queensland, beautiful and humid and sweaty one day, expecting 40-80mm of rain the next.  on a plane to the hunter valley tonight, so i have to get the ride routes out early.  sorry to anyone that has emailed me this week, but my internet is a bit hit and miss.  i also, my lack of riding and living on hotel food will be quite telling when i get home.

bike paths – there have been some more complaints about SPR riders on the bike paths especially after our training rides.  the tuesday morning ride is getting quite big with summer approaching and after we regroup at the raffles there are a lot of riders heading up the path.  we need to be aware of other riders on the path and also be aware that legally you are only allowed to ride single file.  if this continues to be an issue, we may need to change the ride routes and cross the bridge via the road (similar to the weekend earlybird).  please be considerate to other bike riders.

tour de perth – good luck to those that are competing this weekend, especially those that are doing all three stages.

movember – support the spr mo-team as it is almost coming to an end.  more info here.

ride routes – saturday numbers may be a bit lower as there are many doing the tour de perth road race.  as such, we might need YOU to step up and help out.  this might be as easy as knowing EXACTLY where the ride route is to go. don’t forget our new coffee location on saturday and diversion to the ride route (see here).

saturday 26th movember

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 40.86km (rebold hill)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 51.36km (sth lake)

 sunday 27th movember

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd)

long – spr sunday 101.86km (welshpool & mundaring & kalamunda)

so i have a week in brisvegas next week for work.  this means i miss out on sunday hills ride, tuesday small chain ring, wednesday uci ride, thursday fast group and most probably next saturday group ride.  this got me thinking about when is my off season.  last year i built up to the uci race.  did a bit less riding after it, thought i should use some of that form and did more racing.  built up to the state champs and a bit more racing, now i am building towards the uci race again.  if we want to, our season can go all year long.  does this matter or is the level that most of us training at, not really a stress on the body over a long period??? 

spr kit – orders have closed so if you missed out you will be waiting till autumn for the winter order.  there are still some t-shirts left and these can be ordered through the online shop.

tour de perth – the entries have been extended to next tuesday so check out the blog post here and add your name to the comments when you enter.

movember – support the spr mo-team.  more info here.

ride routes – with the great perth bike ride on this weekend, the usual sunday earlybird ride will need to be changed.  this week we will use the friday earlybird ride route and start on the south perth side of the narrows.  for the long course on sunday, after welshpool road, start to do laps of the observatory but on the first lap, divert down towards karagulen.  on the map it looks like the turn around point is close to the bottle shop that is just north of the servo. don’t forget our new coffee location on saturday and diversion to the ride route (see here).

saturday 19th movember

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 40.72km (mosman park)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.47km (hale rd reverse)

sunday 20th movember

ride starts under the narrows (south perth side) at 5:30am

early lap – spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd)

long – follow the short course out, then do laps of the observatory

so, some of you will remember my blog post about the team time trial down in pinjarra (see here).  well a post script to a absolute crap day on the bike arrived in the mail this week.  looks like in my haste to get home, i went through a speed camera on the freeway and have copped a few hundred dollar fine and a couple of demerit points.  time trialling is bad for you (don’t tell atta i said that).

spr t-shirts order –a few people have asked about the t-shirts as they were ordered a while ago.  they are on their way but we weren’t sure how many to order.  in the end we didn’t reach the 100 minimum so we have ordered 100 regardless.  this means that they will still be available to purchase after they arrive.  they are a one off and are manufactured on an order basis so they are not just sitting in a warehouse waiting for an order to come in.  sorry for the delay, but they will be here soon.  you can still order here.

spr kit order – much like the t-shirts, we are ordering based on the needs of the club.  there is a link here with more information.  we will close order in wednesday 15th november.  this has given everyone 2 and a bit weeks to get their orders in.  if you miss this order you will need to wait till the next order in autumn before any kit will be available.  we are not a shop so we can’t hold thousands of dollars worth of stock, just in case.  order now or wait again.  i am working on getting some new gloves, socks and booties through cannibal.  this will be a separate order after the kit, so keep your eyes out for this.

golden spokes – thank you for all the help at the golden spokes this year without it the race would not have been able to run.  there are a number of things that we will be doing next year to try to improve the event.  this involves purchasing some race equipment so we are more self sufficient. 

ride routes – i think the transitional group needs a few more ride routes.  if you have any ideas of good safe roads, let me know.  on sunday there has been a suggestion that we tackle the tour de perth road circuit.  i haven’t mapped it properly but what we will do is everyone will climb brookton highway to karragullen and onto pickering brook.  from there the short course heads to kalamunda and the long course will do circuits around the observatory.  we will play it by ear as to how many laps around we need to do before heading up to kalamunda for the sprint to the finishline.  don’t forget our new coffee location on saturday and diversion to the ride route (see here).

saturday 12th movember

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 39.81km (shelley & bannister)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.04km (hale & ridge hill)

sunday 13th movember

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr earlybird ride

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 82.79km (brookton & weir rd)

long – follow the short course out, then do laps of the observatory

so we have finished the saturday morning ride and are making our way to coffee.  how do we get to the new location.  there are 2 maps below that show how to get there from both the east and west.  the ride routes will be changed soon, but there are so many of them and i am a little swamped right now.  use the maps below for now.