All posts by peter

ride routes 15th & 16th december

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christmas gift ideas for the dirty cyclist in your life.

the lead up to christmas is always pretty hectic.  even more so for us this year.  in the last few weeks we have had two work christmas parties, two birthdays (kate & dan), two criteriums to organise and a kit order to finalise.  we are also finalising all the performance reviews at work, so things have been hectic there too.  as a big mining company, we don’t shut down for christmas like some places and as such, we don’t actually slow down that much at this time of year.  there are still things due in january which means working during december.  for the club, more public holidays mean more public holiday rides.

christmas challenge – similar to the easter challenge that i threw down, the person that rides the most between the first and last public holidays (25th dec – 1st jan) will get some type of chocolaty prize.  also the person that rides the longest single ride will get a prize.  all rides must be verified by STRAVA or garmin connect. think of it as a training incentive.

criterium series – the second race in this series in this sunday so we will need volunteers to help as well as people to race.  put your name down on the previous post if you can help out.

christmas breakfast and ride – this saturday 15th dec will be our christmas breakfast held at DOME after the saturday ride.  our christmas dress-up ride will be on the 22nd (i.e. the last saturday before christmas).  put your name down on the previous post if you are coming to the breakfast so we can organise catering.  the cost is $15 per head and try to bring exact change to help out the DOME guys.  there will also be some christmas honours bestowed upon members as per the nominations from the recent poll.

ride routes – build up your appetite to get ready for the christmas breakfast at DOME.  i think you need to do the saturday double to justify the muffins you are going to eat.

saturday 15th december

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 41.18km (reverse river ride)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.47km (south st)

sunday 16th december

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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

no hills ride on as we are holding a criterium at tech park.  do the earlybird, then come and help out.

race 2 – summer criterium series

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the second race in the spr/rccc summer criterium series is on this sunday at technology park.  there will be 4 races from d grade through to a grade with series points to be accumulated across all 4 races.  this is a great opportunity for anyone that want to have a go at racing as it is a nice easy circuit with lots of spr support.

last week there was come classy racing with both the meyer boys as well as two women from the british olympic team.  spr also placed well with andrew claiming a win in c grade, luke taking second in b grade and amanda third in b grade women.

however, it is not just about racing, as we have some organising to do as well.  we need to provide people for the following jobs –

  • traffic management x 8 (two per race)
  • tuck shop
  • line judging x 3
  • set-up and pack-up (7:30am & 11:30am)

these races provide one of the clubs sources of income and also are the side of the club that other clubs get to see.  in other words, if we do these right, we get more money as more people will come and race.

costs for racing aren’t high ($10 for spr/rccc and $15 others).  day licences are available.

remember, if you volunteer for traffic management, you can race for free.  just make sure you don’t put your name down for the race directly before yours or there is no time to warm up.

please put your name in the comments if you can help out and what role you can take.

ride routes 8th & 9th december

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kit orders close midnight saturday. don’t be a dinosaur.

300.  not the movie (for SPARTA!!!) but the number of members we now have.  pretty much 10 times what we ever started with that very first day in may a few years ago.  more importantly more members that the jaffa’s at south west…finally.  305, we had a few more the last couple of days and i am expecting a few more before the end of the week.  another important stat is that we have about 15% women in our membership.  i am sure that it looks more than that on a saturday morning, so maybe some of those need to be convinced to actually join.  the end of december a lot of the memberships will be up for renewal.  make sure you continue to be involved in the coming year. 300 for SPR-TA!!!.

new team kit – the kit orders are open but will close at midnight this saturday the 8th.  there will be a sizing kit at the DOME from 7am to 11am so even if you have other commitments and can’t ride, you can come down early and try on the kit.  alison will be there all that time (instead of riding), so someone buy her a coffee to keep her going.    more info about the kit can be found here.  another important bit of information as to who will be eligible for kit can be found here.

extraordinary memberships – for those that want to buy the kit because you train with us, but are already members of triathlon wa or mountain bike, we now have an extraordinary membership.  you must have a membership with these associations to be eligible.  more info here.

santos legends of cycling dinner – the raffle draw winner will be there as well as others from the club.  if you are interested in getting  a table more info can be found here.

criterium series – our first race in this series in this sunday so we will need volunteers to help as well as people to race.  put your name down on the previous post if you can help out.

christmas breakfast and ride – the 15th dec will be our christmas breakfast held at DOME after the saturday ride.  our christmas dress-up ride will be on the 22nd (i.e. the last saturday before christmas).  put your name down on the previous post if you are coming to the breakfast so we can organise catering.

christmas honours – at the christmas breakfast (next week) we will be awarding some people for their memorable service to the club.  a list of categories is available on the previous post, so get your nominations in.  more info here.

ride routes – the saturday main ride is a tad longer this week, but we will see how we go.  we used to do this route but recently i have limited everything to 50kms.  4 more kms should be ok, but just be aware you will be out a bit longer.  no hills ride this weekend as we have the criterium on and will need all hands to be helping or racing.  rumour has it that there may be 4 members of greenedge racing in ‘a’ grade, so come along for a look.

saturday 8th december

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 54.03km (maddington & welshpool)

sunday 9th december

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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

no hills ride on as we are holding a criterium at tech park.  do the earlybird, then come and help out.

extraordinary membership

there have been a few people ask me about being a member of the club when they already have memberships elsewhere.  some people ride with us regularly but are members of other organisations that already provide a level of insurance that covers them for training.  these include, other cycle clubs, triathlon wa, mtb australia, bmx australia and AUDAX.

what we are looking at providing is an opportunity for these people to still be part of spr but retain their memberships at other organisations.  at the moment, this is only available for those that are members of the previously mentioned associations.  this gives those people the opportunity to by kit (especially triathlon gear) that we have now restricted to members only.

the cost is $30 and we will sort out membership numbers and possibly cards in the future.

you can register via this link but you need to put in your membership details from the other organisations.

 

 

race 1 – summer criterium series

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the first race in the spr/rccc summer criterium series is on this sunday at technology park.  there will be 4 races from d grade through to a grade with series points to be accumulated across all 4 races.  this is a great opportunity for anyone that want to have a go at racing as it is a nice easy circuit with lots of spr support.

however, it is not just about racing, as we have some organising to do as well.  we need to provide people for the following jobs –

  • traffic management x 8 (two per race)
  • tuck shop
  • line judging x 3
  • set-up and pack-up (7:30am & 11:30am)

these races provide one of the clubs sources of income and also are the side of the club that other clubs get to see.  in other words, if we do these right, we get more money as more people will come and race.

costs for racing aren’t high ($10 for spr/rccc and $15 others).  day licences are available.

remember, if you volunteer for traffic management, you can race for free.  just make sure you don’t put your name down for the race directly before yours or there is no time to warm up.

please put your name in the comments if you can help out and what role you can take.

ride routes 1st & 2nd december

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preview of the new “retro” spr kit

what a crap week for cycling.  after a 38 degree day last week, we have thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening, for a couple of days this week.  after watching the roofs coming off houses on the news, wednesday night, i went to bed not sure if i would be riding thursday morning.  the storms were meant to abate, but i was woken at 4:30am to the sound of rain and strong winds.  off went the alarm and i rewoke at almost 7am.  late for work meant even later when i discovered that everyone else was also driving to work.  the weather is looking to be fine this weekend, so i am expecting that there will be lots of people out to make up the kms.  lots going on during december (new kit, criteriums, christmas rides) so keep an eye on teh blog to keep informed.

new team kit – we are just finalising things and a sneak peak should be up on the website soon.  this weekend there will be a sizing kit at the DOME so you can work out what you need to order.  more info about the kit can be found here.  another important bit of information as to who will be eligible for kit can be found here.

criterium series – we will be holding our criterium race series again with the rccc.  so far the dates are 09/12, 16/12, 10/02 & 10/03.  these will be held on the tech park circuit and we will need volunteers to run these events.  however we will also need people to race across all grades, so get training.  more info here and on the events tab above.

christmas breakfast and ride – the 15th dec will be our christmas breakfast held at DOME after the saturday ride.  our christmas dress-up ride will be on the 22nd (i.e. the last saturday before christmas).  more info here.

ride routes – strong easterly winds will not make it an easy task, but this is the last weekend for the strava challenge up welshpool rd.  if you want to have a second crack at it, there is a main 3 hills ride this weekend which also takes in the hill.  the focus group kids ride is on as well as it is the first weekend of the month, so if you have any kids that want to ride, meet behind the boatshed cafe at 9:30am.  this group started for a particular reason, if you don’t know the background, you can get an idea from this link.

saturday 1st december

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 50.47km (hale rd reverse)

main 3 hills ride – spr sunday 52.25 (welshpool)

ride starts behind boatshed cafe (coode st carpark) at 9:30am

focus kids group – ride along bike path to causeway and return (7kms)

sunday 2nd december

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 87.99km (welshpool & observatory & camelberg & gooseberry)

spr/rccc summer criterium series

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it’s on again, a series of criteriums held at technology park in bentley.  this time we will be accumulating points across all four of the races to award a series winner at the end.  there are two races in december, one in feb and one in march.  there will be four grades including a d grade for people new to racing and want to give it a try.  there will also be 2 women’s grades run in conjunction with the b & c grade men.  this allows us to still award a series prize for the top women across all the races.

click the picture for more information.

as we will be helping run these events we will be looking at volunteers for each of the dates.  we have generally got this well under control as most people know what to do.  however, as an incentive, any volunteer that stands on a corner doing traffic management for a race, will get a free entry into their own race.

for anyone wanting to get a start in racing, then this is the perfect opportunity.  the circuit is only 1km long so you won’t get lost, and if you can’t hang on, then it isn’t far to make it back to the start.  there will be lots of spr people there to offer support and there will be day licences available if you don’t have a full race licence.

series page can be found using the top menu or through this link.

who are you? – a question of membership

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we are currently in the process of setting up the next run of spr kit and a number of points have been raised in relation to feedback from the club.  this feedback came as part of the survey and also from blog discussion dating back to this time last year.

the discussion revolves around should the kit be for members only.

the club has always tried to be as inclusive as possible.  you don’t need to be racing to ride with us, don’t need a $10k bike, don’t need to have ridden for 10+ years.  none of this will change.  people can still join in our rides and if they like it, we recommend that they join the club, in a sense to give a bit back for the service we put on.  however, if you are a member, what really identifies you from anyone else in the group.

i remember talking to a fairly new member of the club once after they received their new kit.  they had been riding with us for a while and had been a member for a few months, but didn’t really feel like they were part of it until they were wearing the kit.  it felt like they belonged to something.

now how can you belong to something if you don’t actually belong to it.  currently, there are quite a few people out there that are wearing the kit that are not current members of spr.  that is fine.  we made a call at the time that the promotion of the club to the wider public was important to the growth of the club.  we currently have 280 members and i hope to crack 300 next year.  we have a ride on every day of the week and our exposure across perth is enormous.  even people that i work with that don’t ride can identify the club riders.

this exposure also means a lot more responsibility.  there have been many discussions on the blog about peoples perceptions about cyclists especially when wearing the club kit and how it reflects back on the club.  your wearing of the club kit signifies that you are part of the club, being part of the club means that you will act responsibly when out on the roads.

so, there was quite a big discussion at our last committee meeting in relation to all this and it was decided that starting with the new 2013 run, kit will only be available to members only.  this does not limit our ability to offer training rides to new riders or change our daily operation in any way.  all it means is that next kit order, if you get online and order something through our shop, you will be refunded if you are not a current financial member.

feedback welcome.

raffle draw

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the raffle for the tickets to the santos legends of cyling dinner was drawn today and the winning ticket was BLACK B 9 and was bought by Stephen Cooper.  Stephen has won 4 tickets to the dinner in early december.  the raffle managed to raise over $750 to go to cathi’s trust fund to help her with her recovery.  a bit more background info can be found here.

the official draw can be seen in the video below.  there will still be another raffle of a signed orica-greenedge jersey but we are in the process of getting a licence to hold the raffle.  hopefully that will be finalised soon.

ride routes 24th & 25th november

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snakes on a chain

for some reason (and i am not sure why) i am doing the great perth bike ride on sunday.  well the one reason is that work are paying for it.  another reason is that it will be 100kms of intensity training.  a bad reason is the high potential for hitting the deck.  i was a bit worried today during the thursday earlybird after riding through the roadworks in claremont.  the road has been chopped by about 2-3 inches and there are potholes nicely placed within it.  then there is the elizabeth quay roadworks,  within the first few hundred metres of the start there are sections of single lane with cones and crap road conditions.  so this is what i am weighing up.  if you see me on the sunday hills ride instead, you know which one won.

early saturday ride – last week i estimate that we had at least 150 riders turn up to the saturday 7am ride.  we split into 8 groups with main 1 and main 2 having to split into two.  the novice group also had a larger than average turn out and needed a bit more support.  so firstly, we are going to need more people to step up and look after the lower groups.  if anyone is racing sunday and they want an easier ride on saturday, then make yourself available to help out.  the newer riders certainly appreciate some help from more experienced riders and in the end it is beneficial to club as a whole to have riders that have been taught correctly.  secondly, one way to reduce the size of the groups is to offer an earlier start time.  that is a 6:30am start and a 7:00am start.  so i am looking for feedback as to whether we should look at putting on a 6:30am ride (for main 1 & 2 only).  the 5:30 earlybird ride will still be on and the 7:00am ride allows people to do both.  the 6:30am ride is just to try to split the group up a bit.  however, similar to the first point, for this to run, we will need more ride leaders and someone to split up and kick off the 6:30am group.  let me know if you think this is a good idea.

track day – still some spots left for the come and try track day this weekend.  more info here.  better hurray up if you want to play.

criterium series – we will be holding our criterium race series again with the rccc.  so far the dates are 09/12, 16/12, 26/01 australia day criterium, 10/02, 24/02, 10/03.  these will be held on the tech park circuit and we will need volunteers to run these events.  however we will also need people to race across all grades, so get training.  more info out soon.

christmas breakfast and ride – the 15th dec will be our christmas breakfast held at DOME after the saturday ride.  our christmas dress-up ride will be on the 22nd (i.e. the last saturday before christmas).  more info here.

ride routes – strava challenge is still on for welshpool road so we will continue to hit that on sunday.  last week, young lawson came out with us and totally smashed the record.  if anything, at least there is the opportunity to get a few PR’s.  there are prizes for the top three male and female riders.  so far there are only 3 women on the leaderboard, so the girls better get a move on if they want a prize.

saturday 24th november

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 41.73km (canning vale reverse)

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

sunday 25th november

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 91.25km (welshpool & observatory & kalamunda rd)