Congratulations

to Brendan and Jody on their engagement!

Saturday

11th July

Everyone at SPR

wishes them smooth gear changes and puncture-free rides for the future 🙂

.

Report by buy cheap viagra Lorraine

A lousy weather forecast had many riders writing off any cycling even before the weekend had started! I had even bought a fancy rain jacket on Thursday in preparation… no excuses for me!

While up in the hills getting dressed the first text arrived before 6 am… “are you riding?”…  “yes” was the answer (with a smiley face 🙂 added for enthusiasm). Driving out of Darlington the next text came… “will meet you at coffee”.  As I stopped to send a quick reply a mysterious 4 wheel drive stopped in front of me! Oh no…  not another stalker (as per Dardanaup)… This stalker I recognised however… It was Russell! We drove in convoy down to Coode St to find ourselves the first riders there.   But who was that huddled in their car?… Jerard! He was seriously contemplating not setting foot outside the car  let alone getting on his bike.  He even had conveniently left one of his gloves behind (a tribute to Michael Jackson apparently)…  How incredibly lucky for him I had brought 2 pairs with me!

A few hardly souls had gathered by 7  (sorry I never count heads)  but not enough to split up considering the weather (which wasn’t really that bad).  We rolled out led out appropriately by the president Pete and vice president Brendan.  As we rode along Riverside drive and a few drops of rain started a hardly soul (wearing very familiar gloves) rode up next to me and whispered sweet nothings in my ear…. “shall we just stop for coffee now?”. “No” was the answer…  🙂

As we kept up a comfortable pace along Mounts  Bay Road it was becoming evident that the wind was going to be more trouble today that any rain.  Up though Thomas and down Hay Street over the speed humps into Subi.  Further on ahead we turned off onto Perry Lakes and then onto to Oceanic Drive where the rolling hills spread the group out for the first time. We hadn’t split much at all though and not much of regroup was needed as we made our way onto West Coast Highway.  The cross winds buffetted us nicely all the way along until we finally turned a sharp right onto Marine Parade.

Along the coast the cross wind lashed at us blowing the hardiest of riders back and forth with it’s strength. My violent swearing must have been audible above the wind and Pete came up beside me to do his best to stop me being blown half way across the road… Thanks  El Presidente!  Back through Swanbourne and Claremont and over Stirling Highway saw us maintaining a comfortable pace and keeping everyone together.  The attack points in Dalkeith were completely ignored and I found myself in conversation rather than fighting for breath as we cruised along “Gumnut Alley”.  Down onto Mounts Bay Road…. would anyone be in the mood for a last effort? Not today… wind, rain and saving of legs for tomorrow’s Cyclosportif meant that there was no one in the mood for anything resembling a sprint!

Back at coffee… no queue and hardly any wait for drinks… at least there was an unforeseen upside to venturing out today! A few people had made it down for coffee and for some pre-Cyclosportif team tactics.

South Perth dwellers and those of us going back to the carpark headed out and back over the bridge deep in discussion about what the Cyclosportif would hold in store for us the next day.  Cruising along the riverside with Mends Street ahead of us I suddenly heard and felt an almighty BANG!!!! My back wheel slid out and before I knew it I was on the ground… “what the $#%@!!!” For a few seconds I could not figure out what had happened…. Then I looked at my back wheel! I had manged to impale an enormous 4 inch nail right through my tire and just about right through my rim as well.  Lucky for me I had plenty of SPR friends to scrape me up and get me and my bike off the road.

Julian “Paparazzi” Johnson had pulled a camera out to capture the scene before I even had my helmet off!!! New SPR guy/white knight Jason immediately headed off to get his van (which by the way is large, spacious, unmarked and could easily hold

4 or 5 bikes!) from Coode St  to come back and pick me up.  Lisa (from whom I was expecting sympathy++) just looks at me in utter disbelief and starts laughing!!! “This couldn’t happen to anyone but you Lozza… You have the worse luck!”.  Jerard joined in with “You know this would never have happened if you’d been riding a Pinarello!”

Damage assessment: Rear Conti Attack tire and tube are history;

wheel is still usable with a bit of rim tape to cover the nail hole (thanks Pete); pedal damage++; shifter caps scrunched up++; hole in the knee of my knicks; hole in the new rain jacket!!!!; various scrapes and bruises.

I won’t be joining SPR next weekend as I am off to Canberra on Thursday to have a go at my first taste of national racing in the Canberra Women’s Tour.

Ride safe next weekend everyone!

Last chance to put your name down to be part of an SPR team for next Sunday’s Cyclosportif.

There are currently enough riders for 2 x 78km teams and 1 x 62km team… but there is

still room for anyone else who is interested.

This is a participation event… so EVERYONE is welcome and encouraged to take part.

Team registrations close on Tuesday 24th June.

Each team will have a nominated leader who will pay for their generic cialis team’s entry (their team will need to pay them on the day).

Teams will be organised according to ability.

Leave a message in the comments if interested. 

Go on… have a go!

Lorraine

For those of you who already know, Cyclosportif events are fantastic participation events for cyclists of all abilities.

The next Cyclosportif event,  Cicla a Swan Valley,  is on Sunday 28th June starting at the Velodrome  in Midvale and heading out around the picturesque Swan Valley.

There is an opportunity for anyone involved in SPR  to participate as there are 3 different distances to choose from.

Distances:
78kms – 5 x laps
62kms – 4 x laps
31kms – 2 x laps

Each team comprises up to a maximum of 9 and a minimum of 5 riders for each event, with the overall team time (you must stick together) counting as the completed time. 

This is NOT racing – it is about enjoying a challenge with your team mates and ‘participating’ as a team not ‘winning’.

Let’s see how many SPR jerseys we can get out there and show other riders what an enthusiastic and energetic club we have!

Cost is $45 pp for Cyclosportif members/ $60 pp for non-members

If you hold a current Cycling Australia racing license the cost is $45

Recreational and non-license holders will need to buy a “friend

of Cyclosportif” day license to participate – $60 in total

Please indicate in the comments if you are interested and in which distance.

An SPR “base camp” and “feed zone” will be available on the day.

Lorraine

A

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GLORIOUS LEADER!

HAVE A GREAT DAY PETE…

FROM

EVERYONE IN SPR

Report by Lorraine

My race preparation started on Saturday night with dinner and a sleepover at Lisa’s place.  Lisa had pasta waiting when I walked in the door (I could so get used to that) and I

had ample supplies of cake (OK… only 1/2 a cake) and icecream to complete the carb-loading experience for the evening.  Did we paint out nails and talk about boys???…. No! And, contrary to the opinion of a certain SPR member, were not involved in any acts of pillow fighting or mud wrestling 😉

4.30 the alarm went off!!! $#@%!!! this is almost as bad as getting up for Thursday morning rides. After a quick shower, cup of tea and Lisa’s “stick to your ribs” (and bowl and spoon and roof of your mouth) porridge we were on our way to pick up Anna in town as she was travelling in Lisa’s car.  Not long after 5.30 we were on the freeway heading south. A couple of texts confirmed that Paul and Brendan (after prising Jody out of bed) were on the road too.

What should have been an uneventful trip suddenly changed about 30k out of Bunbury…  Lisa was in her X-Trail with Anna  and I was following behind them.  For no apparent reason some whacko starts “stalking” us! It started with him driving up right beside me for several minutes. Then he did the same to Lisa after which he pulled out

in front of her, slowed down and then slammed the brakes on. When she pulled out to pass he swerved out on front of her. Then he began fish-tailing over both lanes in front of her… This went on for 10 min or more and Anna immediately got on the phone to the police in Bunbury.  He finally appeared to drive off only to stay 500m or so in front of us for another 5 min or so. He indicated and pulled off apparently to turn left and we sped up to pass him… only to have him drive up behind us and start intimidating us all over again.  He eventually drove off before we got into Bunbury. All in all it was a terrifying ordeal and one that we are continuing to follow

up with the police.

By the time we pulled into Dardanup we were still very shaken but managed to pull ourselves together enough to register and tell our exciting tale to the other familiar faces that had started to arrive! My greatest relief of the day was the site of the coffee van…  Hallelujah!!! Make that a long Mac thank you!

Soon all the gang were there… Pete, Judd,  Mike, Stu, Paul, Brendan and Jody (AKA Little Miss Sleepy). The familiar faces of the Fleet Elite girls would be joined today by Lisa who has been shanghaied into the “blue and grey” to join the team whilst Davina is overseas.  She was not looking forward to the hills as, for some reason, she doesn’t enjoy them! What the?

I was kitted up and ready nice and early so joined Pete, Brendan and Paul for a warm up and recon of the start/ finish section of the course… the only flat smooth sections of the entire course as I was later to find out.

The girls eventually took off at 10 am and headed out towards the hills. The bunch stayed close together as we left the flat and the rolling hills began. About 15k out the first decent climb started. As instructed I yelled encouragement at Lisa assuring her that everyone one was hurting more than she was!!!

I soon realised that I was going to have an advantage on the climbs and worked my way up to front without too much effort.  As the crest appeared Sarah Kent kicked hard and passed me before I had time to react. I put in an effort to chase her but did not have quite enough in generic viagra the tank after getting up the hill…. Bugger!
After that I slipped back to the small leading bunch with Sarah-Jeanne Fraser,  Mel Hoskins and  Stephanie Russell to work at increasing the break from the others.  Had a classic blonde moment at the U-turn to come back and almost sailed straight

through! Classy 😛

The hills continued and my legs were in great form on the climbs… There were many moments about now where I wanted to kiss every single SPR rider who I have ever chased up hills on those bloody Sunday rides! Bless you all 😉
Everyone’s legs were good and toasty by the time we came back into town (a nice change from Collie!).  I didn’t make the mistake of leading everyone out this time (that’s a first)… At the very least I knew I was going to get 5th so I forced myself to sit and watch S-J and Mel wait for each other to make the break.  When they went I did my best to grab S-J’s wheel and manged to pass Stephanie before the finish. 4th… woo hoo. Absolutely thrilled!  Paul was the first SPR face I saw and, low and behold, he had come 4th too! After congratulating each other we found out they were placing to 4th… we were both in the money!

A couple of minutes behind us were the next bunch led by Bec Halliday.  I was thrilled to see Lisa on her wheel in 7th place… woo hoo again. Not bad for someone who had only 4 hours sleep, hates the hills (or used to) and was nearly run off the road on the way down. Great work Lisa!!!

After the rest of the boys finished, cans of drink were passed around and muffins eaten (what… no brownies!).  Those of us who were not on a tight schedule headed to the pub for presentations. 2 SPR riders getting placed was a great result for us ! Go team SPR!

Am off to recon the WA State Long Distance Road Championship course tomorrow…  full of optimism for next weekend 🙂

May is certainly the month for racing guys and gals…

Not much warning for this as it is straight on the heels of the Dardanup Open.

The WA State Long Distance Road Championships is must do for lovers of hills inclines and long distance

(but note that it is for Cycling Australia members only).

NB Nominations close THIS

Tuesday 10.30 am (AEST)

This year’s Giro runs from the 9th to the 31st of May.

Highlights can be seen on SBS starting Sunday 10th May and will be aired daily at 7:10am (15min) and at around 11pm

(30min)

http://www.sbs.com.au/schedule/2009-05-10/SBS%20Perth
http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/

A rider to watch will be local cyclist Cameron Meyer who will attempt his first Grand Tour for the Garmin Slipstream

team!

On the

cialis online

17th May 2009, the breathtaking Ferguson Valley will be the backdrop to the Dardanup Open – an exhilarating championship race touring up, down and around the hills of the Southwest, just 15 minutes out of Bunbury.

This year there is also support races for those that don’t want to mix it with the big boys in the open category.  With the State road championships the following weekend, this will be a good warm-up race and will take in a few smaller climbs.

Alongside the State 100km Road Race Championship, South West Cycle Club have organised a 25km or 40km Participation Ride inviting cyclists of any level to get involved and have a go.  All you need is a RIDE licence as a minimum and you can have a go for the minimal outlay of $10.  This event will also be timed and allows people to get an idea of what road racing is like without it being a real race.  Basically it is a smaller version of the Great Perth Bike Ride as it of a similar format. 

As there will be others heading down for the open races, it would be a good opportunity to try out the event as you will have other SPR support on the day.

All event information including

a course map is on the CWA website

Nominations close Weds 13th May 8.30am (AEST)

Let us know in the comments if you are coming!

Race pack to follow next week.

Thanks to Anna’s partner Brett…  AKA “The Best Boyfriend in the World” apparently??? There are some more photos from From SPR’s day down in Collie