history. 19th july 2008 and katy perry had the number one single in australia with “i kissed a girl”. how the world has changed over the last 10 years. now the number one song is “youngblood” by 5 seconds of summer. actually it probably shows not much really has changed. the club has changed a bit over the last 10 years though. mark de castro sent me a bunch of photo’s he dug up from our very first spr breakfast. there are still some familiar faces in there plus some that we haven’t seen for a while. i managed to find the link to 
the blog post that covered the event. back in those days, i used to do a write up on every ride we did. obviously we didn’t do as many rides back then, and there was pretty much only one group on a saturday. just like an episode of “cheers”, it was a place where everybody knew your name. we had just taken delivery of our first spr kit and it was obvious that tight and aero was not the flavour 
back in 2008. also, we could fit everyone’s bikes into my double garage and still have room to do a bike weigh-in. the aim of the breakfasts was to establish our own identity within the perth cycling scene. we had just formed after leaving a shop ride, and wanted to make sure that riders felt like they were part of something more. more than just riding and more than just another coffee at a coffee shop. we had raffles, bike weigh-ins and food and drink. it was really about establishing a community rather than a club. a lot of aspects of those early days built the foundation of what the club has become today. be part of the community.
ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for june is wa cyclocross. cyclocross is a cross between road and mountain biking usually held on a grass or dirt circuit. there are divisions for all abilities and a kids race before on a shortened circuit.
check out any of the events coming up soon and get on down to ring a cowbell.
earlybird lights – the nights are dark and full of terrors, so that is why you need to have a good set of operating lights on your bike during the earlybird. on the thursday group 3 ride, there were 3 people that did not have operating lights on their bikes. if it is a once off “my lights just died” situation, then fine, but don’t argue, just apologise and say you will have them fixed before the next ride. there is a very big risk that you can be cleaned up by a car because they can’t see you. especially since people seem to wear a lot of black kit during winter. if your lights are repeatably failing, then it is time to buy some new ones. as we have always said, no front flashers and make sure your rear is not on retina burn mode for the people trying to follow your wheel.
spr general meeting – a few years ago the state government made some changes to the associations act that has meant every clubs constitution needs to change. to do this, we need to hold a general meeting to vote on and accept the changes. our meeting will be this saturday the 9th june after the main ride and will be held at the coffee shop. unlike the agm, there will not be a breakfast, but you will need to sign in so we can document how many people were in attendance to vote. the previous post has a link to the new constitution, so have a look and table any feedback before the meeting so we can discuss any changes.
spr retro roll – as part of the beverley heroic weekend, we are partnering with mr vesparazzi for the spr retro roll – saturday 30 June, 7am coode street,
retro jersey or retro bike come ride with spr. ride leaders will take the group over a 40-50km ride ending at Dome Westralia Square. there you can display your bike, parade your jersey and #bheroic.
spr tomr 2018 – are you interested in this years tour of margaret river??? if so, check out the previous post for more information and send in your expression of interest. make sure you read some of the race reports to understand just how good this event is, or have a chat to a previous entrant at the coffee shop after the ride.
entertainment books – we will again be selling entertainment books this year through the club. the digital versions actually come online now and last years don’t finish till the end of june allowing you twice as many offers for 3 months. check out the links on the previous post to find out more.
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.
from the ride coordinator – A reminder to all, with the strong winds and heavy rain there will be lots of debris and sand etc. on the roads, be aware of the conditions and take extra care on corners and white lines. This weekend also provides alternatives to riding hills, with Element Series road racing, Numbat Cup cyclocross, and ATTA time trials also featuring across Perth on Sunday. Whilst entries may have closed for some events, if you’re interested, keep an eye out as they are all regular winter riding options.
saturday 9th june
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 rebold 38.69km spr saturday
fast/main – scarbs beach & hale 51.21km spr saturday
sunday 10th june
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 obs kal 90.32km spr sunday
monday 11th june
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 12th june
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 13th june
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 14th june
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 15th june
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am