South Perth Rouleurs

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 13^th September

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Zig zag, Hummerston 71.79km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Zig zag, Hummerston 71.79km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Zig zag, Chook, Obs 86.79km SPR Sunday

Coffee – SnL,Victoria Park

Monday 14^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 15^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Coffee – Koorak, Kings Park

Wednesday 16^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Coffee – Little Horn, Applecross

Thursday 17^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Friday 18^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Coffee – Hoopla, Kensington

Ride Routes 5th – 11th Sept

September 3, 2026 peter

As we have seen the past couple of years, alongside the National Road Championships being held in Kings Park, there is an opportunity for us non-elites to compete in the Gran Fondo on the same course. Last year this event sold our fast and entries opened for earlybird access at 10am this morning. I missed out last year and eventually got in via a transfer from another rider who had injured themselves. They couldn’t release any more spots as their insurance only covered up to the limit, so it became a bit of a scramble towards the end. This year I have climbed out of my death bed to make sure I didn’t miss out.

There are, however, a couple of changes that may affect which race you do as they are also offering a short course version. The Gran Fondo National Championship (long course) takes in 6 laps of the same circuit raced on the last two years. To be able to enter this event you need to have a Race or Club licence. A non-competitive Ride licence is not enough and no day licences are available for this race. If you want to be eligible for a national champs jersey, podium and medal, you need to have a Race licence. A Club level licence only allows you to race in club level events and as this is a National Championship, to be eligible you need a Race licence. You can enter on a Club licence, and if you think you will finish off the podium, then this will be all you need.

The short course race covers 2 laps of the same course and you do not need to be an Auscycling member to enter, but you get a discount if you are. The other difference is the age limits, where you need to be 15+ for the short course and 17+ for the long course.

Luckily you can get all the different licence types by becoming a member of our club and a visit to our membership page outlines the different types. If you have any questions about becoming a member, please contact the club or reach out to a committee member after one of our rides. It is important to note, that even though AusCycling offers a monthly payment, the commitment is for a year and you cannot just cancel your membership after the event.

Last year to assist in people training for the Gran Fondo, we ran a series of training sessions in the months leading up to the event. We will be doing the same again this year, and these will be open to everyone whether members of SPR or not. More details will come out soon on the specifics of each session, but basically there will be a Women’s only session on Tuesday morning in Kings Park, a Friday three lap session and a Sunday full six lap session.

The Tuesday Women’s session will concentrate on building confidence on the main climbs, while the Friday/Sunday sessions will be race-pace with regroups. Again the Fri/Sun sessions will regroup to neutralise the riders on Mounts Bay Road to minimise the risk of solo bikes dodging morning traffic.

This coming January is the last official year for the Nationals being held in Perth. Organising racing in Kings Park is costly and not something that can easily be activated without a lot of financial support. This may be our last chance for a while, so make sure you jump on board while you can as SPR has you covered for licence requirements as well as training.

From the Committee

Event Information

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Japan April 2027

Please complete this brief EOI for the tour

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Upcoming Racing

WCMCC Rockingham Crit (13 Sep)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (20 Sep)
MCC Midland Traders 100 Road Race (25 Oct)
AusCycling WA Road State Champs (1 Nov)
ATTA Earlybird 1 (3 Nov)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (22 Nov)
AusCycling Gran Fondo National Championship (10 Jan)

Juniors

Last week we had another enjoyable ride around the Canning River Regional Park and along the Roe Highway. Hugh continues to make very impressive progress in his training, showing great improvement in his confidence, riding skills and overall endurance.

Due to a quite uncertain weather forecast we will not have our usual ride for the U11s. However the weather should be good for the club ride early in the morning. So our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. I will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you would like to be included.

Events coming up:

Race: Pickering Brook #1 on 20/9/2026. Registrations: https://entryboss.cc/races/31952

From the Ride Coordinator

It is always great to see a large turnout in club colours. Be seen in green.

At SPR, we encourage all riders to familiarise themselves with the planned route before joining a group ride. Not knowing the next turn can increase the risk of accidents — for you and others in the group.

Saturday 5^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Abernethy 39.96km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Abernethy Rd 48.21km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 6^th September

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Welsh Falls Repat MWR 74.76km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Welsh Falls Repat MWR 74.76km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Wlsh Obs Cam Goose 86.02km SPR Sunday

Coffee – SnL,Victoria Park

Monday 7^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 8^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Coffee – Koorak, Kings Park

Wednesday 9^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Coffee – Little Horn, Applecross

Thursday 10^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Friday 11^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Coffee – Hoopla, Kensington

Ride Routes 29th Aug – 4th Sept

August 27, 2026 peter

One of the four cornerstones that the club was built around was “inclusion”. Back in 2008 when the club was in its formative stages, it was important to us to define what it was that we were trying to achieve. Many of the clubs back then concentrated primarily on racing as you needed to be part of a club to be able to race. We didn’t have the 100 year history that many of the clubs had back then, so the skills to organise and run an event were very foreign to us. Coming to the Perth cycling scene from the outside, I did however see a fairly big gap. Many clubs back then had minimal group rides. This was often handled by the “shop rides” and some clubs even directed riders to do the shop ride instead. Our main differentiator was that we had club rides that catered for a variety of people.

When we first met at Coode St, there was only one group. This made things easy, but didn’t give any space for those that were not at a particular fitness/skill level. As the group grew, a faster segment wanted to push harder, so we split. The “fast” group would leave first, and at one stage did a slightly longer route, and then the second group would follow. The second group could not be called the “slow” group, so it became the “main” group.

As time went on and the club grew, it was clear that we were beginning to attract brand new riders that have never ridden in a club let alone a group environment. Social media was in its infancy but we maintained a very active website, so our club was often the first thing appearing when people were looking for rides in Perth. The development or novice group was formed to cater for these newbies and then a “transitional” group that bridged the distance between the novice and main routes.

People often commented that they were attracted to other aspects that mirrored our other cornerstones – “organised” (ride routes published and downloadable), “social” (coffee afterwards) and “safe” (even before ride leaders, there was a standard that was upheld in the groups).

The inclusion part was also in how we ran the club. We have never forced anyone to join the club to be able to ride with us. It is certainly encouraged and if you do ride regularly with us and feel that you are getting something out of it, becoming a member is an easy way of giving back. But another part of that is that you need to be a member to get the kit, so we also don’t enforce a kit policy either. We want people to be proud to represent the club, not have it forced upon them. As much as we love to see as many people in green as we can, we would rather just see them out riding with us.

The rebranding process is currently underway and the EOI for kit suppliers is still open. I have met with a few companies to fully understand what they can do for us and it is great to see such high quality products available to us in Perth. The logo and font is almost finalised, which when added to a new kit design should give us a fresh new look. There has been questions to me an others about when kit can be ordered. Please bear with us, this process takes time and we want to do right by both the club and the members. So as much as I want you in new kit, I want to see you in the right kit, with the right design, for the right price.

From the Committee

Review of the 2^nd Strategy session run by Gary, looking at attracting and retaining riders
Discussion on how to ensure details of new riders get to the right people to pass on information
Revision of Life Membership benefits
EOI’s back from prospective kit suppliers
Discussion with AusCycling about a potential criterium circuit
Discussion around if we require sponsorship during the rebuilding phase

Event Information

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Japan April 2027

Please complete this brief EOI for the tour

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

SPR cycling trip across Northern Spain (currently on)

Some wonderful roads and scenery unfolded over the last week of cycling. Loving the roads (quiet), the climbs, the local bars and the food here. The climbs feel a lot harder than the Italian trip last year but apparently its actually similar elevations – seems the memory for pain is short. Also, very glad it is not as hot as the rest of Spain. Meanwhile La Vuelta continues elsewhere in Spain.

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

Canola 2026 really turned it on, with perfect weather, empty roads, great organisation and comradery amongst all participants. This is a personal challenge for most who compete with two distances that allow all who cycle to participate.

Photo by Dan Hoey at Broken Media; (L-R: Martyn & Nataasha Lethbridge; Jo McInnes; Mirelle Kerrigan; Carol Dowse; John Phillips; Linda Nelson; Rob Kerrigan and Jimmy Stoichev. Missing from photo but very much participants: Claire Tyrrell; Roger Cadle and Susan Taylor.

Collette Barbour; Shirley Vine, Natalia Tsirigotis and James Fowler participated under the banner of Canola Canaries.

Of the 315 who completed the 93km circuit, Martyn finished 31st for SPR, Claire 43rd; Adam Ralph (unbranded) finished an unsurprising sixth; 222 completed the 53km distance with Mirelle coming first in the group.

Kudos to our new SPR members Jimmy, Roger and James who participated in this event.

Some of us stayed two nights in York which was so much fun – so why not make a weekend of it next year.

Upcoming Racing

ATTA The Panther (Gravel) (30 Aug)
WCMCC Dog Hill Road Race (30 Aug)
WCMCC Rockingham Crit (13 Sep)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (20 Sep)
MCC Midland Traders 100 Road Race (25 Oct)
AusCycling WA Road State Champs (1 Nov)
ATTA Earlybird 1 (3 Nov)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (22 Nov)

Juniors

Last week we had a very nice ride around Shelley, Manning and Rossmoyne area. We were lucky enough to catch the rain just at the end when we finished at the cafe.

The weather looks fantastic for this weekend too, so it should be a great opportunity for the kids to get out for a ride!

Saturday (29/8)

We will all meet at 10:30 am in Shelley at our usual spot (https://maps.app.goo.gl/8Bq9tsEyDTef4qbu5):

Our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. I will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you would like to be included.

Events coming up:

From the Ride Coordinator

It is always impressive to see a large turnout in club colours. Be seen in green.

One of the reasons we like to keep the size of Saturday groups to around 15 riders, is to limit the physical length of the group on the road. Longer groups are a greater disruption to traffic, and more susceptible to being split at lights. One way to help maintain a compact group is for those on the front to delay accelerating when coming out of corners.

Saturday 29th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Canning Vale 42.35km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: South Lake 51.99km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 30th August

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Welsh Pat Lawn 65.16km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Welsh Pat Lawn 65.16km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Welsh Fall Forrest Patt Lawn Zigzag 89.7km SPR Sunday

Coffee – SnL,Victoria Park

Monday 31st August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 1^st September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Coffee – Koorak, Kings Park

Wednesday 2^nd September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Coffee – Little Horn, Applecross

Thursday 3^rd September

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Friday 4^th September

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Coffee – Hoopla, Kensington

Ride Routes 22nd – 28th August

August 20, 2026 peter

Road racing has been a little light on this year with it becoming harder and harder to put events on and we are getting pushed further out of town. If you are eligible to race masters or like time trials, then there are options, but for the younger road racers, the pickings are slim. However, it now looks like there are a few bright sparks to close out 2026. Midland has just announced a three race program with two races in Pickering Brook in Sept/Nov and the Midland Traders 100 in October.

The Pickering Brook circuit used to be a staple of the Perth road racing calendar with many races held up there every year. Unfortunately, certain neighbours tried to spoil it and the circuit has been lightly used ever since. It’s not a flat circuit, but no lengthy climbs either. A good race for the punchy riders that want to try to animate the race. It’s also a fairly short course, so if you are new to racing and are worried about getting dropped or lost, then you can’t go to far wrong with this one. Midland also usually run grades down to D or E plus have juniors as well. There should be something for everyone.

The Midland Traders 100 is usually on a much harder course and the premier event for this is the 100km “A” grade men’s race. Again, there should be lots of grades to suit all riders, but expect a harder course and race than the Pickering Brook circuit.

Also in November, Peel are running the State Road Champs on behalf of AusCycling. With the usual Elite and U19 fields, there are also age group masters fields for both male and female riders. Definite bragging rights on the line at this event. Held down at Boddington, this is a much more testing course, as it should be for a state champs. This is always a good day out and lots of opportunity with so many age groups being available.

What this is all leading towards is the last year of the Nationals in Perth and therefore, potentially the last chance at the Gran Fondo. Held on the 10^th of January, this is an event not to be missed as racing around Kings Park and the City on closed roads doesn’t come along very often. There were about 850 spots last year and it sold out quickly. So quick that I missed out but managed to get a transfer from someone that unfortunately injured themselves leading up to it. Entries open on the 3^rd of Sept, so my advice is to get an entry in even if you are unsure. You can always transfer it later if you don’t want to race.

There will hopefully also be Team Time Trial and Club Criteriums held as part of this cycling festival, so we are hoping to also field teams in these events too. As we did last year, there will be weekly training sessions for the Fondo, hopefully starting in October all the way up to race day. The intent is to follow the same format as last year, with a Women’s only session on Tuesday morning, a shortened three lap session on Friday and a full course session on Sundays. Again these sessions will be open to anyone, not just SPR members.

So after a very slow start to the year and a slew of legacy events no longer running, it is good to see some good solid road racing on the calendar. Time to shave the legs and burn off some of that winter hibernation padding that we tend to put on during the colder months.

Event Information

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Japan April 2027

Please complete this brief EOI for the tour

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

SPR cycling trip across Northern Spain

Sandra, Alex, Petra, Andy, Serena, Paul and Phil have just started their 14-day cycle across the lush north of Spain called “Green Spain”. The route goes through the Basque country, Cantabria and Asturias regions, one of the best kept secrets in Europe for cycling. The Cantabrian mountains connect all these regions through an extreme lush geographic profile, mild summers and little traffic.

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

It has been a few years since SPR formally promoted the Canola Classic and with declining mass road cycling events, participation is key to keeping Western Australia’s cycling community vibrant.

Set in the picturesque Shire of York on Sunday 23 August, cycle routes of 93km (1200m climbing) or 52km (600m climbing) take you from the York township through boundless blooming yellow canola fields of the Avon Valley. Registration costs $145 and $130 + booking fee ~$5 respectively; more information on the ride routes.

York is ~1hr drive from Perth so you can drive up in the morning or stay overnight. Contact Carol at mailto:admin@southperthrouleurs.com.au if you want additional information. So why not support this ride with other SPR members – you can ride or just come up for the weekend to enjoy with wonderful scenery.

Upcoming Racing

X-Speed Round 3 Road Race (22 Aug)
WCMCC Herne Hill Road Race (23 Aug)
ATTA The Panther (Gravel) (30 Aug)
WCMCC Dog Hill Road Race (30 Aug)
WCMCC Rockingham Crit (13 Sep)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (20 Sep)
MCC Midland Traders 100 Road Race (25 Oct)
AusCycling WA Road State Champs (1 Nov)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (22 Nov)

Juniors

The weather looks fantastic for this weekend so it should be a great opportunity for the kids to get out for a ride!

Saturday (22/8)

We will all meet at 10:30 am in Shelley at our usual spot (https://maps.app.goo.gl/8Bq9tsEyDTef4qbu5):

Our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. I will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you would like to be included.

Events coming up:

From the Ride Coordinator

At SPR, we encourage all riders to familiarise themselves with the planned route before joining a group ride. Not knowing the next turn can increase the risk of accidents — for you and others in the group.

Saturday 22nd August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Reabold 38.69km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Cresswell & Herdsman 48.86km SPR Saturday

Coffee – Dome Westralia Plaza, Perth City

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 23^rd August

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Grnmt Goose 62.18 km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Grnmt Goose 62.18 km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Grnmt Prk Weir MWR 86.91km SPR Sunday

Coffee – SnL,Victoria Park

Monday 24^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 25^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Coffee – Koorak, Kings Park

Wednesday 26^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Coffee – Little Horn, Applecross

Thursday 27^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Friday 28^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Coffee – Hoopla, Kensington

Ride Routes 15th – 21st August

August 13, 2026 peter

Coming back in as President this year, I had one clear goal: damage control and rebuild. Yes, it does sound like two goals, but neither can happen without the other. There were some clear gaps left in the day to day running of the club that needed filling. The club needed to provide structure and stability so that members and others that ride with us knew what to expect and when to expect it. Being active and visible during all SPR group rides was the intent and ensuring that the rides were kicked off with clear expectations.

The push to include coffee stops after the rides is part of that rebuild goal. Ensuring that the weekday rides don’t become “just training rides” and hopefully bring people together a bit more goes a long way towards building that community. The coffee stops are definitely not forced and were picked for convenience and a little bit of tradition. The Thursday Earlybird traditionally stopped at Atomic in South Perth, but with a lot of people finishing the ride down Kintail, they tend to stop at Steamlab. So we are changing Thursday coffee to Steamlab.

Tradition itself can often get in the way of progression. A lot of my playbook for rebuilding the club stems from what we did previously. A lot of what worked when the club was in its infancy is relevant again today. Building that base, getting buy in from members, providing opportunities. But that also doesn’t imply that everything we did back then will help us today. This is where we need to be careful that nostalgia doesn’t influence policy. The world has certainly changed since 2008 and the members of the club have as well. What the fresh faced, new club members saw back then was still that sense of belonging and they were willing to buy into the dream, not forced to represent.

So grassroots growth is important and happily, we are seeing that through the increase in novice riders fronting up during winter. Traditionally, new riders are usually sweet summer babies which is absolutely hilarious to see them on the first cold day of the year. But as we said, tradition isn’t always reality. The increase in social media has allowed more people to see and respond to what we have to offer. Getting them into warmer kit and then coming back again for further rides is where the rest of the club has to play its part. We all started somewhere and helping new riders to the club (whether novice or advanced) know how we operate, what the expectations are and what else the club has to offer goes a long way to developing that sense of belonging. Cycling can be a very cliquey, individual sport and often we hear of people riding with other groups and just being ignored. So, when you see that new face at the coffee shop, make sure you take the time to say hello.

Event Information

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Please complete this brief EOI for either or both tours

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Tour de Cowaramup 18^th Oct –

The Tour de Cowaramup charity road bike event is on again this year on Sunday 18 th October. Three distances 60km (piccolo), 85km (medio) and 130km (gran) with funds going to assist men suffering from Prostate Cancer.

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

It has been a few years since SPR formally promoted the Canola Classic and with declining mass road cycling events, participation is key to keeping Western Australia’s cycling community vibrant.

Upcoming Racing

Midland Cycle Club has recently added three new races to the back of the calendar. The Pickering Brook race is held a great short circuit that is a good starting point for any one that want to dip their toe into racing. Have a chat to anyone on the committee if you are interested but don’t know where to start.

WCMCC Chidlow B Road Race (16 Aug)
X-Speed Round 3 Road Race (22 Aug)
WCMCC Herne Hill Road Race (23 Aug)
ATTA The Panther (30 Aug)
WCMCC Dog Hill Road Race (30 Aug)
WCMCC Rockingham Crit (13 Sep)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (20 Sep)
MCC Midland Traders 100 Road Race (25 Oct)
MCC Pickering Brook Road Race (22 Nov)

Juniors

This coming Saturday, Peter Mah will be taking over the coaching of our juniors. Unfortunately, I’ve come down with another cold and won’t be able to ride for a few days.

The weather looks fantastic, though, so it should be a great opportunity for the kids to head to Kings Park, enjoy some hills, and work on their riding skills along the way

Saturday (15/8)

We will all meet at 10:00 am at the DNA Tower car park in Kings Park: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4uv8tc7P9DkcvSxc7

Our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. Peter or another club member will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you would like to be included.

Events coming up:

From the Ride Coordinator

We’re putting safety reminders in the spotlight this week. Please:

Don’t run red lights, call “SPLIT”
Call obstacles
Maintain a gap with the rider in front
Hold your line on roundabouts & corners.

Also, try to keep group sizes to around 15-16 max riders.

Saturday 15th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Benara 39.90km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Benara Rd 50.76km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 16^th August

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Brktn Weir 79.19km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Brktn Weir 79.19km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: F’berg Urch Obs 92.84 km SPR Sunday

Coffee – SnL,Victoria Park

Monday 17^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 18^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Coffee – Koorak, Kings Park

Wednesday 19^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Coffee – Little Horn, Applecross

Thursday 20^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Friday 21^st August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Coffee – Hoopla, Kensington

Ride Routes 8th – 14th August

August 6, 2026 peter

Any cycling group usually has one goal in common, no matter where in the world they ride. Establishing an identity usually via the kit they wear. Cycling has always been a little different to other sports in the sense that there is more of an individualistic aspect to it compared to the mainstream Aussie sports that most of us grew up with. However, most people still have that desire to feel like they belong to something and that is why the Act, Belong, Commit campaign has been running for so long.

Act Belong Commit is an evidence-based health promotion campaign designed to encourage people to take action to improve and protect their mental health and wellbeing. We know that staying active, connecting with others and doing something meaningful are powerfully protective and provide the foundations for mental health and wellbeing.

Jumping on the bike is the first step as it gets you out and about and any experienced cyclist know how refreshing it is to get out and clear our mind. Engaging with other riders through training rides and social coffees helps with the feeling of belonging. And joining the club and being an active member shows that you are committed to it.

Early on in the clubs life we quickly established an identity with the regular club training rides. A name and corresponding kit were the natural next progression as it helped people (and us) identify who we were. Green became our thing. Not because we identified with any of the social justice aspects of it, but rather at the time, very few other groups used green in their kit. It seemed to stick and we ran with it.

You can see from the attached picture that the kit has certainly developed over the years. In the clubs infancy we were just trying to scrape together what we could and asked any members if they could help subsidise the kit by sponsoring different panels. If you were around in those days, you will certainly remember the tape measure down the inside of the leg as we received some “tongue in cheek” support from a couple of urologists. The tag line was “no problem too small”

A change came in 2013 when we moved from Cannibal to Champion Systems as a supplier. Bigger company, more choices, different system for ordering. This was when the kit world started to change how they operated. Jumping back to Cannibal in 2015 we also made a major change to the look of the kit. The club had grown to the point that it was self-sustaining from a financial sense and therefore we didn’t require kit sponsorship as an income stream. It simplified things and allowed us to design a kit that could stay the same for a number of years. This meant no logo changes from our side and not forcing people to buy new kit every year just to get the new design.

A move to Mayeur in 2020 allowed us a more direct line to a supplier as they were already within the club and that is who we have been with since, through two iterations of jersey designs.

As I mentioned last week, we are in the process of updating the club logo and font as we were looking at a refresh as part of the rebuild this year. We thought that it was also a good time to go back out to market to see what other kit suppliers were now established. So if you are involved with any kit supplier or know any personally, feel free to forward this to them. Details below –

SPR is seeking a kit supply partner for our club apparel. We’re inviting experienced cycling clothing suppliers to submit an Expression of Interest outlining their capability, pricing, and service offering.

If your company can deliver high-quality kit, reliable production cycles, and a great member experience, we’d love to hear from you. Once an EOI is received, suppliers will be sent a detailed outline of what we are looking for.

EOIs close: 31 August 2026

For full details and requirements, contact: kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au

Event Information

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Please complete this brief EOI for either or both tours

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Tour de Cowaramup 18^th Oct –

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

It has been a few years since SPR formally promoted the Canola Classic and with declining mass road cycling events, participation is key to keeping Western Australia’s cycling community vibrant.

Upcoming Racing

Backroads Gravel Multiple Distances (8 Aug)
WCMCC Chidlow B Road Race (16 Aug)
X-Speed Round 3 Road Race (22 Aug)
WCMCC Herne Hill Road Race (23 Aug)
ATTA The Panther (30 Aug)
WCMCC Rockingham Crit (13 Sep)

Juniors

Unfortunately the weather forecast looks pretty wet and it will not be possible to run an enjoyable and safe session with our juniors this coming Saturday. We will meet again next week hoping for a better weather.

Events coming up:

From the Ride Coordinator

Consistent communication (e.g. highlighting potholes) during the ride helps with group coordination and contributes to the safety of the group. Where two groups get caught together at a junction let the front group pull ahead and resist the temptation to jump across. This preserves the group size that was initiated at the start of the ride and reduces the chance of a larger group forming, which is difficult for other road users to navigate around.

From the President

If you remember a few weeks back we talked about trying to re-establish the café culture around our training rides. As such we are now listing the cafés that we intend to use as the social meeting point after each of the rides. These have been selected purely on convenience due to their proximity to the finish of the ride and have no connection to the club. If you have time, feel free to stop for a coffee and chat as it is a good way to build those social connections.

Saturday 8th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Reverse River 40.58km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Alexander Drive 50.47km SPR Saturday

Coffee – Dome Westralia Plaza, Perth City

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 9^th August

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Les Obs 67.37km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Les Obs 67.37km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Welsh Obs Zig Zag 87.92km SPR Sunday

Coffee – SnL,Victoria Park

Monday 10^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 11^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Coffee – Steamlab, Applecross

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Coffee – Koorak, Kings Park

Wednesday 12^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Coffee – Little Horn, Applecross

Thursday 13^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Coffee – Atomic Espresso, South Perth

Friday 14^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Coffee – Hoopla, Kensington

Ride Routes 1st – 7th August

July 30, 2026 peter

I’m over visiting family at the moment with very little riding on my horizon. I got to check out my holiday bike today and it didn’t look too bad after sitting in the shed for 4 years. But it is cold over here in Victoria. We hit a max of 9 deg today and will hit 1 deg over night. With the wind chill factored in, it will be a couple below zero and not what my body is used to. I may get out tomorrow afternoon but will wait till it hits a balmy 12 deg. There is a reason we changed our retirement plans and decided against moving back to Victoria.
Closer to home, at our last committee meeting, we decided that we needed to increase our transparency to ensure that the running of the club is understood by all members. There are often issues that are raised by members that get discussed by the committee but closing that loop and letting the rest of the membership know, is often lacking. After each committee meeting, we will post a summary as part of the weekly blog. It will not be a detailed discussion or include confidential information, but rather informing the membership of what gets discussed. This way, if others have further questions or clarification, they can ask any of the committee members on a ride or contact the club directly.

2026 Budget – Breakdown of what we think we will receive in income via memberships, events, etc compared to what our expenses will be (ride leader coffees, junior events, subscriptions, vehicle costs)
AusCycling memberships and the JustGo platform – how the new memberships will align with our current structure and what the new platform will allow us to offer.
Gifts to members after accidents – In light of the tighter predicted budget this year, only members that have accidents on the organised SPR rides will receive a gift hamper. This is often a point of contention and some people have felt hard done by the club as it has been a discretionary point within the committee. Sometimes the committee didn’t even know of an accident and so now it needs to be linked to the accident reporting system. Regular non-members or accidents that happen after the ride will still be acknowledged by the club and will endeavour to still contact the injured party.
Life Memberships – Some clarification on what the club will cover in regards to membership fees for the life members within the club. This will need to be written into the by-laws to ensure that it is a clear process to be followed.
Committee charter – Some clear definitions of roles, expectations and decision making authority.
Strategy session – a couple of sessions run by Gary Pennefather to understand what the committee needs to focus on, what the clubs “North Star” should be, how we should communicate and how we what steps we need to take to increase and hold members.
Rebranding – As a way of moving forward after last year, we would like to refresh the logo and font of the club. This then leads to a new design of the kit and a new look.
Expressions of Interest for kit – Linked to the above, we will see what other kit suppliers are out there and what they can offer the club.

Event Information

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Please complete this brief EOI for either or both tours

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Tour de Cowaramup 18^th Oct –

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

It has been a few years since SPR formally promoted the Canola Classic and with declining mass road cycling events, participation is key to keeping Western Australia’s cycling community vibrant.

Upcoming Racing

ATTA Champion Lakes (2 Aug)
WCMCC Dog Hill Road Race (2 Aug)
Backroads Gravel Multiple Distances (8 Aug)
WCMCC Chidlow B Road Race (16 Aug)
X-Speed Round 3 Road Race (22 Aug)
WCMCC Herne Hill Road Race (23 Aug)
WCMCC Rockingham Crit (13 Sep)

Juniors

I sincerely apologize for not being able to organize our junior rides over the past few weeks due to a persistent chest infection.

I’m finally feeling much better and am looking forward to getting back on the bike with everyone this week. After three weeks off, we’ll keep things nice and easy to help me ease back into riding, while also making it a great opportunity for any beginners who would like to join us.

This Saturday, we’ll enjoy a gentle ride along the shared paths through the beautiful Canning River Regional Park.

Saturday (1/8)

We will all meet in Shelley (https://maps.app.goo.gl/5WLpEZwqzvB2zyC47) at 10.30am.

Our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. I or somebody else will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you wuold like to be included.

Events coming up:

2/8/2026 – AusCycling & WACX State Championships, Garvey Park, Ascot
https://wacyclocross.org/racing/calendar

From the Ride Coordinator

Having a set of working lights is a great idea with sunrise after 7am.

Saturday 1^st August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Shelley 40.59km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Maddington 51.87km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 2^nd August

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Wlsh MWR 58.88km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Wlsh MWR 58.88km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Wlsh Obs Chook MWR Goose 91.08km SPR Sunday

Monday 3^rd August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 4^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Wednesday 5^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Thursday 6^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Friday 7^th August

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Ride Routes 25th – 31st July

July 23, 2026 peter

Café Culture. One of the cornerstones of the club is “social” and for us, this sits neatly in with the other three; “inclusive”, “safe” & “organised”. Being inclusive means that it should be more than just a ride and allowing time to get to know each other properly. Being organised means you know where you are going to be social. And safety come from people being accustomed to how other individuals ride and knowing them well.

SPR has always had a good coffee culture over the weekend with the regular stop at Dome on Saturday and multiple different cafés in Vic Park on Sunday. The weekday rides, in the past, also had a good café culture. Tuesday and Thursday at Atomic and Wednesday at Little Horn. Friday, however, became spark for what I will now refer to as “the troubles” in 2025. Part of that culture was hijacked for purely commercial reasons, but only to a selected group of people. It started with free coffee, moved to free kit and ended with a division in the club.

After that, the weekday post ride coffee seemed to disappear. Some people were uncomfortable socialising with certain others and just kept away. The rides turned into rides only with people dispersing as soon as it was over. Small groups of friends would still meet afterwards, but the sense of community was definitely not what it used to be.

I have said before that this is a rebuild and I am back on deck as President to help SPR build back up to the strength it used to be. Establishing a supporting community is key to the success of the club and looking back at what we used to do in the early years, the social aspect was what helped form good bonds. During the first year or so of the clubs formation we used to have quarterly breakfasts at my house. Everyone would put their bikes in my garage and partake in coffee and food etc. This was fine when there was only about 30 riders and eventually stopped when I had 80 bikes in my garage.

So, how do we kick-start a café culture for our weekday rides? Well, this is where it links back to being organised. As I said before, we know there are smaller groups having their own coffee and we are not trying to stop that happening. But you are welcome to join us at the more “official” café stops to help people form those bonds that make riding together more pleasurable. As such we will list out where the coffee stops will be after the weekly rides and anyone is welcome to join us. These recommendations are also not set in stone, if they don’t work, we can change them.

Monday – Currently no ride
Tuesday – Steamlab (Applecross)
Wednesday – Little Horn (Applecross)
Thursday – Atomic (South Perth)
Friday – Mary St Bakery (Perth City)
Saturday – Dome Westralia (Perth City)
Sunday – SnL (Vic Park)

We are aware that not everyone is considered a “retired gentleman” and can’t always stop for coffee during the week. But we are hoping that being organised and pre-listing where we will stop means that people will at least know where we will be afterwards. If you come on any of our rides, we hope that you can join us as we want them to be more than just another group ride.

Kit Sale

One of the things I have wanted to do with the rebuild is to give the branding a refresh which includes the font, logo and therefore kit design. As part of this we will also do an EOI to kit manufacturers to see what other brands are out there as there are some new names in the mix. This doesn’t mean that we won’t continue with Mayeur in the future, but just want to take the opportunity to understand the state of play in the kit world.

As part of Mayeur’s support to SPR, they ordered excess stock to be able to cover any unforeseen changes to orders or to assist in the crash replacement service. As we are looking at a refresh, they are currently liquidating their current stock at heavily discounted prices. There are limited numbers of limited sizes, but if there is something in your size, you can pick up a bargain.

Jerseys from $35
Bibs from $55
Speedsuits are $95
Socks are $2.50.
Postage $10 flat rate

The EOI process, selection of kit supplier and manufacturer of kit will all take time so we are not expecting the new kit to be out for quite a few months. Take this opportunity to get some good quality kit at a bargain price.

Head to the webshop at this link. All items are postage only.

Event Information

TdF Activities for SPR members

The Tour de France is being celebrated by South Perth Rouleurs through Alliance Française de Perth, inspired by different regions of the cycling calendar. The Grand Départ last Saturday included all things Spanish with cocktails, wine, food and a live cross to Tom McCracken, commentator in Barcelona. It was inspiring and very worthwhile.

The final event is Friday 24th July 2026 6.00-8.30pm Alps Stage 19, Gap → Alpe d’Huez with regional presentation, drinks and tasting. Jethro Gammie‑Nagle, Tour Australian Cycling Commentator & Sports MC leads the discussion of the most memorable and defining moments with a live cross to Tom McCracken. The evening finishes with a live broadcast of the Tour.

Location: 75 Broadway, Nedlands WA

Cost: $63pp with discount code TDF2026; dietary needs recorded at registration.

More details and booking: https://www.afperth.com.au/event-rsvp/tour-de-france-2026-stage-3/

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Please complete this brief EOI for either or both tours

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Tour de Cowaramup 18^th Oct –

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

It has been a few years since SPR formally promoted the Canola Classic and with declining mass road cycling events, participation is key to keeping Western Australia’s cycling community vibrant.

Upcoming Racing

X-Speed Junior Road Series 2 (25 July)
ATTA TTT at Casuarina (25 July)
WCMCC Road Race at Casuarina (25 July)
ATTA Champion Lakes (2 Aug)

Juniors

No Juniors this week as Giovanni is sick and the next round of the Junior Road Series is on.

Events coming up:

25/7/2026 – WA Junior Road State Series – Round 2 https://entryboss.cc/races/31183

From the Ride Coordinator

What you can expect from your ride leader and what does your ride leader expect from you!

When you roll up on a Saturday morning, look in your designated marshalling zone, for your ride leaders (RL). They should be wearing their white jerseys. Your RL should introduce themselves, confirm the ride route and give a ride briefing. Please be courteous by giving them your full attention as the briefing can cover regroup points, safety tips, tricky lane changes and occasional route diversions. If you have any feedback you can chat with your RL at post-ride coffee.

If you need to catch up on some missed rides due to the weather, give the Wednesday EBR a go. It’s suitable for riders M1 to M3 level. Save time for coffee too!

Saturday 25^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans North Lake & Shelley 40.50km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: South St 51.23km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 26^th July

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Goose Zigzag 65.12km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Goose Zigzag 65.12km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: zania darl mund dodd obs 111.68km spr sunday

Monday 27^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 28^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Wednesday 29^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Thursday 30th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Friday 31^st July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Ride Routes 18th – 24th July

July 16, 2026 peter

The Botanical Gardens and Parks Authority (BGPA) looks after both Kings Park and Bold Park and is currently shaping their 20 year Master Plan. A Master Plan sets the direction for the future and will assist in any decisions that are made and any changes that are suggested. Both parks will always be focussed on their biodiversity and cultural history, but they do acknowledge the role they play as a location where cyclists ride and train.

The “Place Understanding Report” which is used to inform the Master Plan references cycling in Kings Park as –

“Cycling is a popular activity within the park, serving both commuters and recreational riders. The park has also seen a significant rise in road cycling participation since hosting the AusCycling Road National Championships in 2025”

Before going on to recognise –

“Speeding cars and informal parking poses risks to cyclist safety…”

The upgrade of the road surface and removal of speed humps that us as cyclist have enjoyed over the past couple of years may also be under scrutiny as they state –

“The current road widths and smooth surface conditions facilitate speeding which poses a significant risk to pedestrians and cyclists.”

And –

“Speeding is most prevalent on May Drive, with 68% of vehicles exceeding the speed limit near Rio Tinto Naturescape and 61% near May Drive Parkland. On Fraser Avenue, approximately two in five vehicles travel over the speed limit in the absence of traffic calming interventions.
The issue is further exacerbated by the design of the roads, which feature generous, smooth lanes with minimal traffic calming measures, encouraging higher speeds.”

There is also some good data around the times of days that vehicles enter the park from the five different entry points. It is clear that down the bottom end of the park (Poole and Park Ave’s) the traffic peaks at 8am and 5pm on weekdays which is consistent with vehicle commuter traffic using the park as a cut through.

As you can see, they seem to be making a case for installing traffic calming devices for our own safety. This is the first issue for us.

The second part is around the usage for cyclists as a training location and what we might like to see in the future. What would a safe cycle training location look like to us as opposed to what it may look like to some bureaucrat that doesn’t understand what we do.

There are four stages to this Master Plan development.

Discovering
Listening
Interpreting
Resolving

The first stage developed the report as linked above and now they are ready to listen. This involves a survey to gather community feedback.

Again, being a park that focusses on conservation and biodiversity, many of the tick boxes relate to these issues, but they have acknowledged that active recreation areas are an important part to who uses Kings Park. There are a couple of freeform text boxes that allow you to put in your views. This is that place that we need to be specific about what we need and why Kings Park should continue to be a location for us to train.

Some suggestions for feedback might be –

Instead of traffic calming devices an alternative could be to restrict traffic at certain times to stop the rat race cut through.
Mention that speed humps and slow points are actually more dangerous for cyclists.
The central location allows many cyclists access to safer training rather than being pushed further out of town.

Kings Park has always been central to the cycling community in Perth, from Boxing Day Pappa’s, ATTA Birds in the Park or just to have a spin close to home. This is an opportunity for us to raise our voice and let government know that we want to continue to use it, so please take the time to give them feedback.

Event Information

TdF Activities for SPR members

Location: 75 Broadway, Nedlands WA

Cost: $63pp with discount code TDF2026; dietary needs recorded at registration.

More details and booking: https://www.afperth.com.au/event-rsvp/tour-de-france-2026-stage-3/

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Please complete this brief EOI for either or both tours

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Tour de Cowaramup 18^th Oct –

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Canola classic 2026

It has been a few years since SPR formally promoted the Canola Classic and with declining mass road cycling events, participation is key to keeping Western Australia’s cycling community vibrant.

York is ~1hr drive from Perth so you can drive up in the morning or stay overnight. Contact Carol at admin@southperthrouleurs.com.au if you want additional information. So why not support this ride with other SPR members – you can ride or just come up for the weekend to enjoy with wonderful scenery.

Upcoming Racing

WACX Numbat Cup at Iho Park (19 July)
WCMCC Road Race at Chidlow (19 July)
ATTA Champion Lakes (19 July)
SWCC River Rd Climb (19 July)
X-Speed Junior Road Series 2 (25 July)
ATTA TTT at Casuarina (25 July)
ATTA Champion Lakes (2 Aug)

Juniors

The forecast for this coming weekend looks favourable for a ride and here is the program for this Saturday:

Saturday (18/7)

We will all meet in Shelley (https://maps.app.goo.gl/5WLpEZwqzvB2zyC47) at 10.30am. The plan is to practice bunch riding skills. However, we will adjust our program on the basis of the numbers.

Our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. I will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you wuold like to be included.

Events coming up:

19/7/2026 – CX racing, Liquor Barons Numbat Cup Series #5, Iho Park, South Guilford https://wacyclocross.org/racing/calendar

25/7/2026 – WA Junior Road State Series – Round 2 https://entryboss.cc/races/31183

From the Ride Coordinator

At time of writing, the weekend is looking a bit touch & go with regards to showers on both days. If it does come to the worst, you can always get your cycling fix by watching the Tour de France where the weather and the racing is red hot!

You might have noticed, recently, that we are down a few Ride Leaders due to illness and unexpected commitments. We’d like to give a big shout out to Natalya who stepped up last Saturday to ride lead “a strong group of riders” from M3. We’ve heard that the group worked well together as a team.
So listen to your Ride Leader (RL) on the day. We can all do our bit to ensure a safe enjoyable ride regardless of how many (or few) RLs are available.

Saturday 18^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Cresswell 40.21km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Scarborough Beach & Hale 51.21km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 19^th July

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Khna Weir 68.66km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Khna Weir 68.66km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Khna Trnr Obs 98.01km SPR Sunday

Monday 20^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 21^st July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Wednesday 22^nd July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Thursday 23^rd July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Friday 24^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Ride Routes 11th – 17th July

July 9, 2026 peter

The shortest day of the year past us by almost two and a half weeks ago (June 21^st) and so technically, the days are getting longer. From that date to now, we have 6 minutes more daylight to play with, but as early morning cyclists, it is not quite what it seems. All of that extra light has come at the end of the day and we won’t see significant changes to the sunrise time until after July.

Twilight is a term that is used to define that period of time between night and day where there is still light outside but the sun is below the horizon. This usually gives the most spectacular skies where the light refracts off the upper atmosphere. After the 2022 volcano at Tonga, so much particulate was ejected into the upper atmosphere that we had the best sunrises and sunsets for months.

Civil Twilight refers to a particular time during twilight where that is enough natural sunlight that artificial light may not be required to carry out outdoor activities. Technically, it is when the sun is 6 deg below the horizon. Civil Twilight is also estimated on any of the sunrise/sunset websites and so we can see when we won’t need lights for our 5:30am earlybird rides. At this point in time it will be the 1^st of October, so still a few months away.

This is really just a lot of technical guff for me to say that you will need lights on the early rides and to reiterate our policy of lights in group rides.

Our ride etiquette insists that all lights be kept on solid mode only during a group ride. With the early rides often going through areas that are not well lit, the contrast of the lights to a rider can be quite intense. If your light is advertised that it is so strong that it can burn out retinas at 200m, then please find a lower strength mode. If that light is flashing, then the distraction to riders can be quite dangerous. On top of that, the increase of moisture over winter can mean that glasses get fogged up or have road spray on them. When the light hits this, it refracts to make the effect 10 times worse.

Rides like the Thursday earlybird are quite fast at close quarters, so riders need to have their wits about them or accidents happen. Being distracted by flashing lights does increase the risk of a rider misjudging a manoeuvre.

The Garmin Varia rear light seems to be a very popular addition to the local peloton in recent years. This device senses vehicles coming from behind and can schematically display them on your head unit so you can see if something is approaching. On top of that, the rear light will then flash to attract attention. There is a “Peloton” mode on the Varia and this puts the light onto solid but still will flash if it detects a vehicle coming from behind. Technically, it flashes in a less aggressive way than normal mode, but it still flashes. It is also meant to sense the closing speed differential between the rider and the vehicle it detects. This means that it shouldn’t flash when riding in a group until it senses a vehicle with a greater speed differential (10-20 kph). Unfortunately, it can still trigger if bikes are moving around at different speeds within a group. Rolling through, for example, or catching up to a group can trigger enough of a speed differential.

So, technically, the Garmin Varia and other similar devices do still flash while people are riding in the group. Yes, they flash less aggressively, but they do still flash and can cause the same distraction that other flashing lights do. There is no solid only mode on the Garmin device as they are either on or off. We are not looking at a blanket ban on these devices as it is a clear example of technology changes out-stripping policy, so the committee will need further discussion. However, riders need to be aware of what their light is doing. As these are a rear light, the majority of the time, the offending rider would not even know. So think about the other riders in the group, especially if the roads are wet and give extra space to each other so that you have a bit of a buffer for reaction time.

Event Information

TdF Activities for SPR members

Location: 75 Broadway, Nedlands WA

Cost: $63pp with discount code TDF2026; dietary needs recorded at registration.

More details and booking: https://www.afperth.com.au/event-rsvp/tour-de-france-2026-stage-3/

2026 and 2027 international trips –

SPR is again looking to organise trips overseas after the success of ones to the Italian & Swiss Alps 2025 and The Grand Alps France 2024.

Please complete this brief EOI for either or both tours

Note: no SPR member nor the club benefit from the organising of these trips – it is intended to extend the cycling experience with fellow cyclists

Tour de Cowaramup 18^th Oct –

Start/ finish: Juniper Estate

Upcoming Racing

WCMCC Road Race at Dog Hill (12 July)
WACX Numbat Cup at Iho Park (19 July)
WCMCC Road Race at Chidlow (19 July)
ATTA Champion Lakes (19 July)
SWCC River Rd Climb (19 July)
X-Speed Junior Road Series 2 (25 July)
ATTA TTT at Casuarina (25 July)
ATTA Champion Lakes (2 Aug)

Juniors

Last weeked we had a great session at Garvey Park where we learned more CX cycling skills. Thanks to Adrian for his help !

The forecast for this coming weekend looks very promising and here is the program for this Saturday:

Saturday (10/7)

We will all meet in Shelley (https://maps.app.goo.gl/5WLpEZwqzvB2zyC47) at 10.30am. The plan is to practice bunch riding skills. However, we will adjust our program on the basis of the numbers.

Our U17 and U15 juniors are invited to join our main club rides from Coode St car park (South Perth) at 7am. I will be there supervising them.

Please check our WhatsApp SPR junior channel for any last minute call. If you are not in the group chat, please let me know if you wuold like to be included.

Events coming up:

19/7/2026 – CX racing, Liquor Barons Numbat Cup Series #5, Iho Park, South Guilford https://wacyclocross.org/racing/calendar

25/7/2026 – WA Junior Road State Series – Round 2
https://entryboss.cc/r aces/31183

From the Ride Coordinator

Saturday’s main ride is Karrinyup. You could encounter a few sets of traffic lights along the way! So we’ve included a refresher on ride etiquette for dealing with them.

Number one is not to run red lights! The onus is on the back end of the bunch to call either “rolling” or “stopping”. Make it loud and clear! If the group does get split then call “split!” The front of the bunch that did clear the lights, are to then soft pedal until the group comes back together.

Also practise smooth group starts from the stop. Moderate your speed when pulling away from lights, and once everyone is moving, front riders can then increase the pace.

Saturday 11^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

All rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Development group (*) – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

Transition: Trans Reabold 38.69km SPR Saturday

Fast & Main: Karrinyup 52.34km SPR Saturday

(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.

Sunday 12^th July

Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am

Social River Loop – approx. 50km

Short Hills (Social): Welsh Pat Lawn 65.16km SPR Sunday

Short Hills: Welsh Pat Lawn 65.16km SPR Sunday

Long Hills: Welsh Obs Zig Zag 87.92km SPR Sunday

Monday 13^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

Currently no ride scheduled – stay tuned for a new Monday ride

Tuesday 14^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Two groups – solid roll through vs relaxed pace

Ride starts at 6:30am at Koorak Kings Park Cafe Car Park

Main 4/Transitional/Novice

Kings Park laps at own pace, coffee at 7:30am

Wednesday 15^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am

No drop recovery ride

Thursday 16^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (City side) at 5:30am

Three groups fast paced roll-throughs

Friday 17^th July

Ride starts under the Narrows (South Perth side) at 5:30am