Ride routes 7th – 13th November

As a five teams of riders prepare to start the Tour of Margaret River tomorrow morning, SPR had just as many representing the club last weekend at the Tour of Gracetown. The club is made up of a diverse group of people and not everyone wants to pin a number on and race. Our demographics show that we have more recreational riders within the club than those with a race licence. Although we are happy to provide a pathway for those that want to get into racing, it is important to also recognise those that just ride for fun, or sightseeing or just social company. The Watertower Challenge provides an outlet for those riders and offers a supported challenge for those that want to achieve the century. That, however, is just one type of event. For the non-racers amongst you, what type of event would you like to see the club provide?

The Rules – just a reminder that it isn’t business as usual.

As we progress through WA’s phased approach to reopening, how the club interacts within itself and the wider community will also change.
Rightly or wrongly, the lack of community transmission in the state has meant that a lot of the social distancing rules have disappeared. As such we want to streamline what the requirements are from a club perspective. Basically there are 3 main things we want people to keep in mind.

  • The virus can spread via human contact, so minimise the amount of touching between people and each others bikes/helmets etc.
  • No spitting, snotting or sneezing within the group. If you need to, move to the back of the group, but please look behind you to make sure that it is clear of traffic. That is all traffic, not just bikes. We don’t want some dash-cam footage of someone blowing their nose on a car.
  • Personal hygiene becomes very important in the spread of the virus so make sure that you either wash your hands whenever you can or carry a small container of hand sanitiser. Limit your exposure to common surfaces (chairs, tables) and don’t be sharing items.

Club Kit Delivery – The latest kit order has arrived, so if you opted for a pick up, it should now be available at R&D Cycles in Claremont. If you selected postage, you probably already have it now, so what are you reading this for???

Cycling research study – An Honours research student at Curtin University is seeking participants to join the study “Handling of Bicycles”. Participants must have at least 1 years’ experience in competitive road cycling or equivalent. If you fit this description, then they want to hear from you!
The objective of this study is to analyse road cyclist’s performance during typical cycling manoeuvres including accelerating, decelerating, ascending, descending, and cornering. This will involve placing sensors on your whole-body to record changes in your movement patterns, muscle activity and posture. You will be required to attend 1x session of approximately 2 hours in duration. 
Please contact Caitlin via email at caitlin.hillier@student.curtin.edu.au for more information.

Thursday Group Ride – There is now a fourth group available during the Thursday training ride leaving from the cityside of the narrows at 5:30am. This will be a Main 2+ speed and not the frantic pace of the rest of the Thursday groups. If you are interested in having a go at the Thursday ride and have thought it would be too fast, there is now an option for you.

Our commitment to Core Values – We are a diverse club that made a point early on of committing to a number of core values to which we have built everything upon. These are – Safe, Inclusive, Organised & Social. It is under these values that we want all club interaction to occur, whether on the road or in cyberspace. Please read the previous post so you understand what we as a club, expect from you as members.

Sunday Summer Hills Start – As per the results of the feedback from the last few year, the Sunday hills rides now starts at 6am and continues this way until the end of February. The extra sunlight early on and the hotter days means a more pleasant riding experience for all. Yes, you miss out on a slight sleep in, but you will be home earlier and can have a nanna nap on the couch instead.

Where do i need to stand again?

Saturday Start Locations – In order to adhere to the new gathering regulations, we need to slightly change the meeting points of the groups. There is a 100 person gathering limit and when all groups are combined, we often exceed that when everyone is waiting for the start. There was a discussion about different start times for different groups, but what we settled on was moving half the groups to different sides of the carpark. This is not ideal as there are usually more cars using the eastern most parks, but we will just have to work around that for now. We understand that the COVID risk isn’t high, but it is more about how the club is viewed from outside. So, please congregate in the assigned locations, so we can continue to hold group rides in the future.

From the Ride Coordinator –  Great weather is forecast for this weekend which is a big one for cycling in WA with the Tour of Margaret River on. SPR will be well represented with 5 official teams as well as countless other members and regular riders in the 130 teams that have entered for the event. We wish all our members and friends who have entered all the best in probably one of Australia’s largest cycling events this year.
For everyone riding this Saturday in Perth, please note there will be no ride lead Saturday Hills ride option for this weekend. The clubs committee will be discussing our commitment to this option next week so stay tuned for more information in this blog next week. In the interim, it will be almost all hands on deck for led rides due to the ToMR.  Whatever riding you are doing this weekend make it safe and enjoyable.

Saturday 7th November

Sunday 8th November

Monday 9th November

Tuesday 10th November

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 11th November

Thursday 12th November

Friday 13th November