As we alluded to earlier, and have had many people follow up with, we will also be running a number of Fondo training sessions on Sunday morning. These will start out similar to the Friday sessions, but may be adjusted as we better understand rider numbers and traffic conditions.
Looking at the criterium calendar, there are only 3 Sunday events (non-masters) on between now and the Nationals in early Jan. As some people wish to do both the crit and fondo, we want to make sure that there is an opportunity for both. Therefore, we have identified 5 dates in which to hold Sunday Fondo Training. 16/11, 23/11, 7/12, 21/12, 28/12.
The initial format will be as such –
We will meet at 6am upon Frasers Ave in Kings Park, where the actual start line will be on the day. The idea, is similar to Friday where we ride hard until the exit of Kings Park, then regroup and neutralise the Mounts Bay road segment. As stated previously, we need to understand the traffic so that we can ensure that all riders remain safe. If we deem it quiet enough, we may do the first 2 laps with no neutral section, then regroup after that, but that is a future state. The idea, though, is to complete 6 full laps of the slightly abbreviated circuit. We will not be heading all the way into the city and up Williams St as there are 8 traffic lights to negotiate which just complicates things and potentially makes it less safe. So this is generally an endurance session, see how hard you can do Malcolm St after 5 times up, how is your nutrition going, do you have enough fluids. Training sessions are the time to experiment, and get things right for race day.
As usual, these training sessions are open to everyone, not just SPR members, and not just people that are doing the Fondo. Just remember that they are SPR club run sessions and we expect you to respect our volunteers and obey all road rules.
We will create events through the SPR Facebook with the same details as here, so that they pop up as a reminder. So please indicate if you are interested as it helps others see it as well.
With the final Tour of Margaret River being held this coming weekend, we now look ahead to the next major goal of the season…the Road Nationals. Although the majority of us can only dream of competing in the elite level, the opportunity exists for us to road race, crit or team time trial over the same courses as the pros.
As the EOI’s come in for the various events, we will start to form up teams, where required, and organise some specific training for those event. An email will go out soon to acknowledge people’s preferences and how we intend to move forward.
However, for the road race, the Grand Fondo format allows for a more individual race and hence the training can be a little different. The club will be running a series of training sessions over the next 10 weeks leading up to the nationals and hopefully there is something for everyone.
Firstly, on Tuesday morning at 6am there will be a Women’s only session in Kings Park. This session will do repeats of the main climbs and focus on VO2max efforts to build up the endurance required for the event.
We will meet at the Wadjuk carpark behind Fraser’s Restaurant and will vary the session depending on attendees and what else is happening in the park (eg ATTA).
This session is open to any women interested in training, not just specifically for the Grand Fondo, and is open to non-club members as well.
On Friday mornings at 5:30am there will be an open session (men and women) that will focus on both the climbs and chase in between. Meeting under the narrows city-side, but under the northern side of the road (opposite where we usually do), this will head into the city in a controlled manner along the course from Birdya Drive. This is to give people a view of the actual course which is important so that they can understand the gradient and conditions of the road. Unfortunately there and seven sets of traffic lights that makes this very difficult from a training perspective, so we will ride it in a neutral manner.
Once the groups crosses Milligan Street it is game on following the course up Malcolm and into the park, however, the group will regroup just after turning into Kings Park Ave. This is to ensure that we can have a safe and protected group riding along Mounts Bay Road as the early morning traffic starts to pick up around 6am. (see map for lap 1)
Again it is game on to follow the course with another regroup before leaving the park. Repeat for lap 3. If you are having trouble keeping up and don’t want to feel like you are having people wait for you, there is a shortcut before Lovekin Drive. Depending on who we have in attendance, there may be an opportunity to split into 2 different groups, but we will play it by ear.
The ride is neutralised as we head back into the city but instead of following the actual course back through the actual CBD, we stay on Mounts Bay Road, past the hospital and up Spring St to join back onto St Georges/Malcolm St. This gives the course a better flow for training and tackles a slightly harder climb with less recovery before Malcolm St. (see map for lap 2 & 3)
Similar to the Tuesday session, this is open to all riders including non-club members.
A third session on Sunday mornings will take in the entire course and is planned to minimise regroups as hopefully traffic will be manageable early on in the day. This session will start on Fraser Avenue where the actual start/finish line is positioned and will run along the entire course, including the traffic lit section of the CBD.
Times and dates for this session have not been finalised yet, as this session will be run alternately with attendance to selected criteriums which usually fall on a Sunday morning. As we have riders training for both the Grand Fondo and Criterium, we need to cater for both.
Final word. All these sessions are run for free through the club and, again, non-SPR members are more than welcome. They are all on open roads and, although we are trying to simulate race conditions as much as we can, you must obey road rules at all times (including traffic lights). The first of these sessions begins next week the 4th November after the Tour or Margaret River.
the state junior criterium championships were run today before our normal summer criterium series. results are up on the events & results page. or here.
the 4th race of our summer series was also held today along with a special women’s ‘b’ & ‘c’ grade race sponsored by hall cycle training. this concluded our criterium race series for the summer and the final leaderboard has been updated. results can be found here.
a special thanks to all those that have helped out during the course of the race series, especially those that have come down when they are not racing. we really appreciate all the help and cannot run a race series without you.
winter is over in the northern hemisphere and the big boys have come out to ride their bikes. strade bianche, paris-nice and tirreno-adriatico all had/have some big names involved. back home we are finishing up our criterium series but there was also some good racing down at pemberton and both the spr and DOME teams rode well. there were some unfortunate accidents, though. check out the footage from des’ gopro in the ‘b’ grade road race. just a friendly reminder for those riding this weekend…don’t brake, don’t overlap wheels, keep control of your bike. stay safe.
it is also the state election on saturday, so don’t forget to vote after the morning’s ride.
junior champs, final criterium and women’s race – this weekend we will be holding a criterium with the rccc that will try to cater for pretty much everyone. add your name to the comments on the previous post if you can help out. more info can be found here.
club agm and breakfast – our club agm will be held on the 16th march after the saturday morning ride. to assist in getting numbers to the agm, we will also be having our quarterly breakfast. check the previous post here and make sure you put your name in the comments so we know how many to cater for.
giro d’perth – a different type of event to help get your family involved in cycling. registrations have been extended till the 12th and so far there are just under 400 riders registered. more info here.
next kit order – kit orders are currently open and close midnight, 10th march. more details here.
ride routes – we need volunteers for the criterium on sunday, but i realise that people will do their own hills ride anyway. as such i have still scheduled a ride in, but if you can swing by afterwards, it would be appreciated the crits will be going till after 12:30 so you should still be able to find time after your ride. hot windy day on saturday with a high potential for rain. should be good. then you need to vote.
saturday 9th march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
this sunday is the final race of the summer criterium series held with the rccc. this event will actually be three events combined together.
firstly we are running the state junior criterium series from 7:30am starting with the under 13 riders. the under 15 and under 17 riders will follow and we will finish off with the championship presentation.
at 9:30am the senior races start with ‘d’ grade. these races are as per the usual criterium series and you can enter on the day and day licences are available. this is also the culmination of the race series and the series winners will be announced.
in between the ‘b’ and ‘a’ grade races there will be a special race. in conjunction with hall cycle training, there will be a women’s ‘b’ & ‘c’ grade race. this is an opportunity for any of the female riders to give cycle racing a go on a nice short circuit close to town. if you don’t have a race licence, don’t worry as we have organised a special rate for the day licence at $15 (usually $33). entry is only $15 if you are a spr/rccc/hall member or $20 if not.
if you are thinking about it but are not sure which grade to go in, i would recommend that if you can ride in main 1 then you can race ‘b’ grade, if you ride in main 2 then ‘c’ grade. if you ride in main 3 and want to race, then this is a great opportunity to see what the pace is really like. you have nothing to lose, and trust me, people will be encouraging you the whole way around.
brad hall from hall cycle training approached the clubs to put on this race to cater for the growing number of women’s only training courses that are around. we have a strong women’s contingent within the club so it would be great to see them out and racing in spr colours.
see the flyers below for more information.
as with the other criteriums, we need volunteers to help run the event. we have often seen the same people down at the races, so do something for the club and come and help out. put your name in the comments if you can help out. we need people from 7:00am through till 12:30pm.
entries to the giro d’perth close this tuesday the 5th of march. make sure you get your entries in asap. there are 4 x $250 gift vouchers from cyclemania to be won in a random raffle draw. more important than that, this is a chance to get your non-cycling friends and family involved. there is even an 11km route that anyone would be able to accomplish.
also, as we are helping to run this event, part proceeds from your entry go back to the club.
head over to the giro d’perth website for more details and registration.
so, lately i have been doing some cross-training on a tuesday and thursday mornings. i struggled with the decision to do this as the 2 rides on these days are the most popular and therefore often need the most direction. i thought that being popular, there will be enough “old hands” along on the ride to keep it all together. the stories i am hearing back are not really filling me with confidence. a couple of weeks ago there was a crash on the thursday fast ride. now the crash was half way back so the front guys were not directly involved, but half the group just kept on riding. i am sure that you can hear the sound of metal and carbon on the pavement and call up the road to stop. our group stops whenever there is an accident. it is not a race, you do not win points, we stop to make sure that there are not serious injuries. even worse in the guy that caused the crash, didn’t actually crash himself and also didn’t stop. it is not just the thursday fast ride either. i have heard (and seen strava/facebook comments) that the tuesday small chain ring ride is getting smashed apart. we have talked many a time about doing a fast group on tuesday and the consensus is that people would rather do an easier ride. well this is also being smashed apart to the detriment of riders that are being shelled out the back. there are fast sections and regroup points on that ride. save your ego for those bits and keep the group together the rest of the time. the reason our rides have continued to attract new people are the fact that they are organised, safe, friendly and inclusive. that means YOU also have to be organised, safe, friendly and inclusive. we do have enough “old hands” on our regular rides. be vocal and let people know when things are getting out of control, especially those people that don’t read the blog and are not members, but still come on our rides.
club agm and breakfast – our club agm will be held on the 16th march after the saturday morning ride. to assist in getting numbers to the agm, we will also be having our quarterly breakfast. check the previous post here and make sure you put your name in the comments so we know how many to cater for.
giro d’perth – a different type of event to help get your family involved in cycling. more info here.
next kit order – kit orders open this weekend and close midnight, 10th march. watch the blog for further details.
ride routes – lots and lots of rides on this weekend. kids ride is on so make sure you get your kids down to the boatshed for a 9:30am ride. uci at 6:00am plus one at 7:00am that will meet up with the earlier ride.
saturday 2nd march
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
so the papers seem to be filled with articles about federal and state elections. everyone trying to outdo each other and making promises that you know they can’t keep. i actually find all the negative ads quite disturbing. they should change the laws so that they can only promote their own positive spin rather than say how negative the other parties are. the problem i find with perth is that everyone complains that neither party will do something, then when they do, all people do is complain that they are doing it wrong. i.e. convention centre, bell tower, arena. well, i like the convention centre, the bell tower and the arena. i think the new quay development is a good idea, the sinking of the northbridge rail and the new stadium at burswood are also good (even if graham doesn’t like the name of the quay). if none of those thing ever happened, what an absolutely boring place perth would be.
uci training – as per the previous post, there will be a uci specific training ride at 6:00am meeting under the narrows. the 7:00am uci ride will be on every second week.
state criterium championships – this weekend we are helping the rccc run the state criterium championships at the tech park cicuit. we really need people to come and help, or at least hang around after their race to help out. this is a state level event that we are running, we need to make sure that it is run well. make sure you do something for the club and find the time to volunteer. ‘c’ grade starts at 7:30am so we will need volunteers from 7:00am onwards.
pemberton classic – held over the march long weekend there are a couple of races on across various grades. andrew is trying to organise some joint accommodation of which there is still one spot left. let him know via email if you are interested. more info here.
giro d’perth – a different type of event to help get your family involved in cycling. more info here.
next kit order – the next kit order will open late next week. keep an eye on the website for more details.
ride routes – a new-ish ride route this week. similar to last week, i have just modified an older 55km route to be closer to 50km. there are a few right hand turns across hwys so make sure you move together as a group so as not to disrupt the traffic too much. no hills ride this week. come along and help us run the state criterium champs.
saturday 23rd february
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
with only 8 weeks till the uci race there has been a request to step up the training a bit. there were big numbers at this morning’s kings park session and it is definitely a good hit out (or knock out depending on where you sit). the need to actually ride the uci circuit at reabold hill is becoming more apparent as it is clearly a different circuit. while the kings park circuit will certainly help in training, the actual circuit will help with tactics come race day.
so far we have been taking a group to do the uci circuit every second week at 7am on saturday. this will still occur and so this week there is no 7am uci ride. however, for those dedicated uci masters, there is now another uci training ride. starting at the narrows at 6am and heading directly to the circuit to start cutting laps. finishing at about 8:20am this give you time to get back to DOME for a coffee with the rest of the crew. it is estimated that you should get in about 8 or 9 laps in that time.
on the odd weeks, the 7am group will meet up with the 6am group on the circuit to provide some fresh legs to keep the pace up. both groups will then head back for coffee at DOME.
this updated schedule will be reflected on thursday evening when the next ride routes are posted.
saturday
6am narrows – advanced uci training
7am coode st – basic uci training every second week.
time for cycling – if anyone can find out where to get this watch from, let me know.
so as i was backing out of the driveway today i had to stop for a bike commuter heading to work. he wasn’t wearing lycra and had a distinctive bike with a series of small led lights along his forks and seat stays. i passed him as i went up the hill and turned onto canning hwy and down to the lights. after waiting for the lights, i headed along labouchere rd, i came across him again at preston st. he was obviously heading down to the freeway bike path. i was a bit late and didn’t leave home till 8:00 so traffic was a bit heavier. i had to wait in line for at least 2 light changes before i could get onto the freeway at mill point rd. as i crossed over the narrows, i notice “the rider” on the bike path to my left. i was not making good time, but i was sure that i would now beat him into town. more lights to exit the freeway and again along mounts bay rd. as i am again waiting to turn up mill st he passes me once more. another set of lights for me before i have to again wait to turn into central park building. he passes me again. so, the moral of the story is…i had my aircon running and was not a sweaty mess by the time i got to work like he was. ha.
orica greenedge jersey – the jersey was put on ebay and managed to raise $1,003 for cathi. congratulations to the winner and i hope you enjoy having it hung on your wall.
state criterium championships – next weekend (24th) we are helping the rccc run the state criterium championships at the tech park cicuit. last weekend it was hot, and there weren’t as many people racing and even less volunteers. we really need people to come and help, or at least hang around after their race to help out. i really appreciate those that did help, especially those that had to do traffic management on more than one occasion in the hot sun. this is a state level event that we are running, we need to make sure that it is run well. i will be putting a post up about it soon, make sure you do something for the club and find the time to volunteer.
pemberton classic – held over the march long weekend there are a couple of races on across various grades. andrew is trying to organise some joint accommodation. let him know if you are interested. more info here.
giro d’perth – a different type of event to help get your family involved in cycling. more info here.
ride routes – fast and main groups have a good look at the maddington ride route as it is kind of new. actually there are old bits and new bits and bits of other rides (like the public holiday ride) all bolted together to make a new ride. uci laps are on for those that are interested.
saturday 16th february
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
