We have been able to reserve some dormitory style accommodation for the Tour of Margaret River in November at Wharncliffe Mill, which is about 1.5km outside of the Margaret River townsite.  This will enable us to stay together…those that travelled to Kalgoorlie this year will confirm that this just adds to the fun of such an event! 🙂

We have booked for the Thursday (7/11), Friday (8/11) and Saturday (9/11) nights.  The cost will be somewhere around $25-30 per night.  In order to secure our booking we now need to know who wants a bed…please leave a comment below.  Remember to also let us know if you want a bed for a significant other.

You have until next Thursday night (26/09) to secure your bed/s.  If you don’t let us know your needs by then it’ll be up to you to organise your own accommodation.

Message from Liam Walker, part of Team Luchador…

As part of our fundraising efforts for the Ride to Conquer Cancer, Team Luchador is going to have a charity quiz night and auction on the first weekend in October Saturday the 5th from about 630pm to about 930pm.

Thanks to our sponsors at Dome in Westralia Square we have a venue and we are looking for about 10 teams of no more than 10 people. For a donation of $200 per team (or $20 each if you have less than 10). Drinks and other beverages available for purchase on the evening.

Prizes for smartest table, raffling signed Arbitrage Jersey, auction Anna Meares and Arbitrage Jersey (signed by 100% WA Champions!), Porsche merchandise, lucky $100 note, team t shirts for sale and much, much more.

Come along, have a good time and help support the Western Australian Institute of Medical Research to find a cure for cancer.

If you know someone who would be interested in sponsoring or donating some prizes then we would be very appreciative of your support.

If you are interested please contact via email (liam.walker867@gmail.com) or see Sam, Liam or Brooke on Saturday or Sunday morning rides.

The racing keeps coming….thick and fast.  The ink isn’t even dry on Des’ race report from Dardanup yet but it’s time to think about Pinjarra.  The Pinjarra Classic is on this weekend and registrations close at midnight Tuesday…check out the flyer here.  If you need inspiration have a look at Peter’s photo essay from last year’s event.  registration can be found here.

SPR is sure to be out in force again.  If you are headed along please post a comment below so we have some idea and will know who to look out for.

Earlier this year resident SPR powerhouse Tom Barratt did a series of presentations on the basics of training for some of the club’s female members.  The sessions were very well received and those who attended appreciated the insight into preparing your body for racing.

Well, Tom has kindly agreed to run a similar seminar, this time to a broader and more sexually diverse group.  Tom has condensed the material down to one session which will happen on this coming Monday.

Date: Monday 9th September, 2013

Time: 6:00pm-8:30ish

Location: The Vic, 226 Hay St, Subiaco

Cost: $10

If you want to come along click the link here and pay your $10 ASAP….session numbers are strictly limited, so if you are interested get in quick.

Monday is also $15 burger night at The Vic so I’m sure that there will be a few people staying on afterwards for a bite to eat.

It looks like we are going to have a decent sized group of 20+ down at Collie on Saturday!!  As long as the weather isn’t rotten it’ll be a fun day out…

We won’t be setting up a tent but if we all park/congregate in the same area we can still get that SPR vibe happening.  I will have an esky and a supply of that important post ride carbonated beverage, and a first aid kit in case it’s needed.

I suggest we park in Mungalup Road, near where it crosses Throssell Street (it’s on the right before you get to the start/finish area).  Most people seem to go through the start/finish before looking for parking and this road should also still be open because it is not on the actual course.

 http://goo.gl/maps/TWLbS

As Ben has already pointed out the main event kicks off at 12:30pm (with registration closing at 12:00) so make sure you get down there in plenty of time!

Here’s hoping for some generous handicaps! 🙂

The best race of the year (well it’s my favourite anyway!) is on in less than two weeks!!

The Collie to Donnybrook Return Cycle Classic 2013 is on Saturday August 17th…registrations close next Tuesday night at midnight so if you’ve been thinking about it pull your finger out and take the plunge!

What’s so good about this race?

• it starts and finishes outside a pub
• it’s a handicap event which means everyone is riding the same race (and it’s certainly not always an ‘A-grader’ that wins it!)
• it’s a Saturday afternoon start…and it only takes 2 hours to get there so you can have a sleep in!
• did I mention it starts and finishes outside a pub?
• there is $7,000 in prizes on offer
• it’s a lovely rolling course
• it starts and finishes outside a pub!

We always have a good turn-out at this race but it would be great to see even more along this year.

Check it all out on the flyer – 2013 Collie to Donnybrook Flyer

Just note that you need a racing licence to do the main event, they’ll only accept day licences and 3 ride passes for the support race, so now might be a good time to take advantage of CWA’s current 6 month racing licence offer and upgrade!

In further support of this event we’re going to have a second instalment of ‘Luke’s Lung-busting Handicap Training’ on Sunday afternoon.  Those who attended the first session will know what a good workout it was and the fun we had with the handicap format!  This time we’re going to run it along the Shelley foreshore.

• Sunday 11/08/2013
• 4pm – 5.30ish, arrive warmed-up
• Meet here – http://goo.gl/maps/OxXn6 (Park Beach Close, at the Eastern end of Shelley)

Leave a comment below to let us know if you’ll be racing the Collie-Donnybrook, or if you’ll be coming to training on Sunday, or better still BOTH! 🙂

How many times have we heard that one of the strengths of our club is that we have something for everyone, regardless of experience or skill level?  Normally we’re referring to the less experienced amongst us when we talk about these opportunities and exploits.  Who can fail to have noticed the write ups over the last week of last weekend’s Dam busters and UWCT warriors?  Not to mention the exploits of El Prez and Brooke Colton this weekend in the formidable Delirium and those who have ridden nutty distances in the ATTA time trials.

What some people may have not noticed is that some of our boys competed at the very highest domestic level last weekend, riding for teams in the National Road Series’ Tour de Perth.  To a man they did themselves and the club super proud…and it was great to see the boys receive support from fellow Rouleurs across the stages of this grueling 4 stage event.  Many of the boys were riding B-grade not so long ago…it just goes to show what you can do through application and hard work (not to mention some reasonable talent!).  It’s great to have riders like this in the club to inspire us!

You can find all the results here – http://nationalroadseries.subaru.com.au/results/2013-tour-de-perth/gc/.  Special congratulations to Jonno Bolton for a top 20 finish!

 Special thanks to Julia Kalotas and Paul Evans for the use of their images!

As Peter stated in his ride route post last week we helping to run the State Criterium Championships this coming weekend.  Information regarding timings, grades and registration can be found here.  This year there are a number of support grades so there should still be something for everyone.  It would be great to see SPR riders out in force!

Unlike our regular club crits you can’t just rock up and register on the day.  If you are thinking of racing this weekend you must register online ahead of time.  Registration closes at midnight tomorrow (Tuesday Feb 19th).  Late nominations will be accepted up until Thursday, but if you miss the Tuesday deadline you’ll pay a $20 late entry fee.

Peter intends to put up a post later in the week calling for volunteers to help run the event.

Calling any intrepid Rouleurs thinking of heading to Pemberton for the Labour Day long weekend…

The Pemberton Classic (full information here) is happening in a couple of weeks…criterium on Saturday and road race on the Sunday.  This is a big weekend on the annual calendar and you can read all about Luke’s experiences last year here…

A number of us (Jon Bolton, Luke Ellis, Richard Langsford, Des Mullins, Amanda Nabi and myself…to name a few) are going to organise some shared accommodation to help keep the costs down.  Not only will it make things cheaper but I’m sure it will be a lot more fun too.  If you’d like to join us then let me know by Wednesday night at the latest.  We need to get on and book something otherwise we could all end up sleeping in the back of Jonny’s van!!

Message me, send an email, leave a comment, or use a carrier pigeon if you have to, but just let me know by Wednesday so we can organise numbers!