All posts by Daniel Harvey

Club committees, AGMs and getting involved

Hey. I’d planned on doing this post to stimulate discussion around involvement at the AGM and in the SPR Committee for the upcoming year. I thought I’d missed the boat, but some discussion online encouraged me to finish it off and put it up. And this is 2019 – social media will mean everyone will have read it by 11am.

I want to put the invitation out again for people to put their hand up and get involved in the running of the club. The AGM is tomorrow.

I have several slants on this:

  1. We have nominations, as it stands now, for most of the positions, and in particular, the key positions. This means that if you step up, you are NOT taking on something huge without support. The club has a solid foundation, but also space for your ideas and contributions.
  2. Having said that, we do not have nominations for every possible position on the committee. This means that as it stands, if you nominate, you will be welcomed and there is space and room for your input, hard work and contributions.
  3. Not having all positions filled, as it stands now, also means that the AGM is not likely to need votes as popularity contests to choose the star team from dozens of nominations. That would be nice (maybe) but for community clubs like ours this is often not the case – for varying reasons, but often because people are generally happy and don’t want to presume to take over or change what is working.
  4. The final slant I’ll mention is one that elPrez mentions specifically. Even for positions where we have nominations (existing members such as elPrez or myself – and I am seeking to continue on the committee), the positions are open to a vote. If members of our community want to see change, they (you) have a voice, a vote and a responsibility to show up at the AGM and make that voice heard.

So feel free to nominate. You are invited. You will be welcome. And even for the fact that we have some things in our club sorted and with some history (did anyone say 10 years?!), we want and need new ideas, new contributors and new leaders. Change is inevitable.

And let me say one last thing, which is a big one for me personally. As a committee we have to be able to work together, but if you see things differently (or think you do) to me (or anyone else on the committee) do not let that discourage your getting involved. I strongly believe that diversity of opinion and thought can be constructive and is essential to growth and progress. And I think that in most cases, SPR does that really well.

So what’s involved you ask?

The key parts of being on the committee:

  1. Meet. A committee meeting of 1.5 hours every 6-8 weeks. We’re working hard to run these meetings effectively so we get things done but don’t waste people’s time. And still manage to get up a 4:30am the following morning to get a ride in (OK, 5 for people who live closer to South Perth than I do :)).
  2. Slack. Be a part of the SPR Committee Slack. For those that don’t know, Slack is like Facebook Groups and we have “Slack channels” for most aspects of club life e.g. #club_rides (if we have a win or a problem on a morning ride, you will hear about it here first, almost guaranteed). This enables committee members to be involved, make decisions, etc online between meetings. And when you’re at work you can set it to silent (or not – your choice on managing boundaries).
  3. Contribute. We are looking for people that are prepared to contribute. Events, races and programs don’t happen by themselves – you get the idea. And this stuff is fulfilling – we have lots of achievements that SPR as a club has achieved, but also things that individuals have contributed to – think Tour of Margaret River, The Beverley, Ride Leader Program, hundreds of people wanting to show up on group rides, club coaches, club mentors, social events, club kit. We have an honour roll of contributions for which people have worked hard and for which they are and should be proud.
  4. Communicate. Everyone has a life, a family, a training program and a job (that order right?). And these things can go in waves. We all get that. A key for us is to try to communicate about what we can and can’t do. Some things take longer than we want or intend – this is true for all of us (me definitely!) – our objective is to aim to communicate expectations and boundaries clearly. Just part of being an effective (100% volunteer) team.
  5. Question. Most of the great things SPR has achieved happen because someone asks a really good “what if?” or “how can we do this better?” question. Things like: How safe are our rides? What can be improved? How can we better support women taking up riding? Racing? How can our group rides meet members needs better? How can we support and encourage more racing? (If people are keen but unsure) What does it mean to have “racing teams” associated with the club? How can we get the best out of that whilst keeping a level playing field? How can we communicate more effectively?

Now. People often want to help and will “dip the toe” in small roles before stepping into bigger roles once they are comfortable. Have we got a subcommittee for you. These vary from year-to-year, may meet more or less frequently than the committee and are topic-focussed. Examples include Social, Kit, Race and Training and Development.

Each of these are typically a smaller and more focussed version of the committee. The beauty of this can being that you get to be involved in a way that you get to set the boundaries and parameters. If you are keen on one particular aspect of SPR club life, putting your hand up for a subcommittee could be the thing.

So please. If you have ideas or interest – speak up.

Official nominations are through an email to elPrez – admin@southperthrouleurs.com.au.

And you’re invited to ask any of the committee members questions. I personally can be reached at treasurer@southperthrouleurs.com.au or just message me on social media.

See you on the bike.

Daniel

SPR 10th Anniversary River Cruise – Early-bird Tickets Released

Get in quick team – we’ve got a set number of tickets available and a short time for you to get them at the early-bird price of $90 – available for 1 week only.

Come along to celebrate the South Perth Rouleurs 10th Anniversary on the evening of 6 April 2019 with a river cruise on the PS Decoy. This will be a river loop with a difference!  The event will be a black-tie evening not to be missed. Frocking up and enjoy a catered cruise with live music, a seasoned proportional of Club nostalgia and stories not to mention some superb company.

Get you tickets in our shop here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

SPR Social Sub-Committee

2017 Annual Report

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Evening all, it is with great pleasure (as much because the job is now done as anything else!) that I present the South Perth Rouleurs Annual Report for 2017.

As you may have been aware just by participating in the life of the community at SPR, there is a lot going on when you put it all together.

I, for one, am proud of what our little cycling community has achieved together, mostly because it has been rewarding and enjoyable for all club members.

Please read through and join with myself and the committee in celebrating everything that was SPR for 2017.

 

saturday 17 april – fast (ridge hill road)

ride report by daniel

The blog has been busy today and so have I – two reasons to keep this brief. Well, two excuses anyway. Let’s see how it goes.

I’d been hoping to do the Peter Clark Classic, but was not able to get the time I needed Sunday morning. As it turns out, this put me in the minority – when Peter called forth the fast group there were just nine of us. Sounds like a small but reasonable group to be riding with, but I did a quick check just to be sure: Ryan, Jerry, Ben, James … Mmm… it was looking like I was going to be working hard. Good. Sort of.

We headed off, our route taking us out along Shepperton Road and onto Albany Highway. We each did a turn on the front, and for my part, I was working relatively hard into the stiff headwind that was the order of the day. The reasonable pace continued as we turned onto William Street with no relief from the headwind just yet. We started rolling though somewhere along Hale Road, still keeping the pace reasonable.

At this point we were still riding into the headwind, and with one or two riders struggling, we decided to ease back the pace a little. Jerry suggested that due to the small group size we re-group at the top of Ridge Hill Road. Sounds like a plan, which we executed. Needless to say, I climbed Ridge Hill without too many problems but was not able to keep pace with the lead riders. We re-grouped, and with everyone back on, we started the descent down and headed towards Guildford.

After the initial descent, we started taking 30s turns on the front. This worked for a little while before some gaps opened up. When I took my next turn on the front, I tried but was not able to make any impression on the gap to Ryan and several others in the lead. When Jerry took the lead, he lifted the pace and was starting to make an impression on the gap. At this point, I was working hard just holding Jerry’s wheel, and thought to take a quick look back to see how the rest of the group was faring. Not so well; a gap had opened up and they were a fair way back. We continued, with Jerry showing no sign of tiring and providing an excellent wheel for me to hold. I however, even though sitting in and drafting, was feeling the heart rate rise a little too high and the legs starting to go away from me. As I started to fade off Jerry’s wheel, he noticed my predicament. He dropped the pace slightly, and after a quick signal to me, I was back on. Thanks. Given this, we did not manage to catch Ryan, Ben and Jerry until we reach Great Eastern Highway, where we all stopped briefly to get everyone back together.

We then kept a reasonable pace heading back into town along Guildford Road. I think it was along here that Melvyn dropped off the back. I was feeling it too. I managed to stay on, but probably only due to the small respite granted me by several of the traffic lights along Guildford road. I’ll take that.

We came to the lights at the corner of Guildford Road and East Parade, and as I was sitting at the front with Ryan we watched the Main 2 group sail past. No problems, we would be happy to go for the chase. The traffic lights cycle completed and we were ready to go. No joy – it seems some dear person had hit the pedestrian crossing button and then disappeared. Waiting, waiting. With the group ahead now given quite a head start we were off. I tried hard to hold Ryan’s wheel, but he was determined to catch the group in front and I couldn’t hold on. No major drama as I was still catching the group ahead, and I think they were held up a little at the freeway lights. Anyway, by the time we’d climbed the East Perth hill, we had managed to get to the front.

Now, Peter had indicated that we would not be able to sprint due to the Red Bull Air Race and the associated road closures. I considered this as we approached, but it looked to me like Riverside Drive had been closed just for us: one empty, inviting road. So, I lifted the pace as we turned onto Riverside Drive. Before too long, the pace was lifted past me as Ryan and others came past.

Until next time.

PS I’m not sure I really achieved the brief bit. Oh well.

saturday 21st nov – canningvale reverse

Ride report  by daniel

Having got a little wet during the week, it was good to be back into dryer weather as the weekend dawned. Although, when we started riding it was a little cooler than I would have liked. Oh well. Anyway, it was a relatively good turnout for the Saturday morning ride. I think we probably had several people doing the State Criterium Championship’s but looking around we would have plenty of company on the road. Pete was out early but had left the lycra at home for a change – seems like handing out water bottles and the like is such hard work the he needed to take a rest from riding in preparation! Hard for some.

Pete was up to giving us the pep-talk before we started: Canning Vale reverse, remember that there are some hills early, try to keep the group working together. The usual, but many of us need to be reminded.

So we started, and I think that we managed to hold everyone together in the main. Heading west on Canning Highway we did split the group several times coming over the freeway due to lights – but no real hassle – after a brief pause to gather everyone, we were off again, and holding a nice even inclusive pace. I was close to the front when we hit the hill leading up to Stock Road, but I think we managed to keep everyone resembling one group; I’m open to being corrected here as I was towards the front at this point 🙂

Either way, the lights along Stock Road kept showing red, and this helped us to regroup, and kept us together all along Stock Road and in the initial run down South Street. It was at this point that things got a little interesting. As we approached North Lake Road, I recall Ryan discussing with Jerry when we were splitting and exactly when it was that it would be OK to “go fast”. Or words to that effect. In any case, immediately after this there was a sudden acceleration down the hill towards Gilbertson Road. Now I don’t always have the legs to stay with some of these surges, but neither can I resist giving it a real good go. It seems like I was not the only one, so we were off!

As it turned out, this turn of speed did not last long as we took a few more lulls at lights as we crossed back over the freeway. However you rate it though, by the time what was the fast group had reached Bannister Road, I think it is safe to say that what started as a single group was definitely split into several pieces.

From this point this pace was kept relatively high but not insanely so – again due to lights and even a reasonable wait a roundabout. It seemed like we shared the work in the main, although I do recall Ryan hitting the front several extra times to make sure we kept pushing reasonably hard. So we headed back into town along Spencer Road  and then Albany Highway, picking up several riders who had taken the main group route (I think) and so managed to get out in front of us. We continued in pretty much the same way all the way back, with the lights playing true to form and stopping us as we picked up speed down Shepperton and onto the Causeway.

I can’t tell you who won the sprint as I got held back by the lights on Riverside Drive – except to say that it was not me.

Back in the coffee shop we met Pete to collect waterbottles and trisuites. It was good to see a few new faces on the ride. It was also good to see a few regular faces, the likes of Lisa and Anna, rejoining us after their efforts in the Tour de Perth (well done!). Not to mention that we got to meet Josh’s family, along with the regular appearance of Pete’s boys. Very cool.

See you all next time.