Calling Main 2, Main 3 or stronger Transitional riders ready to move into Main group riding.

Would you like to boost your riding this winter?

One of the best ways to make performance gains is to set yourself a goal as part of a team. A very popular goal event for many SPR riders – as shown in last year’s group hug above – is the Swan Valley Cyclosportif at the end of June each year – see the BWA website)

It is not racing, but it will allow you to push yourself. A Cyclosportif team usually consists of 6 – 9 riders who start together (30 second gaps are used to separate teams) and agree to ride as one, taking turns at pace-setting so that the team gets to the finish-line as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Food and coffee and a sense of achievement are involved afterwards.

A new training ride has been formed to support riders at these levels keen on training for this 80km or 60 km team event (including help with sorting out teams) (or you may just want to improve your riding during the cooler months).

Details

The Friday development ride will leave directly after the Main EBR Friday group at 5:30 am from under the southern side of the Narrows Bridge and will proceed at Development speeds i.e. comfortable, steady riding pace for typical Main 2-3 riders.

Garmin link: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/9301244

Training and support are included with guidance to Shelley and back with designated FDR team time trial type group training along the flat, flowing section of the Shelley foreshore (both directions). The focus will be on teamwork and smoothness rather than out-and-out speed development

“No drop” policy. Riders who have overestimated their fitness will be accompanied throughout an abbreviated ride

Those attending the ride should wear club kit – you’ll need it for the Cyclosportif in any case

The Development ride will only proceed if the weather is clear and the roads are relatively dry.

After the Swan Valley Cyclo, the group ride will continue as a source of training and mentoring concentrating on group craft as well as creating a ride for those who are looking to back up this ride with Saturday to build endurance. It’s a great training opportunity!

Group Leaders
Mike Bonner, Jeremy Outschoorn, Kathryn Buckley, Cameron Dawson, Leigh Outschoorn, Greg Murray, and Nicola Parker. Lauren Poat and Roz Ellis will be on deck soon.

While it is a working ride for some, it can be a relaxed, flat Friday recovery ride for others. Feel free to come along and help the club’s developing riders out.

As a follow-up to the Race Committee’s impressive all-encompassing post, the Collie Cycle club have released more info about their races taking place next weekend.

SATURDAY EVENT TIMETABLE
Saturday May 2: Criterium Circuit at Collie Motorplex
Registrations from 11:30am
Racing begins 1:00pm (one event at a time until finished around 4:00pm)
Distances
All grades (except A men) 30 minutes plus 2 laps
A Men: 45 minutes plus 2 laps

SUNDAY May 3rd ROAD RACE TIMETABLE
Proposed start times (subject to change and dependent on numbers)
9:00am Registrations open
9.30am Participation ride of 30km
10.40am D Grade 60km (1 lap)
11.00am A Men 118km (2 laps)
11.04-11:05am B grade Men and A Women 84km (1 lap plus a part lap)
11.09-11:10am C Men; B grade Women 60km (1 lap)
11.15am U17’s (U17 Girls TBA) 60km (1 lap)

Courses
Criteriums – round and round in circles – Motorplex circuit
Road Race (see image above) – The race will begin with a lap of the Collie Motorplex before each grade heads west for 5km on Powerhouse Road before turning left onto what should be Collie South East Rd. Some grades will do a shorter out and back lap before completing the main out and back lap. On this lap riders will head out approximately 28km before turning and heading back to finish the race on the Motorplex circuit.

Despite the word ‘challenging’ being bandied about, the profile holds no real fears (see image below) with maximum altitude gains of < 50 metres on any one ‘climb’ and ‘slopes’ at 5% gradient or less. Very much a rouleur’s or sprinter’s course.

On-line registrations must be made here by midnight Tuesday. The long range forecast is looking good and you’ve got time to drive down in the morning of the race(s).

Trained hard for the UCI/UWCT races or the 3/5 Dams (so very fit)?
Inspired by the Tour of Flanders (or any other Belgian race)?
Want to try a graded road race?

If you answered ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ to any of the above questions, then there is an event on for you this Sunday.

The map of the course, which starts adjacent to the Old Toodyay Rd, Gidgegannup is available here.

Registrations close on Tuesday, April 8th at midnight and can be made here.

As the poster states, this is the WA road championship for Open and Under 19 Men and Women (separate races).

I’ll be going around (the out and back course) in B grade.

Quite a few SPR folk are adorning their bikes with power meters attached to wheels, cranks and/or pedals (like my Garmin Vectors), or are thinking about making the leap into power training, so I thought I would present some of the data collected from the UCI training group ride around Perry Lakes last Saturday. It might be helpful in constructing some workouts for those training for the event – as long as you know your own Functional Threshold Power (FTP).

Firstly, my power curve for one of the fast laps in the group (similar to other laps – click to enlarge):

The lumpy or steeper parts of the profile correlate well with the times when I was over my FTP (maximum wattage able to be held for an hour) and working hard/becoming anaerobic.

Points of interest:

• Length of race is 98km or 2 hours 30mins (give or take). Average power for whole lap was below FTP, so close to sustainable for the whole race. Keeping an eye on average power in relation to FTP over the race may help with pacing, sitting on or rolling-through decisions i.e. rider won’t last if average is too close to FTP beyond an hour.
• 3 difficult places on the course lasting 2mins, 3mins 45sec and 50 seconds (x 12 laps) – become the bases for race-specific interval training workouts.
• Peak power for lap (double my FTP wattage) was produced closing the gap out of the corner on West Coast Hway (downhill) – work on cornering at speed (see Luke Ellis) and be near the front, otherwise match burned.

Curve/graph 2: Last lap (with the attack that split the group) on Oceanic Drive (click to enlarge)

Points of interest:

• High average speed (curve not shown) on ‘climb’ – still a significant drafting effect; benefit to those on the wheel, so tuck in.
• Low power lull below FTP level on false flat before someone attacked; #warningsign.
• Peak power (for the whole ride) of >2 x FTP was produced 1 hour 55 mins into the ride; some intervals should be done when tired/after a longer ride/effort. The Saturday training ride on the course would help to simulate this.
• High wattage (for me) required for 15 – 18 seconds during a typical attack – basis for interval length.

Some potential race specific workouts – substituting your own FTP:

• Race distance/time (2 h 30 mins) at 75% of FTP for the required endurance.

(After warm-up. Any clear road can be used)

• 12 x 2mins or 12 x 3 mins at 110% FTP (1:1 recovery).
• 10 x 4 mins of overs and unders – accelerate to 175% – 200% of FTP at 15 seconds, decelerate to below FTP at 30 seconds, accelerate to same higher power at 45 seconds, decelerate to lower power at 1 minute etc.; keep alternating until 4 mins is up. 3 minute recovery between each one. (Create nice saw tooth effect like the power graph on West Coast Hway above)
• 12 x 50 seconds at 150% of FTP; 70 second recovery (short, sharp workout on a lighter day).
• 6 – 8 x 15 seconds at 2.25 – 2.50 x FTP, longer recovery up to 5 mins if required. This could be added to the end another longer workout to reproduce the fatigue effect.

Based on the power numbers produced last Saturday, these might be some workouts that help to prepare you – if you have a power meter and know your FTP – for the specific demands of the UCI race on the Perry Lakes course (keeping in mind that the ‘long’ laps go up a steeper hill). They can be roughly translated into RPEs (Perceived Exertion ratings – google it) if you can only use more subjective methods.

A good coach can be a big help in putting together a properly co-ordinated programme using this sort of power data. Apparently there are a few about.

This Saturday (Feb 1st) is only 8 weeks away from the UWCT road race and gran fondo (March 29th and 30th, 2014), which will undoubtedly be two of the best races for local riders – especially those in Masters age groups – for 2014. (Information available on the Perth UWCT website.) Add to this the satisfaction of being able to say that you’ve qualified for the World Amateur Road titles in Slovenia in August – for those who finish in the top 25% of their field.

Early Bird entry fees close soon i.e. Friday this week at midnight (January 31st, 2014) and registrations for this event end at midnight on Sunday 16th March, 2014.

So it’s time to do some race specific training on the course: 

Race distance is 98 km – made up of 2 short laps (that go straight up Oceanic Drive) and 10 long laps that go up Waldron Ave (the steep bit towards the Quarry Amphitheater that the NSR race used in 2013). It’s unlikely that the Waldron Drive boom gate will be open on Saturday mornings, so we’ll limit our enjoyment to the short 8km circuit.

Training Info

WHERE/WHEN: Meet under the Narrows (usual city side spot) at 6:00am.

WARMUP: via Mounts Bay Rd, Winthrop Ave, Aberdare, Stubbs, Alfred, Brockway (past Graylands Hospital) and Underwood until we get to Perry Lakes Drive at 6:20 approx.

FORMAT: We will aim to ride the first 3 laps in a ‘caring and sharing’ manner i.e. riding tempo up the hill and keeping a large group together at around 12:30/12:40 per lap, then it’s off-the-leash for the next 5 or 6 laps (i.e. forming smaller self-organised ability based groups) depending on time. The fastest group will average around 40km/hr (~12mins per lap) once they’re up and going.

The repetitive 8km circuit does have a big advantage if you’re a droppee; it’s not far back to base (Start/finish in Perry Lakes Drive) if you need to sit out a lap or stop. In the past, riders have self-selected a small group or partner to ride with – after the first few laps – until they’ve had enough. 

REGROUP: Final regroup for everyone will be at 8:00 in Perry Lakes Drive, before a gentle warm-down heading to Dome in the city (by 8:30ish, unless you need to put in some laps of Kings Park). Distance: usually >90km.

Start freshening up now.

As per Toby’s training post, the age-group UCI races are only a little over 3 months away, so time to get planning and training for 2014. Early information has been released on the UCI World Cycling Tour website via their calendar.

The Perth races are the first UCI amateur event to include a 3 day ‘Tour’ option comprising the TT, Road Race and Gran Fondo.

Stage 1

Friday March 28th – Rottnest TT ~ 20km (same as 2013). Virtual tour available here.

Stage 2

Saturday March 29th – Perry Lakes Road Races (same as 2013)
Riders will start in waves in the following age brackets:
First wave : 19-34yrs and 35-39 yrs (108km)
Second wave : 40-44 and 45-49 yrs (108km)
Third wave : 50-54 – 55-59 yrs. (96km)
Fourth wave : 60-64 and 65+
Fifth wave : all women (?km)

Stage 3

Sunday March 30th – Fremantle to Kalamunda Gran Fondo (124km)

6 climbs (that we often do on Sunday Hills rides): Albany Highway (Canning Dam); Gardiner Rd (Roleystone); Patterson Rd (Pickering Bk); Mundaring Weir Rd (to Asher Rd then to Mundaring town); Ridge Hill Road and the Zig-Zag. 2000 metres ascent.

Pete (and Toby) – might have to start scheduling some of these climbs into the Hills rides in the new year.

GPS track : http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=zsoerwzjmqxuchnr. Other information as it comes to hand on the UWCT Perth website.

These races will most likely follow/precede the 2014 NRS Tour de Perth stages over the same courses, so a rare – and great – opportunity for club riders to have some proper road racing.

Other 2014 events to think about

1. UWCT Malaysia – Putrajaya – Kuala Lumpur: Sat May 31st – Time Trial (30km); Sunday June 1st – Road Race (160km) (This is the West Australia Day long weekend). Road Trip anyone?
2. UWCT (World Championship for Amateurs) Final – Slovenia: August 28th – 31st
3. Australian Masters Road titles (Cycling Australia) – Ballarat, Victoria from 2nd – 5th October (school holidays). Hopefully the road race will include Mt Buninyong just like the Elite nationals.
4. West Coast Masters (>35) winter road races – a number of riders have expressed an interest in forming a couple of SPR ‘teams’ to participate in some regular races over the winter months. EOI will be called prior to the WCMCC road season in April.

So – no slacking over Xmas and the New Year.

Our friends at South West Cycle Club are putting on the following short sharp road races next weekend:

  HARVEY DAM CONCERT & BICYCLE RACES

Harvey-Quindanning Rd, Harvey

SUNDAY 1^st DECEMBER 2013

Registrations: https://eventdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=4734&OrgID=8722 – Closes 26.11.13

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarveyCommunityConcert

 Roesners  Men & Juniors races -$1500 Prize Pool.                                 Schlam  Women’s race – $600 Prize Pool  

Grades

A, B & C Grades and Women all cover 42km (2 laps).

Start Times

Registrations open 7:30am

8:30am C Grade & Women; 10:00am B Grade; 11:15am  A Grade

Presentations to be held 12:30PM – 1:PM at amphitheatre – Penguin trophies (see image) for winners (?)

NOTE: Competitors must hold either a CA Licence, 3 ride permit or gold day licence to race. 

Course

2 laps of a 21 km out and  back course (384m elevation per lap)

Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/85634594

FREE CONCERT FEATURING: India 9 Nine, Tracey Barnett, The Music Room, Kayleen Meldrum & Community Performers

Helicopter rides, 16 inch bike rides etc.Guest Appearance by Lauren Reynolds (Olympian), Market and Food Stalls, Pony Rides and Harvey Lions Train Ride,

Indicate below (only) if you’re going to enter/ride.

Just a link to highlight the graciousness of one young man in pro-cycling, one who had just had his best ever individual result with a top 10 finish in dreadful conditions over 270km at the World titles in Florence the day before.

Simon Clarke tweeted this late Monday (Italian time) on https://twitter.com/SimoClarke/status/384791998525636608

Drove 2 Trento this arvo 2 see Carl, 1 of our AUS masters,who had a horrific crash at their Worlds. We wish him well! pic.twitter.com/NSV6tZARzS

Great to see Carl Poingdestre receiving visitors and smiling through his obvious discomfort. Chapeau, Simon Clarke.

Ready to put your SPR group riding form on the line? Inspired by the Belgian classics season and the efforts of Cancellara, Sagan, Chavanel and the whole Sky team? Hoping to fine-tune the legs for the UCI races, the Tour de Perth or the Dams Challenge the following week?

Sounds like the Midland 100 road races over the Gidgegannup course are for you.

Last year we had a number of strong rides: Jerry Ghossein 5th in B grade, Jen Siah 2nd in C grade and Jason Ng 2nd in D grade. This year we can do better.

Entries close Midnight Tuesday 2 April – register here: https://eventdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=1567&OrgID=8519