All posts by peter

ride routes 25th, 26th & 27th sept

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so it looks like summer may be back early this year.  we are not even out of september and it was 28 degrees today.  that is almost 30 which is almost hot.  the mornings are still a bit brisk, but i am expecting that we will start to see an increase in the numbers again.  the development group had 12 last week after the last couple of months where there was one or none turning up.

the format of the fast with a main chaser seems to work ok so we will stick with that for now.  there seems to be enough of a gap created that they aren’t right up each other for the whole ride.  it is a safety net really for those that want to have a crack at stepping up to the next group.  however, it does rely on you knowing the ride route.  it is always posted so it is up to everyone to know where your group is going that day.

spr accessories – still have a few packages left for people to pick up.  email me to arrange a time and place.

bumper stickers – we are now into the second round of voting as there were a few suggestions that needed to be closed out.  have a look here and vote on what design you would like.  they all have the cyclist on them, but just variations on lettering and background.  votes have been very close so far with only a few separating all four designs.  poll closes after the weekend.  this design will form the basis of most of our promotional material, so not just bumper stickers, but also banners, flags and flyer’s.

world championships tipping – coming.  hopefully up and running buy this weekend.  you have to pick a rider in every race (men’s women’s & U23 in both the tt and road race) and the top finishing riders accumulate points that go towards your total.  all entry goes into the prize kitty.

golden spokes volunteers – we are involved in running our first race this year and so we need volunteers to help out with the golden spokes race at champion lakes.  there has already been a post put out about it here.  however, we really need some volunteers to help us out.  there are not a lot of jobs to do, but it would be quite embarrassing if a club of our size can not even field 10 people to help run an event.  you don’t need to be specially trained in anything and mostly we need line judges so you just write down people’s numbers as they cross the finish.  so get involved and add your name to the comments on the previous post.

state team time trial – we are putting together teams now for the state team time trial in mid october.  this is a race and so you need a full racing licence.  teams of 4 guys in open or masters (over 35) or 3 women.  this is a lot like a cyclo-sportif as you ride with the people you know and you all have to stick together.  put your name down hereis you are interested.  you don’t need a fancy tt bike to be able to play.

ride routes – nothing outstanding here except don’t forget as it is a public holiday, we will be running our normal public holiday ride route.  moderate pace with regroups.

saturday 25th september – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

juniors – spr saturday 22.12km (juniors mt pleasant)

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 41.18km (reverse river ride)

fast, main 1 & 2 – spr saturday 49.38km (tv stations)

sunday 26th september – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

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

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

monday 27th september – ride starts at coode st carpark at 7:00am

main 1  – spr public holiday 59.35km (shelley & freo)

spr bumper sticker – the final three

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there was a clear winner in our elections and sticker #14 won by a few votes.

there were a few suggestions made in the process so i am just closing them out.

the first was to reverse the colour of the letters, so that is 14b.

then there was a suggestion to change the background to the earlier one, so that is 14c.

only keeping this poll open till the end of the weekend and then the results will be final and we will get some stickers made.

this will also form the basis of our banners etc for promotional material

Which version do you prefer???

  • Option 14c - mottled background
    Option 14c (27%, 21 Votes)
  • Option 14b - white letters
    Option 14b (26%, 20 Votes)
  • Option 14d - mottled background with white letters
    <img src="https://southperthrouleurs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/SPR-Sticker-14d.jpg" height="87" width="450" alt="Option 14d" (26%, 20 Votes)
  • Option 14a - original
    Option 14a (23%, 18 Votes)

Total Voters: 79

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ride routes 18th & 19th sept

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damn the weather is nice lately.  shame i have to spend the majority of it bathed in the glow of a computer monitor.  i have been so busy lately that i have had to work back a bit.  don’t know what is going on with that.  i thought that i was at the point in my career that i could avoid that type of thing.  i will be pretty upset if it starts interfering with my riding though.  especially getting back to my first point that the weather is so damn nice.

world championships tipping comp – i missed setting up something for the vuelta as i was away for the first week of it and it is a shame too as you get a better appreciation for the race if there is money at stake.  however, we will be running a tipping comp for the world champs being held in geelong in a couple of weeks.  keep an eye out for more details, but basically you will have to tip every event, including the U23 and women’s events.  so, start reading cyclingnews to see who is on form and more importantly who is going to be competing.

spr accessories – if you haven’t collected your kit yet, pick up by appointment only.  drop me an email here.

juniors – so we will kick off the juniors this weekend.  i put up a post earlier with the details, so hopefully we will get e few down there.  yes i know the map shows them swimming home, and i have to get around to fixing that soon.

memberships – i also put a post up about memberships if you have been trying to join lately.

races – track racing this friday night, come along to watch and cheer on the boys in green.  dwellingup 100km mtb racethis saturday, there will be an official spr tent up and we are in the process of getting mtb affiliation too.  cyclo-sportif at warona where we have a couple of teams entered.

training rides –i have been informed that as of next week, the development group rides that start at 5:45 on tues & thurs will be now starting back up behind frasiers in kings park.  this is due to the fact that it is now light enough to see what is going on.

ride routes – so we will try out the “fast with a main chaser” this weekend and see how it goes.  if it seems to be a winner then i will map a few more routes between 50 and 55 kms as we seem to be at one extreme or the other.  sunday is a killer again while i try to force feed some fitness back into my body.

saturday 18th september – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

juniors – spr saturday 22.11km juniors (mt pleasant)

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 41.73km (canning vale reverse)

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

sunday 19th september – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 53.55km (kalamunda rd) – follow long course to get to kalamunda

long – spr sunday 96.05km (kalamunda & observatory & gooseberry)

memberships

i have had a few questions regarding the online memberships via the cycling australia website.  apparently you currently cannot select western australia as your state when entering details.  no, colin barnett did not form his own kingdom and secede from the commonwealth of australia after the labor party formed government again.  although it would not be the first time it has happened in western australia as the principality of hutt river’s prince leonard did in 1970.  little splash of history for you courtesy of a current affair.

what has happened is that they are waiting for confirmation of the membership prices to be approved by the cycling wa board so the website can reflect this.  hopefully this can all be fixed by the end of the week and you can use the website again.

some changes this year are as follows:

  • prices have gone up a little bit.
  • the “recreational” licence is now call “cycling for all” but is still the same thing.
  • if you join or renew now (i.e. after 1 sept) then you membership is current for all of next year.
  • there is now a “family” licence which is a 2 + 2 and a lot cheaper than 2 adult and 2 junior licences.

so, hopefully this gets fixed soon and you can help the club continue to grow.

juniors juniors juniors

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ok, after the post by toby last week rallying the junior riders we will start off this saturday by inviting any junior riders to come and do a ride.  as discussed before, each junior rider must have a family member accompanying them for the ride as we currently do not have any qualified coaches to take the group. 

i have mapped out a new route and it basically takes the bike path all the way down to the mt henry bridge before coming back along the road past mt pleasant.  back to the coffee shop via the freeway bike path.  this should initially provide enough challenges for new riders as they will have to cross roads, avoid poles and pedestrians, and even a bit of road riding (but the option of staying on the path).  It will be up to the more experienced chaperone’s to help guide the group and give advice as to some of the finer points of riding.  initially we are not setting this up as a proper group ride, rather riding in numbers for safety and most probably in single file.

spr saturday 22.11km juniors (mt pleasant)

if you have kids (probably around 10 yrs and older) then this is a great opportunity to get them involved in riding and so they can see that it is more than just a way to get to school.  the course is just over 22kms but pretty well flat the whole way.  this should be an ok distance and there is always the oppurunity to just turn around if it gets too much. 

we will be starting at 7:00am with the other groups just so we can make sure that the group gets away ok.  if it gains popularity, there is an option for changing the time to suit, but for now, i just don’t want a lone junior and chaperone turning up and there being no-one there.

saturday 11 sept – main 1 no main 2 ride

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so after a week off the bike travelling (following 2 weeks off sick) i decided to head off with main 1 today.  carol is away on holidays so shaw was taking the development group.  however, they had 12 turn up today so mark left the transitional group with ruth to give shaw a hand.  i said that i was taking main 1, but as it kicked off julian was guiding the group along, so i left it with him.

i drifted to the back to talk to yas about getting some wheels built as he had done such a good job on my current pair, and this is when the trouble started.  as we took off at the lights to get onto canning, yas, sato and i were left behind.  worse than that, our bikes didn’t trip the sensor so we had to wait for two cycles of the lights before we could head off again.  by then main 2 had ambled up behind us.  sato and i took off and looked back to see yas give us a wave showing that he was staying with main 2.  we time trial along and managed to get main 1 back in sight, before the lights stopped us in our tracks.  as we sat there waiting and panting from the effort, main 2 just cruised up behind us.  the lights changed and we chased again.  got caught at the next set and main 2 cruised up again.  lights changed and we were off again.  at the next set of lights, i gave up and went to sulk at the back of main 2.

i told russell that i would look after the guys at the back and left the group under his guidance.  we made our way to north lake road and i stayed back to help scott on some of the rollers as we headed south.  about half way along we picked up a couple of stragglers from main 1.  it turns out that is was julian and another guy who had slowed down to try to help sato and myself back onto the group.  they then got split out of the main group and were left to fend for themselves.  probably another good reason for the three groups doing the same course.  you don’t have to worry quite so much when people get split out.

so anyway, the cruise towards sth lake and around the back of jandakot was quite pleasant as i remembered the last time i did this route with the fast group.  cross winds, split groups, fighting to stay in contact and being blinded by sweat on a cold morning.  yeah, good times.

so we kept the group together and made it to warton which is the only tricky bit where we needed to go single file.  they are in the process of widening it though, so it should be all good soon.  once we got onto nicholson proper russell started a  roll through to get the average up.  at the lights i asked jenelle how she was going as she has been out with glandular fever for a while.  main 2 seemed the best place as even i didn’t manage to keep up with main 1.

we continued to roll through pretty much all the way back into town.  there was a couple of small splits at the back of the pack, but we managed to bring it all back together before we crossed the causeway.  the sprint started  on riverside drive and i wound it up from the back of the pack.  the first thing that goes on me when i get sick is my endurance.  i can still punch out some good numbers, but just can’t hold it.  today i hit 190bpm on the sprint and still didn’t manage to catch doug who was off the front all the way to the end.

so an interesting ride for me.  i think it has been a while since i have ridden with main 2 (if ever???) so it was good to see how it all goes.  i was very impressed by the way that russell controlled the group and looked after it as well as tested it out by pushing the speed up for the second half.  it is good to know that each group is getting looked after.

ride routes 11th & 12th sept

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so, as you can see by the lack of capital letters, i am now back from brazil.  it was a flying visit and included 55hrs of flying in the last week.  if i ever have to do a long haul flight again, i hope it is with emirates business class.  unfortunately without a multi-national company behind me, i doubt that i would be able to afford it.  for work though, it was all good.

while i was over there i only saw a total of 4 cyclists.  they seemed to be european ex-pats mainly because the locals didn’t have a deathwish.  the place we were staying at didn’t seem to have any flat ground at all.  if the roads weren’t going up they were going down and would provide a perfect training ground.  that is if they survived the year.  the drivers were all mad as cut snakes.  three wide, bumper to bumper with motorbikes cutting in between each lane.  mad.

races –pdcc graded handicap road race saturday, dwellingup 100km mtb race next saturday, cyclo-sportif at warona next sunday.

stickers –as you may have seen, we are getting some feedback on the design of the bumper sticker that we will be getting made.  this is basic club promotional stuff and needs to show that we are a bike club and where to find us on the net.  much like the federal election, there is definitely two designs that seem to be getting the majority of the votes.  keep the votes coming and we will see who the winner is next week.  (i have brought the closing date forward).  vote here.

spr accessories –i will be bringing the gloves, etc to the coffeeshop again this week so if you didn’t manage to collect your kit, then make sure you come along this week.  pick up can also be in the city during the week or at my place after hours by appointment only.  email here to arrange a time.

ride routes – so the question is, did you like the ride route suggestions from toby last week???  i have avoided giving everyone the same route as it means that the slower groups will not get to the coffeeshop till much later than the fast group.  however, if you feel we should trial it, i can give the fast and main groups the same 50km route next week and see how we go.  there are benefits in it and i believe the fast group had a much bigger turn out last week as they could always get swept up by the main group if they got dropped.  give me some feedback.

as for this week, some stock standard rides and a nice one for sunday…

saturday 11th september – 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)

main 1 & 2 – spr saturday 51.36km (sth lake)

fast – spr saturday 55.76km (shelley & mosman park)

sunday 12th september – all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd) – follow long course to get to welshpool

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

SPR Bumper Stickers – Poll

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well now the federal election is finally over, you all must be just hanging out to vote again.

we are looking at getting bumper stickers made, and i may have gone a little overboard with the number of designs.

some are similar to each other but may have soft blends rather than hard edges.

use the poll to show your preference and we will get a batch made up.

the poll is open for week and will close on the 15th sept.

Which bumper sticker do you prefer?

  • Option 14
    Option 14 (38%, 27 Votes)
  • Option 13
    Option 13 (34%, 24 Votes)
  • Option 3
    Option 3 (7%, 5 Votes)
  • Option 15
    Option 15 (6%, 4 Votes)
  • Option 6
    Option 6 (4%, 3 Votes)
  • Option 4
    Option 4 (3%, 2 Votes)
  • Option 7
    Option 7 (3%, 2 Votes)
  • Option 1
    Option 1 (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Option 2
    Option 2 (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Option 9
    Option 9 (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Option 11
    Option 11 (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Option 5
    Option 5 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Option 8
    Option 8 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Option 10
    Option 10 (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Option 12
    Option 12 (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 71

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saturday 28th aug – main 1

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well i am sitting in the emirates business class lounge in dubai and it seems like a long time since i rode my bike.  it was actually only a little over 24hrs ago that i was handing out new kit in the coffeeshop.  a long stop over in the desert has given me a chance to see what i can type up for the ride report.

so, we had a decent turn out this mornng as i think the weather improvement and a bit lighter in the morning has gotten people out of their winter hibination.  we had a fast group this morning and numbers were good according to daryls report, but only one solitary rider for the novice group.  i was riding with main 1 and we had around 30 riders rolling out with us.  pretty uneventful heading out shep road and onto welshpool with only a couple of splits at the lights.  mark had to chase back on at one stage after attempting a mid ride strip at a set of lights.  leg warmers don’t really come off that easy when you have your shoes on still.  luckily there were a couple that helped him chase back on.

hale road was fairly sedate and even the split in the group at the round about, wasn’t too hard to recover from.  this was made a lot easier though after we came upon a EX3000 excavator owned by nrw being transported up to kalamunda road.  we sat behind it for a while, but they had to keep stopping to raise the powerlines to get it under.  and there were a lot of powerlines.

jorgy eventually went up to the pilot vehicle and we then went onto the footpath to get ahead of the load.  main 2 had caught up by this stage but we jumped ahead after the wide load.  at the lights at kalamunda road, we saw that the fast group were waiting to turn.  it looked like there was still a decent size group so i though that they must have had a regroup. 

we made our way to ridge hill road and the pace started early.  a few people attacked and the group started to string out.  i stayed seated but increased the pace to get near the front and amongst the action.  unfortunately the last few weeks of sickness have menat that i really don’t have any endurance and so started struggling near the top.  i looked down at my heart rate to see that it was 190bpm and i almost fell off when i unintentionally swerved.  probably more from fatigue rather than shock, but i almost took ben out as he was on my wheel.  sorry again for that.

i had to use the decent to recover as much as possible and managed to get onto a small group once we hit the flat.  there was a bigger group up the road and i was interested to see if they were going to slow down and wait.  since this is not the fast group, they did wait and pretty soon the group was all back together. 

we made our way though guilford and once we hit bassendean we started a roll through.  the intent was to not go too fast but rather just share the load across the group.  it worked ok, but it was pretty messy as halfthe group sporatically rolled through.  a couple of light changes allowed the group to be together once we hit the rolling hills in mt lawley an this would always break the group up.  i drifted to the back to make sure that any stragglers weren’t too far away and drafted a few back to the group.

we approached the lights at east parade and toby managed to slip through just before the red glare hit him.  the rest of us stopped and watched him continue up the road.  he had the video camera on his head so it will be interesting to see the footage.

another split in east perth, but the lights kept us all together for the sprint. with his white tyres flashing, toby managed to hold off the group for the “win”.

the family met us at the coffeeshop with the boys sporting the new cycel caps, and we did a kit distribution.  the gloves etc came out quite well and i was pretty happy with the results.  there was a lot of back and forth during the design process, but it seemed come out ok in the end.

so no ride for me this week and toby will be posting the ride routes on thursday.  i am currently 11 hrs into my 55 hrs of flying this week and am already looking forward to coming home.  stay safe, stay upright.

spare kit for sale

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spare kit for sale

so anyway, i was digging through a box of club stuff and i found a bunch of unclaimed kit.  it has been there long enough so i thought we might as well get rid of it.  almost all is brand new with tags (bnwt – for all you that use ebay) except one of the jerseys.  there are also a bunch of arm warmers that were printed slightly wrong that we are selling cheap.  the summer and winter arms have the colours fading in different directions and these are the winter ones printed with the summer design.  apart from that there is nothing wrong with them.

so, first in first served and email me here if you want to buy any of these.

here’s what we have –

1 x women’s extra large jersey – used once and washed – $80

1 x men’s large jersey – brand new – $95 sold

1 x men’s medium jersey – brand new – $95 sold

1 x women’s small wind vest – brand new – $85

1 x small winter arms – brand new but wrong print – $20 pair

4 x medium winter arms – brand new but wrong print – $20 pair

2 x large winter arms –  brand new but wrong print – $20 pair