Pre-race

• 2am international flight from Perth with 3 kids (11,7 and .7) and two sets of Grandparents….what we do to pursue our goals!!

• Arrived in Singapore to a monsoonal downpour – imagined what that would bring in terms of the expected humidity when (if?) the sun came out. Something to look forward to…

• Settled in to accommodation; much welcomed nights sleep

• Unpacked the bike that thankfully arrived in one piece; bag beaten and bruised

• Mapped course to the race site, headed off onto the early morning Singapore roads; had been warned of the less than tolerant drivers over here along with the lack of general awareness of cyclists on the road but experience on this morning along with the other rides done subsequently, Singapore drivers are nothing but polite, accommodating and generally accepting of a lone cyclist on their roads.

• …brief altercation with a “nose stuck out of the intersection” motorscooter rider; turned into a humourous exchange at the next set of lights where in broken English he indicates that all I needed to do was pedal a bit faster and we would have been fine! Heckled by a local!!

• weather had changed to the more expected Singaporean humidity but welcome cloud cover kept the direct heat at bay; still enough to create a volume of sweat on the brow and body when stationary!

• Several wrong turns and dodgey road choices but finally found my way to the race site.

• Swim course familiarization – headed into the relatively still water for a lap of the course; strong current soon became evident with each sighting of the next buoy every 8 – 10 strokes yielding no felt improvement in forwards movement; began to wonder what this was going to look like on race day; you never really want to spend any more time in the water than you have to in these events and the idea of expending more energy than is completely necessary brings no joy.

• Stingers! Nothing quite like the Busselton variety, but enough to be annoying and cause welting, itchy skin.

• Registration and race briefing completed and all set to go; bike checked in and back home for rest & final race prep.

Race Day

5:45am – Transition set up; met a couple of the other competitors; one being from Kensington, Perth! Nearly 1600 entrants from 63 countries and I’m next to a bloke who lives in the suburb across the road.

7:55am – Race start. Into the water with 217 other 40-44 male competitors, all looking to find the most direct line to the buoy. The first part of the swim in these events is always a bit of a bun fight, and no exceptions here. Arms, shoulders, feet, heads – all looking for space in a confined and difficult environment. As expected, the current took its toll and I exited the first of the 2 laps in 17 minutes; I really missed the buoyancy of a wetsuit. Upon re-entering the water, I realized that there was going to be another challenge ahead; navigating all the slower swimmers from the earlier wave starts. In fact, it appeared that the favoured swim stroke of these folk was breaststroke! For the entire second lap I swam around and over dozens and dozens of VERY slow swimmers which is something I’ve never experienced or was prepared for. So, the current, no wetsuit and obstacle course led to a less than stellar swim of 39:31mins. The bike was going to need to be REALLY good if I was going to crack the 5hr mark.

8:40am – Into transition and out onto the bike. After taking in a few mouthwash sips of water and settling down the heart rate, it became obvious that I hadn’t passed all the people I needed to in the water. Again, dozens and dozens of slower competitors in earlier waves were all over the road. It felt like the first 30km lap that I was yelling “passing” or “bike back” which while in someway motivating (always good to be passing other riders), it was also inhibiting getting into a proper rhythm.

The roads were fabulous (except for the nasty jutter bars they have to slow drivers down every so often). All were either fully or semi closed with lots of long flat stretches to tap out a solid speed on. The main challenge in these races to try and hit a sweet spot where you’re extracting the exact amount of power out of your legs to deliver a credible ride time without risking being able to then back it up with a decent half marathon that follows.

The first lap down, I felt comfortable on the bars and commenced my nutrition strategy. Peanut butter and jam on white bread – breakfast of champions!! Never have been able to stomach gels or bars; go with what works I say. I could feel that the heat was starting to take it’s toll a bit and I made a conscious effort to keep up the fluids. One bummer was that the mix of the electrolyte drink given to us on the course was distinctly different to the standard mix available pre-race. This made me worry a bit having had stomach “issues” in previous races due to excess electrolyte/sugar consumption. I was keen not to find myself doing the port-a-loo hop on the run course as in previous races so made a deliberate decision not to take on board too much. Water would have to suffice.

The second lap was better with less obstacles in the way and there were a few other pace makers around that always helps to keep you honest. By the third lap I could really start to feel the pain and fatigue kicking in and needed to take a couple of rests off the tri-bars to relieve the lower back pressure. The headwind and heat had really picked up too so the final trip out to the turnaround point began to feel like an eternity. I knew that all I needed to do was get to that point and the home trip back would be a ‘relatively’ cruisy 38-40km/h run; I just needed to gather the senses enough to grind the rhythm that little bit further.

The trip back in proved to be good in that pulling 40 is always motivational but a tail wind also allows for the mental preparation to begin for the run (torture?) ahead.

11:10am – I came into transition feeling ‘OK’ and after the quick change into shoes and cap, set off on two feet. This is where the Singapore heat and humidity really made itself known. There was a real false sense on security at 37km/h; at 12km/h not so much! It took a while to settle into a rhythm and then reality set in when I came across the first distance marker – 1km!? Surely not! And the worst of it was they also had the sign reading 2^nd Lap 8km; 3^rd Lap 15km…did I really have THAT far to go! Why am I doing this again? What a JOKE!! This is nuts! I’m stopping….this sh*t is for f**wits; voluntarily sign up for this hogs*it?! F*ck that….you pack of wan**rs setting this stupid f*cking course…no f*cking way….I guess you could say my state of mind had diminished somewhat by this point – not uncommon in a race like this. Part of the deal is that you need to be mentally tough as well as physically trained, so you get through it.

So, after a quick mental re-calibration, I decided that I’d aim to knock over the first 10kms at a respectable pace and then re-set expectations after that. The aid stations were also spaced nicely at about 1.5km’s apart so this meant that there were plenty of opportunities to set mini goals in between.

I plodded along to the 2^nd aid station which was the first of them that had the cooled sponges – what a treat! Ice cold water over the head in the humidity is a Godsend….until you realize that your shoes are now sodden and you have another 18km’s to go – bring on the blisters!

By 10k’s I was feeling OK; the whole family was on the sideline near the finish so that added to the motivation to keep trucking away at it. The atmosphere was actually pretty electric with the music playing and tight 3 lap competitor filled course. You get a sense that you’re never too far away from things and having familiar landmarks to focus on certainly helps to draw you through the painful parts.

By the start of the 3^rd lap, I really started to fade; my feet felt like they’d been soaking in buckets of water for weeks and I started to get cold (!!!!); thoughts of hypothermia or dehydration started to go through my mind as the headache commenced (“Why?” again you ask??)…my stomach was also starting to make its familiar recommendations that it was time to stop for a while too….

At the 18km mark I I’d pretty much passed the “ultimate” time barrier that I’d set of myself (sub 5hr) and had moved into re-set on that front; 5:15 would have been great but sub 5:30 more realistic. I took a couple of spells with a fast walk to try and settle things down and work out how to get through the shakes/headaches/stomach cramps along the way.

The final run home is always awesome and this one didn’t disappoint. A great long finish chute with loads of support along the barricades. I crossed over in 5:23:23 in 30^th position for 40-44 males (217 starters). Happy with the hit out and the end result albeit not quite on the time I’d ultimately hoped for.

So, in the wash-up, considering I started in the last wave of racers, there were near on 1300 people in front of me. Given I finished 197^th overall, that means I passed over 1100 people throughout the race. I knew there was a lot, but that’s a REAL lot!

This event is EXTREMELY well organized and set up; runs like a well oiled machine (just like Singapore really). Would I do it again? – absolutely. Will I? Probably not – my next 70.3 will be somewhere else…maybe St. Croix or Italy…perhaps Antwerp…possibly even Pays d’Aix in Provence – who knows!??

See you out there.

It’s often said in the world of customer service that “Do something well and the customer tells 1 person; do something wrong and they’ll tell 10.”

SPR Blog…..I figure probably 200??

Bontrager Trek – 0 Felt – 1

So after dropping my Bontrager RaceLite wheels into Yas last November for truing, he found that there were a couple of cracks in the rear rim. I bought the wheelset about 5 years ago and Yas reckoned that they would still be under warranty. I was a bit dubious, but after dropping them into BikeForce Balcatta (great guys; helpful), they said that when you buy a wheelset separately (ie: they didn’t come with a full bike), the warranty is longer. “Shouldn’t be a problem”; “we’ll talk to the rep”. The following week (late Nov ’11) it was confirmed that they would be warrantied and replaced in due course. Several follow up phone calls and to date (3 March 12) I’m yet to get a result…apparently they don’t have the “colour” of the 2007 model and the US is trying to source an appropriate alternative….mmmmm.

After finishing the City of Perth Triathlon on the 29^th of January, 2012 I did my usual post race bike inspection/clean (principally to remove the Swan Sludge that drips off an athlete’s body onto one’s shiny steed during this race). The inspection yielded an unwelcome result being a crack down the centre of the seat post collar – the one that’s INTEGRATED into the frame. The bike is a Felt B12 2008 build and is a beautiful ride; not too hard to imagine my state of mind upon finding said crack. Down to Total Triathlon in their new Victoria Park digs to see what might be done to rectify the issue….if anything COULD be done?! Two days later I get a call to say that Felt will warranty the frame and replace it with a 2012 build B12; YOU BEAUTY!!

Two weeks later I get another call to say that Felt did not have any B12’s in stock….but there was another frame model available that, due to a previous manufacturer’s recall issue, there was an over-supply of them. “Which model?” I ask. “DA” he says. “Oh” I say. “Yeh” he says. “OK” I say. “Not bad” he says.

For those not familiar with the Felt TT models, B12 = really schmick entry level; DA = unbelievably schmick Pro level.

Today, I’m now the proud owner of a stonkin’ new 2010 DA….”fastest TT bike in the world” in it’s day they say….

So, when you look to drop the next however many $ooo’s on new bike kit, keep in mind a question to ask your retailer…”What’s the manufacturer like with their warranties?”

See you out there!

I always look forward to Friday mornings…a less brutal pace, something a bit different in terms of route, and often +20 riders makes for a great start to the weekend.

….but Stu and I were the only two soldiers to brave the raw and brutal conditions that Mother Nature dealt out this morning. And Stu was one of the 4 from yesterday’s crash as well!

So, while not a ‘large’ contingent for this morning’s sojourn, and aside from the persistent and considerable downpouring of much needed rain, it was actually quite an enjoyable outing. Stu and I both agreed that to get the first ‘wet’ ride (calm down Ryan) out of the way was beneficial and not being cold was an added bonus.

Considering the weather and Stu’s new and healing injuries, we did cut the route short, but a great circuit nonetheless.

See you next time??

On Saturday morning we took Miss (10) and Master (6) Jnr Rouleur out for a lap around the River (East Perth; City Loop; Freeway Bike Path back to Como). The bulk of the ride was fabulous – Miss and Master had a ball and all on the route were well behaved, polite and patient….until….

..turning on to the Freeway Bike Path, it all become quite the ordeal in trying to negotiate our progress safely and without mishap.

Now, we’ve all been guilty of putting ourselves into the red zone once in a while and testing the boundaries of our capacity to hang on. Davina was most recently a victim of such an attempt. On more than several occasions I sought to  protect the Jnrs from being splatted by numerous crazies riding at their max. I was genuinely surprised that, when I looked forward at the next marauding group descending upon our little brood, just how many times one, two or even three riders (usually at the back of the pack) wobbled away and crossed over onto our side of the path. The wind chewed up and spat out my feeble attempts (politely of course) to call out in advance that there were small children on the path and could they refrain from their lane hogging ways; alas, to no avail.

We did, in the end, voluntarily eject ourselves from the path 2 overpasses early and sought the sanctuary OF THE ROAD on the other side. Funny, huh? I’d rather take my chances with cars and have the kids on the road…?!

So, as the 2nd (and probably soon to be the largest affiliated club in WA), I’d like to make a call out to all members of SPR, that we continue to take the lead on  modeling the desired behaviours on bikes. Sometimes this is difficult (we all cross the road at the red man), but unless each and every one of us actively and individually demonstrate the right safety behaviours, I firmly believe that a) someone will really get hurt and b) our kids won’t have a safe set of paths to ride on in the future (they do as we do).

In the main, we’re pretty good….although I did notice that this morning’s ride had a number of people cutting the corners on the Majestic decent (top and bottom)…..there was a rider ascending who got the fright of his life, and a car turning in at the bottom that, but for the grace of God, didn’t clean anyone up.

Be safe….go home to your kids.

Posted by Rob.

So, as Pete mentioned, Juniors was a little ‘light on’ this week. Must have been the fabulous weather and everyone wanting to ride their own ride and left the littlies at home.

This was Morgan’s first Rouleurs ride and she was pretty excited about getting out there. We decided to drive down to the car park though as it’d been a while since her last ride on the racer. She wanted to make sure her gear and break skills were right for group riding – pity it was a dual TT this week!!

Anyway, we set off along the Esplanade and rounded on to the Freeway Path to head south to Mt Henry. The number of bikes out was pretty incredible (Pete’s afore mentioned “warm one”). You certainly get lots of looks riding with a 10 year old on a racer; not your usual rider. I must say, I know where the ladies get their “how many 1000’s of words a day compared to blokes??” – the chatter all the way to Mt Henry was quite something. Rounding back down onto the Esplanade to head for home, we did come across a small group that had three of their own Juniors in the group – nice to see some more up-and-comings out on the treadlies.

The wind picked up a bit toward the end and we were able to get a really nice head of steam up. Oh, and Morgan has just reminded me that she won the sprint along the river to the carpark – doh! Couldn’t even pull off a win against a 10 year old!!

We’ll be there next week too, so if you want to bring the kids out there will be at least one more for the group.

What a great time had by all! There for food and socialising, but these two blokes just couldn’t resist pulling on the lycra and racing – typical cyclists!!

Pete and Aden slog it out

Thanks Lisa, Lorraine and Kate (plus all the other helpers) for a great day.

More photos and reports to come no doubt.

Report by Rob (on behalf of Paul and Brendan)

Well, another ½ under the belt and this one didn’t disappoint. The weekend started with everyone making their separate ways down to our accommodation in Dunsborough; Tanya and me arrived first, shortly followed by Brendan and Jody with Lorraine not too far behind them. Nico and I had already decided to do the course recon ride with the ladies taking the Goose coffee option (the ‘smart’ choice as you will soon realise!).

We got ourselves kitted up and met up with Mad Mike, one of Lorraine’s errant mates doing his first ½ and not really having much of a clue about any of it. It was going to be youthful exuberance that got him through as he has this in abundance! So, we headed out on the road and filled Mike in on the course route and some of the things to expect during the race (us being such hardened veterans and all…!). A nice easy spin out to the Tuart Forrest and it was all going so well until just after we turned around to head back into Busso when the heavens opened up and drowned the three of us with little mercy offered. By the time we got back to the Goose carpark, with the ladies conveniently wandering our way at the right moment, we were quite the sodden rats. Oh well, the bikes were due for a wash anyway….

We led Mad Mike through the registration process (“Really? We leave our bikes here in Transition overnight??”) and then headed back to the house for a warm shower and pasta night.

Paul and Nicole arrived by 7pm and after a nerve filled evening of carbohydrates followed by Lorraine’s fabulous Citrus Ricotta cake & Brownies (carbo loading of kings) we headed off for a fitful night’s sleep having agreed a 5:30am departure was required.

Race Day

There is something about getting up at 4:50am to get ready for a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km run…the nerves are pumping and the mind traverses the full spectrum of thoughts and emotions. “Why am I doing this?” “Can’t wait, it’s going to be unreal!” “Hope I remembered everything….” Etc. etc. The concern of getting a flat tyre or burning up on the run; maybe being dragged down in the Bay by an errant hand attached to the muscle bound arm as it rotates around the shoulder of your stronger, fitter more capable opponent – just another day’s racing really.

A short and virtually silent breakfast of champions (Nico – do Coco Pops really count here??), we piled into our 2 cars and headed into town. I was driving with Paul next to me and Nico following behind. ½ way into Busso I see Nico weave off to the side of the road and come to a halt. “Wonder what he’s forgotten?” I say to Paul. We later found out that he was so keen to remember his racing band and HR watch that he’d put them on top of his transition bag before going to bed – “First thing I’d see in the morning” was the rationale…so then to put them in your bag in a sleep induced daze and promptly forget that this is what you’d done….but only AFTER you’d driven half way to the race start, come to a screeching halt, phoned your sleeping fiance in a mad fit/panic to ask if they were on the window sill…..mmmmmm, love the nerves of race day.

Anywho, we all managed to get to race transition with everything we needed, got ourselves marked up with numbers and category letters, set the SPR tent up and then had time (LOTS of that since they’d pushed our category race start back to 8:10am from the original 7:20am) to try and calm the nerves, get the wetsuits on a prep for what lay ahead.

The girls all arrived by 7:30am and got themselves set up ready for a riveting day supporting on the sidelines – they are soooo lucky to have us….(and we them of course)! We all made our way down to the water for the obligatory ‘get wet & warm’ (a reference to anyone who’s worn a wetsuit – and if you haven’t then just use your imagination). Once in the race start zone with the 165 other starters in our category (‘old’, but not ‘old farts’), I decided to make my way to the front of the pack while Nico and Paul opted for the back. There’s madness in the method of both choices here and it depends on what you’re thinking at the time – start at the front and potentially get swum over, but maybe get some clear water if you’re off quick enough; or hang back, get the clear water first but then possibly have to fight your way through the pack if you start to swim stronger than those in front. Hard to tell, so you make your choice and see what happens.

The Swim

When the hooter blew, I followed the front row in and started thrashing away trying to get a lead out and establish some clear water early. Experience has shown me that if you’re soft in the first 500 you will get knocked about and taken out – so better to go in hard and make your mark around you – that way you get the space you’re after. I think I managed to kick the odd person out of the way and grabbed a shoulder or two at the sides. By about 250 I’d secured the space I wanted and set about getting into my rhythm. Worked a treat and I had clear water right through to the 900m turning buoy and even across to the 1000m (although the direct sun into the eyes of fogged goggles made spotting it a challenge!). After rounding for home I found that everyone was again battling for their space and the most direct route back to shore so another 100m or so of push and shove before getting the clear space to aim for the shoreline finish chute (thankfully a whopping blue blow up thing that you could probably sight from South Africa – love knowing where to go in the water).

I came out first with Paul and Nico about 2 minutes back. So far so good. I really felt that I needed to put a good bit of distance between us as I didn’t feel like I’d have the legs on the bike to hold either of them off for long.

Transition was faster this year thanks to a new 2XU wetsuit (came off easier than hooke….sorry, I’ll leave that for the pub. ;-P) and new tri-specific riding shoes already clipped into the pedals. Helmet, sunnies, race belt, GO!

The Bike

After rounding the first turn out of transition and down past the SPR tent, I slid my feet into the shoes, buckled up and got going for real. Couple of sips of water to get the taste of Geographe out of my mouth and started to focus on bringing the heart rate down and getting the blood down to the legs. Pushing a slighty bigger gear to start usually does the trick and then after a couple of k’s bringing the cadence up a bit to get the rythym right for the next 85k’s of pain – excellent!

I figured if I could get to the first turnaround marker 23k’s out before Nico caught me I’d have done well, and then it would be just about trying to keep as far in front of Paul as I could – if he caught me on the bike I didn’t think I’d have a hope on the run. Sure enough, about 2 k’s after the turnaround I heard the familiar ‘clunk’ of Nico selecting a bigger gear (he just loves to rub it in) and then a “Hey Rob” as he strides on past. Noice. I managed to keep him in my sights for about 5k’s and then that was that. Passing back through on the first lap around the Mariner, there was a crash where 3 people clearly collided and came down – apparently a broken collar bone on the girl and the guys clearly looked like their day was done too going by the look on the faces. We all agreed after the race that triathletes can’t ride in a straight line (except us of course – but we’re SPR!).

Coming around for the first lap through and I wasn’t feeling too bad, the SPR supporters tent cheering as we go past made me decided to step it up. I’d averaged the first on just over 36km/h so was aiming to increase that if I could. I hadn’t sighted Paul on the way back so could only assume he was breathing down my neck so needed to maintain the effort for the next 45km just in case he was really on form.

The trip out really hurt this time though. It always does when you’re really searching for the turnaround point and it just feels like someone has gone and moved the marker further away – not for everyone else, just you! Your mind plays lots of tricks at these longer distance events. Anyway, I finally got to the turnaround and decided to pile it on to get back into town while trying to keep an eye out for Paul – Nico was long gone by this stage. Alas, we must have crossed over again while I had my head down between the bars praying for the hurt to stop because I arrived back into transition with no real clue how much time into the run a really had.

Another quick transition (LOVING the tri-shoes), socks/shoes/hat and out for a lazy 21.1km run – bring it on.

The Run (and where the REAL race begings)

The first 2k’s always feel like rubbish coming off the 90 bike so you just have to get through it before you can get any real rhythm going. I’d decided to be conservative on the first 7k lap, and then re-evaluate for the 2^nd and 3^rd. After the turnaround 3.5k mark and a quick sip of coke and water I looked up to see Paul coming the other way – he was about 30 seconds off my back and looking strong. Here we go then!

I hadn’t seen Nico on the first pass but assumed he’d be motoring if he had the legs. I didn’t panic though and just maintained the rhythm I’d set for myself and stuck to the game plan. Wait and see what happens. Passing by the SPR tent for the end of the first lap I was feeling pretty good and was happy with the form I had at that point. Didn’t feel like I had any more so to speak, but happy at that point. No sign of Paul as yet. Heading back out for the 2^nd 7k, I was about 1k down the path and I heard Nico’s voice call out from behind me on the other side of the road “Hey Paul!” Nico and I hadn’t seen each other pass on the road, but he’s clocked Paul – and he was STALKING me!! Classic runner style – find your mark, grab their rhythm and then sit 20 odd feet back and wait…watch…strike! And then he did (probably because Nico gave him up!!). He comes up along side me, we have a bit of chat, share feelings about the race so far and then I say “Mate, don’t lose your rythym…get going, you’re killing it!” So, off he chugs….and so I grab his rhythm, and sat…and sat….and stalked. Then all of a sudden Nico’s back looms up in front of us about 2km’s before the 2^nd lap turn and he’s snapped. Paul and I run past providing the obligatory sentiment and acknowledgement of how bloody hard it is.

I continued to stalk Paul up past the SPR tent but then the girls gave me away!! He goes past and then hears them calling my name out 10 seconds later. The gig’s up I thought – time to strike. Feeling strong, I surged up to Paul just after the turn around – it looked like his rhythm was starting to falter a bit but then I’d seen him like this before and new that his tenacity and competitive spirit wouldn’t let me go without a fight. After passing him by (and some kind of sandbagging comment like “My legs are shot…cramping…you go ahead….) I aimed to put a little on it to see if he’d come with me but I wouldn’t know until the turnaround at the final 3.5 mark whether it’d work…ladies and gents, I give you Declan!! Thanks mate, for calling out to us both on your way back – I was being stalked – AGAIN!! Only one thing for it – kick at the turnaround, try and shake him and then hang on until the end…if possible. A quick swig of coke, and a snakes head (Allens – not real!!) and I took off. My legs were screaming, heart rate went to 172 bpm and my head started to muddle – but I wasn’t slowing down. I couldn’t look back to see if Paul had come with me so just had to maintain what I could and hope it was enough. 1k to go and still no sign of Paul – and now I started to feel as though I may have bagged it – just. Down the finish chute and over the line in 4:52:50 with a look on my face that clearly sent the message to our fantastic support crew that I’d pushed it hard. Paul crossed (collapsed?) 49 seconds later in a PB over 9 minutes better than last year (4:53:39) – Nico in 5:10:59.  An awesome outcome overall for our part of the SPR group and all very pleased with the results.

Other results of interest

Declan: 6:28:12

Hunter Shipp: 4:31:20

Dean Shipp: 5:16:26

Rachael Smith: 4:31:32 (and AWSOME 1^st place in 30-34 and first female Age Grouper across the line!!)

See you all out there. Ride Safe.

Posted by Rob.

This is just an early note to all who are travelling down to the Busselton Half Ironman on the 1st of May. Indications are that there are a fair number of the SPR family heading South for this fantastic ‘end of tri season’ event.

Bike Course Familirisation
We’ll be doing a bike course familiarisation ride for anyone who’d like to come along (competitors & supporters) on Friday 30th prior to athlete registration. We’ll aim for an average speed of 28 – 30 km/h so all are welcome.

We’ll meet at the car park behind the Loose Goose Café (the ‘original’ transition area) ready to leave by 2:30pm (optional 1/2hr swim in the Bay from 1:30pm). We’ll be able to do a full loop of the 45km course and be back in plenty of time for registration.

Contact on the day will be mobile: 0430 162 291

Supporters and SPR Presence
There will be a significant number of spectators down there watching the event, cheering their loved ones and others on throughout the morning. We’ll be taking the SPR tent down and setting it up across the road from the main Barnard Park carpark about 200m down the road from the run Exit/Finish chute – a great vantage spot for the 3 lap run course!

On the day!
The SPR Tri Suits are all go now so we’ll likely see a fair bit of the green and black out there this year – and don’t forget to wear your SPR running hat! Make sure you save some energy for The Meltdown Party – should be a big one with so many of us down there too!

Race report by Rob

Saturday 19 – 6:45pm (The night before)

“Hello?”

“Rob. It’s Peter.”

“Hey mate, what’s up?”

“You’ve registered us in the Open Mens category, not Masters. What the ****?”

Sunday 20 – 7:30am – Pinjara Arrival

So, Melvin said we can only use the word that relates to the morning being damp, soaked, sodden, soggy, soppy, dripping or my favourite, moist. Anyway, you get the picture. After the requisite ribbing on my obvious error in registering our team, we head over the pub to see if we can’t “sort it out”. The kind lady indicates that a brief chat with ‘Geoff’ should see me making amends. Said chat with the very obliging ‘Geoff’ and he said, “I’ll see what we can do….”. Excellent. Paul wasn’t convinced. “It’ll be fine” I say.

With there being no space under the SPR tent (12 by my count) I did the only thing that made sense as the heavens opened up and chucked yet another shower down on us – I went and hid in the car and ate my Special K.

Upon passing over us, and while I proceeded to get changed into my knicks, Tanya kindly offered to put my numbers on my jersey. Just as she started, she asks “Are you sure this is your jersey and not mine?” Doh!!!

“Pete?”

“Yeh?”

“Got a spare Size M mens jersey in your car?”

“…………………”

“Thanks Mate. I’ll wash it before I give it back….”

Soooo, since there was STILL no room under the tent, and with about 20 minutes until our allotted departure time, I headed out onto the road to see about getting the legs warmed up. It had fined up somewhat and actually looked like it may even give us a break for the race. Excellent. 5 minutes out and back – legs good to go; lets cook this chook!

Pete, Stu, Paul and I headed over the start and waited to be called forward. Watching those in front of us, we could see a number of teams had missed their time and had to scramble fast to get going – not the best sign for a State title event being late for your assigned time!

Just as we were called forward, a young guy from the Peel club came over and indicated to Pete that he’d finally managed to reassign us to the Masters category so our time will be recorded accordingly. See! No dramas!!

5,4,3,2,1…GO!

The four of us rolled out with me on the front, the Pete, Paul and Stu. We’d decided to do 30 on the front then pull off so I got up into the big ring and started to set the pace. You don’t want to push too hard to start, but you also don’t want to leave anything in the tank either, so it’s all about trying to find a good pace and rythym and then settle in and push.

The first 10km were relatively uneventful with each of us rolling through our turns nicely and feeling our way as a team. Stu was pulling some slightly longer turns – obviously the effects of Timor are becoming a distant memory – which was nice as it helped to allow the heart rate to drop back down to a more manageable 165bpm before the next turn.

I was on the front when the first incline came along and was feeling pretty good so kept the pace on. Stu and I crested first and when I turned around it look like the effort may have taken a bit more out of Paul and Pete. We eased up a bit to make sure we got back into formation though as it was working really well. One of the main things with a team event is that working together is a lot more effective than pushing big solo efforts and smashing each other.

The next 20 to the turnaround was a little harder as the wind was coming in at 45 degrees. We formed a nice echelon across the width of the road, but in that formation you don’t get quite the same sort of rest as you do when you get a full draft. We also had to be mindful of the other teams on their return journey who had their echelon’s formed in reverse, so you end up passing pretty close. With about 1km to go to the marker I looked over my shoulder to see that the effort had taken its toll on Pete and he’d started to fall off Paul’s wheel. At the marker we regrouped and got going, but with Stu on the front and the wind in our face, Pete decided enough was enough and bid us adieu.

So Stu, Paul and I re-set the pace and kicked off. It wasn’t long though that Paul called that he was maxing out at about 185bpm and wasn’t going to last if we held the pace. I dropped back and lent a hand as we crested a couple of rises while the 3 of us worked together to figure out what a sustainable pace was going to be for the last 15kms. Stu was doing most of the work on the front, Paul held his wheel and I played sheep dog to make sure we maintained a tight formation. That seemed to work really well with Stu taking most of the headwind full on with me being able to take a couple of shorter turns to provide a breather,  we averaged what I think was about 39-40 for the last 10km.

The last 1000m was great and there is something really special about coming back into town in a tight echelon formation with the spectators watching on. The three of us crossed together and congratulated each other for the effort. Legs were burning and heart was pounding – but what a blast! I really loved it – the TT seems to suit my style of riding a bit better than the standard format of racing. Doing it as part of a team just adds to the fun & I’d recommend it to all.

Since there’s going to be six write ups for the event I’ll leave it there. Check out WA Cycling for the results. SPR on top of the Support Teams….HAVE TO BE!!??

by Rob.

So there I was out in the back courtyard on Saturday afternoon cleaning the sand and grit off my bike from another wet/grubby/windy Thursday morning ride. Once clean, I looked at the tyres and thought I’ve got a couple of fresh Continental 4000’s sitting in the shed – about time that they went on. Half way through the action, Mr Just 5 wanders over and says “What ya doin’ Dad?”
“Changing a tyre Son.”
“What’s this?”
“That’s the tube Son.”
“Do I have tubes in my tyres Dad?”
“Yes, Son, you do.”
“They’re not this skinny though are they Dad?”
“No Son, they’re not.”
“You know what Dad?”
“What Son?”
“I’m going to have skinny tubes like this when I grow up.”

Yes Son, you are.

Not long after this very proud, eye-tearing moment, Miss Nearly 9 wanders over and says “Dad, could I put some different music on?”
“But this is Powderfinger honey. Great stuff really.”
”But I want to put some of ‘MY’ music on. Pleeeaase Dad…?”
”Fine, Sweetheart, but don’t turn it up, OK?”
“No Dad, I won’t”

Her ‘choice’? AC/DC – The Razors Edge.

“Honey?”
“Yes Dad?”
“Turn it up a bit would you.”