so this is a roundabout near my house. the friday ride route passes by here and the sunday rides regularly come through here from the other direction. have a look at the middle left of the picture and you will see a traffic sign that says “all bicycles”. on friday, we don’t obey the sign. i totally understand why the council/main roads would do this. for the mummy and daddy riders, a roundabout can be a tricky experience. especially a double lane roundabout like this one. however, what i see it doing is giving drivers a free pass to not look out for cyclists as they have already been forced off the road. the riders in this example would need to stop twice and give way to traffic before continuing down the road. if they stayed on the road, they would only need to give way to any traffic coming from the right. again, my view is that a potentially dangerous situation is “fixed” by taking the vulnerable road user off the road rather than forcing all road users to be responsible for their actions and therefore actually looking out for cyclists. as i move around the city i am seeing more and more of these examples coming up. by making cyclist have to stop and start in order to “protect their own safety” does not actively promote the sport or the correct behaviours in other road users.
ride leader sponsor –The ride leader sponsor for March is Babylon Pump & Power LTD. They provide specialist equipment rental, diesel rebuild/maintenance and project support to the resources sector.
junior jersey policy – In order to further encourage junior participation the Committee has resolved to offer all junior members a free club jersey! And in recognition that juniors will keep growing, the policy allows for one jersey per year (as long as they are a member) until 18 years of age. Please see the previous post for more details.
memberships new changes – there has been quite a big change with memberships in 2019. cycling australia have moved to a new system to keep track of memberships and this has allowed a few new benefits as well. firstly there are a few different types of licences. for us the two main ones are ride+ and race. obviously if you want to race, get the race one and if you just want coverage while riding with the club, get the ride+ one. links can be found here. while there is a cheaper ride basic option, it won’t cover you for much if you have an accident on a club ride. there is also a new billing system where you can elect to pay monthly instead of annually. for those that don’t appreciate the big hit for a elite race licence, you can split this across the year. the minimum amount is for 12 months, though, so you still have to pay even if you don’t race. there is also a 7day race licence that replaces the 3 day licence. this can be purchased online and will be needed for event like the tour of margs, or if you just want to try out a crit or two. it is only $38 but i am not sure how many you are allowed to purchase over a year. finally, for those that want to transfer clubs there are two options. firstly, if you current licence has expired, you now have the option to select a new club when renewing. for those that want to join or leave spr for a mid year transfer, then you need to contact cycling australia memberships directly as the clubs cannot provide this service any more.
spr 10 year anniversary – south perth rouleurs 10th anniversary celebrations on the 6th of april 2019 will be in the form of not one, but two events! starting at 7am, we will conduct a suitably nostalgic, guided river ride where we will take in some of the significant landmarks and spots-of-significance that represent important milestones of the club’s growth and development. in keeping with our south perth heritage, we have secured the PS Decoy to steam us around…you guessed it…a river loop with a difference! This will be a black-tie evening not to be missed. see the previous post for more details. tickets for the river cruise event are now being sold. check out the previous post for links.
anniversary quiz – To get everyone in the mood for April 6th, we thought it might be a good idea to look back at the last 10 years of SPR history in the form of…you guessed it…a quiz!! The quiz has been designed to test your knowledge of both the history of the Club as well as current events, people, geography and general knowledge. There will be prizes for the most number of correct answers down to 3rd place…but there’s a catch! To be eligible to win one of the prizes, you MUST be on the PSS Decoy on the night of April 6th; no exceptions! Entries close midnight April 3rd, 2019! TAKE ME TO THE QUIZ!
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.
spr juniors – juniors is getting bigger. more kids, more hill climbs, more pancakes and more bacon. seriously, pancakes with bacon seems to be the food of choice. under 10’s or over 10’s welcome with parents.
from the ride coordinator – our new ride coordinator is greg jones, so from now on you can blame him if you come home into a headwind – This week’s forecast is for strong easterly winds, so as you head out into the teeth of it, suggest you channel your best Jen’s Voight who is known to have said “ When my legs hurt I say ‘Shut up legs ! Do what I tell you to do’”.
Oh and enjoy the ride home and the coffee that you deserve when you finish.
saturday 30th 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
juniors (with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday
development group – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday
transitional 1/2 – trans benara 39.90km spr saturday
fast/main – benara rd 50.76km spr saturday
sunday 31st march
rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – coffee ride
short – khna weir 72.23km spr sunday
long – khna trnr obs 101.76km spr sunday
monday 1st april
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 2nd april
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)
wednesday 3rd april
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 4th 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 5th april
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am