All posts by Stuart Ivins

Ride Leaders

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It’s been an action packed few weeks on the roads with lots of incidents involving motorists and cyclists.

We need to make sure we’re looking after our friends, fellow club members and everyone else that feels the desire to cycle with our great club on one of our rides.

Ride leading doesn’t mean you have to have intimate knowledge of the route; it doesn’t mean you have to possess General Peter Cosgrove leadership qualities and it doesn’t mean you have to have matching kit 😉

Sometimes ride leading is just about keeping the group safe and making sure everyone gets back to coffee in one piece if possible.

Cars turning across our path and cars coming up from behind are normally our biggest concern.

As ride leader it’s worthwhile spending a good chunk of time at the rear of the group;
1. It allows you to monitor the whole group
2. You can keep an eye on traffic coming up from behind
3. You’ll know when people are dropping off the group (whether it’s mechanical, an injury or fatigue) and you can make sure they’re ok/have a buddy/spares and tools, etc.
4. You can acknowledge the good/patient motorists with a wave of the hand and promote positive interaction between road users

It would be great to see more people putting their name down as ride leaders on the blog or even just approaching Pete (el Pres) on Saturday morning and asking if any help is required.

Also, for the experienced cyclists who are not ride leading, please don’t “switch off”. Make sure you’re doing your bit (if/when required) to help the ride leader and help yourself and your fellow cyclists stay safe.

Ride leading and assisting

The club makes a point of promoting ride leader responsibilities to new (and not so new) members and regulars. It’s an important gig, but it’s not all that difficult and you shouldn’t be afraid to put your hand up.

Many members of the group you lead will know the route, many will have GPS devices providing route assistance and many will have tons of cycling experience and pass it on at the appropriate time to other members of the group.

If you’re unsure about ride leading, watch your ride leader closely on your next ride and check out what they do. There is responsibility, but it’s really not that hard.

If you’ve been thinking about ride leading don’t be afraid to put you’re name down on the Ride Leaders page. You’ll be helping your club, you’ll probably learn a lot, and you’ll be well supported by other riders in the group.

Do you run, or know someone that does?

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Armadale Duathlon

G’day All,

On Sunday October 6th the 2013 City of Armadale Duathlon, WA’s Premier (and only) Duathlon Event will take place. It will also include the Australian Duathlon Championship! In fact, the event is a qualifying race for the Australian Team for the 2014 World Duathlon Championships. Pretty impressive!

So what’s a Duathlon? To borrow from the official City of Armadale Duathlon web page, “Duathlon consists of a run leg, followed by a bike section, before finishing with a final run.”

There are a couple of different distances to choose from and team entries are also very popular. There’s even The Sunday Times Chillout for “Tadpoles”, so it’s also a great day for the whole family.

There’s quite a few SPR runners (yes, we notice your Strava runs!), and a number of members have taken part in this event in previous years. You might even be able to spot a couple on the official web page banner.

As a bonus and to add a little bit of fun, see if you can be first person to identify all 5 SPR members in the banner.  http://www.trievents.com.au/duathlon/

It’s a well organised event held at a great location and there’s always a wonderful atmosphere the whole day.

If you’re thinking this might be something for you individually or as a team, throw a comment on here and let us know. We can even help to organise a team for you if you nominate run or ride and your anticipated time for the distance of your choice.

Come and join the fun on what is a great day.