annual report – prior to the agm held last weekend, we released our 2017 annual report. please take the time to have a look so you can see all the good work that was done last year. there are lots of people in the club that have contributed many hours of effort in providing events and services to the rouleurs community and they deserve to be recognised.
which ride for me – after the changes that the club introduced over the last couple of weeks, we have had another look at our guide for choosing the ride group for you to ride in. this concentrates primarily on the transitional through to main 3 rides, but still makes some very good points that all out riders should remember. see the previous post for all the details.
6th annual vice president’s good friday 3 dams ride –if you are looking for a long ride to kick off the extra long easter weekend, then we have the 6th annual vp’s 3 dams ride. note, this is ridden at a main 1 pace with minimum regroups throughout. this is due to some of the busier roads that the original 3 dams route took and our need to be clear of them before they get too much traffic. see the previous post for more information.
spr volunteer register – are you rocking up every saturday thinking, “wow, there must be a lot of behind the scenes organisation that goes into this”. well you are correct, but you can also be part of it. we are putting together a register of volunteers that we can call upon to help out with events, etc. check out the previous post and put your name forward to help out.
city of kalamunda cycling survey – the city council has put together a draft bicycle plan and are requesting feedback from riders who use the area. there is some good work in there and the city of kalumunda has even identified “training roads” as areas where the more endurance based riders choose to ride. have a look at the draft plan and click on the link to give feedback. we need to ensure that the results are not just some of the more vocal cyclist hating residents that we have had to deal with.
crawley road safety improvements – the city of perth is looking at options for the stretch of road that we ride on during the sat, sun, tue and thurs earlybird rides. they are looking at restricting access and putting in speedhumps as well as options for bike paths along the river. please take the time to let them know that we, along with other big packs, regularly ride that stretch of road and they need to make sure pack cyclists are taken into account. the last thing we need is more traffic furniture to dodge.
town of vic park and city of south perth cycling survey – the city of south perth and the town of vic park have pooled resources and are looking at what they need to provide for cyclists. again, have a look at the draft plan and give some feedback.
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.
ride routes – i have added in good friday to this ride routes even though we usually start at saturday, just to remind people that we have a special ride on for those interested. for those doing the normal public holiday ride, please be aware that dome will not me open and there will be limited coffee choices in perth. saturday is also the last time we will advertise the “night owl” ride as well. not that we will stop people from doing it, we just won’t advertise in on the blog. if you are keen, post in the spr facebook page to see if there is any interest.
friday 30th march – good friday
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
fast/main – public hol 58.97km spr special
special ride start at coode st carpark at 6:00am
6th annual vice presidents 3 dams ride
saturday 31st march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 4:00am
very early lap- nightowl 43.44km spr special
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 1/2 – trans reverse river 40.58km spr saturday
fast/main – south lake 51.99km spr saturday
sunday 1st april
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 2nd april – easter monday
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
fast/main – public hol 58.97km spr special
tuesday 3rd april
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 4th april
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 5th april
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 6th april
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
What a wonderful story. Respect to you both.