Hi all,

We (Carlos and Meg) are taking part in a charity ride (yes another one), the Karis Tour de Freedom 1000. The ride takes 6 days and goes from Esperance to Perth with an extra little loop round Esperance to give us an even 1,000km. All the money raised from the ride goes towards Teen Challenge.

Through its resident and outreach programs Teen Challenge aims to provide youth, adults and children an effective and comprehensive solution to drug and alcohol addiction like Emmaus Medical and counseling suboxone treatment as well as other life-controlling problems. Last year Teen Challenge served over 10,000 men, women and children in Western Australia.

Since we met at SPR and cycling has had such a major impact on our lives (we got married earlier in the year), we wanted to do something that gave back to the community for our “honeymoon”, so Esperance to Perth we go!

To raise money for the ride and Teen Challenge we are having a Roller Paluza/Derby night.

Roller Paluza involves a set of fixed bikes (with the same gearing) attached to a display that indicates how far the rider has gone in a set period of time (30 seconds). The idea is for sets of two riders casino to face off in a series of rounds culminating in a grand final. Prizes include a bike service up to the value of $200 from Ride Advice and Cycle Bespoke. To make sure you feel like you are out racing on the road, Matt Poyner has generously agreed to be the official race caller.

Whether you want to race, or prefer to watch others suffer (sorry, I mean if you prefer to encourage others to do their best), you can still win the door prize of a set of Specialized Roval rapide clx 60 wheels valued at $2000. Tickets are limited.

Date: Saturday 4^th October 2014

Time: 5pm – 10pm

Location: DOME Westralia Plaza – 167 St Georges Terrace, Perth

Tickets: $40 per person (tickets include entry into the event and roller paluza. Food and drink can be purchased from DOME)

To purchase a ticket email rollerderbyTDF@gmail.com

The South Perth Cycle Club AGM will be held on Saturday, 22 March 2014 at 9am. This will be held at Dome Westralia Plaza (5/167 St Georges Terrace, Perth) following the usual Saturday ride.

There will also be a club breakfast at Dome on this morning from 8:40am. $15 will get you a hot drink and access to the famous Dome SPR breakfast buffet.

Please RSVP in the comments section of this post so that no one goes hungry on the day!

The club continues to grow, with approximately 400 financial members, and a broad range of cycling fetishes and goals. In order to keep the club moving forward and meeting the needs of all, it is important that the SPR committee is representative of our broad membership.

All committee and sub-committee positions will be spilt at the AGM.

SPR Committee Positions 2014

• President
• Vice-President
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Race committee representative and general committee member
• Kit committee representative and general committee member
• Mountain bike committee representative and general committee member
• Membership, social and fundraising committee representative and general committee member
• Training and development / general committee member
• Special projects / general committee member
• General committee member

There is also the opportunity to assist the club on the following sub-committees:

• Kit committee
• Race committee
• Mountain bike committee
• Membership, social and fundraising committee

Further information about the roles of the committees can be found here. If you are interested in becoming (or continuing) a member of the main committee or the sub committees, please email mgthomas54@gmail.com. Nominations are due by Sunday, 16 March 2014. Both self nominations, and “dob in a fellow rider” nominations are accepted (where the fellow rider is in agreement!).

Please note that to be a committee member you must hold a current CWA licence (recreational or race). SIGN UP OR RENEW YOUR LICENCE HERE.

As well as contributing to the direction of the club, the committee and sub committees are a great way to get to know other people.

At SPR we have a strong culture of safety, but many of us have had first hand experience of what happens when cyclists and drivers collide. Craig Pennell has put together a petition for improved cyclist safety to be presented in the Legislative Council….but he needs to collect 10,000 signatures of support…and this is where you can help.

I will have the petition at the DOME coffee shop after Saturday’s ride and will be asking people to sign the petition.

For more information about the petition please go to www.cyclesafewa.com.au but in a nutshell:

“CycleSafeWA – every cyclist of every ability should be able to ride safely in WA”

Over the last two years there has been an increase in the number of serious accidents and deaths after motor vehicles have hit cyclists.  There has also been a reduction in the number of Western Australians riding each day decreasing from 512,000 in 2011 to 405,000 in 2013; the main reason for the reduction is a fear of motor vehicles.

CycleSafeWA has developed a petition to present to the WA Government to seek improved resources for education and infrastructure and to seek a review of the legislation and the reasons for the dramatic increase in serious accidents. We have broad support in the cycling community and are seeking your support by signing the petition”

Right, well, for those of you who know me, you will know I am a very committed “coffee and cake” type rider, so I can only blame a complete lack of synaptic connections that resulted in me putting my name down for the ToMR. Our team consisted of Anna Massey (mixes it up with the Fast SPR boys, great hill climber), Amanda Nabi (also mixes it up with the Fast SPR boys and riding so very strongly this year), Alison Ramm (has no idea of how to give up and can keep riding all day, oh and did I mention she represented Australia in the UCI this year?), Anna Schwartz (have you seen this lady in a TT? Strong strong strong. Also represented Australia in the UCI), Emma Goodwin (consistently strong, loves a good crit and I have it on good authority that she has been following a training program devised by none other than Mr Toby Brown himself) and me (Meghan Thomas).

The sheer terror at the idea of being dropped in the first five minutes of what was reportedly a hilly course saw me actually asking my partner (Carlos) for a training program. Me, a training program!?!? The end result of this little deal is that I found myself doing some absolutely horrible spin efforts while Carlos had a great laugh at my pain face – thanks babe!

I am proud to say that we managed to get together a couple of times to practice our TTT techniques (thanks Davina for giving up your time to help us), to have dinner as a team (thanks Anna and Tom for hosting) and, more importantly, to order some team socks. So after working hard to be in shape, the teams final preparations were less than perfect. I got food poisoning on Wednesday night before the ToMR so my final preparations involved getting rid of any and all food that I may have had on board and not eating for 36 hours. Carbo loading – its over rated. Anna S had unfortunately had a significant bike accident and being able to use her right arm was a bonus. Alison had a fantastic lung infection and the noise of her coughing up said lungs is a delight that will stay with me – she is one tough lady. So out of 6, three of us were more than a little curious to see how we would go.

Our rough game plan was to protect Anna Massey and Amanda. Beyond that we were a little vague. It is not often – well never – that there is a womens only race and that 54 women turn up to the start line. It is exciting to see this growth in womens cycling and we would like to acknowledge the support of SPR, Hall Cycle Training, and the South West Cycle Club for organising and supporting such a great event and for encouraging womens racing: we actually felt like we were part of things as opposed to an afterthought. Thank you!

First stage of the Tour was a team TT, I had managed to eat a croissant by this point and was just happy to be at the start line and not throwing up. The girls worked really well together and I think we did a good job of communicating and working together. We came in second, a minute behind Halls Cycle Training 1. Unfortunately, we did all manage to cheer and encourage the SPR elite men as they came flying past us…which probably indicates that we could have been riding a little harder…..room for thought and improvement for the future.

The rest of the stages were largely about protecting Anna and Amanda as best we could. We were slightly outnumbered as there were 3 Hall Cycle teams (i.e. 18 riders against 6). Stage 2 on Saturday morning was two laps with a couple of hills towards the finish line and time bonuses on the first lap. It was interesting, and actually great fun, positioning and ensuring that we were close enough to the front to catch any breaks in a group as large as this. Those bloody white lines on the road started to get a bit annoying J. Anna S did a massive turn on the front at the start, Emma gave it a good couple of goes, Ali was a machine and Amanda and Anna M were great at keeping themselves out of trouble but towards the front of the pack. Incredibly pleased and proud that for the sprint points Amanda came in 2^nd, and Anna 3^rd, and overall Amanda crossed the line 2^nd and Anna came in 10^th.

After a quick massage by Cathi and some refuelling we were back out racing by 11am. Happily I was starting to feel better and had actually managed to eat and drink. Even better there was only one slight hill in the kermesse race – I have since decided that this sort of course and race is something that I enjoy a hell of a lot more. I thought it was about time that I contributed something significant so did a fair bit of work on the front. Played a bit of cat and mouse with the Hall girls, but over all we controlled the race pretty well and with some great effort by all of the SPR girls, Anna came 1^st in the kermesse intermediate sprint. Overall Amanda finished 8^th and Anna 10^th. Another great result.

The final race of the day was a 75km trip to Augusta with a small hill to conquer at the end. Same game plan. Protect Anna and Amanda and then let them do their thing on the hill at the end. I think the Hall women had the plan of going as gently as possible for the first 40km and then start sending riders out to attack thereafter. Since there was only 6 of us and 18 of them, we were a little weary of attacking too much too early. Come the 40km mark the attacks started and Alison and Emma did a sterling effort of covering e.v.e.r.y single move the Hall women made, they were incredible. We got Anna and Amanda to the base of the hill and then Anna buried herself and came in a resounding SECOND!! Amanda also dominated on the final hill and placed 8^th. I was much too far back to give a blow-by-blow description of this part of the race. Anna S’s Italian UCI TT racing came to the fore as she powered up the hill to finish 14^th, I managed 17^th. Despite doing so much work throughout the race Alison finished 19^th and Emma 25^th.

Overall our team placed second, with Anna placing 6^th and Amanda 7^th in the race for the pink jersey. So the game plan seems to have worked!

Lessons learnt: we probably need to work a bit harder on the TTT to make sure we start in poll position.

Highlights: great team, great womens field, Tom’s coffee first thing in the morning, spa after the TTT, the SPR tent and esky full of drinks, hearing the cheering as we went past, the SPR men at the finish line handing us drinks and taking our bikes (it felt so pro!), sense of camaraderie that comes with being a member of SPR, Cathi’s massage, obviously the socks, feeling like we were an important part of the tour. Did I mention that the SPR womens team was awesome?!!

Lowlights: riding back to Margaret River from Augusta. Jordan offered us a lift, Anna was smart enough to take it, I was too stubborn and so ended up chucking the biggest whammy when we got to Margaret River and refused to ride a single pedal stroke further. Apologies to those that witnessed it J. Being outdone on the sock front by another SPR team that had different matching socks for each day of racing.

So what will the new kit look like?  Light. Bright. Simple.

• The green that we’ve chosen is the same green as the “net plus” logo on the back pocket of the current SPR jersey.
• The wind vest and skin suits will follow the same design as the jersey and knicks.
• The arm and leg warmers will be traditional black with small white lettering “South Perth Rouleurs” near the cuff.
• Gloves will be white with a classic black and green line.
• Socks will be white, also with a thin classic black and green line. A choice of non-euro (4 inch) and euro-cool (6 inch) socks are available.
• You can cover your feet with the standard lycra shoe covers, or super fast black shoe covers.  These black booties will be tagged with “South Perth Rouleurs” in small white letters.
• Images of the skinsuits, vest, socks and gloves will be available soon.

HOW MUCH?

Well…. as a treasured SPR member we are providing a discount on this initial order.

This discount is possible because of the amazing support from our 2013/2014 sponsors.  Thanks to all of you, from all of us and we look forward to returning the support to your business over the next two years.

• Dome Westralia Plaza
• Stealth Recruitment
• RKM Roller Company
• Net Plus
• Concept Music
• Bike Clinic.com.au
• Paul Garnett’s Conveyancing

The SPR on line shop will be open soon to take your order.  We have put together a SPR kit wish list at this link “SPR kit wishlist”  Don’t forget to pop down to Dome this Saturday (and 8 December) from 9am to 10am if you need to make use of the sizing kit.

Remember size does matter and you need to order by 8 December 2012 to be sporting the new SPR look by February.

The Kit Committee

kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au

There is a hum in the air….the rumours are flying…there maybe a new kit….will it be light (dark) enough?? Will it arrive in time to for me to give it to my significant other for Xmas or for them to give it to me?? Who will the sponsors be?? How much will it cost?? Will there be matching socks?? Are the gloves any good?? Will the kit fit my individual shape??? Oh the pressure, oh the excitement.

Firstly some background. Our club has grown. We have a broad range of riders with different cycling aims and ambitions. Earlier this year SPR conducted a fairly extensive survey and the section concerning the kit was fairly definitive. Members want more range, a lighter kit, and a kit that fits better. The kit committee have investigated several design and supplier options to better meet these requirements.

The new kit will be made by Champion System.  We have gotten out our creative hats to come up with a new kit design and we hope we have made something that you like. If you don’t like the new kit, we look forward to hearing the feedback in the next survey! If you do like the kit, we look forward to hearing the feedback at the coffee shop.

The rough PLAN.

The idea is to have a kit order go through before Xmas. This should see the new kit arriving by the end of January. There will be a substantial discount on jerseys and shorts/bibs, for those club members that purchase a kit during this order. Orders will be placed, as we have done previously, through the SPR paypal site. The range of products available is much broader than previous kit orders, and there will be even more choice in subsequent orders.

Items available in this initial kit order include:

• A range of jerseys
• A range of shorts and bib shorts
• Skin suits and crit suits
• Wind vest
• Socks
• Gloves
• Arm and knee warmers
• Shoe covers
• A complete range of Triathlon attire

Future orders will allow members to order the complete range of products (i.e you can choose from either an Endurance or Race chamois) including those essential wardrobe pieces for the cooler winter months. Subsequent to this initial order, at least 4 more kit orders will occur throughout 2013. At this point we are looking at having kit arrive in:

• April
• July
• October
• December

Future orders will be placed through the Champion System (CS) online ordering system. They will also be pre-packed (i.e. CS will package each individual order. Unless you have previously been involved in a kit distribution you may not understand how exciting this is, but it is…trust me!)

The detailed PLAN.

1. Some sizing kits and info packs will be at DOME next Saturday (the 1 December and also the 8 December)
2. The new kit design will be on the web this week and also be at DOME next Saturday
3. Kit orders open later this week on the “shop” section of the SPR website.
4. Kit orders CLOSE midnight, Saturday 8 December 2012
5. Kit will arrive late January 2013, and be distributed on Saturday mornings at DOME.  If you would prefer to have your kit posted to you, there is an option to pay the postage when you order the kit and we will express post it to your door.

IMPORTANT. Size.Does.Matter.

CS has several different cuts. The options for jerseys are:

• RACE. This cut is more traditional Euro size cut that is tighter and closer fitting
• CLUB. This cut is more generous fitting jersey being bigger in the arms and chest
• WOMENS. A ladies specific anatomic cut

The options for knicks are:

• CYCLE SHORT AND BIB SHORT: Have less fabric panels and suit those with thighs like Shane Perkins or Mark Cavendish
• RAZOR AND ELITE PRO: Have more fabric panels and suit those with thighs like Cameron Myer or Andy Schleck  (The SPR Pyrenees Kit used the Razor Cut)

Check out CS website sizing charts for more information. Compare the sizing to your favourite fitting supplier’s size charts.  Come and try on some different sizes at DOME next weekend. Take the time now to ensure that you get the right size for you.

The ELITE PRO jerseys and bibs are made entirely from Lycra. These evidently make you ride faster and are suitable for racing (or racing for Strava segments).  Please note the fabric isn’t long lasting nor suitable for everyday use – it will wear quicker than the other fabrics.

The new kit is limited to SPR members, so don’t forget to renew your membership or join SPR now.

If you can’t find your answer on the SPR or Champion System website, or can’t catch us on Saturday  morning, you can email your query to Kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au

The SPR Kit Committee:

• Meghan Thomas
• Alison Ramm
• Jason Cawthorne
• Chris Ainsworth
• Johnathon Bolton
• Heiko Potzeldt

Well first of I think I should mention that I never ever ever thought I’d be writing a RACE report. I have some very good friends who love to race….and from watching the entire experience (or is it a journey?) that is RACING (…the completely stupid training programs, the idea that it is a badge of honour if you throw up, falling off and getting back on, the injuries, taking corners at speeds that should be illegal, 4:30am…) I very rapidly came to the conclusion that people who RACE are well, to put it frankly, mad.

I am a proud “chat and coffee” rider. Joining a club (SPR) was a big step for me. But I loved the social aspects of the club and I love the support that the club provided. I know that if I dropped off the back of a group ride, there would be someone there to help me to the end, or as I was slipping backwards up a hill there would be a much welcomed push. Equally importantly I knew that at the end of the ride there would be coffee, cake and some darn good chatting with some new found but much loved friends. And with this support comes the confidence to try new rides and to try pushing yourself to new levels.

Two seemingly independent thoughts:

1. A significant hurdle to doing a crit race is the ability to cornering rapidly,
2. Davina Summers is the master of organising people and she has been a big advocate for womens racing for many years now.

The joining of two seemingly independent thoughts: in true Davina style, when she realised why so many of the women in our club were scared of crit racing she organised a skills training night for us. She gave up her night to come and show us girls how to corner and answer any questions that we may have about crit racing. She organised a visiting Dutch cyclist (Adriaan) to come and help out and several of the SPR men (Luke, Toby, Jonno) also came down to stand on the corners and signal that it was all a-ok to take the corner wide, cut the apex, and go wide on the other side. This was much appreciated as it is one thing to understand the theory of how to take a corner, but quite another to have the opportunity to practice it knowing that you are not going to have a head-on-collision with a car. Davina also has the ability to tap into the psyche of women’s peer pressure and at the end of the skills training session she pointed out that we should all be registering because on the day when everyone else is lined up to give it a go if you are the only person sitting on the sidelines you will regret it. It was this moment that I know I was going to have to register…damn I hated her at this point.

I must confess that I also quite liked the idea that for once the “partner support role” would be going to someone else. For all those partners who get to the races early, help set up, sit on the registration desk, pin numbers on, get the drinks and random pre-race food, hold bags, put up with the pre-race flap, worry throughout the race about potential trips to the ED, and then listen to the post-race minute, intricate re-living of the race that can go on for days/weeks/months/years, the idea of getting to return the favour was kind of appealing.

Right onto the race itself….finally…

After Toby (on behalf of Dome) arrived to personally sponsor Lenny’s entry and ensure that she had absolutely no excuse for pulling out, the big field of 7 lined up…and then we were off….oh my goodness we were racing!!!! Davina came and rode with us – thank goodness, nothing like getting some instant advice (and encouragement) on what you should be doing as opposed to what you are doing.

And as much as I would like to re-live it lap by lap, pedal by pedal, all I can say is:

It hurt like hell. All of the girls gave it a red hot go. I was so impressed with the determination and strength the girls displayed. We attacked, we chased, we pulled turns, we even cornered like pros (well, in my head that is what it looked like). We regularly hit speeds of over 40km/hour going UP (yes it was on an incline) the start/finish stretch. We used all of the knowledge gained from watching others do this racing thing, to employ a few tactics….positioning is everything! First place went to Verity Keogh. And I must say this was richly deserved. Verity did some hard work on the front and put the rest of us in the hurt locker. Second and third place came down to a sprint finish that took everything I had to get over the top of Cathi Dixon who came in third. Honourable mentions go to all of the women who got to the start line and to all of the women and men who helped get us there. Alison and Amanda were amazing and did an incredibly job of chasing Verity’s wheel. Emma had a brilliant work ethic and I was struggling to stay on her wheel. Sadly she got a flat with 3 laps to go…I think she would have placed otherwise. Lenny! Lenny cornered and did not shout “slowing” once! Watch out for Lenny, give her another race and she will be leaving us all in her dust. I think we put on a positive and exciting race. It was brilliant to roll up to the club tent knowing that you had given your all and made the club proud. Did I mention it hurt like hell? Oh and it may have been just a teeny bit fun!

So what does it take to get women to race…? I’ve been thinking about this and I think it comes down to:

1. Clubs that promote and encourage women to participate no matter what level they are at.
2. People who do race (men and women) giving back and helping out others who don’t even know that they want to race.
3. Specific race training events.
4. Womens only races and within that a range of grades for women to race in… I know what is involved in being a top level rider and I’m not at that level – never will be. If racing means competing against girls that are of A grade and above (or even better, when the womens race gets put with C grade men), I’m just not interested…why pay a lot of money to last at best 2 laps? I would have more fun and get more out of going for a group ride. And still along this vein, I think the womens race should be between the B and A grade mens. We would feel less like an after thought and more like we are part of the racing program
5. Women supporting women!

So I hope we did Renae and her family proud. Renae’s Race is a worthy cause and if pinning on a number helped raise awareness for cancer and promoted women in cycling I’m glad I found the courage to be a part of it.

Today’s ride is what I’m all about; a wee bit of excise followed by copious amounts of food and lots of chat. There were some very strong indications that Loraine would be serving up some of her chocolate brownies. Heaven.

So with these incentives I arrived at the start all big eyed and bushy tailed. Did what is turning into my usual borrowing of a track pump routine (thank you kind Sir who has obligingly provided a pump for several weeks now. I suspect he may be getting a little tired of this routine). Yes Davina, I need to just buy one. But there is the faint hope that your house renos will be completed in the foreseeable future and this princess may rustle up enough resilience to leave her very comfortable parents’ house and return to living with you in your fab house at which point I can also return to the annoy habit of borrowing your pump!

Anyway, back to the ride….the fast group looked quite large compared to the last couple of weeks. Some people that I take as being regular fast group riders seemed to be hanging around with Main 1. I’m assuming that they were trying to save their legs as there was a crit on Sunday. But all good, Brother Dan (who personally I think should be in the fast group, particularly after his sterling effort at the SPR crit last weekend, and i think he shaves his legs) has been known to help out some of us who struggle at the back of the group, so we don’t mind him tagging onto Main 1. Carlos – again fast group rider – saving his shaved legs – Main 1. Need to have a word with him about the definition of “saving your legs”. In my world it means go SLOWLY 🙂

Rolled out onto Canning Highway (the only road name that I remember) and the pace was nice. Had a good chat with some of the other riders. Have to admit that I was starting to think that while it was nice to ride at this pace if I was to justify eating several chocolate brownies, it was probably a bit slow (clearly one keeps these sorts of stupid stupid thoughts to ones self!). Then we saw the fast group. I swear the guys at the back of that bunch weren’t even peddling. Discussed telling them that we thought they were a bit slow and that even I can sit at the back of the bunch and not peddle, so I might give the fast group a try next week. Did not take long to decide that this would be like waving a red rag at a bull. And sure enough, the moment they hit Bourke drive (oh yes! a second road name.) that was the last we saw of them. Had fun along Bourke drive, and even made it up the hill (always a bonus and one that should be recognised). I was feeling slightly pleased with myself as not quite as many people swished past me as normal. There is the tantalising hope that I might be getting a smidge better. And I’m happy with a smidge.

After that I don’t remember much. According to Andrew there was a section where we averaged 36km/hr for 30 odd minutes. I’m presuming this was along the undulating South Street (I’m on fire baby – that is 3 road names) … if it wasn’t, it certainly felt like it. I do remember thinking that I’d had enough and that I’d be happy to trundle along until Main 2 came through. Then *bloody* Toby rode past and I assume he could clearly see that I was struggling. He very kindly said “come on Meg, you can do it, just hang on, you’re going great” etc etc. Well I could hardly give up at that point. So I hung on for a bit longer. Ouch. I think this sequence may have been repeated a couple more times. Ouch ouch and ouch. Thanks Toby. Actually I do sincerely mean thanks to Toby. Oh and I think I had a couple of pushes, but I have no idea from who. Encouragement at such times, does make a huge difference and as much as one just wants to die quietly at the time, when it is all over, I’m really happy that I (with a bit of help) managed to hang on just that little bit longer. A couple of red lights also provided me with the opportunity to blatantly roll towards the front so that it took a few more seconds before I was spat out the back. Sorry to those who ended up sitting on my wheel only to have to overtake as I headed backwards. However, I eventually thought I had nothing left and gave up (no idea what road it was on), when another well intentioned man (sorry I don’t know your name – complete lack of oxygen was preventing my brain from asking, and/or remembering) offered words of encouragement. I did beg with him to just keep riding (we could still see the main bunch) as I was truly happy to just trundle along on my own. But no, for whatever reasons he seemed happy to sit at the back of the bunch. If someone offers you their wheel you have to make an effort – clearly my pain was not over just yet. So we gathered a few more riders and thanks to some hard work by others and some good luck with lights/roundabouts etc managed to roll to Pete’s with a decent bunch.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIE time!!! Oh thank goodness.

Random thoughts:

I have no idea what it was like at the front of the bunch, but assume everyone had a fantastic time going really really fast.

…I do miss Lennie and her calls of “slowing”. I’m not sure if the two are related or not, but no Lennie, no calls of “slowing” and definitely no slowing…..mmmmm….wherefore art thou Lenni?!?!?

Bike weigh-in: managed to get mine to come in just under 10kg after removal of lights and spare parts bag (obviously no water bottle as well). Does this mean a new bike is a “necessity”??

Thanks to Pete and Kate for opening up their house to us all. And a big thanks to the team that helped with the massive task of catering for hungry cyclists. Muchly appreciated.

Well with a week off the bike I’d been enjoying the painfully slow rediscovery of my limited runner’s legs. However, come Tuesday morning, the cycling legs were a wee bit keen to be used.

I think the name of the Tuesday morning ride needs to be changed… if we are being honest I don’t think we can claim that it is a recovery ride. Notice that I’m proposing a name change not a change in pace. But good turnout of numbers – and hardly any point in having the lights on. Down to one layer of clothing minus the arm and/or leg warmers.  Oh yay.

It’s the little things that I appreciate about this slowly mounting riding experience. When I first started, getting from the path onto the road was a bit of a challenge – the idea of gentle hopping the curb with feet clipped into the bike was a non-starter. Shuffling to the edge, picking the bike up and putting it on the road and then trying to clip in was much more my style. This also meant that the entire pack had pretty much hit UWA by the time I’d sorted myself out. Now, not so much of an issue 🙂 Give me 5 years and I may be able to pick up dropped water bottles while still clipped in.

Anyway, front half – close enough to see what was going on and with enough people behind me so that I could slip back but not be dropped on a slight incline, but not too close that it would be necessary to actually have a turn on the front. I’m working on finding enough form/courage/stupidity to have a go on the front. I’m still scared that if I ever hit the front the pace would drop 5km on the flat and then if I had planned it badly enough and there was a slight incline the sounds of “slooowing” would be deafening! But I really like (and greatly appreciate) it when the strong riders are on the front, they keep the pace up and they don’t surge too much. Makes for a nice consistent ride. So it was a nice strong ride behind UWA. Got out to Claremont where Jess joined in.  Turned onto Stirling Highway and I’m not sure what happened but somehow I actually managed to overtake a couple of people on the “hilly” bit…flying pigs….

Lovely descent bit before THE hill (sorry limited knowledge of road names). I was missing Lenny as at least I can see her at the end of the climb. Pres Pete’s chain came off in the bottom half of the hill but I have no sympathy as he managed to get it back on and then the whooshing sound of his wheels as he came powering up the hill turned me green with envy. I did my usual plod up THE hill and spent the rest of the ride to the water tower trying to get my chain back into the big front cog. Yes an adjustment/service/new chain/new bike (!) may be in order.  I may be wrong but I don’t think I was the stone cold last person to reach the water tower….have I mentioned flying pigs?

So far was feeling pretty pleased with myself and really enjoying the ride. The bit to Point Walter was uneventful except to say the wind had picked up so thank you to the guys on the front having a go! Love going down the hill at Point Walter and called a roll-through at the bottom.

Now I’m slightly confused – probably needlessly so, but I thought that bit was meant to be a roll-through section and not a smash fest. I have just answered my own question – it is clearly a smash fest. Anyway whilst still hampering under the illusion that it best online casino was a roll-through, thought I’d play my part and positioned myself in the right lane of bikes (I’m sure there is a proper term for this which I should be using, but hopefully you will still understand). So the pace seemed to be getting faster and faster which is all good. By the time the guy in front of me peeled off to the left, I had to accelerate even more and ended up hitting 50km/hr. Ahhhh I love a nice recovery ride 🙂

Not being cut out for these sorts of speeds it was with great relief that while I was still trying to overtake the left lane rider, I noticed Carlos effortlessly starting to overtake me and very nicely pulling over in front of me the instant I hit the left lane. So having given it my all I then tried to stay on his wheel… 51km/hr, 50km/hr, 49km/hr, 48km/hr….POP!

Anyway nearly caught up with everyone at Canning highway but the lights were not cooperating. They did however let me catch up with Gus and Nathan. Soon after the lights Pete and Toby came whizzing past. I have it on good authority that they had been doing a fair bit of work at the back of the bunch sweeping up riders – again a quality that I treasure! So in true presidential style Pete offered his wheel and between him and Toby they had us powering along.  Loved the rest of the ride, the silver lining of being in a smaller group is that you do have to put in a wee bit more effort and I had recovered enough to not totally start going backwards on the slight inclines. Toby and Pete did a very impressive sprint for the end. I dream of having that acceleration…one day 🙂

So thanks all for a great ride, I really enjoyed myself and while I’ve only specifically mentioned Pete and Toby, know that us mere mortals sitting in the bunch do really appreciate the cycling demi-gods that regularly either sit at the front or sweep at the back and consistently get us/me home in a timely manner 🙂

Saturday’s Main 1….

As a welcome home present for Pete, thought I should try and provide a late write up for last Saturday’s Main 1 ride.

Good turnout of people. I think Toby’s attire has been dually noted by Mark, the other  stand out item was the fact that Kimbo managed to rock up but Ryan was noticeably absent…mmmm….soft?? Also no safety net for me as dag-man is overseas undoing all of his hard work that saw him step up to the Fast group last week.

Weather, yes it is currently raining, but on Saturday I would say it was positively balmy. Oh yay oh yay, no need for 6 different layers of clothing and still not being able to feel ones toes. Ahhhh summer and the appearance of strange tan lines….

So this time I do know the name of some of the roads – Benara and Jutland Parade!! 🙂 Aside from that there were a lot of flat roads, some traffic lights, couple of round-a-bouts and a few slight inclines (hills from my perspective).

The feeling in the group was very upbeat in general this morning. Lots of chit chat. Lots of people riding particularly strong. Kimbo was particularly tuneful and somewhat….well Loraine, how would you describe it….however he did some fantastic turns on the front and I think won the benara road sprint. Loraine’s progression from transitional three weeks ago, to Main 2 last week, to Main 1 this week has her ready to join the Fast group next week.

We gave the fast group a bit of a head start but nearly caught them on canning highway (ohhh, I know a third road name). Luckily, pops was on the front (not sure who with) and they very gallantly decided to keep the pace at a slightly slower rate to give the fast group a chance to get away 😉 Excellent roll throughs on Benara road. Thanks go to Andrew (I think it was, but I was struggling to breath) who, as he effortlessly gliding past, asked if I had square tyres – yes always!

Benara means relatively flat with hopefully a wickedly fast roll-through and Jutland Parade means the same as Benara but less flat. There are a couple of approaches you can take if you want to be good at sprint sections – actually let’s not limit it to being good, let’s just say if you want to still be with the group at the end of the section. One approach that I have heard of that has met with great success is to train hard and often (#1) and just be good. A second aspect, that when added to approach #1 can significantly improve one’s performance, is having a fab bike (#2). A third approach is to pick a good wheel (#3). Many people rely on #1 add in a little of #2 and ice the cake with #3. Personally I rely on #3.

Katie stepped up from the transition group to Main 1 this week. And all I can say is wow. The girl is good! Mark asked me to keep an eye on her, but I was struggling to keep her rear wheel in sight. I’d lined up with Lennie that we would both keep an eye on her along Jutland Parade in case she got dropped so that we could help pace her home (I say this fully aware of the irony of me helping pace someone, hence the enlisting of Lennie). I’d explained the importance of picking a good wheel for the sprint section along Jutland, and we had an enlightened discussion over what constitutes a “good” wheel. Anyway Katie soon moved up (!) the line to her chosen wheel, leaving space for Anna to come alongside me and very serendipitously confirmed that the definition of a “good” wheel seems to be universal. Anyway, focus, focus, back to the main story. Not only did Katie not get dropped, she bloody well sprinted!  Welcome to Main 1 🙂

Twas great to be out with the group. Thanks to all who put in the big efforts at the front and on the roll throughs – it is noticed and appreciated! And sorry this is a somewhat disjointed write up, but I’ve been reviewing grant applications and my brain is fried.