we all know that group riding takes a different skill set than riding by yourself.  one of the biggest differences is understanding just where to position your bike in relation to the rider in front of you, to maximise the draft you can get.  being able to ride longer and faster is often determined by how much energy you can save when travelling behind someone.  so we all know that if the wind is coming from the left, then the group needs to echelon out to the right, with each rider positioning themselves to the right of the person in front.  you see it on flat windy stages of the tour, with the group essentially forming a diagonal line across the road.  well thursday earlybird is not the tour and so we need to be mindful of other road users.  what is not always obvious to drivers behind us, is that we are still only riding two-abreast.  what they do see, however, is a scattering of riders, taking up most of the lane.  the call of “car back” was made and the majority of the group tightened up, but some didn’t want to give up their position.  this is generally those that are struggling to keep pace and know that if they drop the wheel, they might not get back on.  it is kind of a survival instinct, if you will.  getting dropped, though, is probably not the worse thing that can happen to you.  coming to grief with a frustrated tradie that decided to pass anyway, can have a devastating affect on the group ride, not surprisingly even worse than a cross-wind.  i keep coming back to this all the time.  be spatially aware.  know where everything is at all times and you can put yourself in a better position to be able to keep riding. getting dropped on port beach road is not the end of the world.  you won’t be the first to ride back by yourself and you wont be the last.

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 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 – Please note that after the section through Whiteman Park, the first 1.5km of Marshall Rd has roadworks and is restricted to a single lane

saturday 16th 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 benara 39.90km spr saturday

fast/main – whiteman park 50.4km spr saturday

sunday 17th 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 – kal goose 67.63km spr sunday

long – kal chook obs 89.74km spr sunday

monday 18th june

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 19th 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 20th june

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 21st 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 22nd june

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

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

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

so this last week both social media and mainstream media exploded with the push for single file riding to become law.  what surprised me was that the offending facebook page has been active for quite a while and what was it about this week that made it take off.  i am assuming that trump didn’t do anything stupid enough and the media outlets were a bit hard up for content.  the premise is that drivers want a law to force cyclists to ride in single file as it is safer for the riders.  safety.  well i am glad that there is someone else looking out for our safety.  so lets analyse this a bit.  a group of riders whether in a single file or not are riding on a road.  are they unsafe???  what is it about riders that are two-abreast that makes it so unsafe???  the road surface is the same, the riders are still interacting with each other.  what makes it dangerous???  if it is unsafe, it is the actions of other road users that makes it unsafe for cyclists to be two-abreast.  so if we were going to legislate for safety, why not legislate against the party that was making it unsafe.  well we did, and the 1m rule has been applied to most states in australia.  unfortunately, the backlash from this law has meant that there is a ground swell of discontent that say that it just isn’t fair.  if i have to give you 1m, then you should only ride single file.  well, i believe that riding two-abreast is safer for cyclists and here is why; the drivers see you.  if they are complaining about you, it means that they see you.  the majority of cycling related fatalities in this country are due to distracted drivers cleaning up single rider cyclists that are usually riding on the shoulder and generally minding their own business.  it is rare that a group of riders is involved in an incident, as drivers see us.  laws change to improve safety, not to appease those that feel that they are being inconvenienced. my advice is not to engage on social media, and continue to do what we are doing.  just keep it respectful on the road, and adjust your riding style to suit the situation.  if traffic is banking up, go single to let them through.  if the road furniture makes it dangerous to overtake, then take the lane until it is safe.  don’t use the excuse that “it’s the law to ride two-abreast”, ride in a way that allows everyone to get where they need to go, without someone going home in an ambulance.

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 on 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 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.

social sub-committee – we are looking for a few members to assist in the running of the spr social sub-committee.  the occasional breakfast, grand tour dinner and other out of lycra events are on the cards for this year.  check out the previous post if you can help out.

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 – stay upright.

saturday 2nd 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 canning vale 42.34km spr saturday

fast/main – maddington 51.87km spr saturday

sunday 3rd 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 – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday

long – carr peet obs 97.72km spr sunday

monday 4th june – wa day

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

main rides – public hol 58.97km spr special

tuesday 5th 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 6th june

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 7th 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 8th june

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

sometimes life is about being challenged and other times it is about looking for a challenge.  a contingent of spr riders headed down south last weekend to the home of the tour of margaret river – nannup.  this time, however, there was a dirty weekend on the cards.  dirty, filthy, painful and exhilarating all at the same time.  the event was called seVen and involved 7 sectors of mostly fire trails and logging tracks around nannup.  covering 125kms and climbing close to 3000m it was not for the faint hearted.  it was a certainly a challenge made even bigger by the fact that since it was the inaugural event,  no-one knew what to expect either.  a few of us chose a cx bike as it was touted as a mtb/cx event. whilst none of the climbs were out of reach of the cx bike, it was the descents that really tested your resolve.  some of these were butt-clenching, arm shaking, wheel skidding edge of your seat experiences.  however, the scenery that we passed by was unbelievable. was it hard, yes. were i sore for days, yes.  will i do it again, damn right.  challenge accepted. (check out claire tyrrell’s article in today’s west travel section)

ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for may is  Itomic web/app specialists.  Itomic are a website and web application development company. Established in Perth in 2000, they also have offices in Melbourne and Vancouver.  Their primary open source software technologies are Drupal, WordPress, and Laravel.

spr national jersey – have you qualified to represent australia at the UWCT finals in italy this year???  if so, then you may need to purchase your aussie kit.  similar to previous years, we are doing an spr flavoured aussie kit so you can show both your country and club.  orders will close on the 31st may, so get on it.  see the previous post for further details.

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 on 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.

social sub-committee – we are looking for a few members to assist in the running of the spr social sub-committee.  the occasional breakfast, grand tour dinner and other out of lycra events are on the cards for this year.  check out the previous post if you can help out.

do you know cpr? – our own claire tyrrell reported on a relevant cycling incident the other day in the west.  during a group ride, one of the riders suffered a heart attack and the others were required to perform cpr until an ambulance arrived.  there is a link to the article that show the event being captured on video.  it is pretty powerful stuff and begs the question – would you know what to do???  there has been previous discussions about ride leaders being qualified in 1st aid.  our position is still that the ride leader is there to guide and direct, they are not there to be 100% responsible for your well being.  if your mate was having a heart attack would you step in and act or would you just step back and say “oh, well, it is the ride leaders responsibility”.  we are all responsible for each others safety on the ride, make sure you know what to do.

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 – Please make a note that there may be a short detour in place on Albany hwy south bound near Kenwick link due to ongoing roadworks.

saturday 26th may

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 – shelley & mosman 50.14km spr saturday

sunday 27th may

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 – khna weir 72.23km spr sunday

long – khna can mills 94.55km spr sunday

monday 28th may

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 29th may

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 30th may

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 31st may

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 1st june

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

i have spent the majority of the week in bris-vegas sans bike.  this meant that i have had to resort to the odd run to keep the fitness up.  so out for an explore of the shared paths around the city.  their river is not quite as wide so there are numerous bridges to cross onto south bank.  there are 2 dedicated pedestrian/bike bridges and the traffic bridges also have walkways.  the south bank promenade is popular with walkers, joggers and the like meaning that it is not really the place for some serious cycling.  it is well setup with cafe’s, parks, a ferris wheel and a free outdoor swimming pool/beach.  on the cityside, however, the bicentennial bikeway has wide, mostly separated paths set under the main roads that overhang the river.  like perth, getting into the city seems to be fairly easy, but after that you are competing with the traffic.

ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for may is  Itomic web/app specialists.  Itomic are a website and web application development company. Established in Perth in 2000, they also have offices in Melbourne and Vancouver.  Their primary open source software technologies are Drupal, WordPress, and Laravel.

social sub-committee – we are looking for a few members to assist in the running of the spr social sub-committee.  the occasional breakfast, grand tour dinner and other out of lycra events are on the cards for this year.  check out the previous post if you can help out.

do you know cpr? – our own claire tyrrell reported on a relevant cycling incident the other day in the west.  during a group ride, one of the riders suffered a heart attack and the others were required to perform cpr until an ambulance arrived.  there is a link to the article that show the event being captured on video.  it is pretty powerful stuff and begs the question – would you know what to do???  there has been previous discussions about ride leaders being qualified in 1st aid.  our position is still that the ride leader is there to guide and direct, they are not there to be 100% responsible for your well being.  if your mate was having a heart attack would you step in and act or would you just step back and say “oh, well, it is the ride leaders responsibility”.  we are all responsible for each others safety on the ride, make sure you know what to do.

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.

ride routes – single digit temperatures overnight this weekend, so it will be brisk on the earlybird.  make sure you rug up and i hope you made the kit order cut off for cold weather gear.

saturday 19th may

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 benara 39.90km spr saturday

fast/main – hale & ridgehill 50.58km spr saturday

sunday 20th may

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 21st may

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 22nd may

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 23rd may

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 24th may

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 25th may – presidents day

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

if the nights are dark and full of horrors, then the early morning is still pretty damn dark too.  all rides before 7am need lights and good ones too.  pretty much every ride we need to tell people to stop their front light from flashing.  it is annoying and pretty close to epileptic the way that it bounces and reflects off everything around you.  rear lights need to be on low and not facing up into the eyes of the person behind you.  riding at pace in the dark comes with a number of risks.  we do what we can to minimise these, but please be aware that your lights can play a big part in this.  not too dim, not too bright, juuuuust right.

ride leader sponsor – the ride leader sponsor for may is  Itomic web/app specialists.  Itomic are a website and web application development company. Established in Perth in 2000, they also have offices in Melbourne and Vancouver.  Their primary open source software technologies are Drupal, WordPress, and Laravel.

dirty dozen perth 2018 recap – from greg murray – I feel dirty. So, so dirty. Sunday saw a second running of the Smitton’s Dirty Dozen – DD18. And as you may pick up, it was a dirty one. The days’ build up was a succession of hints, threats and fears. Promises of a challenging (ie. leg shreddingly scary) course, killer climbs and some serious TSS numbers. Many a never-before-ridden climb would populate the collection of 13 inclines, and they would challenge and they would hurt. Guaranteed. Despite assurances from the resident BoM expert we’d be relatively dry (Fitton herself, no less) the weather followed through on threats (again, much like Fitton herself) and wee’d down. It was a wet, dreary start to the day at Dome Midland, smoke haze and drizzle in the air and bit of grumbling in pre-ride chats over coffee. 07:15 and the morning briefing from Smithy was all that was required get things started. Be aware of the road conditions, look out for each other, don’t be a dick. Golden rules. The roll out saw more giggling, laughing and sniggering – how appropriate that the heavens opened on the gran depart. The first few flat to rolling km’s were known quantities, but as we continued there were to be some surprisingly sharp and nasty ones, even by Fitton’s standards. Most of the nasty ones were to be shorter, but not all of ’em. Poodle had words and banter aplenty, but was short of intention and left us after climb #1 of 13. Not before some smart-arsery, though – never one to disappoint. Turning downhill and heading home. Much more of a pussy that puppy…. Most interesting of all the climbs were the new and never before seen climbs we smashed up. Roads between roads we ride every weekend, but never knew existed. Challenges right under our noses! Girrawheen and Lenori, either side of The Goose, and Spring Rd – the “Sympathy Hill” from Fitton. The picks of the day had to be the ones where the camera and spectators were waiting – Allestree, with the 20-something degree pitch and a 90 year old resident cyclist who still punches that hill, although with an e-bike these days; and the unsealed majesty of Mitchell Rd in the rain. Pain faces were sublime – some of the best. Steve Lim (“Junior”, moving forward), Jedsman, The Panda, Claire “Stoner” Tyrrell (what else could that face POSSIBLY mean!?!), the Mayeur Model – all showing lactic burn meets despair in various pics. Except Smithy – who smiled. All. Day. Long. Maybe it’s the long time off the bike that allows one to appreciate the hurt and suffering from what it is – a choice to be awesome. The quick crew were done inside of 4 hours – DeCastro, el Prez, et al – and some of us closer to 4 and a half hours. Most of those adventurers out there ended up with a small number of like-speeded SPRouleurs to roll with. And as we spread out along the parcours, inevitably the banter would start and the good times roll. In weather such as Sunday’s, the Rapha-esque suffering photos create themselves. el Prez – Rapha called and said they need a new photo model. Wet, sweaty, dirty, smelling somewhere between wet dog and post-match footballer, we sat to compare tales over coffee and variations on bacon back at Dome – the day’s home base. I got to ride the day with Mrs, Leigh-O (much more refined that Steve-O), Stoner, Fitton and the Mayeur Model. It was a cracking day and so much more fun for the ordinary weather. Eating wheel spray, struggling to see through fogging glasses, getting punted from the cross wind descending the Zig-Zag contributed to make this the sort of memorable day out when we gather again for DD19…… We await, Dear Smitton’s.

do you know cpr? – our own claire tyrrell reported on a relevant cycling incident the other day in the west.  during a group ride, one of the riders suffered a heart attack and the others were required to perform cpr until an ambulance arrived.  there is a link to the article that show the event being captured on video.  it is pretty powerful stuff and begs the question – would you know what to do???  there has been previous discussions about ride leaders being qualified in 1st aid.  our position is still that the ride leader is there to guide and direct, they are not there to be 100% responsible for your well being.  if your mate was having a heart attack would you step in and act or would you just step back and say “oh, well, it is the ride leaders responsibility”.  we are all responsible for each others safety on the ride, make sure you know what to do.

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.

ride routes – due to the predicted weather, smokey conditions are expected in the hills sunday morning.  please be aware of this if you suffer from asthma, and take precautions.

saturday 12th may

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 cresswell 40.21km spr saturday

fast/main – cresswell & herdsman 48.86km spr saturday

sunday 13th may

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 – goose kal 63.41km spr sunday

long – darl weir 100.09km spr sunday

monday 14th may

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 15th may

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 16th may

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 17th may

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 18th may

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride