All posts by peter

collie donnybrook classic

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2009 was a bit wet in collie

the collie-donnybrook return race is one of those special handicap races that give everyone a chance of winning the major prize.  in this case this race boasts over $4000 in prizes and trophies.

here is how it works.  just say you are one of the top “a” grade riders in perth.  well then you get to start from 0 minutes also known as scratch.  if you are a decent “b” grade rider, the you may get 10 or 12 minutes headstart, if you are a girl, you may get up to 20 minutes headstart. all things are taken into consideration when a handicap is given including previous results in other graded races.  you won’t be out there by yourself either.  you start in a group of up to 10 and then you all work together to stay ahead while trying to catch those in front.  the deal is, once you catch the ones ahead, then you should all work together to keep your speed up.  if scratch does eventually catch you, then the group is usually pretty big by then so there are lots of places to hide.

it is run over 104kms so it may be a bit of a strecth for some of our regular racing guys.  however, there are usually lots of others out there to get you home.

if you have never raced this type of event before, then you are in for something different as it is a real cat and mouse approach to racing.  it is also on a saturday at lunch time for a change.  there is also a support race (which is over 50kms and can use day licences) and a participation race for both road and mtb’s.

the flyer can be found here and registration can be found here.

registration closes monday 15th aug at 11:30pm, so basically get your in now.  add to the comments below if you are heading down so we can get an idea of numbers.

stu’s report from 2008

brendan’s report from 2009

jono’s report from 2010

ride routes 13th & 14th august

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its wet. so what???

saturday morning may be the last dry morning for a few days so make the most of it.  storms are meant to roll in on saturday arvo which means that sunday may be wet again.  look for the lone figure standing in the car park on sunday morning waiting for someone to ride with.  remember, don’t look at the weather report to work out if you will ride, but rather look at it to work out what to wear while riding.

cycling documentary – we have been approached by a high school student who is studying media to see if she can use our group to make a short documentary on cycling.  she will be out and about on saturday and will get some footage of our start as well as from points around the course.  afterwards, at the coffeeshop she will do some interviews for those that are willing.  also, if anyone has a bike mounted camera can they please get some footage for her (wonga, scott looking at you).  so, best behaviour and all in nice shiny spr kit if possible please.

collie-donnybrook – another classic race next weekend.  i will put up a post about this soon, but basically this is different to most races in perth as it is a handicap.  this means that there is no “a” grade, “b” grade etc, but rather you get a handicap (i.e. minutes head start) over the normal “a” grade boys (at 0 minutes which is called scratch).  you then work with your group to try not to get caught.  this means that you all race the same course against each other for the prize money.  the scratch riders do not always win, but it depends on the handicap that you get.  it is often based on previous results and as such is only open to people with a full racing licence.

preston point road – we will be using this road again for now.  after 90% of the vote on the blog was in favor of using the old course again.  we used it on tues & thurs mornings and had no trouble.  i think it will all depend on the traffic at the time.  if anyone has any problems, please let me know.

ride routes – i thought after last weekend that you didn’t get enough of the perth foothills.  only one climb this time with ridgehill instead of the 3 or 4 on holmes road.

saturday 13th august

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 1 – spr saturday 39.81km (shelley & bannister)

fast, main 1, 2 & 3 – spr saturday 50.04km (hale & ridge hill)

sunday 14th august

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) (follow long course out to welshpool) 

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

spin with…..somebody

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spin with fynn

since the demise of spin with fynn, there has been a significant gap in wednesday evening training.  i am looking at starting it up again as there has been a bit of interest of late, especially with the wet weather.  so, what i am after is someone that can regularly commit to running a wednesday evening session for 1 hr (6:30 – 7:30).  facilities include a strong weather proof structure (narrows bridge) and a great view (of both the city and people running past).  we can organise some session plans so you know what to do and maybe even get a helping hand from ryan to help get things going.

if you are interested, please let me know and send me an email or comment to this post.

tour tipping – the final wash up

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ok, so i have been a bit of a slacker since the tour has finished and think i have recovered all of my lost sleep.

there were 4 categories that were running as part of the tour tipping and we have a different winner in each one.

the most hotly contested category was the general classification.  the lead changed a number of times but in the end it all came down to the time trial (just like the real tour).  it was scott littlefair’s team “almost there”  that managed to take out the gc in a time of 3 days, 14 hours and 37 sec.  the last team came in 3 hrs and 46 min behind, so consistency is the key.  for his efforts scott has won the samsung ht-c330 dvd player with home theatre speakers donated by shaw at netplus microcomputers.

the green jersey comp was the accumulation of points across every stage.  this year the tour changed the category and instead of 3 intermediate sprints with points for 1st, 2nd & 3rd, there was a single intermediate sprint with points down to 15th place.  this meant that even if you didn’t tip the breakaways, you had a chance for points.  toby brown’s “global bean” team took the maximum points and led that category from early on.  toby has won a set of Illuminator 1000 Lumen from nitelight.

the mountain points jersey is a hard one to pick at the best of times.  often the most points are accumulated by the person that tips a breakaway as even if they get caught before the end of the stage, they may have crossed a number of big climbs.  this year a couple of good picks by mark hindley’s “le petit chihuahua” team meant that he finished 43 points clear of his closest competitor.  mark has won a front and back gekko light set as well as a pair of goat skin gloves and sticker set from knog.

winning the final category is often quite a bit of luck.  to pick a stage winner out of 198 riders is sometimes easy (the cav) and sometime hard (a breakaway stage).  the trick is to pick a stage winner that no-one else picks.  especially after there has been no winner picked for a couple of stages.  basically the way it works is 10 points are allocated to each stage.  if 10 people pick the winner then they each get 1 point.  if no-one picks the winner, then the points jackpot.  so even though a few people picked 5 or 6 stage winners, they often shared the points around.  mike tan’s team “vinovidivici” took out the category with 4 very well placed stage wins.  mike has won a sports nutrition pack from carboshotz containing bars, gels, electrolyte tablets and a drink bottle.

winners can contact me to receive their prizes.

ride routes 6th & 7th august

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jumping on a jet plane wednesday for a flying visit to brisvegas.  back late thursday night so i am trying to be tricky.  i have written this blog up on tuesday night and am hoping to get it to publish at the right time on thursday.  so, a number of possibilities could occur.  firstly, it may actually work and publish at 18:00 thursday.  secondly, it may publish now (being tuesday night).  thirdly, i get back from brisvegas to an inbox full of “how come the ride routes are not on the blog???” “is there a ride on this weekend???”  etc, etc, etc.  lets hope the technology doesn’t let me down.

preston point road – about time we talked about this.  see the previous posts.

road racing – this weekend marks the beginning of the “spring classics” in perth.  there are a number of races that are on now that winter is starting to fade and between now and the end of the year there are about 2 races month.  if you are looking at pinning on a number, then come and join us.  there are a few of us racing in pinjarra this sunday.  also, spr will be running the golden spokes again in november so get training as we would like to see as many spr riders we can out there.

ride routes – looks like saturday might be the only nice riding day all week.  take advantage of it.  as there was no ride last sunday (well i was there, but where were you???) we will do the same ride route again.  a few of us will be at pinjarra racing in the rain so make sure you know the ride route.  hint – kalamunda, chook, observ, aldersyde.

saturday 6th august

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 1 – spr saturday 39.04km (benara rd)

fast, main 1, 2 & 3 – spr saturday 49.69km (holmes rd)

sunday 7th august

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 56.93km (kalamunda) (then an option for gooseberry)

long – spr sunday 90.10km (kalamunda & chookenberg & observatory)

preston point road

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ok, so we changed our ride routes for the standard ride around the river when preston point road was undergoing roadworks.  well the council has now finished the “improvements” and the road is operational again.  we have occasionally ridden on it and the surface is nice and smooth.  the new traffic islands do restrict it a bit but nothing that the group can’t handle.  to me, the biggest risk is drivers getting frustrated over limited places to overtake so they end up doing something stupid that puts us at risk.  or even worse, we end up getting abused both verbally and physically.

so, what i want to know, is do we go back to using preston point road, or do we continue to avoid it???

use the poll to cast your vote and the comments to voice your opinion.

Do we go back to using Preston Point Road???

  • Yes, it is safe enough. (89%, 68 Votes)
  • No, avoid it and use canning hwy. (11%, 8 Votes)

Total Voters: 76

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sunday hills ride – 31st july

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sad solo figure seen hanging out in deserted carparks in the early morning. full belge points, however.

in bed last night listening to the rain smash down at about 3:30am i wondered how many people would turn up for the 7am ride.  getting ready in the morning, and the next shower came though and i was sure that it would be the last nail in the hills ride coffin.  sure enough, i head out, with rain coat on, into a blistering headwind to find the carpark deserted.  waiting, waiting, waiting…nothing.  i decided to cut a lap of the river instead as i didn’t feel safe hitting the hills solo in these conditions.  got as far as the narrows and got smashed by sideways rain.  instead of turning left along mounts bay i turned right and cut a lap around the causeway and back home.  depressing kind of day.

pinjarra classic 2011

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the pinjarra classic is one of those classic races on a classic course that defines it as a classic.  unlike many of the races around perth, this one actually is all about the hills.  there is some flat at the start and finish, but primarily it is all about climbing.  the course has changed this year and heads from pinjarra straight to dwellingup then around del park road.  it then crosses the highway and takes some back roads to finish just outside town.  a grade then do another lap of the same, while b and c grade finish after about 69kms.

a flyer can be found here, and registration can be found here (closes midnight tuesday).

for those that regularly do the sunday hills ride, this is the race for you.  it may come down to a sprint, but it is more like a schleck vs cadel sprint rather than a cav vs farrar.

the map is below but head to the mapmyride link to see the profile.
add your name to the comments if you are goign to race so we can organise some club stuff.

 


ride routes 30th & 31st july

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aussie, aussie, aussie

tour is over.  long live the king.  after a gruelling three weeks of reduced sleep we finally got the result that so many aussies were after.  it would have had to have been the best tour in ages as there was no clear superstar that was just running away with it.  cadel showed pure class on the final two mountain stages when he managed to drag the leaders back to the breakaways and then smash it on the time trial.  and how good was the supporting cast this year.  while we weren’t sure who would win overall, awesome rides by thor, hoogs, gilbert and voeckler kept the interest high through every stage.  shame the red head wouldn’t give us a holiday, i was certainly looking forward to a sleep in.

tour tipping – there are winners and grinners and scott managed to get one over on toby much like cadel did on andy.  it came down to the time trial and toby lost time picking a tired cancellara.  however, he did maintain a healthy lead in the sprinter points comp and came out on top of that.  scottish mark took out the climbers points comp while mike tan took the most stage wins.  i will organise the prizes shortly for the four comp winners.

preston point road – there is a survey going around to get cyclists view on the wonderful new road design on preston point road.  get yourself heard – https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HSZ2JB5

pinjarra classic – a classic race for those that don’t mind a hill or two.  this race is on next weekend so registration needs to be in by tuesday.  if you are a sunday hills ride regular, this is the race for you.  we will post some more details soon.

ride routes – so they are prediciting rain, rain and then some rain till thursday next week.  i have scheduled in some familiar rides for saturday in anticipation that they may not be many ride leaders (or even riders) available.  the sunday hills ride will stay close to kalamunda so you can pull out for a early coffee at anytime.

saturday 30th july

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 1 – spr saturday 40.72km (mosman park)

fast, main 1, 2 & 3 – spr saturday 50.97km (river ride)

sunday 31st july

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 56.93km (kalamunda) (then an option for gooseberry) 

long – spr sunday 90.10km (kalamunda & chookenberg & observatory)

ride routes 23rd & 24th july

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damn the tour is getting exciting.  cadel is so close.  contador is finally finding his legs.  schleck is having a cry about having to do downhills.  voeckler is riding like he could actually win the thing.  very exciting and i am continuing to lose sleep because of it.

belgium fundraiser – a massive thanks to those companies/shops that have donated items that we can use for our belgium fundraiser.  as i mentioned before, netplus micro computers, canning bridge cycles and subway have all donated items.  we also have a farm stay from boshack, lights and accessories from knog, nutrition pack from carboshotz, a footy signed by wirrpanda from the west australian newspaper and a couple of sets of lights from nitelights.  some of these will be split up for the tipping comp and others will go towards a raffle at the fundraiser.

ride routes – it could be a bit wet this weekend.  however, it is the last few days of the tour, so get inspired and put a rain jacket on.  sunday short ride is pretty straight forward.  follow the long course and you will end up at the base of gooseberry hill.  either down the zig-zag and up kalamunda, or straight to coffee instead.

saturday 23rd july

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 1 – spr saturday 41.73km (canning vale reverse)

fast, main 1, 2 & 3 – spr saturday 49.09km (abernathy rd)

sunday 24th july

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 – follow the long course and do gooseberry hill.  option to head down the zig-zag and back up kalamunda or just straight to coffee.

long – spr sunday 100.45km (darlington & mundaring)