Each year SPR recognises riders/volunteers who were outstanding in their support of the club or inspired others to pursue their cycling achievements. There are multiple awards each year, six based on responses to this survey, the People’s choice. Please jump in and make your nominations!
The SPR Committee also identifies club members who have contributed to the Club or demonstrated impressive achievements. A new award introduced last year was the Most Improved Under 18-year-old from the SPR Juniors Program. We invite the juniors, their parents and the SPR Juniors Coordinator to join us at the Dome after their own ride for the presentation of this new award.
There is a $30 DOME coffee voucher for one lucky responder to the survey as well as two vouchers for the best dressed bike/riders on the day – T&C for the competition are in the survey.
Awards will be presented at DOME after our Annual Christmas Ride on Saturday 20th December 2025. We are again grateful to DOME for hosting the awards ceremony and the support they give the Club throughout the year. For this event you are invited to purchase food and drink/coffee directly from the restaurant as usual.
Some of you will have noticed that I’ve not been writing the blog for the past couple of weeks. While I don’t have the continuous record Peter had during his tenure as president, my run rate is pretty solid 🙂
I have decided to step back from my role on the Committee and as President of the club. This was not an easy decision, particularly as the committee asked me to reconsider.
I am proud of the governance we have within the leadership of SPR. Whilst most decisions are made by consensus, we welcome robust discussions as we work through issues that arise. This process has and continues to work well.
In recent weeks I’ve struggled personally with some decisions and actions that the Committee felt were required. The Committee’s decisions were made appropriately, but in my role as President I felt a challenge from a personal leadership perspective. After a great deal of thought and discussion I felt that I was not the best person to lead the club at this time.
I am not going anywhere, and am looking forward to supporting the club and Committee where I can be of value.
As Vice President Andrew will take over the duties of the President for the next few weeks until the AGM early next year when members will vote for a new President.
In other news, there is lots going on as the summer season picks up. Crit season is underway, including the Twilight series – get involved. And we have the formal announcement that the Nationals Club Criterium is back – in a different format based on age categories for Masters 90+, 120+, 150+ and 180+. All the details below.
And don’t forget our Christmas function this Sunday.
See you out on the bike.
Daniel
Grand Fondo Training — Reminder that we have published our plans for training toward the Road Nationals coming up in January – read all the details in our previous post Grand Fondo Training and More Grand Fondo Training.
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
Well done to Oscar Winson winning his age category at the race in Pickering Brook on Sunday. Fantastic effort and well deserved win!
We also have some fantastic news: Sophia Sammons will be our guest coach on 13/12!
Sophia turned pro last year with an Australian continental team and continues to ride incredibly strongly. Let’s hope she avoids the cramps that hit her at the end of Nationals last year!
To mark the occasion, we’re organising a BBQ after the training session. Matthew Witney has generously offered his house — and his swimming pool — to host the event. He lives in Kensington, and I’ll send you the address privately once you confirm your attendance – juniors@southperthrouleurs.com.au
If everyone can bring a little food to share, that would be fantastic. I’ll take care of the soft drinks and some meat.
I haven’t planned the session details yet, but in the meantime, please send me your confirmation for organisational purposes.
Here is the plan for the junior rides of the week:
🚴♀️ No ride on Saturday. I will be in Pemeberton to ride the Pemby Heroic organsied by the Spartan Club
Summer has arrived and with the start of the month comes “Step Up Saturday”. Step Up and try that “faster group”. Go on, surprise yourself! You will never know unless you have a go!
As temperatures rise, keep on top of your hydration. Bring an extra bidon and add electrolytes if you prefer.
Thanks to those of you who made such an effort to wear green last Saturday. It was one of the greenest bunches seen for a while. Everyone else surely doesn’t want to be outdone! Have a dig through your jersey collection and be seen in green too!
Saturday 6th December
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 7th December
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 6:00am (SUMMER TIME)
It is officially the last week of spring. According to the BOM summer will arrive with a bang on Monday! With the change of season comes an earlier start time for our Sunday Hills rides. All rides will start at 6:00am at Coode Street carpark from this weekend. Don’t sleep in!
A reminder that we have our ’Out-of-Lycra’ Christmas celebration next weekend at the Windsor Hotel South Perth. This is a time when we celebrate the support families give to their cyclists.
The club survey is still open until Tuesday so jump in and have your say if you haven’t already…see the link further down the page.
SPR Club Survey 2025 — Our survey is open until the 2 December. All the details in our previous post.
THREE $100 prizes* for a 99 Bikes voucher – to enter please provide your name and contact at the end of the survey. If you prefer to remain anonymous you can skip this section.
Grand Fondo Training — Reminder that we have published our plans for training toward the Road Nationals coming up in January – read all the details in our previous post Grand Fondo Training and More Grand Fondo Training.
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
The 4F Criterium saw Claudia and Page riding for the U11 and U13 category. They both secured second place in their age category. Well done both !
Here is the plan for the junior rides of the week:
🚴♀️ Saturday Meet in Shelley at the usual spot (here) at 10:30 am where we’ll practice some skills along Riverton Dr. We will have a short session due to racing the next day. This activity is ideal for our beginners and advanced riders. We will end the day with a couple of games in this car park.
🏁 Upcoming Racing
Sunday, 30 November 2025 – RCCC Summer Criterium – https://entryboss.cc/races/27840 Start Time 7:30am Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17
Sunday, 30 November 2025 – Pickering Brook #2 – https://entryboss.cc/races/25583 Start time: 9:00 am Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17
From the Ride Coordinator — Be seen in green.
From Sunday 30th November (this Sunday!) all Sunday Hills rides will start at 6:00am.
By choosing to participate in an SPR group ride means you have chosen to be part of a team Riders should pair off 2 by 2 Ride at an even steady pace Close up gaps between riders as quickly and smoothly as possible Obey the road rules and most importantly Enjoy the group ride
Saturday 29th November
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 30th November
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 6:00am (SUMMER TIME)
For a moment it looked like we had jumped straight into summer, but spring is returning over the weekend and into next week. Looks like perfect weather to be out on your bike enjoying the longer daylight hours.
With the warmer weather we know that Christmas is fast approaching so the SPR Committee is pleased to announce its ’Out-of-Lycra’ Christmas celebration will be at the Windsor Hotel South Perth. This is a time when we celebrate the support families give to their cyclists.
The club survey is still open for another week…see the link below.
SPR Club Survey 2025 — Our survey is open until the 2 December. All the details in our previous post.
THREE $100 prizes* for a 99 Bikes voucher – to enter please provide your name and contact at the end of the survey. If you prefer to remain anonymous you can skip this section.
Grand Fondo Training — Reminder that we have published our plans for training toward the Road Nationals coming up in January – read all the details in our previous post Grand Fondo Training and More Grand Fondo Training.
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
Juniors Ride — Here is the plan for the junior rides of the week:
🚴♀️ Saturday Meet in Shelley at the usual spot (here) at 10:30 am where we’ll practice some skills along Riverton Dr. This activity is ideal for our beginners and advanced riders. We will end the day with a couple of games in this car park.
🏁 Upcoming Racing Saturday, 22 November 2025 – 4F Twilight Criterium for Women – https://entryboss.cc/races/27509 Start time: 3:00 pm Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17 (girls only)
Sunday, 30 November 2025 – RCCC Summer Criterium – https://entryboss.cc/races/27840 Start time: 7:30 am Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17
Sunday, 30 November 2025 – Pickering Brook #2 – https://entryboss.cc/races/25583 Start time: 9:00 am Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17
Last week’s obstacle course training
From the Ride Coordinator — Be seen in green.
Pick your ride groups wisely! These people are going to be your teammates for the ride and you will be wanting to work together to make the ride as smooth, safe and enjoyable as possible. If gaps open up in your roll throughs, or riders are not rolling through, then please look around and moderate your pace to keep the group together. Don’t forget to call “clear” and “last wheel”.
From November 30th all Sunday Hills rides will start at 6am.
Saturday 22nd November
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 16th November
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am (WINTER TIME)
Sending out congratulations and huge kudos to Adam Ralph for his results at the Dustman race in Thailand (part of the UCI Gravel World Series).
Adam podiumed in his age group and qualified for the gravel world champs 2026!
🥈 Adam Ralph, M50-54
Check out a few photos below (more here) and the full results here.
See you out on the bike.
Daniel
SPR Club Survey 2025 — Our survey is open until the 2 December. All the details in our previous post.
THREE $100 prizes* for a 99 Bikes voucher – to enter please provide your name and contact at the end of the survey. If you prefer to remain anonymous you can skip this section.
Grand Fondo Training — Reminder that we have published our plans for training toward the Road Nationals coming up in January – read all the details in our previous post Grand Fondo Training and More Grand Fondo Training.
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
Juniors Ride — Here is the plan for the junior rides of the week:
🚴♀️ Saturday Meet at Shelley Primary School (here) at 10:30 am where we’ll practice on an obstacle course. This activity is ideal for beginners! Here is a video of what to expect on the day. We’ll start with a short practice session, followed by three rounds of time-trial racing. Each mistake will add a 5-second penalty to your total time. The fastest racer will win a delicious milkshake from the nearby Tribute Café! Parents willing to help with the course set up are more than welcome. Please come around 10am if you would like to help. Attached is the course plan.
Upcoming Racing Saturday, 22 November 2025 – 4F Twilight Criterium for Women – https://entryboss.cc/races/27509 Start time: 3:00 pm Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17 (girls only)
Sunday, 30 November 2025 – RCCC Summer Criterium – https://entryboss.cc/races/27840 Start time: 7:30 am Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17
Sunday, 30 November 2025 – Pickering Brook #2 – https://entryboss.cc/races/25583 Start time: 9:00 am Open to: U11, U13, U15, and U17
From the Ride Coordinator — Be seen in green.
At SPR, we encourage all riders to familiarise themselves with the planned route before joining a group ride. Not knowing the next turn can increase the risk of accidents — for you and others in the group.
From November 30th all Sunday Hills rides will start at 6am.
Saturday 15th November
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 16th November
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am (WINTER TIME)
As we alluded to earlier, and have had many people follow up with, we will also be running a number of Fondo training sessions on Sunday morning. These will start out similar to the Friday sessions, but may be adjusted as we better understand rider numbers and traffic conditions.
Looking at the criterium calendar, there are only 3 Sunday events (non-masters) on between now and the Nationals in early Jan. As some people wish to do both the crit and fondo, we want to make sure that there is an opportunity for both. Therefore, we have identified 5 dates in which to hold Sunday Fondo Training. 16/11, 23/11, 7/12, 21/12, 28/12.
The initial format will be as such –
We will meet at 6am upon Frasers Ave in Kings Park, where the actual start line will be on the day. The idea, is similar to Friday where we ride hard until the exit of Kings Park, then regroup and neutralise the Mounts Bay road segment. As stated previously, we need to understand the traffic so that we can ensure that all riders remain safe. If we deem it quiet enough, we may do the first 2 laps with no neutral section, then regroup after that, but that is a future state. The idea, though, is to complete 6 full laps of the slightly abbreviated circuit. We will not be heading all the way into the city and up Williams St as there are 8 traffic lights to negotiate which just complicates things and potentially makes it less safe. So this is generally an endurance session, see how hard you can do Malcolm St after 5 times up, how is your nutrition going, do you have enough fluids. Training sessions are the time to experiment, and get things right for race day.
As usual, these training sessions are open to everyone, not just SPR members, and not just people that are doing the Fondo. Just remember that they are SPR club run sessions and we expect you to respect our volunteers and obey all road rules.
We will create events through the SPR Facebook with the same details as here, so that they pop up as a reminder. So please indicate if you are interested as it helps others see it as well.
We are very pleased to announce our club survey for 2025. We run this every few years, and it is an important part of ensuring that the Committee understands the views of club members and can use than information to inform and direct its efforts when organising the activities of the club.
This survey is open to both members and non-members of the SPR riding community – anyone who rides with SPR, has done so in the past or may do so in the future. The club has always been inclusive and we are keen to get the widest possible feedback through the survey.
The survey aims to cover the whole range of activities that SPR organises for its members. This includes our daily rides, events and activities (whether local or international!), juniors, SPR Chicks, racing and everything else. We acknowledge that this year has featured (!!) a disruption to racing activities within the club, and we want to hear from members about their views future directions in this area as well.
You do not need to be a member of SPR to respond to the survey or enter the prize draw.
THREE $100 prizes* for a 99 Bikes voucher – to enter please provide your name and contact at the end of the survey. If you prefer to remain anonymous you can skip this section.
Survey is open 7pm WST Thursday 6th November until 11.59pm WST Tuesday 2nd December 2025.
See you out on the bike.
Daniel
Grand Fondo Training — Reminder that we have published our plans for training toward the Road Nationals coming up in January – read all the details in our previous post Grand Fondo Training.
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
Juniors Ride — Here is the plan for the junior rides of the week:
Wednesday Meet at our usual Shelley spot (here) at 5:15 pm. We’ll ride along Riverton Drive for about an hour, focusing on rolling turns and group riding skills. The weather forecast isn’t looking great, so please keep an eye on WhatsApp for any last-minute updates or changes.
Saturday Meet at Raffles (near Canning Bridge – here) at 11:00 am for a ride to Kings Park, where we’ll practice a few climbs. Beginners can join us directly at Kings Park (DNA Tower car park) at 11:30 am. If you plan to meet us there, please email juniors@southperthrouleurs.com.au so we can look out for you.
Upcoming Racing Friday, 8 November 2025 – Peel Sunset Crit #1 Start time: 4:00 pm Open to: U13, U15, and U17
From the Ride Coordinator — At SPR we encourage the size of Saturday groups to be around 15 riders, so as to limit the physical length of the group on the road. Longer groups are a greater disruption to traffic, and more susceptible to being split at lights. A compact group can be maintained by those on the front delaying their acceleration when exiting a corner.
Please be aware that roadworks have started on The Avenue, Nedlands and are due to run until Feb 2026. The regular SPR Tue, Thu and EBR Sat rides will be impacted. To navigate around the works, use this detour: at the Hackett Drive roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Princess Rd, left into Bay View Terrace, then right onto Victoria Ave.
The Breaths & Beats charity ride is running this Sunday, ascending Ridge Hill then Zig Zag and descending back to Perth via Crystal Brook.
Saturday 8th November
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 9th November
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am (WINTER TIME)
Quick blog for this week: We have quite a few members riding in the Tour of Margaret River this weekend. I wish everyone every success across the weekend! I look forward to seeing lots of photos 🙂
Reminder that we have published our plans for training toward the Road Nationals coming up in January – read all the details in our previous post Grand Fondo Training.
See you out on the bike.
Daniel
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
Saturday: We will meet at Raffles near Canning Bridge (https://maps.app.goo.gl/fgqDgLLt4RHv21kd8) at 11.00am to ride to Fremantle and back. This is the route https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/414464652 (we will use the same course on the return). Beginners can ride with us for the first 6km and then return to the start. Denpending on the availability of other leaders, we might be able to escort you back to the start. However, be prepared to ride back with your child on your own.
Racing coming up:
8/11/205 Peel Sunset Crit #1 at 4pm open to U13, U15 and U17
From the Ride Coordinator — At SPR, we encourage riders to have a degree of self-sufficiency to cover: punctures, loose bolts, etc, that may arise whilst on a group ride.
Be seen in Green. It’s the start of the month so it is “Step Up Saturday!”
Take this opportunity to see where your riding is at and STEP UP and have a go at riding with that next group above your usual Saturday ride.
Saturday 1st November
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 2nd November
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am (WINTER TIME)
With the final Tour of Margaret River being held this coming weekend, we now look ahead to the next major goal of the season…the Road Nationals. Although the majority of us can only dream of competing in the elite level, the opportunity exists for us to road race, crit or team time trial over the same courses as the pros.
As the EOI’s come in for the various events, we will start to form up teams, where required, and organise some specific training for those event. An email will go out soon to acknowledge people’s preferences and how we intend to move forward.
However, for the road race, the Grand Fondo format allows for a more individual race and hence the training can be a little different. The club will be running a series of training sessions over the next 10 weeks leading up to the nationals and hopefully there is something for everyone.
Firstly, on Tuesday morning at 6am there will be a Women’s only session in Kings Park. This session will do repeats of the main climbs and focus on VO2max efforts to build up the endurance required for the event.
We will meet at the Wadjuk carpark behind Fraser’s Restaurant and will vary the session depending on attendees and what else is happening in the park (eg ATTA).
This session is open to any women interested in training, not just specifically for the Grand Fondo, and is open to non-club members as well.
On Friday mornings at 5:30am there will be an open session (men and women) that will focus on both the climbs and chase in between. Meeting under the narrows city-side, but under the northern side of the road (opposite where we usually do), this will head into the city in a controlled manner along the course from Birdya Drive. This is to give people a view of the actual course which is important so that they can understand the gradient and conditions of the road. Unfortunately there and seven sets of traffic lights that makes this very difficult from a training perspective, so we will ride it in a neutral manner.
Once the groups crosses Milligan Street it is game on following the course up Malcolm and into the park, however, the group will regroup just after turning into Kings Park Ave. This is to ensure that we can have a safe and protected group riding along Mounts Bay Road as the early morning traffic starts to pick up around 6am. (see map for lap 1)
Again it is game on to follow the course with another regroup before leaving the park. Repeat for lap 3. If you are having trouble keeping up and don’t want to feel like you are having people wait for you, there is a shortcut before Lovekin Drive. Depending on who we have in attendance, there may be an opportunity to split into 2 different groups, but we will play it by ear.
The ride is neutralised as we head back into the city but instead of following the actual course back through the actual CBD, we stay on Mounts Bay Road, past the hospital and up Spring St to join back onto St Georges/Malcolm St. This gives the course a better flow for training and tackles a slightly harder climb with less recovery before Malcolm St. (see map for lap 2 & 3)
Similar to the Tuesday session, this is open to all riders including non-club members.
A third session on Sunday mornings will take in the entire course and is planned to minimise regroups as hopefully traffic will be manageable early on in the day. This session will start on Fraser Avenue where the actual start/finish line is positioned and will run along the entire course, including the traffic lit section of the CBD.
Times and dates for this session have not been finalised yet, as this session will be run alternately with attendance to selected criteriums which usually fall on a Sunday morning. As we have riders training for both the Grand Fondo and Criterium, we need to cater for both.
Final word. All these sessions are run for free through the club and, again, non-SPR members are more than welcome. They are all on open roads and, although we are trying to simulate race conditions as much as we can, you must obey road rules at all times (including traffic lights). The first of these sessions begins next week the 4th November after the Tour or Margaret River.
Several things to mention this week. First up, all the best to everyone racing in the MCC Midland Traders 100 this weekend.
Secondly, don’t forget our Nationals EOI – perhaps time to start thinking about training??? We’ve got some options for you – details to be announced soon, but our new Race Representative Peter Mah is putting together training sessions specifically for the Nationals.
Some great racing to report on from last weekend, with kudos 💚 to those that went out in the inclement weather to race with ATTA and West Coast Masters at Casuarina, with a number of SPR members featuring in the results:
I would also like to send a huge shoutout to Vanessa Johnson, who has been overseas to participate in the 2025 Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships where she secured 24th in her age category – kudos Vanessa 💚 (full results here).
Whilst overseas Vanessa, also took part in the Flanders Legacy Gravel race, achieving a podium – photos below and full results here. In Vanessa’s own words:
“Legacy Gravel in Leuven was a tough course. Although it was pretty flat, about half was on chunky & exposed farm roads & track, and many of the ups were cobbled, which made for rough going. A quick start with plenty of Belgian chop chop in the first 30min, then a small group, then mostly two-up from 31-75km, finally pushing on solo through to the 96km finish. Some desperate pedalling to stay ahead of men’s elite before a pinch point with a risk of being stood aside – phew!”
All the best to everyone racing, particularly in TOMR. See you out on the bike.
SPR Peaks Challenge 2026 — SPR currently have 10 people participating in the Peaks Challenge, Victorian Alps on 8 March 2026. Dave Morley is coordinating this with some eastern states cycle clubs of which there are another 10+ participating.
This will make it a well-coordinated and supported event with invaluable insights from experienced riders of this event – the ultimate challenge of 235km over 4,000 metres of climbing is some wonderful scenery. You can get more information and / or register your EOI here.
Tour of the Blackwood 2026 — Registrations for the Rotary Tour of the Blackwood River 28 March 2026 are now open. This is an excellent event, with a great community atmosphere and well-marshalled roads- definitely one to consider. If interested you will need to book accommodation as soon as possible as limited availability.
More details in our earlier post. Please register your interest and that of your partner via this EOI.
Road Nationals 2026 SPR EOI — Everyone can be a part of this special experience – choose from the Team Time Trial, criterium or Gran Fondo – register your interest below!
Saturday: We will meet again in Shelley (https://maps.app.goo.gl/BL6y81njAUm9aDU98) at 10.30am for a session focused on race tactics and skills in preparation for the following day’s race.
Racing coming up: 26/10/2025 – Midland Traders 100 https://entryboss.cc/races/25582. All U11/U13 riders will need to supply adult supervision for their race. Name of chaperone to be supplied to Race Director at registration. I will be there to watch the start of the juniors
From the Ride Coordinator — In case you missed it, here’s a recap of this month’s topics:
Keep group sizes to 15-18; not too big or too small
Check the blog: do you know the route? Downloaded it to your device? If you don’t have a bike computer, write a crib sheet and tape it to your top tube.
Communication: point out & call hazards. Repeat the calls from front to back of the bunch and vice versa.
A well maintained bike is a safe bike
And if you’ve got any SPR jersey, please wear it and be seen in 💚
Saturday 25th October
Ride starts under the Narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
(*) Please note that our Ride Leaders will adjust the composition and route for Development, Transition and Main 4 to suit people and conditions on the day.
Sunday 26th October
Rides start at Coode St carpark at 7:00am (WINTER TIME)
