You are invited to join a select group of Riders for a Social Group Ride with
Australian Cycling Champion, Mark Renshaw. Enjoy a leisurely 50km ride around Scenic Perth on Saturday 20th November, and enjoy a morning to be remembered !
This event is strictly limited, so hurry and book your place early !
When : Sat 20th November, early am start with anticipated 8:30/9am conclusion
Venue : To be advised on Booking confirmation
Cost :$10 for ride only which includes a light breakfast or upgrade to $100 ride ticket which includes a signed Store jersey valued at $160, light breakfast & coffee, plus a $50 store voucher.
To book your place on this event, contact Kerryn on kerrynl@iinet.net.au or the store 9451-2222 !!
After helping lead the Main 1 ride last weekend I thought I might put up a short blog on something I’ve noticed happening a bit lately.
People are not stopping when the call for a “regroup” is given.
This causes me great frustration. I think this started a good many months ago. What seems to happen is the group merely slows down and rolls along. I can only say that when I am in charge of a ride and I call for a regroup I would like people to stop at the nominated point and get off the road and wait so that we don’t block traffic while we are waiting for everyone to get together.
I only call for regroups when there is a danger of dropping riders too far from home. Thus, last week after we turned onto Cannning Highway it was open slather. No more regroups – from Canning you can find your way home if you get dropped.
My thinking is this: if your ride leader calls for a regroup, find a safe spot that can accommodate the whole group and pull off the road. Common places for regroups include bus stops, footpaths, car parks etc. A regroup only need be a couple of minutes – but this will allow people to catch their breath, have a drink and more importantly allow the group leader to make sure all stragglers are in back within the fold and any problems are sorted out.
The Golden Spokes last year was my first race back on the bike after about a 10 year absence. I entered the support race. I got my new SPR kit off Peter on the morning of the event and headed off to the start line. I don’t remember a lot from that day. I do remember marking a couple of early breaks and then withdrawing after three laps a fat vomiting mess. I was still learning how to ride without beta cells, and just wasn’t up to the challenge. Red zone from go to whoa.
So three months ago I decided I was going to win the race year (yes, I’m referring to C-grade and no more). I recruited Mark H as a training partner and spent the winter in the gym and trying to get in as many kms as possible without freezing to death. Staying focused was tough – especially through the colds and flus this season which knocked both Mark and myself around for weeks at a time. Rough stuff.
Still we both arrived at last weeks TTT with a hint of form, enough to get us thinking that winning the 2010 edition of the Spokes was possible.
So race day arrived. I was down there early to help setup and eventually got my Goanna Oil on and went out for a warm up with Zac. At the start line I found a bush for the traditional nervous pee and then rejoined the group. There was a green armada starting c-grade. 14 out of the 21 riders fronting up for the 60km pancake were from SPR.
The plan was to sit in and conserve energy as much as possible for the entire ride, and then for Mark to lead me out from the bridge to the finish line. We were concerned with the corners coming up to the finish and wanted to make sure that we were at the front by the time we hit the round about.
From the start everything was going to plan. I was sitting in being well protected by the group and Mark was keeping a watchful eye on everything happening up at the front of the field.
The early action was all about Dave S. He attacked a couple of times and and managed to stay off the front for well over a lap with another rider. The peloton soon bought him back, only for him to go off again shortly after.
The pace wasn’t really on for the first few laps. I felt like we weren’t really racing and everyone was just looking at each other. This made me nervous so I put the word around for the guys to start moving up to the front. Mark, Daniel and myself started turning the screws down the back straight. The idea was just to put enough pressure on to make people in the pack show their intentions. We then withdrew back into the pack while Zac, Ian, Jordan and others looked after proceedings at the front of the peloton.
Coming into the start of our 5th lap the plan went out the window. I had noticed that coming into the corner before the start line (in front of the deli) the group was getting strung out each time we went through. So as we came through I called out to Ian to put the pressure on. By the time we got the front straight we had a gap on the group. I rolled through to take my turn and before I knew it I had ridden off the front of the group.
So decision time… to go for it – not my style – or return to the embrace of the peloton and wait for the sprint. I decided to put my head down for a few minutes and see what happens. I looked back after a few minutes and was off the front by about 200m. I decided to go for it.
I spent the whole 5th lap and most of the last off the front by myself. At one point I must have had 500m gap on the group. I was out of site going around the corners.
With half a lap to go I was dreaming of glory.
Unfortunately my solo ride into the finishing straight didn’t happen. As I rounded the hair pin turn the peloton descended upon me with fearsome speed. I felt like I was about to get eaten alive. Jen and a couple of other boys joined me off the front and we tried as we could to fend off the pack. We got to within 2km from the finish before being brought back into the fold.
At this point Zac and Mark came around me. I dug deep and got onto Marks wheel. I was where we planned for me to be – although I seemed to take the hard road to get there.
Understandably Mark wasn’t sure if I had the legs left to win – actually I don’t even think he knew I was on his wheel. 1500m from the finish and just before the turn into the island he called out to Zac to go for it. Which he did. It was actually a good move from Mark – he put Zac in a great spot to win. I then called out to him to let him know I was there and had legs. We had been passed by a couple of riders by then and Zac was disappearing into the distance looking like a sure thing.
As soon as he realised the leadout plan was on Mark burried himself. He dragged me back up through the field as we came over the bridge. We had an awesome moment when we split a rider, me passing on the left and Mark ducking underneath at the same time and then rejoining on the other side of the corner.
Straightening up onto the finishing straight Zac had about 50m on us. I was yelling at Mark “go! go! go!” and he burried himself until about 300m to go. We got up to about 25m off Zac’s wheel and then I launched. I was completely at my limit at this point but I kept thinking how hard we had worked and that I could still do it. I managed to stamp on the pedals hard enough to draw up to Zac and then come over the top with a fast finishing Dave right in behind me.
Two handed salute and a big “yeah!” as I went over the line leading home an SPR trifecta.
This win was definitely one of my highlights. It was great to have the plan come off like that, even with an absurd 20km solo effort which wasn’t meant to happen. It was also fantastic to be able to see the difference a year of solid riding can make. I was also brilliant to have worked with a guy like Mark who in all seriousness could have won the thing for himself.
So what a difference a year can make. Bring on B grade and another year of suffering.
before the write-ups for the races come in I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who came out and volunteers their time and helped make today a great success.
I’m afraid I’m going to miss people but here goes:
Firsty to the setup team, John G, Katie – thanks so much for being down there at the crack of dawn to help setup the ganty and the sidings as well as the tents etc.
Thanks to Shun and Anna who absolutely owned the registration desk and who were already giving out numbers and timing tags before I even had my Goanna Oil on.
Meghan and Carlos for hearding like experienced shepards and also lending a hand all over the place with heaps of other things.
Mino for lap counting duties and photographer duties.
Lorraine and Scott for taking on traffic head on and making sure everyone turned when they were supposed to.
Ainsy and Mike Tan for jumping into the breach with finish line duties along with Mr Bonner who stood firm at the finish line for about 4 hours straight and didnt miss a number.
Mark de Castro for being everywhere all day with his camera, as well as others – we wait for the shots!
And then to the dedicated pack up crew who stayed around to applaud the finish of the two ladies doing the 80km ride – only to then help pack up all the tents, the gantry, pack up the trailer and wait for the participation ride presentations. John G, Raph, Jonno, Jordan & Mike T.
Thanks of course to el prez for coordinating all day and making sure every thing went smoothly.
Most of all of course thanks to Josh – whom without his months of planning and dedication the whole thing wouldn’t have happened. Thanks Josh.
If you know of anyone else who lent a hand please give them a shout out in the comments below – I’m sure I’ve missed someone who did something great.
Finally thanks to all the riders. We had a phenomenal number of riders out there in every category from A grade to participation. Thanks to all of you – without the riders we don’t have an event. You were all resplendent in green and the other colours you ride in.
All in all it was a great day today. Congratulations on a great first event!
Registration for the SPR hosted 2010 Golden Spokes closes today!! There are so many categories to choose from that nobody had an excuse not to be on their bikes.
For the licensed riders who want to get their race on there is A, B and C grade. There are also womens races mixed in amongst the boys. 80kms for A & B, and 60km for C grade.
For those more into the Sportif style events you can ride as a team or as an individual in the Participation events. Participation events start from a 10km Family ride all the way up to the 80km big one. No licence is required for these rides.
There is over $3000 worth of prizes to be won on the day.
If anyone is thinking of getting some clip-on bars for the ttt this online casino sunday Stuart at Glen Parker South on Albany Highway will do you a good deal.
South Perth Rouleurs host the Golden Spokes in 2010!
We have been working hard over the last couple of months in conjunction with CASM and Cycling WA to put together the Golden Spokes race and charity ride for 2010. This is a huge undertaking and it wouldnt be happening without a lot of help from our club volunteers and the expert assistance of Josh Camp.
The format has changed slightly from last year with more race events and more participation style (sportif) events on offer. The approximate start times are as follows:
CWA Races
7am – Juniors
7:30am – 80km A Grade Open
7:35am – 80km B Grade Males and Females
7:40am – 60km C Grade Males and Females
Following the conclusion of the races the participation events will start.
Participation Events – no licence required
9:30am – 80km John Walton Memorial Teams and Individuals
9:35am – 60km John Walton Memorial Teams and Individulas
9:50am – 30km John Walton Memorial Teams and Individuals
10:15am – 20km John Walton Memorial School Teams and Individuals
11:00am – Family Ride
All events will be run on the 10km circuit which uses the Champion Lakes course and surrouding roads which will be closed to traffic for the morning.
All riders are required to check in for nominations 15 minutes before the event.
The proceeds from this day go to CASM, a charity organisation that advocates for people with diabilities. A truley deserving cause.
There will be a host of prizes on offer for each grades including thousands of dollars worth of vouchers, trophies and medals.
Of course this being our first event we would really love to see nothing short of an army of SPR green down there on the day.
The volunteer roster is completed!!! Well done everyone and thanks to everyone who has put their hand up to help out on the day.
We do have a number of people doing multiple jobs on the day (Peter, Anna etc), so if anyone else can come along on the day to help out it would be much appreciated. Many hands make light work.
Get involved in our first ever event!!
Setup Team
Time 0500 – 0630 (1.5hrs)
Setup gantry and sidings at the finish line, setup registration desk table, and also setup the sidings at the start line. The race starts and finishes at different spots
Peter, Toby, John G, Katie L
Registration Team
Time 0630 – 0830 (1.5hrs)
Distribute tags and bibs to riders, take CA licenses. All the tags and number etc will be sorted out by CWA – we jsut need to distribute them. Only need to do registration for the CWA races – not the participation events.
Anna, Shun
Start Team
The start team are the herders. You basically need to help get the grades, teams organised into their starting groups and herd them up to the start line. There will be an official starter present to set everyone off. Basically you need to jsut listen out for who is up next and just get riders organised. We need herders for a good few hours, so it has been proposed we have two groups of two.
Time 0630 – 0900 (2.5 hrs)
Meghan, Carlos
Time 0900 – 1100 (2 hrs)
Peter, Anna
Lap Counter
We need one person to stand on the course before the finishing straight to count down laps for the competitors. The course is such that the grades will zoom around the course but then on the last lap turn into the island for the finish. So they need to know which lap to turn. Pretty easy, but you will need a good eye to know what grade is what etc. This is only for the CA races.
Time 0700 – 0930
Scott
Finish Team
The finish team are responsible for recording finishing order of riders. This is done incase there is a problem with the timing system. For the CA races we would like three finishing judges, and then two more to finish up the participation event as required. This is a pretty easy gig, you just sit down and write down numbers in the order they come over the line.
Race Team
Time 0745 – 1100 (3.25 hrs)
Geoff, Julian, Michael
Participation Team
Time 1100- 1300 (2 hrs)
Peter, Toby
Packup Team
Just need to pack up CA gantry, sidings, desk and throw them back on the trailer.
The South Perth Rouleurs are pleased to announce the we are stepping up to run our first Cycling WA sanctioned Open race this October – the prestigious Golden Spokes!
As this is our clubs first race attempt at running a race we have joined forces with CWA and CASM to put on the event. This has greatly reduced the workload for us and allows us to get some solid experience at running a race without having to worry about all the costs and details.
For our end of the deal we need to help out with a small volunteer team. We need 6 people to be line judges and recorders and a further 3 to man the registration desk.
The line judges are required to sit at the finish line and write down the numbers of participants as they cross the line. This is just in case the timing system goes down.
Registration desk duties involve collecting licenses and handing our numbers and timing tags.
Pretty simple stuff in both cases.
We have a membership base of over 150 people, so finding 9 volunteers shouldn’t be beyond us. So if you aren’t planning on riding please volunteer you services. Wives, hubbies, friends, and parents of course are most welcome to help out.
Please put your name below if you are able to help out on the morning.
And of course as this is SPR’s first ever event we would like to see the entire membership body out in support!
