Just a quick note (from Steve) to say thanks for people dropping in and calling for best wishes with his recent back surgery (shaved disc in his spine basicaly, wont even try to say more)

But in true SPR style manages a smile and dons the hat fresh out of surgery!

After visiting him in hospital I am happy to stay he is doing great and should be back to hurting us on the bike in no time. (But I am glad to be able to put the hurt on him until he gets back to ful speed hehe).
See you on the road soon mate.

Brendan

 

the online licence application at cycling australia now includes the option to join south perth cycle club and can be found here.

for those that need a racing licence, this is the easiest way to apply as it is in one quick credit card transaction. 

if you do not intend to race but would like some extra personal insurance while on the club training rides, then i would recommend that you follow the same link, but purchase a recreational licence.  this helps cover both yourself and also any third parties in case of an accident. 

if you need any further info, or are confused about what type of licence to get, send me an email and i will see if i can sort it out for you.  for all those that have been waiting to get a licence, thanks for your patience and thanks to jody at cycling wa for her constant harassment of cycling aus to get it up and running.

Here’s my take on my second real race since Joondalup at the end of last year…

Three of us decided to take the middle sized option and enter B grade for this event. As mentioned earlier, James and I did a quick reverse reconnaissance of the circuit which seemed pretty straightforward; without any hills the real challenge we thought would be the easterly heading up Flynn Road. Pete, Stu and I lined up with 57 other riders and before I knew it we were away. Given how Peter was feeling I was impressed that he turned up at all – always thinking of the other Rouleurs at least he was able to donate James a pair of socks!

It took me about half a lap to realise that I was actually riding at the back of the field – now I don’t know too much about race tactics but have an idea that it is not the best place to be, especially with a big bunch like this. As I learnt one of the problems was that I had no idea until quite late in the piece that there was a breakaway group that had a minute on the main bunch by the last lap. So the first few laps I basically tried to work my way through the group to the front 1/3 without getting into any trouble. Unfortunately lost track of Stuart and Pete early on.

Most of the laps seemed pretty uneventful from where I was, with the main challenge being not expending too much energy getting back on a wheel out of the turn from Flynn onto Yanchep – coming out of the headwind into a cross wind. The tailwind leg was usually fairly high paced coming out of a corner with a nasty bit of sand on the inside which as far as I know didn’t catch anyone out.

The pace picked up on the last couple of laps when there seemed to be some interest in attempting to catch the breakaway (always ahead of the game this was about when I realised there was a breakaway!). Feeling OK I started doing some work at the front and, having heard Pete talk about this phenomenon before, realised that there are always a couple of guys that yell out “roll through” or “keep working” but they never seem to actually be taking part physically! Well I don’t think we would have caught the front guys anyway, but the roll through was pretty half arsed and short lived.

Disaster finally struck on the last corner of the last lap, turning left from Pederick into Mather drive. Most of the riders took the corner very wide leaving a big area of unused tarmac on the inside. I didn’t feel the corner was that sharp and managed to stick to the inside. Anyway was pretty glad to be in that position at this time, with several riders coming unstuck – hearing the noise of expensive bikes hitting the road I glanced over my right shoulder and saw someone rolling through the sand at pace!

With the finish in sight the riders who got through this safely took off for a sprint to the end. I grabbed the closest wheel and made it across the line in less spectacular fashion than James at the Bentley crit. My goals for this race were to get a bit more experience and not crash so was pretty happy with the result. I have no idea how far ahead the first guys across were, so will wait and see the results. Mental note for next time to take more notice of what goes on at the front and at least know there is a breakaway even if I can’t do anything about it! Look forward to the next race and hope to see more SPR colours out.

Race report by Brendan

Well I was keen as mustard to get this race underway as I had scoped the course the day before and was happy enough with the smooth tarmac with exception of start/finish straight (made a mental note not to a “foxy”).

Once arrived and caught up with everyone I went and registered and set up the bike and headed off for a warm up and caught Brett so we scoped out the small hills and headed back to get my fluid organised and race fuel as A grade was off first.

Once we set off it was pretty tame until the tail wind section some guys had a brain freeze and attacked but nothing stuck and several attacks started from lap 1 onwards. Pretty much pace was on in teh tail wind secton consistantly high 50kmphr in the back tail wind and high 30’s low 40’s in the tail wind ensured various attacks were doomed. My aim was to get into a break and stay away but I pretty much was in every one but none stuck as the bunch always reacted before we got too far in front, although by midway the field was wittled down considerably but I stuck with teh aim of staying the top 3-8 riders so if a move went I was there.

As I race with Cyclemania team (we had 3 in the race as 1 couldnt make it) myself and John ensured everyone stayed on their toes by smashing the back hill and where posisble the head wind rolling hills, we even managed to get away together at one point for half a lap but apparently the guys didnt like us two getting away and Plan B hauled us back.

I was stoked how I was feeling considering how hard I was riding and attacking knowing we still had Chris sitting the pack with 3 laps to go Chris joined in with a big surge that shelled another 6 or so riders.

With the eventual winner attacking on the back hill with 2 to go I bridged up with a ECU rider shortly after but only lasted to teh end of teh tail wind section before once again being brought back, We even had a laugh while in the breakaway as they wanted to make sure no Ausie Crates guys we going to finish with us. Which brings me to another point with there “team manager” pulling up next to the bunch doing 50plus in the tail wind shouting what the guys should and shouldnt be doing, he got told pretty quick to knick off, some people have no idea as later on he was handing water out on the back staright even though there were no feed/water stations allowed in the race but luckily several other riders complained to the commisaire, fair dinkum the course was small enough as it was..

SO onto the last lap and feeling itchy to get away knowing my chances of out sprinting guys like Eddy were very slim on a downhill sprint!
Then just as we started to slow on the last head wind hill the Elite cycles guy jumped throwing everything at it I knew it was now or never, It took me till the top of the hill to bridge to him and we were at max speed smashing down to the bottom corner, affording a sneak back at the bunch they never reacted, right on!

So turning the corner we hit the back hill with everything until half way up my thigh went no-no time to rest and a vicous cramp set in so I yelled at Logon to go go go, so off he went and turning into the tail wind I was dubious he would hold it.

The bunch turned the corner as I was smacking my leg and doing all I could so that they wouldnt blow straight past me at warp speed. I managed to get into the line about 5th wheel and gritting the teeth trying to spin the gear and not push too much as I could feel that cramp just lurking there waiting to bite again we crested the hill and no one was interetsed in attacking and were content to let Plan B bring it home and it was then I realised Logon wasnt going to be caught! After thinking some bad thoughts and visualy kicking myself and cursing my stupid leg for cramping I settled in for my back up plan, look for a good wheel that I may be able to follow in the sprint hoping I could do one last effort…

Managed this and just couldnt push enough but managed to give Chris a small leadout back up to teh guys and he went on to get 8th and in the money, while I rolled in 10meters behind for 9th with John my other teammate 11th so reasonably hapy but also rather annoyed ruing my missed chance to sprint for a win!

Full marks to Logon from Elite as his plan worked to perfection and thoroughly deserved the win as he rode strongly all day. But at least the racing legs are coming with A grade finaly after building for so long and doing bits at a time so no injuries or sickness took over me.
One thing I can recommend to everyone dont overdo it in the training as t will catch up you and never in a nice way 🙁

So very happy we had a reasonable turn out for South Perth Cycling Club with some results to boot, next race we should aim on getting more to the start line as it is a blast mixing it up in the racing scene and you never stop learning different tactics etc, as Pete stated our saturday ride in probably faster than C grade at times so come on and give it a go 🙂

 

So final thoughts on the course er um well too small for my liking but in saying that we needed another couple of laps in A grade to sort some final riders out and very congested with everyone but bar B grades Sandpit excursion not too unsafe although on corner 2 coming around at 40plus with another car coming the other way makes you pray you wont slide at times 🙂

 

So congrads to all good effort al round I say 🙂

Bring on Collie and Menzies Classic.

 

 

Neerabup, ‘where is that?’ I thought whilst walking out the door on Sunday morning, fortunately Satnav is my friend and I found the course with no problems.

 

Myself, Bruce and Brett were racing C (read sensible speed) grade, Chris was due to mix it up with us, but ended up pulling out due to a bad night with the little one at home.

 

I arrived at about half eight and saw some of the Rouleurs there all set up and looking very PRO. Ben was already sensibly getting the caffeine in as the morning was a little fresh. Parking, collecting my race number (lucky number red 12), and getting kitted up was no issue, oh aside from the fact that even though I’d remembered 2 pairs of shorts, 2 jerseys, 2 pairs of gloves I had no socks, fortunately Peter came to the rescue, funnily enough though he declined the offer of me washing and returning them after the race.

 

There were 31 of us registered for C grade so I did the usual checking out the colours of the numbers on everyone I could find to see if I recognised anybody that I would be racing against, there were a few from Renae’s race, ‘hopefully nobody recognises me’ I thought, especially after my last effort.

 

Ben and I went out to ride the course, we did this in a clockwise direction to avoid mixing with the juniors who were already racing, it was good, the road surface was mostly smooth tarmac apart from the start finish straight which was a bit rough, made a mental note not to come off in that spot as it was also downhill to the finish and we’d be going at a fair lick.

 

My warm up completed I hung around, had a brief chat with Stuart, found Bruce, saw Nicole warming up on her rollers, wished the others, Lorraine, Lisa and Peter a good race, and then waited. Jerrard and Dr Ronny had come to add their voice as supporters and Brendan was there to mix it up in A grade as well.

 

A grade off, B grade off, A grade women off, C grade men off, followed by B grade women 2 minutes later, one of our first objectives was not to get caught by the B grade women, for me the other two were to finish, and not fall off, optional was to mix it up a bit and see what would transpire.

 

Seven laps to complete, a leisurely 56km. Straight after the word “GO” one rider went off after the officials car like he’d left something in the trunk, he was on his own, I watched him go and thought ‘that’s a bit keen, I’ll just stay here for a bit’. The first two laps were busy, a few surges, riders hiding from the wind, a couple of leg stretching accelerations on the undulations, and our mate off the front standing there by the side of the course with what looked like broken pedal, oops…

 

There was a pretty strong headwind along Flynn Drive which was the first of the long straights on the rectangular course, add this to the undulations and I thought it could be a bit of a struggle later on, fortunately on the opposite side there would be a nice tailwind.

 

It was Lap 3 I think, I’d done a few turns at the front by then and was going OK, sticking in the top 5 or so, a few B grade riders came flying past, a breakaway group by the looks of it, and then the other 50 or so came trundling along a few seconds later, I saw Ben in the main group looking comfortable. The passing was slow but didn’t seem like an issue to me, the groups were separate, the commissionaire however didn’t seem to think so, he came haring past us in his ute, pulled in up the road to the side and gave it to us both barrels to slow down and let the B’s pass. There was a bit of moaning and a few comments like ‘we’re here to race as well you know’ but we all slowed, a van also came past and sat in front of us giving a nice draft, behind the commissionaires car, our race car and the B grade peleton. Needless to say Lap 3 was a bit of a write off until the traffic had dispersed.

 

Lap 4, let the race begin, again, now that everyone has had a bit of a rest, had a drink, and an energy gel, I think we passed the A grade women on this lap, there were a few shouts of encouragement from both sides but oxygen was a precious commodity so not too much yelling.

 

Lap 5, Bruce gapped the group after a strong pull up the back straight, I was 3^rd wheel and let him go to see who was going to react, there were a few guys that went after him before he got too far and soon enough we were all back together.

 

Lap 6 was much of the same, 2 guys got away in a similar spot to Bruce, I went to the front to make sure they didn’t get too far and held them at about 50m, by now the pace was stepping up and again on the start finish straight everyone came back together.

 

All up to the last lap then, the pace had quickened further and nobody was getting away, I certainly didn’t have the legs for it and it seemed neither did anybody else, we rounded the top corner as a group and hammered it down the back straight, I was quite content to sit back and watch the finale as I didn’t want a repeat of my previous tarmac kissing episode. Bruce went down the right and was squeezed out of third position, he did end up with a very credible fourth though, I rolled in a few metres back in 9^th after fending off some cheeky bugger who had tried to come past, I pushed on the pedals a little harder to stay ahead, what did he think this was, a race or something?

 

We were congratulated by the SPR supporters at the finish and rewarded with a slightly warm coke, thanks Peter I needed the sugar. All in all, mission accomplished, we all finished safely and I learnt a bit more about racing, had some fun, and most importantly didn’t get passed by the B grade women…

 

I had no speedometer with me so I was relying on how my legs were feeling for much of the race as to how fast I should go, however for those that are interested Brett (correct me if I’m wrong please) provided these details at the end, ave. race speed 38.3km/hr, last lap was 4-5km/hr quicker than the previous 6.

 

Thanks for reading, if you got this far, and hopefully next race we can get a few more numbers out there to stir things up a bit!

 

 

Well on rocking up a few minutes early and seeing a reasonable crowd was gathering for the impending Hale road course, I must admit I got a little carried away chatting to some of the group after my 8 days up onsite catching up on the goss 🙂

After a gentle reminder by the bell ring and realising the time a quick spiel about where we are heading and how to choose your group prior to entering Kalamunda road turn off the “main group” (my bad called them the slow group at pre start and was quickly reminded its teh Main group) 🙂 we set off.
As usual the lights played havoc on teh way out to Welshpool and Hale road turnoff but with some cruisy pace setting where required we stayed reasonable bunched up.
With the only problems was the continuing tide of Irrisponsible motorists as they hurl abuse (even though they are travelling the opposite direction) stil astounds me how people that have licenses dont know the road rules!

Once at Kalamunda road turnoff teh “main group took off towards Guilford road aiming on beating us home and a still reasonable “faster group” 🙂 heading straight towards Ridge Hill the pace was on nearly straight away, once at the roundabout Judd and the Prince (gerry) took off aiming I guess on hurting us prior to the hill:) once at the base though things went a litle pair shaped for that break with Mike B and myself leading the group over the hill (pimple:)) and coasting down to enable a majority of the riders to get back before hitting the gas for home. A few of us wondered with Ryan had dissapeared too but figured he must be somewhere close (only to discover he got stuck at lights and took another 5km to catch us) good training for ya Ryan :), we all took reasonable turns and set a nice high pace with no real issues all the way back to guildford road with the only one yet again a motorist going opposite direction hurling abuse (sensing a theme here..)

We turned onto Guildford and got several Red lights on the way into town impeding our catch the rabbit race:) a few kms out we had yet again an angry guy driving (but going our way this time) yelling something about Lycra and sexual orientation we hoped the lights would get him so we could ask him to explain (I did offer some reasons at the time :)) but he was so unkeen to talk again he ran a red light… where the cops when you want them hey, or a red light camera for that reason:)

Just on our last turn towards East Perth we caught sight of a few riders but again within 50 meters we got another Red light and when it went green the cars didnt seem to want to go so once we got near the front of the turning lane it was red again… but none the less we chased on and finally caught Kimbo and a few others just before turning onto riverside drive, once we turned Ryan took off but no one was really interested in chasing Kimbo had a little play which lead me out but not really a big sprint, we were all thinking of the race sunday I feel.

Onward to the coffee shop for a few laughs and sharing the goss from the ride, I turned at the coffee shop and headed home as had things planned with Jodes, so for more info from the “main group” 🙂 someone can add to the post or any goss from the coffee shop, feel free to share 🙂

Thanks for the ride guys n girls..

21 April 2008 Tuesday 7 pm to 815 pm

Dept of Sports & Recreation Building—Seminar Room

246 Vincent Street, Leederville