All posts by peter

sunday 1st feb – chook farm classic

what you can see through the cut is a $5 note which is stopping the tube from popping out
what you can see through the cut is a $5 note which is stopping the tube from popping out

i had all the best intentions of riding a good, hard hills ride today.  i had mapped out a course that took in some really nice climbs that we didn’t do very often and some absolute shockers that we had never done before.  however, as we came through vic park, the australia day bogans decided to cut my ride short, by leaving a glassy reminder of the more fun side of drunken yobbos.  i mean, how much fun is it to smash stuff.  come on lets all smash bottles on the road. 

anyway, a very big slice in my tyre had me limping home like a fallen soldier that had stubbed his toe on the way to battle.  an almost brand new set of tyres are now ruined (i know only one got sliced, but i can’t ride with one blue and one black tyre, dr paul would be upset).  so off home i went and jumped in the car to make sure the rest of the group did the chook farm hill. 

 

 

the remainder of this post will be of the pictorial nature. 

the fast boys were slow on this section
the fast boys were slow on this section
stu was still pushing the old bike hard
stu was still pushing the old bike hard
note the direction some of the riders are going. one of the guys said his gps said 20% at the steepest. on average this section is around 17%.
note the direction some of the riders are going. one of the guys said his gps said 20% at the steepest. on average this section is around 17%.
not much aerodynamic advantage staying in a pack
not much aerodynamic advantage staying in a pack
ronny took a wrong turn and was a little behind
ronny took a wrong turn and was a little behind
mark was sure that he had enough room to brake.....at 85km/hr
mark was sure that he had enough room to brake.....at 85km/hr
fast = fun
fast = fun
"derosa dan" working it for the camera. yeah, baby.
"derosa dan" working it for the camera. yeah, baby.

ride routes 31st jan & 1st feb

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ridge hill road.  you know you love it.  one of the few chances that we can put a nice climb into a saturday ride so why not today.  the breeze should assist the return journey and as there will be a regroup after the hill, i expect that the group should all be together once the pace picks up back at bassendean.  i added a bit more titanium hardware to my jaw this arvo and am not allowed any vigorous activity for a few days, so will be sitting this one out.  i may however, be out on course with the camera.  there is now more titanium in my jaw bone than on my bike.  i will have to remedy this soon.

the sunday ride is the “tour of the forgotten climbs” where we will climbs some that we usually go down rather than up and some never done before.  we will start up welshpool but turn off before the end and continue climbing via lesmurdie rd.  pass though bickley valley and up to the actual observatory rather than patterson rd turn off.  i nice detour to the new climb called the chook farm before up to kalamunda a slightly different way.  then down the zig zag and up gooseberry just for fun.

i now have half the new kit sitting in my lounge room waiting to be sorted and am expecting the remainder to arrive tomorrow.  as such i will be distributing it on saturday at the coffee shop after the ride.  if there is any problems (i.e the rest of it doesn’t turn up tomorrow) then i will post a note and will not distribute till later as i don’t want to have to organise the distribution twice.  however, if you do miss the coffee shop, i am still on leave so drop me an email and we can arrange a time to pick your kit up.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 10 (ridge hill rd)

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 18 (chook farm & observatory & gooseberry)

spr kit

update –  our latest run of cycle kit should be arriving this week and i will be looking at distributing it this saturday at the coffeeshop after the ride.  any hats that haven’t been collected will also be bought along.

other kit.

i have got a quote for a sleeveless version of the jersey for those that don’t like the tan lines over summer.  they will be $80 and will look like the style shown below (but in spr colours).  if you want to order one, let me know by email.

also, as the triathlon season in underway, a couple of the guys thought it would be great to show the spr colours on the tri scene as well.  we have got 2 quotes for tri-suits which will match the spr kit.  the new ultra fast trans suit is their new thing and has mesh bits for venting etc, but will cost $175 while the original fast trans suit will be $155.  the main difference for us will be the minimum order as the new ones need to get 20 while the older one only needs 10.  again, if you are interested send me an email.

saturday 24th jan – cresswell & herdsman

sorry for the lateness off the report and the content as well.  things have been a bit hectic lately.

firstly the formation of a club and the committee office bearers were appointed before the ride began.  as the number of nominations didn’t outweigh the number of positions available, there was no vote needed.

president – peter mah

vice pres – brendan nichol

secretary – stuart gee

treasurer – ryan fynn

team manager – chris norris

development officer – mike bonner

marketing/promotions manager – lorraine hartland

events manager – lisa wood

committee members – noel michelson, julian johnson, judd otley

 

these positions will be confirmed at a later date when we hold an official agm meeting.  we actually need members first for this to go ahead.  however, this plus the draft constitution is all we need to approach cycling wa to become affiliated to allow people to join via the regular channels.

as for the ride, it was a very controlled event and as we were heading through some of the main drags of the city, the group got caught at many a traffic light.  with our numbers totally about 60 it was no wonder we didn’t get a smooth run.  as we made our way up grand prom, paul broke away from the front and i thought that he must have to take an early mark.  however, it was a spot that we used to go hard back in the day and as he hasn’t spent that much riding time with us lately, wondered why no-one else was following him.  the hill at cresswell tested a few legs and james and brendan fought it out for line honors.  we regrouped at the top to find paul already waiting for us.  by this point i don’t think we had lost anyone.

we picked our way across to herdsmans lake (swamp) where we were to begin our next hard section.  the nice wide roads and double lane allowed us to pick the pace up nicely.  dr ronny made a valiant attempt to set the early pace as he now has the cervelo back, but found out that the training on the learsport had not increased his capacity that much.  the group splintered a bit but little echelons formed and people more or less worked together to keep their group going.  i wasn’t at teh front so not sure who (if anyone) claimed line honors as first to james and chris’ special synchronized spilling round-about.  a small wait for some back markers and we left julian to fix his flat as he said that he would intercept us along the way.

more extra kms at a nice pace found us in claremont and onto the normal road home via dalkeith.  the pace picked up in the usual spot and the big boys had an opportunity to push hard on the rolling hills.  the regroup at mounts bay gave little reprieve as the pace was soon on once the lights turned green.  with my bike still making bad gear crunching noises (i need to see yas) i was in no place to sprint and needed to stay seated as long as possible.  it all got a bit messy towards the end and there was some drifting of lanes during the sprint when there was cars coming.  i opted to sit up at that stage and let the group go.

a entire weekend of watching the crits followed and that plus taking in excess of 2000 photos (of which i only kept 800) has been a bit of a time waster for me at night.  the crits were good and apart from watching ryan get spat out the back of each race, the open men’s race was a bit ho-hum for me.  the open women’s however, had quite a few of our spr girls fighting it out. wins by holly, davina and bec and a podium picture of all three with their spr hats on, made it more exciting as we had a vested interest.  well done to lisa also for stepping up and taking the plunge with the other fleet elite girls.

ride routes 24th & 25th & 26th jan

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after quite a successful splitting of the groups last week, i will look at implementing that more often.  for this week though, we will go back to the “go hard then regroup” strategy as we tackle the cresswell hill in yokine and herdsman lake. 

our pseudo-election of office bearers will take place before this ride and if you wish to nominate you still can.  also, we are gathering a list of riders that would be interested in joining the club so if it is you, look back on the previous post and send us an email.

sunday will attempt some nice long climbs but as always there will be shortcuts and lots of regroup points.  stu has an 11 pt lead over mike in the mountain classifications for january, with ryan not too far behind.  as next sunday is the start of a new month, it may all come down to this final weekend.

monday is a public holiday and as such there will be a ride going around the river.  the meeting point, however, will have to be up the road a bit on the corner of angelo and coode as there will be road closures in place early on.

also, starting tonight, the perth criterium series will be on with a race everyday over the weekend.  it is fast racing that is spectator friendly so i recommend that you head along and watch.  also ryan will be racing in the open men’s section (for the WAR team) and a few of our regular girls will also be out, so go and give them some support.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 14 (cresswell & herdsman)

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 15 (kahuna & canning mills)

expressions of interest – south perth cycle club

after taking advice from our club lawyer today, we need to start documenting some of the things that we are doing with setting up this club.  one of the items was to have a register of club members.  as we don’t really have any at this stage, what i am asking for is an “expression of interest” in becoming a club member.

there will probably be at least three different levels of membership based around the cycling australia licencing system.  firstly there will be racing members (those with a full racing licence) also recreational members (those with a non-racing licence but it covers insurance) and also social members (no licence but generally don’t ride, so usually partners who may want to be involved in social events).

we are working with cycling wa to formulate a member benefit summary so that you know just what you get for your licence and how cost effective it will be for you.  we would encourage you all to take up some form of licence just for the added benefit of the insurance in the unfortunate event of an accident.  there are a number of issues we need to explore with respect to insurance for both individuals and the proposed club and it will be sorted out before we officially become a club.

so what i am asking for is if you are interested in becoming a member could you please email me the following information to admin@southperthrouleurs.com.au

name, address, contact #, email, type of membership.

your information will be kept confidential but will be needed to prove that this venture is not just a way for me to profit for myself.  if you have already joined a club, in order to get a racing licence, that is ok, send your details through if you are thinking of joining us.  we will organise a transfer later.

once we have a constitution (in progress), office bearers (will talk about that in a sec) and a register of potential club members, we can move forward to getting the club affiliated with cycling wa and following that, becoming incorporated.  the affiliation allows riders that take out a licence to nominate our club as their club to join, and becoming incorporated gives us an opportunity to get access to government grants as well as changes our effective liability in the event of an accident.  it also allows us to open a bank account in the name of the club making everything a lot more transparent.  all legal yada ya but essential in this process.

now office bearers.  i have taken advice (non-legal) on this one too and i have changed the positions that we will need to fill.  i was originally going to have minimal defined roles and a bunch of committee members from which we could pick to do the work.  it was pointed out that this would effectively mean that we would have to continually delegate people tasks throughout the whole year.  so what we are going to do is define the roles early, then those people know what they have to do throughout the year and can get on with it.

so the roles are

president – leader of the free world.

vice-president – in case president is inactive.

secretary – keeping the club on track.

treasurer – keeping the finances on track.

marketing and promotions manager – promoting the club externally.

events manager – organisation of events both social and race (could be two roles).

team manager – logistics for race events we attend.

committee member – a few extra hands to help out when needed.

new roles may develop as we grow as a club and we will have the provision within our constitution to change these if the committee thinks that it is needed.  we will sit down later with the elected officials and clearly define the roles that they need to play.  if you would like to put your hand up for one of these positions please let me know.  please don’t feel like if you are not one of the hard-core racers you shouldn’t be a part of this.  every aspect of our group needs to be represented as it is the only way that we can continue to grow and i do not want this club to become only focused on racing.

 

so where do we go from here.

we will have a draft constitution. 

we will elect office bearers this weekend (those office bearers will be confirmed at a later date with an official election of fully paid up members). 

we become affiliated with cycling wa so that people can join through the normal channels.

we will finalise the constitution and become incorporated.

 

it all sounds so simple.  so if you think that you would be interested in becoming a member let me know.  this isn’t a binding contract and once we get the club off the ground, we will have a proper membership drive.

sunday 18th jan – greenmount & mundaring weir

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ride report by peter

 

a pleasant change from last sunday with the temperature only predicted to be in the low thirties with a fair bit of cloud cover.  i thought that this may bring out some more punters, but the crits and some of the guys “tapering” for the tour down under, meant that numbers were around the 15 mark.  some of the doctors had already organised their own breakaway group and were just going to ride out to helena valley rd with us and continue on to ridgehill rd.  we planned to turn off an tackle greenmount and john forrest national park, before heading to coffee via mundaring weir rd.

the trip out was at a nice cruisy pace and was quite uneventful.  we picked up mike along the way, and with stu and dan already on board, i knew that there wouldn’t be any easy points for me today.  five turned off with the doctors and this left us with just 11 riders as we made out way through the suburban housing estates at the base of greenmount.

once the hill started, we neatly fell into single file but stayed together as a group.  no-one was applying the pressure yet, and i wasn’t going to be the one today.  mike finally got his rubber-band wound up and came to the front with ease.  obviously no heart problems today and he quickly gapped the front of the bunch.  i sprinted to catch his wheel and soon there was a string of the main contenders hanging off his wheel.  a frind of shao’s named bill soon came to the front to show us that he had a bit of climbing ability.  he set the pace in front of mike and was going quite well for quite a while. i soon had to drop the wheel and set my own tempo which was so much less than what the front guys were doing.  i watched as the group overtook bill and fully expected him to drop right off after the effort, but no he held on to the group.  as the road wound up greenmount i saw dan and then judd fall off the back of the group leaving just mike, stu and bill to fight it out.  i kept looking back and saw a small group of paul, mark and john (i think) coming up towards me.  i could also hear a large truck slowly making it’s way up the hill and with us in the left lane, he was blocking traffic in the right lane.  as he came by i saw that it was a double trailer semi carrying a load of stinky arse pigs.  he changed lanes as he overtook me and i got a draft for a few metres.  unfortunately i couldn’t hold on for too long as the smell was unbearable, especially when you are gasping for breath.  i backed off searching for clean air and just grateful that none of the passengers had decided to give me a squirt as they went past.

the small chasing bunch soon overtook me and i sat on their wheel for a while.  paul decided to make a break for it and launched off the front with a few hundred to go.  the other weren’t moving so i sprinted off after him and flew past.  it didn’t last long and he picked me up just as we were turning into the national park.  luckily there were not points at stake for us by then.

mike – 10, stu – 7, bill – 5, judd – 3, dan – 1.

 

a very quick regroup as the smaller group was generally full of experienced riders, and we where off on the rough roads through john forrest national park.  the gates were already open by the time we arrived, so i was hoping the one at the far end was also as we did get a surprise one time.  a small respite from climbing with a quick descent before regrouping at oxley rd to make sure everyone was ready for the next climb.  i went to the front to set the early tempo mainly to make sure that mike or stu didn’t leave me for dead before we got into a rhythm.  as the group approached the base of the climb i heard judd swear as he had not done this climb before and it looks really steep from the start.  stu came up beside me as the hill got steeper and mike and judd were not too far back.  i could still hear judd and mike having a conversation about the climb and i asked stu how they could still be talking as i was gasping for air.  stu said he couldn’t answer as he needed to breath instead.  the climb has two pinches in it and by the time we hit the second one, stu, dan and myself were still holding a gap over mike and judd.  or it may be more realistic to say that mike had not decided to chase us down yet.  the road flattened out and stu, knowing where the finish was, took off.  i couldn’t chase, but dan took off after him.  he ran out of puff just shy of the finish and i managed to take him on the line.

stu – 10, peter – 7, dan  -5, mike – 3, judd – 1.

 

a nice quiet descent and pleasant ride from parkerville through to stonyville found us crossing the highway at mundaring.  the change in course from what we used to do meant that we now no longer need to ride on the highway at all after we finish greenmount.  it was decided not to regroup after the next mountain points but call “advantage paid” and continue on to the coffee shop.  stu mentioned that he hated the descent into the weir so we tried to play that one to our advantage and hit him hard al the way down.  at the end of the day, we didn’t gain that much advantage and we were all close together by the climb. 

judd had a slight advantage and lead the way up the hill with mark and john close behind.  as the road got steeper, judd got away and stu and myself came around the others i tried to hold stu’s wheel but found that i just couldn’t on the steeper slopes.  mike suddenly flew past and quickly hunted down both stu and judd.  as i watched them head up the hill, i noticed another rider coming up behind me.  it was paul whose climbing has improved a lot lately and pretty soon we were riding the hill together.  dan apparently dropped his chain at the start of the climb and was languishing back with mark a bit further down the hill, but both were holding the gap steady.  as we reached the top of the initial climb, paul and i worked together to limit our losses to the riders ahead, while still trying to keep away from mark and dan.  up ahead we could see that mike had a clear lead over stu and judd who were now working together.

there are a number of small climbs and rolling hills that follow the main drag out of the weir and the official points aren’t until you get right to the top and start the descent into hacketts gully.  it meant a lot of chasing and a lot of being chased.  unfortunately up ahead, mike didn’t know where the top of the climb was so slowed down to wait for stu, who then took him on the line.  as we hit the last small climb, i said to paul to make sure he kept looking behind and just stay away from the others as we were still in the points.  i knew that i had to put in a bit of an effort to make sure i would secure fourth spot and left him behind for the climb.  i kept looking back though and right towards the end, he also made a big effort to keep away from mark and almost caught me at the crest.  however, he held on to get his first mountain points.

stu – 10, mike – 7, judd – 5, peter – 3, paul – 1.

 

we had seen judd up the road as we were doing the final climbs so i knew that we were not that far behind.  paul and i kept swapping turns to try to catch up and we were flying down the hill.  i had to apologise to paul later as he thought it had started to rain, but it was just the sweat dripping off me and hitting him as we flew down the hill.  i looked back to see mark gaining fast which i knew he would.  i said to paul that they were coming and next moment there was this blur as mark sped past and down the road.  years of riding and racing under his belt has meant that mark can descent at quite a pace.  fitness may determine your climbing abilities, but skill and a big set of kahunas allow you to go fast. 

i had trouble keeping up as we sped around the corners as the road dropped into the valley.  the four of us were basically together as we started the final climb with mark just slightly up the road.  dan accelerated to catch up and i jumped on his wheel.  paul was totally spend from the previous effort to gain points and had to let us go.  the three of us made our way up the hill and i soon found my way to the front as mark eased off the pace a bit.  after a few minutes, i thought that i would test the waters and surged a bit without getting up out of the saddle.  mark put in an effort to get on but it just pissed dan off and he was up and attacking hard.  i jumped on his wheel and he attacked again but i managed to hold on.  i looked back to see mark falling off the pace and just stayed on dan’s wheel.  up ahead we could see the unmistakable figure of judd fighting the climb on his own.  i mentioned it to dan and he said that i was welcome to chase him down, but i was struggling to hold wheel.  as the road flattened out i came to the front and put in a big effort to try to bring judd back.  with dan tucked neatly in my slipstream, we sped up the false flat and onto the last pinch.  judd was just ahead and i was finding my final reserves to hold a decent pace.  right at the end, dan came off my wheel to take fourth place, but judd only got to the top by about 5 – 10 sec.  it seems that mike was not happy about stu taking him on the last climb so absolutely smashed it on the final one so that there was no doubt.

mike – 10, stu  – 7, judd – 5, dan – 3, peter – 1.

 

with only eight of us staying for coffee, it was a nice and quiet affair and service was relatively brisk.  the cooler weather made the stop even nicer and there was even a very slight drip or two of a sun shower on the awning roof.  nothing to dampen the spirits and we were soon off.

a nice bomb of a descent down welshpool had me clocking about 82 as the wind was not totally favourable, and then the time trial along the flat to the highway.  we all did turns at the front but i had nothing left when mark and john went up the road for the finish.  another rider, who we will call longhair (cause he had long hair) turned onto welshpool at hale rd in front of us.  we didn’t chase him down but eventaull caught him coming through queens park.  he sat on us until the lights at leach hwy, but then took off around us once we got going again.  this did not bode well with some of our guys and they just had to chase him down.  this lead to a very long sprint along welshpool rd that my legs were not in the mood to try.  longhair jumped ahead of us at the lights onto albany hwy but we soon turned off on hill view so the chase was over.  the final sprint along berwick was initiated by judd but was foiled by the lights so that it all came together.  most of us came over the rise as a group so it came down to a final burst to maccas which dan convincingly won as no-one else had the legs to chase.

 

so we have a busy week for cycling this week.  tour down under is on tv every night at 6pm on sbs.  perth criterium series will be held this weekend so look forward to some of the girls we ride with competing as well as ryan will be suiting up for the WAR team in the open division.  his first crack at the big time (or a big world of hurt).  also, more importantly, we will be holding our pseudo-agm on saturday to vote in our office bearers for the new club.

saturday 17th jan – canning vale + sth lake

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ride report by peter.

 

what was i thinking?  after only nine kms of a nice and gentle pace we split up and did the remaining 42kms at pace.  a high pace.  the lack of this type of riding lately has meant that i was suffering and only barely holding onto the back of the group.  but maybe i should jump back about an hour and a half to when riding a bike was pleasant.

a nice turnout today with probably over 50 riders.  i had already posted the fact the we would split the group in two and had mapped out the routes that each would follow.  a few of the guys had stepped up to say that they would lead the main group which was great as i knew that they would be left in capable hands.  we also had a “sweeper” group where dr’s paul and wally were going to do the same course and pick up anyone that got dropped.  each ride started and finished on the same sections of road, but it was going to be a race to see if the fast boys could cover the extra 5 or 6 kms before the main group finished.

we headed out coode st and onto canning hwy.  as we made that turn a car decided to try to squeeze in amongst 50 cyclists and wondered why we just didn’t get out of the way for him.  apparently there was some words, but i was too far away to see or hear what was going on.  we made our way down towards freo but it wasn’t long before north lake road appeared on the horizon.  i rode from the back to the front trying to let as many people as i could know that this is where the group would split.  i was hoping that we would get the lights as this would have made it so much easier, but unfortunately we didn’t and there was a little bit of confusion.

the groups finally sorted themselves out and we headed south while the main group continued down to their turn at stock road.  i looked around our group to see who we had.  a few faces that i though would struggle, but i guess we would find out as we went along.  i think that we probably had about 20 riders with us and we set a very mundane pace for the first stretch to leach hwy.  i was sure that after south st the pace would pick up and it certainly did.  the group organised it’s own roll through and the pace picked up almost instantly.  we stayed together well through the rolling hills around the back of adventure world.  however, i do think we may have dropped dr carl somewhere around there.

we turned onto berrigan drive and into the wind, so for some reason the pace went up.  i had to stay near the front so i could bark out directions between gasps for breath.  the roll through was still going strong, but more and more people were sitting it out and just holding on for dear life.  we turned onto jandakot rd and almost directly into the wind.  little gaps were starting to appear and you had to sprint around to close the gap.  i was behind davina when someone started falling back fast.  she sprinted around and chased for a bit to make the junction, but i was a bit slow and a bit weak so got left out in the wind.  there were about three or four of us that were off the back and we worked together to try to get back on the train.  the combination of wind and rolling hills made it difficult as you would almost make it back on when the road would pitch up just that bit too much and you didn’t have the legs to close that final gap. 

we got back on but there was not much of jandakot rd left to enjoy as we quickly came to the end.  for that section of road (5.6km) we averaged 40kph with a max of 50kph and i had an average heart rate of 177bpm with a max of 185bpm.  it doesn’t seem a long way, but it seemed to take forever, and hurt like a bitch.

we turned left and headed towards nicholson rd.  the road was a lot rougher but i knew that it was in great condition a bit further up where the housing estates started.  we continued to roll through but it was hard as there were patches of very bad road with potholes and dodgy repairs.  we almost made it through to the end when there was that hiss noise that you just hate to hear.  we rolled a bit further to find a safe spot to get off the road and surveyed the damage.  jack from fleet cycles had hit the pothole hard and popped the tyre.  we decided to wait for him to fix it and it allowed a few of the other guys to catch-up.  dr carl passed us and continued on his way.  after a five minute repair job, jack realised that his tyre was actually split and would have to limp the bike home.  we saddled up and continued on our way.

the stretch from ranford road back to albany hwy was at a high pace and again we started to shed riders.  by the time we turned left at albany hwy, we were down to just 11 riders.  that stretch of road (11.2km) was taken at an average of 44kph with a max of 53kph.  i averaged 174bpm and maxed at 182bpm.  i also think that by this point i had lost about a litre and a half of sweat.

the trip down albany hwy and onto shepperton rd was very uneventful for me.  mainly because i was hurting that much that i couldn’t participate in the roll through and was only barely holding onto the back wheel.  john turned off at vic park for an early exit which left just 10 riders from the original 20 or so.

we came onto riverside drive and lined up for the final sprint.  as the moved started to go, so did my legs and i just did what i could to get to the end.  the main group was well established by the time we rolled in, but if we hadn’t got the flat tyre, i think we may have given them a run for their money.  i didn’t have a coffee, but stopped for a little bit to talk to lorraine and some others about becoming a club and what we need to organise.  our ad-hoc agm is scheduled for next saturday after the ride at the coffee shop.  i have received some nominations already, but if you think that someone would do a good job at running a club (and it is more than just racing), then put their name forward.  if you think you want to help out whether it is formally on the committee or just in general, i would also like to hear from you.

 

change we can believe in
change we can believe in

i have also heard that there are some concerns from the more recreational cyclists amongst us that we will become a more race focused group.  as far as the saturday and sunday rides are concerned, there will be no changes.  the group may continue to split like it recently has and the riders that want a good race type training session may opt for the fast group, but this is really just trying to cater for all the needs of the group.  from all reports (and i will wait for the blog) the main group performed really well today and kept a brisk pace without losing any riders. 

the only change that forming a club may bring is the extra security of insurance if you with to take it up.  if not, you can still join the club as a social member of the club and can therefore be included in club activities.  at the end of the day it is about promoting cycling and racing is just one facet of the cycling that we partake in. 

i hope that you all think that this is a move in the right direction since i will be relying on your support to make it successful.  as a group we already do more social activities than the majority of the formal clubs in perth and have a great culture that binds us together.  the formality of becoming a club should give us more stability as well as open up some other doors for us in regards to coaching, skills development and grants. 

we have come a long way in less than one year and i hope that this move will mean that the south perth rouleurs continues to be a group that people want to be associated with.  change we can believe in…

south perth cycle club constitution and agm

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brendan and i had a meeting today with the ceo of cycling wa chris thompson and the development officer toby hodgson, about the possibility of setting up a cycle club.  as most of you know it is something we have been toying with for a while but we really didn’t have the numbers of people racing to make it worthwhile.  however, the last race of the season at joondalup and the response that lorriane has received for the upcoming pemberton race, has seen such a high level of interest that we thought we should act.

so some info to keep everyone up to speed.

 

why become a club???

initially it is because we have so many people racing that we thought that we should have some support behind them in an official manner.  to get a racing licence you have to join a club.  why not join our club instead, because at least you know where the club fees are going.  it also gives some structure behind who we are and what we want to achieve.  we will be setting to goals and objectives for what we want to do as a club.  these will be broadly aimed at allowing a pathway for people to make the step from casual weekend cyclist to a proper road racer.  how we develop these things will be not up to me, but up to the club.  another reason is so that the group has more than just one person running the show.  i appreciate the support that many of you have given me over the last year, but as you all know, i will not be in perth forever, so this gives us a succession plan.

 

what will change???

the saturday and sunday and thursday and public holiday rides will not change in their format or intent.  however, what we will be looking at is some form of club fee and licence to protect us in the event of an accident.  this “us” is both the rider (with personal insurance) and the club (with public liability).  we are working with cycling wa at the moment to table just what your options are as far as cost and benefits.  as part of our objectives, this licence will also help those people take the next step to participate in some of the low key races as a stepping stone to bigger things. 

 

so i don’t want to race, what about me???

well, we cannot force anyone to join the club, and i am loathe to stop anyone from riding with us just because they haven’t joined.  however, we will be continuing the social events that we started last year and will be running them as club activities.  if the aforementioned cost/benefit paper still doesn’t do it for you, then we will have to see what we as a club can do for you as you know that my goal has always been to get people on the bike.

 

what do we do now???

well, if you want to get involved, our next step is to write a constitution and an example can be found here.  i will be having a go at drafting one and will post it for comment as soon as possible.  we then need to hold an agm to elect office bearers.  there will be six positions – president, secretary, treasurer and three committee members who will hold various roles (marketing, event organising, team manager, etc).  the agm will be at the coffee shop after the saturday ride on jan 24th.  i know that it is a long weekend, but we need to have this done asap so we can get the club affiliated with cycling wa and give our riders a club to join.  for those that have already joined a club, we will look at the possibility of changing after we have set ours up.

so, if you want to be involved let me know, by sending me an e-mail.  also, we will need nominations for the office bearers roles before we can vote at the agm.  please send in your nominations via e-mail. 

please don’t let this just pass by, it gives everyone a good opportunity to become involved in how we set up and run a club.  if you have any concerns, or feel that we are heading in the wrong direction, please get in contact with me so we can see what we can do for you.

ride routes 17th & 18th january

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we are going to try something same, same but different.  i have posted 2 saturday ride routes today but they both have similar start and finish sections.  we are looking at splitting early this week and the fast boys will turn off early onto north lake rd and head down route 16 while the main group will continue down to stock rd and do route 13.  there is about 5km difference between the two routes, but if you opt to be in with the fast boys, then make sure you know the way as we won’t be stopping.  the main group will need some leaders and i would appreciate some people putting up their hand early and responding to this post to say you will lead the way.  the main group will be doing a fairly standard ride that almost everyone should know and it is up to them to organise some roll throughs and set the pace.  we will see how this goes and if successful, i will look at building some more routes that follow this format.

sunday, as always, will involve hills. 

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 13 (canning vale reverse)

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 16 (sth lake)

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 04 (greenmount & parkerville & mundaring weir)