ride routes 29th dec – 4th jan

the sun rises after the night owl – photo by finley vine

as the sun sets on the last post of the year, it is time to reflect on exactly what we have here. a year ago i was making tentative plans to leave perth.  2017 was hands down my worst year ever of my 20+ years with the company and i was ready to cash out.  i was luckily thrown a lifeline and this year has been excellent even with the extra travel involved. however, it is worth thinking about the “what ifs” and how the club would fair.  the last few years we have had a good measure of stability within the organisation and running of the club.  people like jon hanson and greg murray who worked tirelessly to bring together the beverely event and spr tomr teams.  behind the scenes, tim hopkins did lots of work to organise and reorganise the new bike racks, through prototyping  and delivery.  but even more than that, i know that there are people within the club that share similar values to me who will take up the mantle if i left.  these are the people that i rely on heavily when we make some of the more difficult decisions within the club.  people like daniel harvey, andrew ballam, rob ramsden and julian johnson.  people that have been part of the committee for a number of years and understand the direction that we want to take the club in the future.  i suppose the bottom line is that it is not an “if” but “when” we do leave perth, i can see spr having future that extends well past my tenure.

ride leader sponsor –the ride leader sponsor for December is Get Your Visa a migration agency based in Perth since 2012.  Whether you are looking at an employee to sponsor, or having a relative joining you or any migration matters, Get Your Visa is there to help.

social committee and race awards 2018 – as it tradition within the club, we gave out our annual awards last weekend at the club xmas breakfast.  it is important for us as a club to recognise those that have contributed to the what makes the club what it is – a group of people with a shared interest, but a multitude of experiences.  a complete list of winners and nominations can be found on the previous post.

memberships – all race memberships will expire at the end of the year (i.e. in 4 days time).  it is important to renew your membership even if you are not intending to race during the first month or so of 2019.  no membership means no insurance and i am sure that you will still be riding your bike even if you aren’t racing.  if you have decided not to race anymore, a recreational membership will give you insurance coverage during your training rides.  if you want to transfer to spr from another club, send and email to the admin address and i can action it electronically.  check out the previous post for more info and links.

save the date – on the 6th of april next year we will be celebrating our 10 years of being an affiliated club.  the group came together in 2008, but officially we became an incorporated, affiliated club in 2009.  help us celebrate this occasion.  hopefully many “founding members” will be in attendance to see how the club has evolved over the years.

saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning.  please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate.  this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts.  see the previous post for more details.

spr junior juniors – after a bit of a trial last week, we will be starting our junior juniors (also known as – juniors fast 2).  this will be for the under 10’s as last week the outschoorn kids headed into kings park before finishing at dome with everyone else.  they will meet at the coode st carpark at 7am with every other group and will follow a similar route to kings park as the “juniors fast 1”.  the number of loops/etc will depend on who is in attendance.  as with all our junior rides, a parent or guardian needs to be in attendance.

spr juniors – juniors is getting bigger.  more kids, more hill climbs, more pancakes and more bacon.  seriously, pancakes with bacon seems to be the food of choice.  anyway, summer is coming so suns out, sons out (daughters welcome too).

from the ride coordinator – Good luck to anyone trying to complete the Rapha 500 this week.  Wishing you all a Happy New Year for 2019.

saturday 29th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

junior juniors (under 10 with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

juniors (10 – 15 yrs with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional 1/2 – trans shelley 40.59km spr saturday

fast/main – maddington 51.87km spr saturday

sunday 30th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

ride start at coode st carpark at 6:00am

development group – coffee ride – Summer Sundays at Six am (Dec to Feb)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday

long – cann dam 100.13km spr sunday

monday 31st december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 1st january – new years day

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

public hol 58.97km spr special

wednesday 2nd january

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 3rd january

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 4th january

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

Social Committee and Race@SPR Awards 2018

Thank you to everyone who participated and nominated our club members in this year’s annual awards.  Approximately 60 people were nominated and below you can see the reasons why. We are very proud to have each and every one of you in our club!

Social Committee Awards 2018:

The winners of the awards were selected by a panel based on the number and nature of the nominations. The list of names below is a combination nominations listed in alphabetically order.

Most improved rider – a rider who over the last year has made the greatest improvements in ability and skill.

Winners:

Female and Overall – Sam Flockhart 

Male – Greg Jones

Sam, Part 1
Greg, much improved and well loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also nominated:

Adam Ralph, Anita Young ¸Daniel Harvey, David Menarry, Dermot Blackweir, Elar Kalda, Faye Daglish Jones, Ginny Donley, Josie Meyer¸ Kate Bonner, Katheryn Dines, Laurensia Rosana, Liz Sheehan, Meegan Fyfield, Michelle McLintock, Rebecca Kelly, Rob Ramsden, Ross Boaden¸ Steve Burns, Stuart Carson, Tim Hopkins, Vanessa Johnson

Most inspirational rider: someone who has influenced you through their deeds or helped to motivate you to achieve more in cycling than you thought you could.

Winners:
Female and overall – Amanda Nabi
Male – Adam Ralph

Also with multiple nominations:

Faye Dagliesh-Jones, Meagan Fyfeild, Michelle Mclintock, Rob Ramsden,

Good Samaritan/s: someone who has taken an opportunity to help, on the spur of the moment, another cyclist in need.

Winners:

These Blokes. Trust us – we’re cyclists.

Andrew Ballam, Peter Mah

Also with multiple nominations:

Dave Menarry, Dean Roser¸ Rob Ramsden, Steve Burns, Tracey Hassell & Eamon Dorricott

 

Epic equipment or moment award: something that sticks in your mind about a rider and/or their bike/gear/club ride/race that was so unusual, be that good or bad.

Winners:

Bonner. Mucho amore. Tears ensued all around.

Michelle Bonner: For initiating full medical response with CPR to resuscitate and revive Greg Jones after an episode out on an SPR ride.

Vanessa Johnson: For continuing to race at WCMCC after witnessing husband and VP Dr J in several pieces on the roadside post-race crash. For another four laps. Laughs, haha banter….

Also with multiple nominations:

Adam Ralph, Amanda Nabi, Andrew Ballam, Steve Burns, Tim Hopkins.

Best social media photo, caption or meme of a photo of SPR club member/s

Best Photo: Audrey Xie

Go. Away.

For a forlorn image of Sam Flockhart and Dean Roser racing The Beverley in “marginal” conditions.

Best Memes: Dome Coffees Cycling Club

Also nominated:

Peter Mah for his countless selfies while racing world champs and Seven.

Rafael Fernandez for his SPR ride videos on Facebook.

Best Dressed Xmas Riders:

Jack Chang, as always.
Mark De Castro. Appalling. A jersey so bad, it’s great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Lander. Longest stripey legs going around!

Race @ SPR – Race Awards 2018:

This year we are awarding an SPR kit and Team (non-SPR) kit awards for Women and Men. But firstly some Honourable Mentions for those that should be recognised for efforts AND actual achievement.

In the Mens, Masters WCMCC racing saw regular big numbers from SPR, largely from The Ring Leader recruiting all and sundry Steve Burns – outstanding work!

Among those racing with results through the year were Tomasz Wolcyk winning the Element Series B grade, Craig Denham performing as part of Check 1-2 through the Ring Series, Adam Ralph, David Menarry, Ross Boaden, Tim Hopkins, Pete Seizovic all taking results in WCMCC, and Mike Morris taking the win at Peel Classic C grade.

From the Women, Sam Flockart at Masters Nats, Corrie Johnstone’s A grade consistency, Vanessa Johnson, Laurensia Rosana, and without bias Rebecca Kelly (who forbid me naming her) who placed second in the Element series for B grade.

SPR Women’s Racer of the Year – Kirstie Moore.

Kirstie Moore. C grade series won last year, B grade series win this year. Where next?

Stepping up to B grade and winning the Element Series after also winning Women’s C Grade series last year. Absolute consistency prevailed. And topping that off with ToMR Stage 3 sprint mixing it with the A graders.

 

 

Elar Kalda. Just keeps getting better.

SPR Men’s Racer of the Year – Elar Kalda

Jumping to A grade this year Elar consistently finished with placing in top 10s. And in the process pinching a Dome Coffees Racing Team call up.

 

Team (non-SPR Kit) Women’s Racer of the Year, JOINT winners

Michelle McLintock

The Win.

Michelle placed strongly throughout the year, but hit the pinnacle in Victoria winning the Overall Masters National Champion for her division.

 

 

 

Amanda Nabi

Nabi.

Amanda took Local, National and (UCI) International podium places for Road Racing and Time Trial and a crescendo-ed with a Cycling Australia nomination for National Masters Chick of the Year*.

(*May not be actual title..!)

 

Pat’s take on “Xmas Jersey”. Well won, Mate.

Team (non-SPR Kit) Men’s Racer of the Year: Patrick Saccani-Williams

With another top 20 place at ITT Nationals in January, winner ToMR overall individual and just recently winning in the Thailand Tour of Chaing Rai Pat dominated. Including Crit wins. CRITS?!?!

Better with age? Ralphaaaaa!

 

Most improved racer: Adam Ralph

From a strong finish to last year, Adam continued improving throughout 2018 at UCI Worlds, regular WCMCC outings, Element Series and Road Captaining at

ToMR.

The “Golden Mo” Racing Photo of the Year is awarded to the SUBJECTS of a great Race Day photo. Sam Flockart and Dean Roser.

Happier, drier times.

At The Beverley, on the return leg and loving life these two flouted all three lessons offered by the Mo (1. Get in the drops; 2. Ride AT the photographer; 3. Look fast, don’t go fast) they captured all the emotion and feels of an epic challenging day.

A huge thanks goes out to Jon “Hanno” Hanson, and to the endless generosity of our SPR volunteers. You know who you are!

Congratulations to this years SPR Awards Winners.

ride routes 22nd – 28th december

finishing the year on a high note with the delivery of 10 brand new bike racks for our saturday rides.  we still have too many bikes, but at least those on the racks will be more secure.  thank you very much to babylon pump and power for manufacturing the racks and even adding a little branding for the club.

ride leader sponsor –the ride leader sponsor for December is Get Your Visa a migration agency based in Perth since 2012.  Whether you are looking at an employee to sponsor, or having a relative joining you or any migration matters, Get Your Visa is there to help.

shared path extension freo line – there is a group that is trying to get the department of transport to extend the bike lane along the freo line from grant st to freo itself.  although we don’t use paths for our training rides, many of us commute and paths like this are important to ensure that we get to our destination safely.  please take the time to fill in the survey so that more pressure is applied to get these things done (it takes about 30 sec)

anorexic santa

christmas club ride –our end of year breakfast and awards will be held this saturday 22nd, the last saturday ride before christmas.  held at Dome after the main ride, there will be an end of year wrap up of stories and awards along with the usual buffet breakfast ($15 cash only) from Dome.  this is our dress up ride, so wear something christmassy or decorate your bike.  there is an award for the best costume or bike.

spreading goodwill – the vice president started a new tradition on the xmas ride last year.  bring along a pack of minties and hand them out to any car drivers that we stop next to at the traffic lights.  showing goodwill to other road users is a good way to get drivers to actually see us as people.  i encourage as many of you as possible to bring a bag of minties and had them out.

Team SPR

save the date – on the 6th of april next year we will be celebrating our 10 years of being an affiliated club.  the group came together in 2008, but officially we became an incorporated, affiliated club in 2009.  help us celebrate this occasion.  hopefully many “founding members” will be in attendance to see how the club has evolved over the years.

saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning.  please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate.  this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts.  see the previous post for more details.

spr junior juniors – after a bit of a trial last week, we will be starting our junior juniors (also known as – juniors fast 2).  this will be for the under 10’s as last week the outschoorn kids headed into kings park before finishing at dome with everyone else.  they will meet at the coode st carpark at 7am with every other group and will follow a similar route to kings park as the “juniors fast 1”.  the number of loops/etc will depend on who is in attendance.  as with all our junior rides, a parent or guardian needs to be in attendance.

spr juniors – juniors is getting bigger.  more kids, more hill climbs, more pancakes and more bacon.  seriously, pancakes with bacon seems to be the food of choice.  anyway, summer is coming so suns out, sons out (daughters welcome too).

xmas week rides – so there are a number of non-standard rides coming up this week, so make sure you have a look at the listing below.  xmas day is tuesday and as per tradition, mr bonner will be taking a very low key ride out for those that are not required to be supervising kids unwrapping gifts.  boxing day is wednesday, but being a public holiday, we will do the usual tues route as earlybird so that people can get a river lap in rather than stock rd repeats. thursday is a special day for those that don’t need to go back to work and mr bonner will again be running the hadrill hundred.  there are also a couple of other rides on.  i will be attempting the boxing day test (4 laps of the river) starting with the night owl at 3:45am.  and at some stage during the week, dean roser will be hitting a 300km ride for those interested.

from the ride coordinator – Sat is going to be a scorcher. Consider your Christmas outfit accordingly, and don’t forget extra fluids and sunscreen. And wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

saturday 22nd december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

junior juniors (under 10 with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

juniors (10 – 15 yrs with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional 1/2 – spr retro roll 41.60km

fast/main – cresswell & herdsman 48.86km spr saturday

sunday 23rd december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

ride start at coode st carpark at 6:00am

development group – coffee ride – Summer Sundays at Six am (Dec to Feb)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday

long – wlsh obs cam goose 88.67km spr sunday

monday 24th december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 25th december – christmas day

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

mr bonners unofficial xmas day ride

wednesday 26th december – boxing day

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

public hol 58.97km spr special

thursday 27th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

mr bonners hadrill hundred

friday 28th december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

Time to check your membership…

There is a type of club membership for all levels and abilities of riding, from young kids just starting out to the pro’s in the peloton. No matter what stage of cycling you’re at, there is a membership category for you that affiliates you with the club, helps to develop and advocate for the sport, but perhaps most importantly, provides you with a level of insurance coverage when you’re riding.

All Racing memberships expire on 31 December, so if you want to be racing in the new year take some action now.

Other levels of membership expire on the anniversary of purchase, so check the date on your membership card to make sure you are still covered.  If you can’t find a way to establish if your membership is current send us an email and we can help…

You can find more information and links on our Membership page here.

 

ride routes 15th – 21st december

so there was an accident this morning during the earlybird ride.  single rider, no vehicles involved, bad enough that an ambulance was called.  we often talk about the risks of running red lights and the dangers involved when you are trying to get back on a group.  it is not only red lights where that danger exists.  as many of you know, the picture above is the short cut behind the port beach road sprint.  if you have been dropped, you can take this shortcut and often get back on before the stirling bridge.  the road was changed a few years ago to make it bikes only that can access that road from the northern end.  the bike lane is, however, narrow and has quite a sharp bend in it.  when you are dropped you are often riding much harder than you will like. when that happens, you may misjudge things like speed and handling.  sometimes that combinations means that we have to call an ambulance.  always ride within your limits.  always be aware of the situation around you, whether it is other vehicles or the condition of the road you are on.  what surprised me more were how many other bikes still came in hot to that corner even when we were indicating to them to slow down.  they slowed pretty quick when they realised that they would head on with an ambulance.

ride leader sponsor –the ride leader sponsor for December is Get Your Visa a migration agency based in Perth since 2012.  Whether you are looking at an employee to sponsor, or having a relative joining you or any migration matters, Get Your Visa is there to help.

summer criteriums – summer means a return to short course racing and this weekend there are a number of events that you can choose.  peel and west coast masters both have a crit on as does rccc at bayswater.  to try to encourage more women’s participation, our own davina summers will be riding as a mentor in the women’s c/d race at bayswater.  if you are looking at giving crit racing a go, this is a great opportunity to get active coaching during a race.  a short circuit means that you are never far from the action and if you do get dropped from the group, it is not like you have to ride 100kms on your own.  check out the links above for each race.

shared path extension freo line – there is a group that is trying to get the department of transport to extend the bike lane along teh freo line from grant st to freo itself.  although we don’t use paths for our training rides, many of us commute and paths like this are important to ensure that we get to our destination safely.  please take the time to fill in the survey so that more pressure is applied to get these things done (it takes about 30 sec)

spr christmas drinks – our christmas drinks this year will be held this sunday 16th december at the Empire bar in Rivervale.  this is an “out of lycra” event that you can bring your partner to without them getting embarrassed because you are still in cycling gear.  more info on the previous post where you can order tickets.

christmas club ride –our end of year breakfast and awards will be held (as usual) on the last saturday before christmas.  this year it is pretty close as it will be on the 22nd december.  held at Dome after the main ride, there will be an end of year wrap up of stories and awards along with the usual buffet breakfast from Dome.

spr award nominations – Each year SPR recognise some of the cyclists and participants who help to support the club or inspire others with their cycling achievements. There are multiple awards this year, four of which will be based on the information provided in this survey and one on the SPR Facebook page. Presentations of the awards will take place at the Christmas breakfast on Saturday 22 December 2018. There will also be a prize awarded at the breakfast for the best dressed rider/bike on the Christmas ride, so don’t forget to dress up your bike and yourself. Other awards will also be given at the Christmas breakfast. You can nominate up to two people for each award. If you could provide some background as to why the person is being nominated, even if they are not the final award recipient, they will still have the opportunity to read the collated comments. Note this survey is fully anonymous. This survey will be open until midnight Wednesday 19 December 2018. Thank you for participating in our survey. Your feedback is important.

save the date – on the 6th of april next year we will be celebrating our 10 years of being an affiliated club.  the group came together in 2008, but officially we became an incorporated, affiliated club in 2009.  help us celebrate this occasion.  hopefully many “founding members” will be in attendance to see how the club has evolved over the years.

saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning.  please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate.  this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts.  see the previous post for more details.

spr junior juniors – after a bit of a trial last week, we will be starting our junior juniors (also known as – juniors fast 2).  this will be for the under 10’s as last week the outschoorn kids headed into kings park before finishing at dome with everyone else.  they will meet at the coode st carpark at 7am with every other group and will follow a similar route to kings park as the “juniors fast 1”.  the number of loops/etc will depend on who is in attendance.  as with all our junior rides, a parent or guardian needs to be in attendance.

spr juniors – juniors is getting bigger.  more kids, more hill climbs, more pancakes and more bacon.  seriously, pancakes with bacon seems to be the food of choice.  anyway, summer is coming so suns out, sons out (daughters welcome too).

from the ride coordinator – It’s well and truly into the silly season. The number of inattentive drivers is likely to be higher than normal (which is bad enough), driving after drinking at work christmas parties, rushing to get all their shopping done, whatever the reason, it can make it more hazardous out on the road. This time last year I watched a drunk driver bounce his car off the concrete barriers in the Tonkin Hwy roadworks and still keep on driving. Keep safe as a cyclist, pay attention as a motorist.

saturday 15th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

junior juniors (under 10 with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

juniors (10 – 15 yrs with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional 1/2 – trans reverse river 40.58km spr saturday

fast/main – shelley & mosman 50.14km spr saturday

sunday 16th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

ride start at coode st carpark at 6:00am

development group – coffee ride – Summer Sundays at Six am (Dec to Feb)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – goose kal 63.41km spr sunday

long – kal chook obs 89.74km spr sunday

monday 17th december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 18th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 19th december

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 20th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 21st december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

ride routes 8th – 14th december

as mentioned below, the next class of ride leaders are about to start their practical assessment.  this involves being a ride leader in an active environment but under the watchful eye of qualified ride leaders.  the ride leader program has been a success story for the club and keys into the club cornerstones of safety and organised.  not only has it provided a structure around which our group rides are organised, the concept has been shipped off to other clubs to allow them to form their own tailor-made program.  it is important to remember two things – these people are volunteers (the coffee voucher is no way enough to reward them for what they do for the club); you are still responsible for your own safety and the safety of others.  the ride leaders is there to assist and guide, they are not there for you to absolve all responsibility. make sure you let them know that you appreciate the effort that they put in.

ride leader sponsor –the ride leader sponsor for December is Get Your Visa a migration agency based in Perth since 2012.  Whether you are looking at an employee to sponsor, or having a relative joining you or any migration matters, Get Your Visa is there to help.

troy marais memorial ride – there will be a memorial ride for Troy Marais tomorrow (friday) leaving the Narrows at 5.45am. Troy very sadly took his own life last Friday and tomorrow is a chance to reflect on his passing and remember him in a fitting manner – working up a sweat and enjoying some time with friends on the bike. Troy was a member of the King KOM Race Machine team – or as its known by SPR – Team Voldemort! Troy recently competed in the Tour of Margs and, as with all the KOM team, enjoyed the many race battles with SPR, Dome, Presto etc.  Just an easy ride, a chat with friends and some breakfast. Details can be found here and there is a link to GoFundMe page where they are seeking to support his partner and family with funeral and related cost.

spr christmas drinks – our christmas drinks this year will be held on sunday 16th december at the Empire bar in Rivervale.  this is an “out of lycra” event that you can bring your partner to without them getting embarrassed because you are still in cycling gear.  more info on the previous post where you can order tickets.

christmas club ride –our end of year breakfast and awards will be held (as usual) on the last saturday before christmas.  this year it is pretty close as it will be on the 22nd december.  held at Dome after the main ride, there will be an end of year wrap up of stories and awards along with the usual buffet breakfast from Dome.

spr award nominations – Each year SPR recognise some of the cyclists and participants who help to support the club or inspire others with their cycling achievements. There are multiple awards this year, four of which will be based on the information provided in this survey and one on the SPR Facebook page. Presentations of the awards will take place at the Christmas breakfast on Saturday 22 December 2018. There will also be a prize awarded at the breakfast for the best dressed rider/bike on the Christmas ride, so don’t forget to dress up your bike and yourself. Other awards will also be given at the Christmas breakfast. You can nominate up to two people for each award. If you could provide some background as to why the person is being nominated, even if they are not the final award recipient, they will still have the opportunity to read the collated comments. Note this survey is fully anonymous. This survey will be open until midnight Wednesday 19 December 2018. Thank you for participating in our survey. Your feedback is important.

save the date – on the 6th of april next year we will be celebrating our 10 years of being an affiliated club.  the group came together in 2008, but officially we became an incorporated, affiliated club in 2009.  help us celebrate this occasion.  hopefully many “founding members” will be in attendance to see how the club has evolved over the years.

saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning.  please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate.  this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts.  see the previous post for more details.

spr juniors – juniors is in full swing again.  bring your kids for laps of kings park and watch them stuff pancakes in their face at Dome.

from the ride coordinator – We have a new group of ride leaders who have been busy working in the background developing their skills over the last month. It is now time for them to start their trial ride leading part of the course. Please pay attention to their briefings and instructions on the road. Remember they are training, and there is a lot to think about when coordinating and leading a group of cyclists. All our RL’s are volunteers to this role and do it to keep everyone as safe as possible, it is one of the key things SPR offers that few other group rides have.

saturday 8th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

juniors (10 – 15 yrs with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional 1/2 –trans canning vale 42.34km spr saturday

fast/main – canning vale & welshpool 49.74km spr saturday

sunday 9th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

ride start at coode st carpark at 6:00am

development group – coffee ride – Summer Sundays at Six am (Dec to Feb)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – khna weir 72.23km spr sunday

long – khna trnr obs 101.76km spr sunday

monday 10th december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 11th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 12th december

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 13th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 14th december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

ride routes 1st – 7th december

5:30am thursday morning. sun’s out, bikes out.

From the ride coordinator…

On the first day of Christmas, my Ride Leader said to me “DON’T RIDE THROUGH RED LIGHTS!!!”

On the second day of Christmas, my Ride Leader said to me “DON’T RIDE THROUGH RED LIGHTS!!!”

On the third day …. You get the idea, right? It’s a really bad idea, don’t do it.

Here are some reasons not to run a red light. They are good reasons, I promise, keep reading.

Firstly, It’s illegal.

Secondly, you may be involved in an accident with a vehicle going through a green light. In this case you may be found to be the person at fault, and also will probably be found severely injured or dead. Regardless of injuries, having committed an illegal act, any insurance you think you might have, for you, or your bike, will probably now be invalid. In most circumstances, insurance isn’t paid out if you break the law.

Thirdly, you may get captured on video or camera breaking the law, which impacts the public perception of your club, and the perception of road cyclists in general. Video which may be used to fuel more anti-cycling anger which impact hundreds of other road cyclists, and may also be provided as evidence that you did something illegal.

And finally, but certainly not the least important, not only, as previously mentioned above, have you potentially caused yourself significant injury or worse, but your fellow club mates will have to watch it happen. Someone (either a member of the public or a fellow cyclist) may, through no fault of their own, play a part of your death or disabling injury and will have to live with that for the rest of their lives. Think about that for a moment. You are not the only one who will have to live with the consequences of your choices.

So next time you’re faced with ride leaders instructions and a decision to make as you approach an intersection, do the club and your fellow cyclists a service and think about those reasons.  Is it really that big a deal to have to wait a minute or two? Really? Use the time to grab a drink, take a breath and check on your ride mates waiting with you.

ride leader sponsor –the ride leader sponsor for December is Get Your Visa a migration agency based in Perth since 2012.  Whether you are looking at an employee to sponsor, or having a relative joining you or any migration matters, Get Your Visa is there to help.

new kit day – if you ordered kit from the last run, it is now available for collection.  however, if you have missed the last two saturday’s at the coffee shop, then you will need to contact  kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au to make alternative arrangements.

spr christmas drinks – our christmas drinks this year will be held on sunday 16th december at teh Empire bar in Rivervale.  this is an “out of lycra” event that you can bring your partner to without them getting embarrassed because you are still in cycling gear.  more info on the previous post where you can order tickets.

christmas club ride –our end of year breakfast and awards will be held (as usual) on the last saturday before christmas.  this year it is pretty close as it will be on the 22nd december.  held at Dome after the main ride, there will be an end of year wrap up of stories and awards along with the usual buffet breakfast from Dome.

The cyclists thundering to destiny

save the date – on the 6th of april next year we will be celebrating our 10 years of being an affiliated club.  the group came together in 2008, but officially we became an incorporated, affiliated club in 2009.  help us celebrate this occasion.  hopefully many “founding members” will be in attendance to see how the club has evolved over the years.

saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning.  please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate.  this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts.  see the previous post for more details.

spr juniors – juniors is in full swing again.  bring your kids for laps of kings park and watch them stuff pancakes in their face at Dome.

from the ride coordinator – As above

saturday 1st december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

juniors (10 – 15 yrs with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional 1/2 – trans shelley 40.59km spr saturday

fast/main – freo & canning vale 52.11km spr saturday

sunday 2nd december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

ride start at coode st carpark at 6:00am

development group – coffee ride – Summer Sundays at Six am (Dec to Feb)

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

short – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday

long – wlsh obs kal 90.32km spr sunday

monday 3rd december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 4th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 5th december

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 6th december

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 7th december

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

Get Your Visa

The Ride Leader Sponsor for December is Get Your Visa a migration agency based in Perth since 2012.  Whether you are looking at an employee to sponsor, having a relative joining you or any migration matters, Get Your Visa is there to help.

With a team of registered migration agents and consultants, we’re able to provide dedicated services to those who want to migrate to Australia or an employer that wants to sponsor an employee or students who are seeking the right study solution.

There are different visas for different applicants profile and scenarios. We help people and business on finding their best visa strategy without wasting money and time.  At Get Your Visa, our agents will assist you in applying for the right Australian Visa. We will manage all the process before, during and after the lodgement of your application.

Depending on the length and the purpose of your stay, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection offer different visas. Before starting an application, it is important to understand that each Australian Visa implies specific conditions, different requirements and individual costs.  With more than 3200 visa approved, get in touch with our consultants and we will be able to assist you at the best of our knowledge.

Our services include:

SPR Christmas Drinks 2018

“How did that happen?” I can hear you all ask. Is it really that time of the year? Already?”

The answer is yes – the SPR annual out-of-lycra festive season celebration is upon us once again so dust off your fancy pants, put some bells on and join us for what is, to quote last years’ committee blog post, “undoubtedly one of the highlights of the SPR social calendar”.

The essentials:

Where?  The Empire Bar, 220 Great Eastern Highway, Rivervale – on the outdoor terrace (weather permitting)

When?  Sunday 16th December 2018, 6:00pm until cyclist’s-o’clock

How Much?  $25 per person – includes a drink and finger food

Who?  All the people – this event is, like our club, inclusive. Partners are more than welcome

Booking?  Get your tickets in the SPR shop before Thursday 13th December

With less than three weeks to go you better make like a reindeer and Dash(er) off to get your tickets.

ride routes 24th – 30th november

mental expeditions.  at some point in your life you need to challenge yourself.  whether it be mental, physical or both.  cycling often falls into the both categories as it is not uncommon for the most well trained legs to let down by the head.  so, when someone decides to ride from albany to melbourne totally unsupported, you would definitely say that it falls into the “both” category.  carlya bell is currently 50 days in and almost to the victorian border.  most people in the club would not know her, as i certainly don’t, but she has spend sometime with us as half of her pictures show her in an old spr jersey.   what makes this attempt even more remarkable is that unlike the indipac riders, carlya is not a long distance rider and usually does about 50kms a day.  check out her facebook page here and watch some of her videos as she keeps a diary of her travels.  she even stopped in at a school in adelaide to give a bit of a talk on riding across the nullarbor.  on top of this effort, she is also using her ride to raise money for beyond blue and you can donate here.  so, challenge yourself, or support someone that is.

ride leader sponsor –the ride leader sponsor for November is Colour & Moore Photography , owned by SPR member Kirstie Moore. Colour & Moore specialises in portrait photography (family, newborn, maternity, business, athlete, children, events, couples and lifestyle)

new kit day – if you ordered kit from the last run, it will be available for collection from the coffee shop after the main ride on saturday. if you need to make alternative arrangements for collection please email me at kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au and we can sort something out.

thursday papa’s – so a friend of mine was driving to work today and said that he got involved with some bikes along tapper rd as it turned into armadale rd.  these bikes filtered through traffic, got into the right lane, then proceeded to cut cars off as they turned left from the right lane.  now i know that we have no control over what rides people do and i know that thursday papa’s is a favourite for those wanting a very solid hit out.  please do not wear an spr jersey if you are going on that ride.  one of the older ones was spotted today doing these stupid things and it is the type of thing that does get back to us, especially from dashcam footage.  also, think about what you are actually doing and how that looks to the public.  are you really helping the cyclist cause if you illegally cut across lanes in front of vehicles.  never mind the extra risk that you just exposed yourself too.

spr christmas drinks – our christmas drinks this year will be held on sunday 16th december at a currently undisclosed venue.  nothing really secretive about it, we just don’t have confirmation yet.  this is an “out of lycra” event that you can bring your partner to without them getting embarrassed because you are still in cycling gear.

christmas club ride –our end of year breakfast and awards will be held (as usual) on the last saturday before christmas.  this year it is pretty close as it will be on the 22nd december.  held at Dome after the main ride, there will be an end of year wrap up of stories and awards along with the usual buffet breakfast from Dome.

The cyclists thundering to destiny

save the date – on the 6th of april next year we will be celebrating our 10 years of being an affiliated club.  the group came together in 2008, but officially we became an incorporated, affiliated club in 2009.  help us celebrate this occasion.  hopefully many “founding members” will be in attendance to see how the club has evolved over the years.

tomr 2018 race reports – there have been a bunch of race reports written by each of the teams that we took to margaret river.  check out this overview then click on each of the individual reports at the bottom.

saturday start locations – we have revamped the group start locations on saturday morning.  please have a look at the map so you know where your group will congregate.  this makes it easier for ride leaders to give you a briefing before the ride starts.  see the previous post for more details.

spr juniors – juniors is in full swing again.  bring your kids for laps of kings park.

from the ride coordinator – As summer approaches there are many aspects of riding that need to be considered. When it is hot make sure you have enough water and sunscreen. When it is windy, consider your position in the group, and roll through direction. Don’t surge off and leave the person behind you struggling into the wind. Don’t leave one person on the front doing long turns into the wind. Remember that the warmer weather brings out more riders, some may not haven’t ridden for a while, bigger groups and more unpredictability. As always, group rides are group rides, not solo efforts in a crowd, and follow guidance from the Ride Leader’s, they’re doing their best to keep you all safe.

saturday 24th november

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

juniors (10 – 15 yrs with parent) – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional 1/2 – spr retro roll 41.60km

fast/main – alexander drive 50.46km spr saturday

sunday 25th november

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

development group – coffee ride

short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday

long – f’berg urch obs 96.16km spr sunday

monday 26th november

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 27th november

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 28th november

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 29th november

ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 30th november

ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

The website for the South Perth Cycle Club