Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ride Routes 7 – 13th January

Congratulations to all of you that completed or attempted the inaugural SPR Xmas 500 over the festive period with over 75 riders. It was certainly hard work and great fun to see what it is like to attempt pro hours and luckily we can all return to our day jobs for some rest. 

There were some great performances with Ted Wong brushing past an impressive 800km – great work Ted! 5 of our riders made it over 1,000km.

As with any event like this, there is always a bit of internal rivalry among the riders. This year, Pete Mah and Steve Burns were two riders who were closely matched in terms of their distances. Even though they didn’t ride together, their distances were very similar, which added an extra element of excitement to the event, with Pete’s 3am night owl performance being the difference.

The overall winners for most distance were:

Men – Elar with over 1,500km and 11,200m of elevation (a definite love of cycling)

Women – Jane Yang distance – $817km / Lauren Humphreys 4,717m of elevation

Congrats to our winners!

Elar Kalda – Distance & Elevation Winner
Elar Kalda
Jane Yang – Distance Winner
Lauren Humphreys – Distance & Elevation Winner

There were other prize winners:

R Smith                $100

A Lilley                 $50

J Randall              $20

N Lin Tun             $20

M Martins           $20

N du Plessis         $20

N Tsirigotis          $20

E McNulty           $10

W Choy                $10

P Barnes              $10

S Bektic                $10

H du Plessis         $10

A Yang                 $10

G Pennefather    $10

G Moore              $10

R Firth                  $10

T Persh                 $10

While not everyone was able to ride as far as Elar, there were still many riders who managed to complete 500km for the first time. This is a huge accomplishment and they should all be congratulated on their hard work and determination.

Thanks again to everyone who participated as it was a great success and everyone should be proud of their achievements. Whether you rode 500km or 1500km, it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to complete a challenge like this. Congratulations to all the riders and we hope to see you all again next Xmas! Watch out Elar you have set the bar very high!

  

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. PDCC 22-23 Summer Criterium Race 3

2. WCMCC Kewdale Criterium

3. RCCC Twilight World Champs @ DRMC Rnd 5

 

From the Ride Coordinator — From time to time while riding or racing in a group, you may hear someone call “Hold your lines!”. It’s a good reminder of safe riding practice in groups when going round a bend / corner, or going through a roundabout. What it means is “stay in the same part of the lane throughout the corner or roundabout. If there are two lines of riders, and the roundabout has two lanes, the left line needs to stay hard left (outside) all the way round, so that the right line of riders is not forced into the right (inside) lane. Similarly, going around a left hand bend, the right lane needs to stay wide to give the riders in the left lane enough space to avoid the kerb. In short – don’t cut the corner.

Don’t forget plenty of water, and sunscreen in your pre-ride checks. After a stinking hot week it should be a bit cooler this weekend – enjoy.

Saturday 7th January

Sunday 8th January

Monday 9th January

Tuesday 10th January

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (city side) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 11th January

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 12th January

Friday 13th January

Ride Routes 31st December – 6th January

I did promise to write up our annual Social and Race Awards this week… read on for all the details. And even a few select photos – although there are *lots* on Facebook already.

Hopefully you are all having a “relaxing” break for Christmas and the New Year. Clearly, “relaxing” includes riding ridiculous kilometres on the bike if the SPR Xmas 500 is anything to go by. As of this writing, we have 1,099kms ridden and 9,807m vertical metres climbed as the top of the leaderboard, and a significant number of rouleurs who have already completed 500km. Kudos.

Enjoy the rest of the break.

Daniel

SPR Social & Race Awards — Each year SPR recognises riders and volunteers for their achievements and contributions to all things cycling. Read below for the nominations for this year’s awards. Respect.

Most Inspirational Rider — Jayant Ashford. What an amazing story of recovery and persistence. We saw you on the ground after the horrifying crash on the short hills ride and at that time I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to walk again. Reading about how you got back on the bike despite all the injuries was remarkable. Racing in the ToMR this year was astounding. You have inspired us all.

Most Improved Rider — Amy Currie. Amy was a standout in this category and has won the award two years running. She has trained hard and made a huge transformation in her training & racing skills to represent the club & the country at the Masters Worlds for gravel. She gives everything a go.

Good Samaritan — Michael Bonner. Michael has won about every award in SPR and this year he is recognised for his selfless giving of time and support for other cyclists. He regularly helps me and others in our greatest moment of need, when in the red, about to get dropped, by slowing and offering his wheel, steadily dragging us back to the group! We call it the Mike Bonners Wheel Appreciation Club (MBWAC)! He is the Chicks favourite train!

Epic Moment or Equipment — Joint winners Mark de Castro & Belinda Evans. Mark de Castro, on ToMR stage 2, his bike was nearly written off by a rear ender into his derailleur and he managed to stay upright …and calm as always. He went on to change over to another bike removing many parts including the kick stand and bike carrier in the break. He finished the next stage that day and continued the next day.. on a different bike again – all the right size.

Belinda drank a 500mL can of V before a crit hoping to break-away on the first lap, only to lose her 200m lead by chucking twice on the first lap and missing a corner mid spew and skidding into a fence. Better luck next time V girl! PS Stick to drinking beer! 

Ride Leader Award — Laurensia Rosana. Laurensia is an awesome ride leader looking out for everyone! She gives clear instructions, ensures that everyone works together well in the groups, and meets at the regroup point. It is one of safest groups to ride with.

Volunteer Award — Steve Burns. Steve was a standout in this category and anyone who knows Steve will understand that this is truly well deserved recognition. Steve spends an extra 30hrs on top of full-time hours to ensure successful events…. It goes without saying! What a legend, so many hours, such passion, always working the bunch.

Special mention too for Michelle Bonner who is also recognised as a caring and resourceful Volunteer. She is a class above when it comes to helping out, the true club Mum.

Best Race Contribution (female) — Lily Handoyo. Lily has shown tremendous improvement competing this year in the ToMR. 

Best Race Contribution (male) — Sam Mettam. Sam has trained so hard this year and his performance in the TOMR is proof of this. The improvement is not only in the speed but also his approach. To watch Sam in crits now is very exciting!

President’s Award — Adrian Emilsen. Adrian is the epitome of what it means to be club member. He is a Ride Leader extraordinaire, regularly leading rides and respected by all. Adrian regularly offers up his “office” to run SPR events (thank you Melody Wheels), and is a strong contributor across the board when it comes to all things SPR. And a keen cyclist to boot. Adrian is a thoroughly deserving recipient of the SPR President’s Award for 2022.

Club Participant — Petra Bauer. It is a pleasure to award the Club Participant Award for 2022 to Petra. Petra is a much-loved Ride Leader, particularly when it comes to the Sunday Social Hills ride. She has a level head in all situations, is a keen contributor when it comes to choosing and improving our hills ride routes, not to mention an excellent Tour of Margaret River team member. Kudos Petra.

Best Dressed Award — Shirley Vine and Andrew Ballam. A picture is worth a thousand words – so they say – so I will let you check out the photos below.

Best Dressed – Andrew Ballam
Volunteer Special Mention – Michelle Bonner
Colourful 🙂
And well dressed!
Best Dressed – Shirley Vine
Most Improved – Amy Currie
Ride Leader – Laurensia Rosana
The Paparazzi
Looking good 🙂
Volunteer Award – Steve Burns
Epic Moment – Belinda Evans
Epic Moment – Mark de Castro

 PS Not everyone was there to receive their award, and I think I missed a few photos. Sorry!

  

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. RCCC Twilight World Champs @ DRMC Rnd 4

 

From the Ride Coordinator — 2022 done and dusted. We added some new ride routes for Sunday hills, and we’d like that to become a more regular thing. This week saw some massive miles ridden by our members with a few looking like topping 1,000km for the Festive 500. Despite that, it’s great to see SPR crash statistics showing significantly fewer than average spills for November and December. Keep it up – it means we’re paying more attention in groups, as inattention is by far the biggest cause of crashes.

Regulating the size of groups is also an important preventative measure, and it’s been great to see the cooperation from riders at the starts keeping group sizes to around 15. Another way to reduce risk is by riding with a group that matches your ability on the day. If you’re feeling strong, or want to push yourself, try moving up a group rather than pushing a group beyond their normal ability. It makes the ride safer and more enjoyable for all.

I copped a bit of flack for the hilly ride route last Saturday – so we’re going for a nice flat one this week – Alexander Drive – which we haven’t ridden since February! Enjoy, and have a safe, fun and festive new year.

Saturday 31st December

Sunday 1st January – New Year’s Day

Monday 2nd January – New Years Holiday

Tuesday 3rd January

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (city side) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 4th January

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 5th January

Friday 6th January

Ride Routes 24 – 30th December

Thank you to everyone who made it out last Saturday for our Christmas Ride. It was a most excellent morning, and very to good to recognise some amazing club members. I will write up the awards next week.

This week we have another guest post for our very own Claire Tyrrell. Most of you will recall SPR’s Adam Ralph’s Everesting efforts back in 2020… well, Jack Thompson takes this to another level. Seriously.

Reminder to all SPR club members, don’t forget to sign up for the SPR Xmas 500 – there are prizes to be had just for doing what you would be doing anyway right… festive kms. If you’ve missed the details, get in touch on xmas500@southperthrouleurs.com.au.

Daniel

Jack cycles far, and high

Ultra-cyclist Jack Thompson is calling on Perth cyclists to join him as he completes his toughest cycling achievement yet.  

Claire Tyrrell

It is a generally accepted truth that no matter how good you are, there is always someone better. In cycling this would roughly translate to the idea that despite your mammoth efforts on the bike, there is always someone out there riding further and harder than you. 

However, this may not ring true for Jack Thompson. 

The Perth ultra-cyclist has clocked up an incredible 29,078 kilometres this year alone, over 1,425 hours. 

But the most impressive thing about Jack’s pedal strokes in 2022 is the sheer volume of elevation he has accumulated – 982,746 metres as of December 20. 

And of course, he won’t stop there. 

Jack set himself the task of completing one million metres of elevation, as well as 52 Everesting efforts over the course of the year. Most of us have heard of Everesting, but to break it down, Jack has climbed 8,848 metres or more in one ride on one hill at least once each week during the past 12 months. He’s carried out the task mostly on local roads in Spain, as well as France, the United Kingdom and America. 

But that wasn’t enough for the keen cyclist, as he explained to me from his new home of Girona. 

“[At the start of the year] I thought, ‘maybe I’ll Everest once a week for a year’ and then I thought ‘that would still leave me with six days doing nothing’ each week, so I thought ‘why don’t I target one million metres, which is 20,000 metres a week’,” he said. 

Achieving this lofty goal would give Jack two Guinness World Records – his first achieved last year for his fastest ever completion of the Tour de France course (10 days). 

What goes up must come down – Jack on a descent during an Everest

The why

A spiel about Jack’s feats would not be complete without delving into the reasons he chooses to push himself to extremes day-in-day-out. 

In a nutshell, the ultra-cyclist is no stranger to mental anguish. 

Growing up with obsessive compulsive disorder, Jack has experienced bouts of depression and drug addiction, before the call to the bike became too strong. He quit his job as a project manager in 2015 to pursue a full-time career in ultra-endurance cycling, riding tens and thousands of kilometres each year. As he explained in 2019, cycling provides the euphoria he feels everyone is chasing and keeps him on a straight path. 

When asked about his million metre goal, he said it aligned with his penchant for routine.  

“I really like routine and structure, and every day I know exactly what I have to do,” he said. 

“It was a bit of a test for me, because I have done nothing that lasts a year before – so much can happen in a year, and I like the idea of setting myself a challenge that’s really difficult.” 

Jack also raises money for charities close to his heart through his bike riding, including Kids Helpline, StrongMinds, Outride and Youth Focus. 

The event

Jack has flown to his hometown of Perth on the cusp of 2023 to complete his challenge at Reabold Hill in City Beach. He is calling on Perth cyclists to join him as he conquers the millionth metre. 

Join Jack at Wembley Cycles at 8.30am on Thursday December 29, for a coffee and a leisurely ride out to Reabold Hill – just five repeats of the climb will get him to the million mark.

Youth Focus will receive a $5,000 donation from Jack, plus any other funds raised on the day will go toward the charity’s Hawaiian Ride for Youth. 

Register for the event via the Facebook event or by emailing john@wembleycycles.com. 

Donations are welcome but not mandatory. 

Not all of Jack’s Everests were completed on Tarmac
Tour Madeloc in France – where Jack completed his final Everest of 2022

 

  

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

Sorry, no can do this week. It’s Christmas, Festive kms will have to do – and there are plenty of options… 😎💚

 

From the Ride Coordinator — Well this weekend is significant for two reasons. 1. It’s Christmas on Sunday, and 2. The Festive 500 starts on Friday. Some added spice this year with the SPR Xmas 500 Challenge – with prizes up for grabs. Forecast for Saturday is good, a bit cooler, with not much wind. Perfect for those extra k’s. Lots of talk already about people doing the awesome foursome on Saturday; Night Owl, Earlybird, Main Ride, and Bin Chickens extra lap. How badly do you want it???

On Sunday we have Mr Bonners Christmas Cheer very social ride. If you’ve never done it you’re missing out.

There will likely be *lots* of extra rides over the Christmas / New Year period – keep an eye out on the SPR Facebook Group.

Saturday 24th December

Sunday 25th December – Christmas Day

  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 6:00am (‼️SUMMER TIME‼️)
    • Short – <not Christmas Day>
    • Long – <not Christmas Day>
  • Rides start at Coode st carpark at 6:00am (‼️SUMMER TIME‼️)
    • Development group – <not Christmas Day>
    • Short Hills (Social) – <not Christmas Day>
  • All rides start at Coode st carpark at 7:00am

Monday 26th December – Boxing Day (Christmas Day Public Holiday)

Tuesday 27th December – Boxing Day Public Holiday

Wednesday 28th December

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 29th December

Friday 30th December

Ride Routes 17th – 23rd December

So the votes are in, and we have some awards to announce on Saturday.

Each year SPR recognises riders and volunteers for their achievements and contributions to all things cycling. This year is no different and I look forward sharing them with you.

And hopefully you all have been busy prepping for the our Annual Christmas Ride. You are ready right? Tinsel? Christmas jersey ready? Extra credit if the aerodynamics are poor but you sacrifice them for cause… just this once… there will be a prize for best dressed.

Join us at DOME after the ride for breakfast, coffee and the award presentations.

See you Saturday 🎄🎅

Daniel

 

 

Life Cycle for Canteen 2023 — The Canteen ride if on again next year, running 11-13 March 2023. The ride from Bassendean to Busselton over 2.5 days is inclusive of all cyclists and ranges from 300km to 400km with or without hills. There are five levels all supported with vehicles front and back. Registration costs $340 per person and includes all meals, camp site or indoor spot to roll out a swag, transfer of gear and luggage each day and transport back to Perth. So you start and finish in Perth… simple! 

There is a minimum fundraising of $200 per person/couple that all goes to support young people 12 -25 impacted by cancer; it is a totally volunteer not-for-profit charity. Why not join the SPR Mixed team of 11 riders – the organisation is superb.

Details are on General Info and Registration OnRoad – Life Cycle for Canteen WA (lifecyclewa.com). Also have a read of the write-up from Team SPR at the Canteen 2022 Edition.

For more information contact Carol if you are interested comdev@southperthrouleurs.com.au; we have limited hotel accommodation as an option to camping.

 

 

 

 

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. RCCC Cloud Connect Summer Criterium

2. RCCC Twilight World Champs @ DRMC Rnd 3

 

From the Ride Coordinator — It’s SPR Xmas breakfast and fancy dress time for bikes and riders – the one weekend my partner wishes she was a cyclist! To get everyone back to the DOME and ready for breakfast & prize giving within a shorter space of time, we will have two different Main routes on Saturday.

As we did last year, After M1.1 group leaves on Route A, M2.1 group will head out on Route B, and we alternate from there on.

Note:

  • Main 2, 3 and 4 should prepare for a slightly earlier departure than normal.
  • M1.4 becomes a no-drop ride as they are last group on route A.

Departure order is:
Fast – Route A
Fast2 – Route A
M1.1 – Route A
M2.1 – Route B
M1.2 – Route A
M2.2 – Route B
M1.3 – Route A
M3 – Route B
M1.4 – Route A (No drop ride)
M4 – Route B
Transition – Trans
Development – Dev

Remember that **all** Sunday rides start at 6am, INCLUDING the coffee ride.

Saturday 17th December

Sunday 18th December

Monday 19th December

Tuesday 20th December

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 21st December

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 22nd December

Friday 23rd December

Ride Routes 10 – 16th December

WIN $50 of cycling nutritional goodies.

Time is running out to nominate a fellow SPR cyclist for an award this year. It only takes a minute and you don’t need to nominate someone for every award; closes Tuesday 13 December midnight.

‼️Vote here!‼️

SPR Kit — The Kit Shop is open. Closes 9 December for deliver mid-January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPR Christmas Party — Thank you to everyone who came out for our Christmas Party last Sunday. Just a few photos 😉

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. Roues Chaudes CC – AusCycling State Crit Series Rnd 2

2. WCMCC Speed Dome Criterium

3. RCCC Twilight World Champs @ DRMC Rnd 2

 

From the Ride Coordinator — Great cycling weather again this weekend, but then it warms up. Ride preparation should adapt to the weather. Hydration is critical, and cold water helps a lot.  For long rides, I freeze one bottle and put the other in the fridge. Add a few ice blocks to the fridge bottle in the morning – and there’s still nice cool water after 3 hours in 30+ degrees. For short rides, freezing a half-filled bottle overnight and then topping up in the morning works a treat. Before heading out in the morning, slip-slip-slap to protect your skin against UV damage.

Short hills on Sunday is a new route; mostly familiar but with an interesting back-route after the climb up Lawnbrook Rd across to Mundaring Weir Road via Grove, Stanhope and King roads. Take extra care on the new sections, particularly the downhill just before rejoining Mundaring Weir Road. Both long and short routes have refill stops at the servo in Kalamunda – so no need to carry extra.

Remember that **all** Sunday rides start at 6am, INCLUDING the coffee ride.

Saturday 10th December

Sunday 11th December

Monday 12th December

Tuesday 13th December

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 14th December

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 15th December

Friday 16th December

Ride Routes 3rd – 9th December

Good evening all. Just a few things to highlight this evening. First up, you can still get tickets for our out-of-lycra Christmas event in the shop – all the details below. On a related note, don’t forget to nominate someone for an award in our Social & Race Award Nomination survey below.

Next up, congratulations to Toby Brown for his win at the Westral Wheelrace last week! The Westral is the 2nd oldest Wheelrace in Australia, dating back to 1897. It is a handicap race over 6 laps (1,500m) with riders assigned staggering starts around the track according to their heats. Nice one Toby.

Lastly, on behalf of the Committee I would like to offer thanks to Mandy McEvoy for her contribution to SPR’s social media presence these past twelve months. Many of you will have seen Mandy’s announcement in her last post yesterday of her decision to step down from the Committee. Thank you Mandy 🙏🏻

See you at the races now that the Crit season is here – if that is your thing. Seriously, though – if you are interested in racing, whatever your level of experience, please get in touch with Steve by email on race@southperthrouleurs.com.

Daniel

 

The Rouleurs Run Radelaide — The Tour Down Under is a festival of cycling, first staged in 1999 and now the biggest cycling race in the southern hemisphere. There is The Race, The Challenge Tour, the buzz of the village and the overall electric atmosphere. Get amongst it, go to everything, get up early for a ride, catch the starts, the finishes, ride everywhere and swim at the beach. This is when the City of Churches becomes the City of Cycling.

If this is something for you, contact Andrew vp@southperthrouleurs.com.au to find out more or be added to the “The Rouleurs Run Radelaide” Facebook group. 

https://tourdownunder.com.au/

 

Tickets available here!

 

SPR Social & Race Award Nominations 2022 — Each year SPR recognises riders and volunteers for their achievements and contributions to all things cycling.

Please give a few minutes to nominate these individuals in a quick survey via this link. There is a prize of nutritional goodies for cyclists for one lucky responder so don’t delay.

The awards will be presented at our Annual Christmas Ride to be held on Saturday 17 December 2022 at Dome after the ride. Come along for the ride in Christmas dress – there is a prize for the best dressed bike and/or cyclist.

Any queries, get in touch with Carol at comdev@southperthrouleurs.com.

 

SPR Kit — The Kit Shop is open. Closes 9 December for deliver mid-January.

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. 4Five+ Twilight Series – Round 3

2. NBCC Splendid Park Criterium

3. WCMCC Wangara Criterium

4. RCCC Twilight World Champs @ DRMC Rnd 1

Announcement: We’ve needed to delay the Watertower Challenge until next year. Stayed tuned.

 

From the Ride Coordinator — Glorious weather this weekend, so we’re expecting good turnout for all rides. Main groups will do South Lake on Saturday. While the route is unchanged , the ride is quite different with ongoing improvements to Berrigan Drive and Jandakot Roads over the last few years.

Sunday long hills doesn’t have a late regroup point at a water stop, so make sure to top up with whatever you need in Kalamunda, after the first climb up Zigzag at about 32km. We’re always looking for ways to improve our ride routes, and for new routes to add to our repertoire. If you have suggestions for either, feel free to email these to ride-routes@southperthrouleurs.com.au. The Ride Leader group has initiated review sessions to consider suggestions, and recommend changes and new routes. We’d love to hear from you.

Remember the **all** Sunday rides now start at 6am.

Saturday 3rd December

Sunday 4th December

Monday 5th December

Tuesday 6th December

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 7th December

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 8th December

Friday 9th December

Ride Routes 26th November – 2nd December

This evenings guest post is a serious highlight for me, quite literally bringing a tear to my eye reading through.

You will all remember the agonising accident which occurred on Short Hills back in April. I visited Jay in hospital at the time, and the club put together a hamper. I commented at the time that my favourite item was the Sick Puppy Beer – turns out it makes a special appearance in Jay’s recovery. Read on 😎

Life sometimes brings us awful events. I would never wish them on anyone. But I do know that how we respond as individuals (Jay’s story for example) and as a community (kudos SPR) demonstrates the strength, beauty and resilience that lies within.

Read Jay’s story below.

Daniel

Accident to Recovery

“You flew so high – did a massive forward flip”, “Don’t look at your bike – you don’t want to”, I heard awakening from my bitumen slumber. “3x Cervical and 4x Thoracic vertebrae with compression fractures, 3 left Vertebrochodral ribs fractured. A hard collar neck and back brace for 3months” said the doctor in a way that could not be argued. Soon came a hospital visit from Daniel Harvey bearing a hamper and best wishes from the club. He gives it to me, and I wonder if he knows I am not a paid-up member of the club. It didn’t seem to matter, but I ought to promise to join the club in case he already knows. Besides, the importance of insurance was never clearer. The hamper included delicacies and edibles, a copy of Bicycling Australia, and a WA brewed Sick Puppy Retriever Golden Ale beer. Reading the magazine from my hospital bed, my priorities became clear: Get a bike, get an indoor trainer and find a race worthy challenge.

A week out of hospital and I had my replacement bike, blind to the reality that it would be months before I could ride it. It was old and had aerodynamics of a brick, but envelope calculations convinced me a componentry swap would make it a lightweight gem. As for the aerodynamics, I’d just have to get better at sucking other people’s wheels. When expressions of interest were called for the Tour of Margaret River I knew the event would be the perfect goal. Far enough away to make a viable recovery, and big enough to be meaningful. I was ready to start training – or so I told myself. Reality kicked in when my Physio dressed me down about how my body was unready, and I had caused tears to the muscles in my knee. I had to wait. When I resumed on the trainer, 70km into my first century I learned my neck was not going to let me at the last 20ml of my drink bottle. I had lost 60W from my FTP and was concerned I wasn’t getting it back. Eventually it came though, helped by the ToMR training sessions at Kings Park where I’d give it all to hang on to Mike Harper’s and David Mennary’s wheels. The Maccas, beers and chocolate had to go. I was going to get serious.

November arrived and I made it to the ToMR event with my awesome teammates. At the start of Stage 2 I lined up next to Daniel Harvey and pronounced that Dan Davey and I were going to make a break for it halfway through the stage. Our club president didn’t have the heart to tell me that I had no chance, that people don’t break away on that stage. So entertained by my own naivety I soon discovered the hill we were attacking on only rose by 11m. While it was a buzz to look back and see Dan and I clear of the pack, it was short lived. The ridiculousness of the attempt was highlighted by the fact that far faster riders than ourselves had gone through the course that day, but we had the Strava KOM trophy. Success did come later in the ToMR when on the ‘Queen’ stage I notched up third place. Some tactical riding near the finish involving six riders including Doug Pavlovic and Mark Sinclair from SPR M5 decided the outcome. The podium was a satisfying moment, but to me it was beaten by one other. From receiving the SPR hamper in hospital to where I was now, I had saved up that Sick Puppy Retriever Golden Ale. It was saved for when I completed the ToMR and to me it symbolised that I had recovered successfully and received some great support from the club.

Thank you SPR.

Jay

The Hamper
The Podium
The Sick Puppy Beer

 

Tickets available here!

 

SPR Social & Race Award Nominations 2022 — Each year SPR recognises riders and volunteers for their achievements and contributions to all things cycling.

Please give a few minutes to nominate these individuals in a quick survey via this link. There is a prize of nutritional goodies for cyclists for one lucky responder so don’t delay.

The awards will be presented at our Annual Christmas Ride to be held on Saturday 17 December 2022 at Dome after the ride. Come along for the ride in Christmas dress – there is a prize for the best dressed bike and/or cyclist.

Any queries, get in touch with Carol at comdev@southperthrouleurs.com.

 

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. 4Five+ Twilight Series – Round 2

2. PDCC 22-23 Summer Criterium Race 2 (State Round #1) @ HMAS Stirling

Announcement: We’ve needed to delay the Watertower Challenge until next year. Stayed tuned.

 

From the Ride Coordinator — Summer is sort-of, almost, nearly, really here (I think). To kind-of celebrate, we’re heading out to “TV Stations” on Saturday, which we last rode in January. It’s a little bit lumpy – good to stretch the legs, but there should be a tailwind to bring us home.

Sunday’s short hills, Lesmurdine & Observatory, doesn’t have a water refill point in the hills, so remember to carry enough to cover 64km with 700+m of climbing. While on statistics, at 86km, long hills this week is our shortest long course, but with 1219m vertical, it’s the most climbing per km of all our hills courses.

Please note that the 10am Wednesday Transitional rides will resume on 8 March 2023, and the Sunday 7am coffee ride and Social Hills will move to 6am starting from 5 December. Enjoy the rides and stay safe.

Remember the Sunday Long and Short hills rides start at 6am, Social Hills starts at 7am.

Saturday 26th November

Sunday 27th November

Monday 28th November

Tuesday 29th November

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 30th November

  • Ride starts Raffles bike path at 5:30am
  • Rides start at Coode St carpark at 10:00am
    • Midweek Transitional – <returns March 2023>

Thursday 1st December

Friday 2nd December

Ride Routes 19th – 25th November

Gravel Worlds — The chance to be part of cycling history lured a small group of friends with common allegiances (SPR, 4Five+, Strive Cycle Training) to northern Italy to compete in the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships.  

Adam Ralph, Amy Currie, Deb Kempe & Vanessa Johnson had to dip into their buckets of bravery to book flights and accommodation, and commit to a race where the location and course details remained undisclosed until 3 weeks before the event.

The course was about as different from the SeVen qualifier as it could be, and the criticism of the lack of elevation from afar was plentiful. Yes, the Saturday course for the women and men 50+ was a mostly flat 140km with less than 700m of elevation, traversing typically European urban-countryside. The unexpected challenge was the many technical direction changes and enormous variation in surface which was mentally fatiguing. The course followed the Bacchiglione River from Vicenza to Padova to Citadella, traversing gravel paths and roads, fields, river banks, levees, forested single track, rocky paths, fields, and yes – quite a bit of paved road to link the gravel sectors…

If you would like to read more about the race pop over to the 4Five+ blog https://www.4fiveplus.org/blog/uci-gravel-worlds (spoiler alert – someone came home with a rainbow jersey).

Vanessa Johnson

The course on race morning

 

Tickets available here!

 

SPR Social & Race Award Nominations 2022 — Each year SPR recognises riders and volunteers for their achievements and contributions to all things cycling.

Please give a few minutes to nominate these individuals in a quick survey via this link. There is a prize of nutritional goodies for cyclists for one lucky responder so don’t delay.

The awards will be presented at our Annual Christmas Ride to be held on Saturday 17 December 2022 at Dome after the ride. Come along for the ride in Christmas dress – there is a prize for the best dressed bike and/or cyclist.

Any queries, get in touch with Carol at comdev@southperthrouleurs.com.

 

SPR Chicks — Reminder that the next SPR Chicks event is on Sunday 20th November,  our social ride followed by dinner at the South Perth Food trucks.

We will meet at 5pm at Coode Street jetty for a 30 km, no drop ride (we stay together and ride as a group), returning back to Coode St, finishing with dinner at the South Perth Food Trucks. Remember your lights particularly if you are commuting to/from the event. If you just want to join us for the food trucks, we will be back roughly 6.15pm.

If interested in either event, please respond to the event on the Facebook SPR Chicks page, or by emailing women@southperthrouleurs.com.au.

Tour of Blackwood — Blackwood 2023 is on 18 March, a timed event over undulating terrain offering three distances: 134km (elevation 1700m) or 65km (elevation 841km) or 30km.

The accommodation around Bridgetown is going quickly and although registrations are yet to open for 2023, if you are interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible due to limited availability. Details for the 2022 event https://www.blackwoodtour.info/.

For SPR specific queries please email race@southperthrouleurs.com.au. 

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. 4Five+ Twilight Series – Round 1

2. PDCC 22-23 Summer Criterium Race 1

3. WCMCC Bibra Lake Criterium

Announcement: We’ve needed to delay the Watertower Challenge until next year. Stayed tuned.

 

From the Ride Coordinator — The BOM are saying we’ll be OK on Saturday morning as I write this – but we’ll wait and see with fingers crossed.

A few people pointed out that they encountered lots of red lights on last week’s ride – so I’m hoping this week brings better luck. Either way, please err on the side of caution when deciding whether to stop or go for an amber light; there is a blanket rule to ease up for a split caused by a red light – it’s good to know these club protocols. On that note, if you move to a faster group for the first time, it’s a good idea to let the ride leader know, and if you bring a friend to a ride with SPR we always recommend their first ride be with the Transitional group.

On Saturday we’re doing Stock and Shelley, a relatively new and always popular ride, with less dependence on green lights. Take care changing lanes for the right turn from North Lake into South St, and enjoy!

Remember the Sunday Long and Short hills rides start at 6am, Social Hills starts at 7am.

Saturday 19th November

Sunday 20th November

Monday 21st November

Tuesday 22nd November

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 23rd November

Thursday 24th November

Friday 25th November

Ride Routes 12th – 18th November

Last weekend our 12 SPR teams represented our club over 3 days of racing and 5 stages. 12 teams are not only a record for SPR but a record by any club at the Tour. This was 72 riders plus volunteers making it a logistical effort record also.

For many riders training started in May or June, through the wet, dark, cold mornings so great effort and dedication. The Tour is about team work and riding together. Our teams had the added bonus of Graeme Brown training sessions, which changed the way we approached the event. 

There were many great results across the 3 days with our Mens 1 team winning the B Grade division, our Mens 5 team winning the K Grade division and our Womens 3 narrowly missing our on first for a well deserved 2nd place. On the GC standings, Mark Sinclair (Mens 5) was the division winner and Doug Pavlovic 2nd, Jacob Langham – 2nd and Sam Mettam 3rd both from Mens 1. In the Womens B grade Lily Handoyo was 2nd and Manou Rosenberg was 3rd.

Besides the official placing many of our SPR rider raced for the first time in one of the hardest road races in WA. That effort alone was simply magic to witness. Our riders getting PBs and completing the event is a top achievement but the Tour is about friendship and to see the teams of all speeds interacting together and just enjoying the experience is what we set out to achieve.

A big thanks goes out to our volunteers who did a brilliant job this year and who without we would not have had such a great time.

Steve

 

Save the date – shop open tomorrow Tickets now available here!

 

A European Honeymoon! We – Heiko Potzeldt and Louise McKay – met through SPR and Strive Cycle Training…and we just got married! 

Those of you who have ever trained or ridden with us will know that Heiko was born half-mountain-goat, whereas Louise tends to prefer river loops with a healthy serve of coffee…so for our honeymoon, Heiko plotted an incredible bikepacking route through Southern France, Andorra and Spain. Plenty of mountains, rivers, and coffee 😀

We drove the 12 hours down from our home in Leipzig, Germany to Clermont-Ferrand, France, and parked the car at the hotel there. From there, we embarked on our 12-day ride through the volcanoes of Massiv Central, the Gorges du Tarn, to Albi then Carcassonne, where we enjoyed a rest day before heading into the Pyrenees. We rode over the mountain pass Pas de la Casa at 2408m elevation, following the one road that goes from France into the single-city country of Andorra and out the other side into Spain. From there it was *mostly* descending to Barcelona – although we certainly felt the climbs along the way, with so many kms in our not-particularly-well-trained legs! After a day enjoying the sunshine and a leisurely bus tour of the big city, we headed back north along the Spanish coast, then inland to Figueres to visit the Salvador Dali museum, before crossing the Pyrenees again to enjoy a few last days of French baguettes and croissants (and more stunning scenery). From our final stop, Beziers on the Canal du Midi, we took the train back to where we left the car.

Along the way, I’d say we probably rode about 60% on tarmac, but the other 40% was a real mix of gravel, grass, sand and rocks. Mostly we followed the suggestions provided by our Karoo Hammerheads, but we also learnt from a few extra-challenging experiences that the Karoo isn’t alwaaays right…sometimes it’s worth stopping to check google too! In any case, having gravel bikes (Rose Backroad and Koga Colmaro) was an excellent choice for this adventure. The bags we packed to take with us probably could have been lighter, but there were one or two days when we were both very very glad for the extra layers we had packed. On one day in particular, this was even supplemented by glad-wrap over our feet, legs and arms to combat the rain and wind, but on the whole we had sunshine and great riding conditions. Bikepacking is an amazing way to travel, especially if you are in a place with great food and plenty of hotels along the way. Would 10 out of 10 recommend a trip like this!

Clermont-Ferrand : 83km : Condat : 102km : Nasbinals : 102km : Millau : 118km : Albi : 92km : Carcassonne : 79km : Ax Les Thermes : 65km : Andorra La Vella : 87km : Solsona : 119km : Barcelona : 93km : Caldas de Malavella : 64km : Figueres : 86km : La Barcarles : 90km : Beziers

 

SPR Chicks — For all us wonderful women that cycle, we have two last events for the year coming up…The first is on Sunday 20th November,  our social ride followed by dinner at the South Perth Food trucks.

We will meet at 5pm at Coode Street jetty for a 30 km, no drop ride (we stay together and ride as a group), returning back to Coode St, finishing with dinner at the South Perth Food Trucks. Remember your lights particularly if you are commuting to/from the event. If you just want to join us for the food trucks, we will be back roughly 6.15pm.

The second event is on Wednesday 21st December, yes a school night for those still working!

Meeting somewhere in South Perth near Mindeerup, final location yet to be confirmed, at 6pm, where we will have something to eat or drink. Then as the sun is starting to set, we will catch the ferry from South Perth to the City, where we will walk the Christmas Light Trail around Elizabeth Quay, St Georges Tce, to Hay St, returning to South Perth via ferry.

We would love to see as many of you as possible, to meet new people, see new sights and get some
exercise.

If interested in either event, please respond to the event on the Facebook SPR Chicks page, or by emailing women@southperthrouleurs.com.au

Cheers,
SPR Chicks

Racing this weekend – If you want to race, or get in on the action watching others race, read on.

1. WCMCC Kewdale Criterium

 

From the Ride Coordinator — I’m sure there are plenty of tired legs out there after last weekend for those who went down to Nannup. Think about the group you ride with on Saturday, and consider dropping down one if you’d prefer to take it a bit easier.

Weather looks good, and the South Westerlies are back, so we’ll head out to Scarborough Beach & Hale on Saturday with a good tailwind home along Mounts Bay Rd.

With the increase in riders on the road, and higher number of spills we’ve been seeing, a reminder that if there does happen to be an incident in your group, don’t turn around to see what happened – it just adds risk. Focus on the wheels in front, and on staying upright. There’s plenty of time at the coffee shop to find out what happened. Whether you’re having an easier few weeks heading towards the festive season, or building up for another event, enjoy the riding and the good weather this weekend.

Remember the Sunday Long and Short hills rides start at 6am, Social Hills starts at 7am.

Saturday 12th November

Sunday 13th November

Monday 14th November

Tuesday 15th November

  • Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
  • Ride starts Frasers ave at 5:45am
    • Development group – interval training kings park

Wednesday 16th November

Thursday 17th November

Friday 18th November