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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GLORIOUS LEADER!

HAVE A GREAT DAY PETE…

FROM

EVERYONE IN SPR

some of you may know brett (anna’s “best boyfriend in the world”).  he rode the state champs with us today and so we put him in a spr jersey.  he did better than me so here is a link to his version of events.

hopefully some more reports to come.  peter

most of you would know simon from when he used to organise the bike rides when this was a bike shop ride.  others may know him as he still does the sunday hills ride occasionally.  he now works at cyclebuzz in canning vale where he obviously still has no idea who is a celebritry.  see the link below.

http://www.cyclebuzz.com.au/events-detail.asp?iEventID=118

well it looks like the cold and wet has arrived with a vengeance but hopefully you will all take note of my cyclist creed –

“don’t look at the weather report to work out if you are riding.  look at the weather report to work out what to wear while you are riding”

someone once asked me where we were riding on the weekend.  i told them.  they then asked where we were riding if it rained.  i said the same route, only wetter.  it is a fact of life with cycling that it will not always be perfect weather.  we have had it pretty good so far this year, especially as it is only 2 weeks till winter, so grab the wet weather gear out of the cupboard and find the big gloves and booties.

saturday will see the group have a crack at scarborough beach rd.  both groups will do practically the same course except the fast group will add in a small return down to victoria street station in mosman park.  the split point will actually be after we turn onto winthrop to go around kings park, as the hill will allow a nice split and anyone that can’t hold the fast group can be sweep up by the main group.

sunday will see a few of us heading to roleystone for the state road championships.  i have kept the sunday hills ride away from brookton hwy as there will be a lot of other bike related congestion going on there.  even though it would be good to have you guys there as support, you probably won’t see much as it is an out and back course.  i have send you to john forrest national park instead, so have fun on greenmount and parkerville.  study the map well you now go through stoneville on the way to mundaring.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 05 (scarborough beach rd)

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

Report by Lorraine

My race preparation started on Saturday night with dinner and a sleepover at Lisa’s place.  Lisa had pasta waiting when I walked in the door (I could so get used to that) and I

had ample supplies of cake (OK… only 1/2 a cake) and icecream to complete the carb-loading experience for the evening.  Did we paint out nails and talk about boys???…. No! And, contrary to the opinion of a certain SPR member, were not involved in any acts of pillow fighting or mud wrestling 😉

4.30 the alarm went off!!! $#@%!!! this is almost as bad as getting up for Thursday morning rides. After a quick shower, cup of tea and Lisa’s “stick to your ribs” (and bowl and spoon and roof of your mouth) porridge we were on our way to pick up Anna in town as she was travelling in Lisa’s car.  Not long after 5.30 we were on the freeway heading south. A couple of texts confirmed that Paul and Brendan (after prising Jody out of bed) were on the road too.

What should have been an uneventful trip suddenly changed about 30k out of Bunbury…  Lisa was in her X-Trail with Anna  and I was following behind them.  For no apparent reason some whacko starts “stalking” us! It started with him driving up right beside me for several minutes. Then he did the same to Lisa after which he pulled out

in front of her, slowed down and then slammed the brakes on. When she pulled out to pass he swerved out on front of her. Then he began fish-tailing over both lanes in front of her… This went on for 10 min or more and Anna immediately got on the phone to the police in Bunbury.  He finally appeared to drive off only to stay 500m or so in front of us for another 5 min or so. He indicated and pulled off apparently to turn left and we sped up to pass him… only to have him drive up behind us and start intimidating us all over again.  He eventually drove off before we got into Bunbury. All in all it was a terrifying ordeal and one that we are continuing to follow

up with the police.

By the time we pulled into Dardanup we were still very shaken but managed to pull ourselves together enough to register and tell our exciting tale to the other familiar faces that had started to arrive! My greatest relief of the day was the site of the coffee van…  Hallelujah!!! Make that a long Mac thank you!

Soon all the gang were there… Pete, Judd,  Mike, Stu, Paul, Brendan and Jody (AKA Little Miss Sleepy). The familiar faces of the Fleet Elite girls would be joined today by Lisa who has been shanghaied into the “blue and grey” to join the team whilst Davina is overseas.  She was not looking forward to the hills as, for some reason, she doesn’t enjoy them! What the?

I was kitted up and ready nice and early so joined Pete, Brendan and Paul for a warm up and recon of the start/ finish section of the course… the only flat smooth sections of the entire course as I was later to find out.

The girls eventually took off at 10 am and headed out towards the hills. The bunch stayed close together as we left the flat and the rolling hills began. About 15k out the first decent climb started. As instructed I yelled encouragement at Lisa assuring her that everyone one was hurting more than she was!!!

I soon realised that I was going to have an advantage on the climbs and worked my way up to front without too much effort.  As the crest appeared Sarah Kent kicked hard and passed me before I had time to react. I put in an effort to chase her but did not have quite enough in generic viagra the tank after getting up the hill…. Bugger!
After that I slipped back to the small leading bunch with Sarah-Jeanne Fraser,  Mel Hoskins and  Stephanie Russell to work at increasing the break from the others.  Had a classic blonde moment at the U-turn to come back and almost sailed straight

through! Classy 😛

The hills continued and my legs were in great form on the climbs… There were many moments about now where I wanted to kiss every single SPR rider who I have ever chased up hills on those bloody Sunday rides! Bless you all 😉
Everyone’s legs were good and toasty by the time we came back into town (a nice change from Collie!).  I didn’t make the mistake of leading everyone out this time (that’s a first)… At the very least I knew I was going to get 5th so I forced myself to sit and watch S-J and Mel wait for each other to make the break.  When they went I did my best to grab S-J’s wheel and manged to pass Stephanie before the finish. 4th… woo hoo. Absolutely thrilled!  Paul was the first SPR face I saw and, low and behold, he had come 4th too! After congratulating each other we found out they were placing to 4th… we were both in the money!

A couple of minutes behind us were the next bunch led by Bec Halliday.  I was thrilled to see Lisa on her wheel in 7th place… woo hoo again. Not bad for someone who had only 4 hours sleep, hates the hills (or used to) and was nearly run off the road on the way down. Great work Lisa!!!

After the rest of the boys finished, cans of drink were passed around and muffins eaten (what… no brownies!).  Those of us who were not on a tight schedule headed to the pub for presentations. 2 SPR riders getting placed was a great result for us ! Go team SPR!

Am off to recon the WA State Long Distance Road Championship course tomorrow…  full of optimism for next weekend 🙂

Ride Report by Paul ‘dropped in dalkeith’

Since I enjoyed the experience of racing in Collie a few weeks back, I decided to do Men’s Support B at Dardanup. Support B was to be a 60km loop of what is best described as rolling hills, nothing of the gradients we do on the SPR Sunday rides, although they definitely took it out of your legs.

So unlike Men’s C grade at Collie, I was racing as the only SPR rider and as such my tactics would have to be different.  My main aim was to avoid any crashes and finish. Being a solo rider I would have to hope there are two or three teams that attack each other and I would hopefully be able to kind of hide in the pack. Of the 19 riders in Support B there were two teams with 3-4 riders each.

It was a perfect day for racing – sunny, no wind and around 15 degC at start time. We started off at a slow pace – and I mean slow – doing about 28km/hr for the first 5-7km with the occasional fake attack. Obviously everyone was conscious of the hills and were holding back. As soon as the group started up the first major incline then one rider decided to attack. The peleton let him go which was a mistake as he ended up riding alone for 40-45km on his own and took 1^st place. Once we got to the longest of the inclines (a climb of 5^o gradient according to mapmyride.com) the pace increased and it split the group. I managed to latch on to the front group of 4 riders, one being Bob Addy (Mike Bonner informed me pre-race Addy had competed in Le Tour de France in the past).

We rode together swapping turns on the front for the next 30km trying to bridge the gap on the front rider. A young guy in our chase group managed to escape from us up another incline and he stayed away to hold onto 2^nd place. So we were now 3 in the chase group. With 10km to go we were caught by another 7 riders which included 3 Avanti guys and 2 from Southwest Cycle Club. They were determined to chase down the two escapees and were doing all the work on the front. So Addy and I just sat in until the final 500m when I decided to attack in the final sprint for 3^rd place. Addy came with me and pipped me at the line by ½ a wheel length to grab 3^rd.

At first I was disappointed to have missed 3^rd but then it dawned on me that I had managed 4^th so I was really happy with my day, especially when I found out that they were awarding the first 4 places. So I got my first cheque from road racing J.

So a fantastic day, I learnt heaps and it was great to be there with the SPR crew.

Ride Report by Julian

Sunday morning at 7 am we gathered at the rendezvous, only to be joined by every dog wash specialist, pet manicurist and general canine treatment person in Perth. View here all the Chesapeake Bay retriever colors available. However, the million paws walk around the river was not going to affect the 28 tyres sojourn into the hills. Jerry, Melvyn and Ryan formed a breakaway group at the start, only tackling Welshpool Road before heading home, whereas the other 11 riders headed out to Manning Road and down Albany Highway to Mills Rd for the first of two trips up the Kahuna. The lack of the usual front-runners meant that points would be easier to get for the rest of the pack

On the climb up Mills Road the group split early with Herve and another of the Subiaco guys setting a fair pace up the hill. The pace continued and at the Koala Park I overtook Herve and held it to the finish. Ben, another of the newer riders held on for third, closely followed by Mark and his un-oiled chain and then John. At the top, there were several comments about a flat tyre on the climb and Herve received a call from one of the Subi group to assist with repairs. He headed off back down the hill and the rest of the group, now down to six, headed off to Roleystone.

KOM 1 – 1 Julian, 2 Herve, 3 Ben, 4 Mark, 5 John.

The Urch Road descent was pretty quick with John, Mark and I making good time. As we hit Peet Road I’d make a break and was feeling pretty good until I heard the unmistakable screech of metal on metal and turned around to see Mark gaining fast. We stayed together until the final hill, when Mark pulled out a big attack and won by a couple of lengths. Ben, John and Mike came in next with James, on his first hills ride with the group, bringing up the rear.

KOM 2 – 1 Mark, 2 Julian, 3 Ben, 4 John, 5 Mike.

As we headed off from the high school there were slight murmurings of turning left and a short-cut to coffee, but these were quickly put to bed and we all turned right onto Brookton Highway to head down the Scarp and a climb up the other side of the Kahuna. I sat at the back of the group down the hill as we all enjoyed the descent and turning off at the bottom of Brookton Highway the 6 of us had re-grouped for the climb. Given this was my first time up the hill I was unsure of what to expect but soon found myself at the front accompanied by the sound of Mark’s chain. As the climb steepened I put in a couple of efforts and found myself in alone, then settled in to really enjoy the climb. Ben had gone past Mark and held on up the hill with Mark John and Mike to follow. We re-grouped at Kahuna and commented on how good the hill was and congratulated James on his effort in completing the climb. James was lost for words at his effort and nodded in agreement to head off to Kalamunda.

KOM 3 – 1 Julian, 2 Ben, 3 Mark 4 John, 5 Mike.

We rolled up to Pickering Brook, minus James, who had decided to take it easy, and cruised into Bickley Valley. Mark managed to lose a water bottle during on of the descents so he turned back to retrieve his bottle whilst the rest of us freshened up for the final climb. Once we hit Mundaring Weir Road I quickened the pace, hoping to get a good time before the winter conditions set in. It was good slog up the hill and I cracked a PB (just). Mark hit back from the lost baggage episode but could not quite catch Ben before the 50 km/h sign. John and Mike came in together and we all enjoyed the re-fuelling at Paris Brest.

KOM 4 – 1 Julian (7.56), 2 Ben (9.03), 3 Mark (8.33) 4 John (10.04), 5 Mike (10.06).

We met up with the Subi boys at the Café and did the descent with them. A slight head wind on the hill meant that no speed records were set, but the sprinting pace was on from Crystal Brook Road. Mark got the Tonkin Highway lights, then loyally waited for the rest of us to get through. Another couple of sprints on Welshpool Rd managed to drain all the energy out of my legs and the group started peeling off and heading home as we headed through Vic Park. All in all a very good ride and looking back we’ve had a pretty good run in May with the rides. The Sunday rides have attracted and retained a few new riders and hopefully we can continue building up the group.

May is certainly the month for racing guys and gals…

Not much warning for this as it is straight on the heels of the Dardanup Open.

The WA State Long Distance Road Championships is must do for lovers of hills inclines and long distance

(but note that it is for Cycling Australia members only).

NB Nominations close THIS

Tuesday 10.30 am (AEST)

Ride report by Rob

It was cold. I know this not because of the small droplets of snot forming on the end of my nose as we rode towards the start.  No, I know this because of the complete shellacking I copped from what seemed like EVERYONE when Tanya arrives with me for her very first SPR group ride in ‘summer’ kit. Yes, I had an underlayer shell on; yes I had my arm warmers on; NO she doesn’t HAVE ANY WINTER KIT YET!!!!! Ringing in my ears from the moment my foot unclipped from the pedal were words from Nico et. al. “You cannot be serious mate…letting her come out like that in this weather?!”; “What kind of bloke are you??”; “Surely you’d be giving her your warm stuff??!”….etc. etc. Paul wanders over with a chivalrous smirk and promptly removes his windbreaker to offer up to this poor damsel, prompting me then to do likewise with my arm warmers….what ever happend to womens lib anyway?? (perhaps I should have written this under my ‘not so well disguised’ pseudonym – sure to cop it now!).

Anywho, now it really IS cold, and I know this because I’m cold.

4 + 1 in our number for the novice ride this morning. Apparently Tracey had a prior engagement (Pete told me what it was, but I can’t remember…). The afore mentioned “warmer than me” one, Libby, Carol, Gwyn and Mr Bonner on his sub kg tubulars playing sweeper for me. After intro’s and a general briefing on the ‘new’ ride route, we headed off. Some general chit chat amongst the crew – apparently mainly focused on ‘nerves’ and ‘confidence’ when it comes to riding in a group. Seems a common theme amongst most new riders, so our endeavour to use this ride more as the ‘confidence developer’ certainly is aimed well.

Along the first section of the bike path we went to single file and I kept the pace at 27km/h. This seemed like it was about the right warm up pace and everyone coped really well. We headed over the Canning Bridge and made our way round the river to the first hill. Along the way I gave the instruction for everyone to move down to the front small ring to make sure we were ready – seems this wasn’t necessary as everyone was already ahead of me!  The first ‘little’ hill was fine and we scooped our way around to look for something a little more ‘challenging’. Reverse Majestic is steep but short – only there isn’t much run up, so you need to be ready to push. Anyway, Tanya and Libby took off and seemed to cope really well; Gwyn went ‘tempo’ and just chugged straight up it; Carol in her new cleats had the look of “Please God, just don’t let the bike stop or I’m a gonner!” in her eyes when I turned around to check – no dramas though and we all crested the top in fine form. I think Mike may have struggled a bit though…. ;-p

A nice roll down Kintail back to the Bridge and we made our way back onto the Esplanade (and at this point we bade farewell to Mike citing fear of being dropped and not being allowed to ride on Thursday mornings anymore…..). Riding 2 by 2 again, the chatter re-commenced. What the novice ride lacks in ‘pace and grunt’ it makes up for in ‘social and smiles’! We kept the pace at around 28km/h until we arrived at the top of Shelly where we commenced our first ‘roll through’. After a brief set of instructions on how this all works and the reasons for doing it, we started to work together as a well oiled team. Seems the last 2 weeks practice had paid off and we were moving along really well at 31/32 km/h.  It’s quite a long way around that part of the ride and we had a number of turns on the front. It was only towards the end that Gwyn, who I may have not mentioned was on her ‘flat bar’ hybrid, started ask the question of Libby “How much further?”. Full kudos to her though – she kept her legs spinning at a cadence of what my guess would be 145 and we all made it to the end in fine form. With a few more rides we’ll see the confidence grow in riding a bit closer to the wheel in front, but there was no ‘cutting in’ this time so a real improvement there.

Our return along Shelly saw an alternative strategy of pulling turns on the front in true TTT style. This seemed to suit a little better as each person could monitor their own capability to work on the front and jump off the front when they needed to. It only took a couple of turns and we had this working well too – albeit a little slower as fatigue started to set in. We only had one scare along here, with MR A-Hole driving a black Prado this morning – seemed he needed our entire lane to get past a group of bikes on the other side, and I think I saw Libby’s hands grip the bars a little tighter as the breeze of his bull-bar gently caressed her knees! Cheers mate.

 As we rounded the last corner of Shelly and the final climb loomed large, we made our way up at our own pace and then re-grouped before heading back around to Mt Pleasant. 2 by 2 along the Esplanade and the chatter had shifted on to the remaining distance we had until we had a coffee in our hands, having been first in the cue last week! Unfortunately this was not to be the case this week though. We tried our best, and pulled a solid 29 single file along the bike path back to town, only to be greeted by a massive table of green and black – only just having ordered their preferred beverage themselves! DOH! Seems we paid in more ways than one for those ‘extra’ hills.

So, a great ride on a truly stellar Perth morning – happy to say I eventually thawed out as the sun became a little more generous in the delivery of its primary service to us.