All posts by peter

ride routes 19th & 20th mar

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another week of +30 deg.  please autumn, show yourself.  although the mornings are pleasant now, the middle of the day still feels like summer.  milan-san remo is on this weekend too, so if europe are into the spring classics, where are our autumn classics.

kit distribution – about 2/3 of the kit was distributed at the agm last week, but this means that we still have a bit to get rid of.  we will be bringing it to the coffeeshop after the saturday ride if you didn’t collect it yet.  i also work in the city, so if you are nearby, i can take it into the office.  there can be pick-up by appointment at home, but i would like to avoid it if possible.

kit size swaps – some of you may have found that certain items of your new kit do not fit properly.  i will put a post up tonight and you can add comments and details if you want to try to swap with someone else.  we will run with this until the forum is set up properly.

men’s jersey fit – the men’s jersey does not seem to be the same fit as the previous jersey and there has been a few grumblings about the excess material around the shoulders.  i have already spoken to cannibal and they are saying that it should be the same fit as the previous jersey.  i have returned three new jerseys and one of my old ones so that they can take measurements off them and work out what went wrong.  they may need to be returned and restitched, but we are not sure yet.  don’t let that deter you from wearing it as i have already been wearing mine for a week.  the short-term fix for the excess material is to fold the collar under and wear it as a v-neck.

freeway bikehike – this event is on this sunday and there is a race that leaves just before the main pack.  we have a number of people in both events so just try to stay as safe as possible.  the massive drafts that are created in these packs means that any punter can suddenly keep up and the lack of corners means that many unskilled riders are not shelled early and have been known to bring people down.  stay alert and if you feel unsafe, get out of the pack.

upcoming events – state crit champs to be run by rccc & spr on 27th mar followed by the final in the crit series on the 3rd april.  both events to be held on the tech park circuit.

ride routes – not much to say.  turn up.  ride.

saturday 19th march

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 50.47km (south st)

sunday 20th march

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 70.93km (kahuna)

long – spr sunday 87.72km (kahuna & peet & patterson)

 

ride routes 12th & 13th march

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big important weekend coming up for the club.  new kit, new committee (potentially), new breakfast venue, new members.  with saturday approaching fast, i am still getting everything together so hopefully it all goes smoothly.  read below to see how you can help out.

breakfast – after the saturday ride the groups will need to make their way to the esplanade river suites.  here we will have an area to park the bikes and you can then head to the meeting room we have set up for the breakfast and agm.  the cost is $10 per person and it will be payable at the door.  this is being catered by the esplanade and there will be fruit, savoury and sweet snacks, coffee and cold drinks available.

agm – after you are all fed, we will conduct our annual general meeting.  paul will post the agenda soon but you must be a member to be eligible to vote and hold a committee position.  all committee positions are open so if you want to be involved, let us know.

kit distribution – after the agm we will have the kit distribution.  there will be 148 bags of kit so have a think about what you have ordered and whether you will be able to carry it all home.  there is parking on the roadside next to the esplanade, so if you have ordered a lot, maybe think about driving to the start and having your car available.

volunteers – we need a number of volunteers over the next 2 days.  kimbo, jono and emma have already said that they will help with sorting the kit tomorrow night at my place (7:30pm).  we will need a couple of people to help at the breakfast as well.  firstly we need someone to collect money at the door as people enter.  we will need a couple of people to help distribute kit after the agm and most importantly we need a few people act as security when the bikes have been stacked in the car-park.  can you please add to the comments if you can help us out.  if we get a few people on security, they can tag-team and not miss out on the majority of proceedings.

ride routes – for something different we are going to do a normal saturday ride route and finish at, or near the bell tower.  from there you will make your way to the esplanade river suites in como (112 melville parade).  a map can be found here if you are confused as where you need to go.

saturday 12th march

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 48.67km (cresswell & herdsman)

sunday 13th march

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 on the way out.

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

 

bike paths and spr kit.

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so, even though we avoid the bike paths as much as possible on our organised training rides, we are getting some grief on one of the cycle forums.  after trying to explain that we don’t have a group ride that goes along the freeway bike path, it didn’t seem to matter at all and spr is now a danger to other cyclists and our intimidation and my apathy to police anything is damaging our reputation.

so, when you are riding home AFTER the group ride, please be aware that the bike path is single file and by wearing the spr kit you are representing the club and your actions form peoples opinions about us.

see the details on the link below.  let me know what i did wrong.

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=37866

 

 

sunday 6th march – earlybird and long hills ride

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after getting sick (again) and having a few days off the bike, this week was a recovery week for me.  that meant less stressful rides during the week with the hope of getting back to full steam by the weekend.  i had a crack at the double on saturday (earlybird & main 1) and felt pretty good by the end of it.  mind you the pace wasn’t that high as we saw main 2 creeping up behind us towards the end of the ride.  with that confidence booster, i set the alarm for damn early to catch the pre-ride lap.

there were only five of us and so the pace wasn’t on as three of us were doing the hills ride as well.  andrew and daniel were just fitting a ride in, while gilbert (john), jamie and myself were going long.  we ended up having to take the final shortcut along kintail to make sure that we made it to the start on time.  well on time means that i had time to get to the bakery before the ride started.

we headed out to albany highway with about 40 riders in total.  there was a fairly even split today with about 20 heading up the kahuna for the short course and 20 going long.  the first climb for us was carrawatha which is a good heart starter as it pitches up at about 17%.  if you haven’t done it before, it comes as a bit of a shock as the climbs starts at about 8% and you don’t see the steep bit till you turn the corner.  i was just tapping it out at the back and didn’t see the mountain goats claim victory.

carrawatha – ashley, bonner, brother jules, gilbert, jose

the next climb up carradine starts pretty much straight away and is of a much gentler gradient.  the rough roads have been somewhat tempered with a resurface, but i am hoping that they still have the top coat to go as it is not that good a surface for riding.  however, the hill combined with the rough roads mean that you need to be fairly strong to maintain a effort on this hill.  something i didn’t have today.  i did manage to jump between a few groups without over doing it, but then at about the second last pinch, the pace went on and i didn’t.

carradine – bonner, gilbert, brother jules, jose, simon

the next climb up albany hwy is longer, but with even shallower grade.  the group stayed together for most of it today except for a few of us back markers.  bonner decided to start showing his dominance as he must have still been warming up on the first climb.

albany – bonner, jason, chris a, jose, gilbert

a nice meander through the national park and soon we were at the descent past canning dam.  i clocked about 83km/hr on the final part of the descent and noticed schnieder-man stopped on the side of the road with michael slowing down to help him.  jamie and i kept going and decided to wait for them at the regroup point at the narrow bridge.  after waiting a while and an unanswered phone call to each of them, it was decided to continue up the next climb and onto the servo.

gardiner – bonner, chris a, jason, simon, gilbert

a regroup at the servo allowed for a refuel before heading towards pickering brook.  the ironic thing about the karragullen servo, was that they had locked the toilets to say that because of water restrictions, the toilets were only for customers of the servo.  however, the outside tap was still available for us to fill up our drink bottles.  i decided to help the struggling farmers and irrigated their crops instead.

through bickley valley and along to the final climb up to kalamunda.  i could see the light at the end of the tunnel by now and was looking forward to a sit down.  however, about 100m from the top of the hill, we came across rupert who had tangled his chain up.  now this was not a standard, drop the chain, reach down and put it back on the ring.  no, this was so tangled up we spent 5 min trying to work out which way it actually had to go.  no idea how it got to this point, but the decision was made to split the chain and put it back on the bike again.

now this requires a chain breaker and a new link pin if you are going to do it properly.  luckily, he had one on him.  i managed to talk him through the operation without getting too greasy and we were off again.  jamie and i stopped into the servo for a coke and mars bar before meeting the rest at the coffee shop.  however, that is where we got booted out for bringing outside food into his shop.  i didn’t say anything to him, and he even had a crack saying that he even sells coke.  it is his establishment, so i don’t care.  it is the $4.50 can of coke that i don’t like.  i don’t drink coffee so i don’t care where we go, but i did notice that the bakery was open again, so i hope that stays open for sundays.  oh, the points were as follows.

weir rd – bonner, jason, ashley, chris a, gilbert

nice ride home, but legs were starting to feel it a bit.  door to door it was 146km for me so i was happy, but couldn’t believe that gilbert had the energy to still contest the climbs (and get points in each) after the earlybird ride too.  something i will have to work on.

ride routes 5th, 6th & 7th march

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so the forecast is predicting a slight reprieve from the heat this weekend.  instead of 35 deg it will be 29 deg.  not a big change, but maybe enough to get out of the house for more than 5 min without burning to a crisp.  also, good to see a few of our doctors back with us.  melvyn was part of that medical conference in christchurch when the earthquake hit and jerry was on his way there.  luckily they are both back with us unscathed.

pemberton – we have about 17 rouleurs heading down to pemberton this weekend.  good luck to all those competing especially the guys in ‘b’ grade as emma pooley will be racing against you…don’t get chicked.

karri cup – bit of mountain biking fun is also on this weekend, so pemberton will be rocking with all things biking.  good luck to those sucking in dirt this weekend.

agm – next weekend after the ride we will have the agm at the esplanade river suites in como.  agenda will be posted next week once it is finalised.  all committee positions will be up for grabs so if you want to be a part of how the club is run, put your hand up.  more info on the previous post (see link on the right sidebar).

kit distribution – also after the ride next week we will be doing the kit distribution.  there will be other opportunities to collect the kit, so don’t fret if you can’t make it.  there is a lot to move and it just wasn’t going to happen at the coffee shop.

breakfast – also after the ride next week will be the club breakfast.  the good people at the esplanade river suites have generously offered to host this breakfast and cater for it as well.  however, this means that you will need to RSVP so we can let them know final numbers.  more info on the previous post (see link on the right sidebar).

easter camp – check out the post on the right sidebar.  if you don’t have plans for easter, you do now.  a great weekend of riding and social activities, or just chilling in margaret river.

ride routes – three earlybird rides this weekend if you so desire.  there is also a transitional paced public holiday ride if any of the t1/m3 riders want an easier paced outing.  as monday is a public holiday, the earlybird ride will be the standard weekend one that leaves from cityside of the narrows.  this is to ensure that you can get back to the start in time for the main public holiday ride.

saturday 5th march

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 49.38km (tv stations)

sunday 6th march

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 70.93km (kahuna)

long – spr sunday 101.68km (carradine & canning dam)

monday 7th march

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

ride starts at coode st carpark at 7:00am

transitional – spr public holiday 59.35km (shelley & freo)

main – spr public holiday 59.35km (shelley & freo)

 

agm etc – update

looks like everything is a go for the agm next weekend.  as this will be a catered event we NEED to have rsvp’s in by the end of this weekend so we can give the final numbers to the esplanade river suites first thing monday morning.  this is not like the previous breakfasts at my place where you could just rock up.  we need to give them notice so they can set up and staff up beforehand.  there is now a link on the right sidebar (current events) to the agm post and you need to add you name to the comments there.  do it.

i spoke to cannibal this morning and the kit should all arrive next week.  i will put up a post later in regards to volunteers to help sort the kit as this will be quite a big job.  however, we should be all go for distribution at the agm next saturday.

earlybird ride update

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well the feedback from the earlybird rides has been positive. it will be good to see the numbers build up before winter sets in (if it ever does) and they thin out again.  however, there are a couple of changes that need to be made to some of the routes.

firstly, the comment on riding along south street into the sun has been taken on board and as such, a new route has been mapped.  this time the ride heads away from the sun and down to freo instead.  the ride then comes back along left bank and the normal return river ride. see the link below for the compete ride route.

spr monday 46.74km (south & freo)

the other change has also been incorporated into this ride and will be adjusted on other river rides.  there have been a number of near misses at a particular blind intersection on the last run in to raffles on the river rides.  the left hand turn onto duncraig rd from nisbet rd (i.e after you pass the tennis courts and up the hill) is always a tricky one.  everyone is looking right to call all clear, but then they run wide and into oncoming traffic.  for any of you that did the 200km challenge, you will remember we turned earlier up gariloch st, there was then a hard left at the roundabout that took us onto duncraig rd.  this was done for safety reasons and no reason why this doesn’t still apply.  so the monday, tuesday and thursday earlybird rides will now take gairloch instead.  please try to remember this when you are smashing it for home.

club training page has also been updated to show this information.

ride routes 26th & 27th feb

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well the start of autumn is only 4 days away and already i can feel a chill in the air…..not.  the prediction for this week is for 7 days of +35 deg with minimum temps of about 24 deg.  this summer just won’t end.  maybe i should become nocturnal and that way i can enjoy nice moderate temperatures for a week.

earlybird rides – as mentioned in a previous post, there has been some changes to the earlybird rides during the week.  monday and friday start on the south perth side of the narrows and both routes head south.  some more feedback on whether these routes are appropriate would be appreciated as they will be adjusted if we feel they are too unsafe for this time of day.

pemberton – set for the march long weekend, this is not too far away, but needs a bit of organisation if you are intending to head on down.  south west are running the event so you know that it will be well organised and well run.  there is already a blog post here so let others know if you are heading down so you can fly the spr colours together.

agm, kit distribution and breakfast – we have secured a venue and will have a breakfast as part of this all inclusive event.  one of our sponsors (esplanade river suites) has organised some space and food for us.  more info to come.

spr easter camp – this year we will be holding our first spr easter camp down at margaret river.  as discussed in the previous post there is quite a bit of dorm accommodation, plus space inside for swags and plenty of open ground for those with a tent.  this is not just a bike riding trip, but the whole family is welcome to come along.  details are still being finalised but if you don’t have any other plans for easter, then sign up as the more we have the better it will be.

ride routes – remember holmes road???  well it remembers you and is looking forward to seeing you again.  we need to do this route again so that people become familiar with it.  it is a good test of the legs and the roads are nice and quiet.  on sunday, we again will be avoiding the roleystone area until things settle down there a bit.  instead, we have the chookenberg and gooseberry in the one ride (insert evil laughter here).

saturday 26th february

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 & 2 –spr saturday 40.86km (rebold hill)

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

sunday 27th february

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 to welshpool rd

long – spr sunday 94.36km (chookenberg & observatory & gooseberry)

 

uci masters race – 16th april

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bit of an update for this race.

registrations are now open and more info can be found here.

the course has changed slightly from what was posted and the distance is now saying 107km in total.  8 laps around the kings park circuit that has a slight detour into the park.  i will update the wednesday earlybird route to reflect the course change.  there are not many events that we get to race in our age category, so make the most of this one and get training.  you have about 8 weeks.

earlybird rides – updated

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i mentioned the other day that we now have 2 new earlybird rides on monday and friday.  well after a bit of discussion, it is clear that people are getting bored with the river ride.  it is however, the easiest route with minimum traffic lights and not many places to get lost.  it is also the reason why our main rides on saturday change every week just to add some variation.

so, what has updated.  both monday and friday earlybird rides will now start under the narrows, but on the south perth side.  still at 5:30am, but as we will be heading south, might as well start on that side.  the routes are variations on what we already do, so the roads will not be too new for most people.  both monday and friday contain shelley, but in different directions.  monday firstly does south street before shelley and friday does shelley then bannister rd.  in both cases, i am unsure on traffic conditions in these areas at that time, so a bit of feedback would be appreciated and we can then adjust if necessary.

spr monday 45.47km (south & shelley)

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

wednesday morning now has an official spr earlybird ride but this is a special training opportunity for the older folk within our ranks.  the uci masters race is supposedly completing laps around the through kings park.  if that previously posted map of the route is right, then that is what we will be training on.  starting under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am, we will do as many circuits as possible within the hour and a quarter, before heading for coffee.

spr wednesday 14.46km (uci masters)

the tuesday, thursday, saturday and sunday earlybird routes remain unchanged.

see you bright and early…every day of the week.