On behalf of members, the South Perth Rouleurs committee is currently reviewing club kit supply arrangements. We’re happy to hear from anyone interested in making a pitch…
Information on the club’s requirements is available by emailing kit@southperthrouleurs.com.au
“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 15th December 2019, 6:00pm until cyclist’s-o’clock
How Much? $30 per person – includes a drink, finger food and pizza.
Who? All the people – this event is, like our club, inclusive. Partners and children are more than welcome.
Booking? Get your tickets in the SPR shop before Thursday 12th December.
With less than four weeks to go you better make like a reindeer and Dash(er) off to get your tickets.
Hotel Funivia (www.hotelfunivia.it) in Bormio, Italy has played host to many of our SPR members over the years and everyone who visits has come away with treasured memories of epic rides, amazing landscapes and the warmth and passion of the team at the hotel.
As travelers increasingly seek convenience and personalized experiences, hotels like Hotel Funivia can explore innovative ways to enhance guest satisfaction. Implementing AI concierge services could further streamline guest interactions, offering tailored recommendations and seamless booking experiences. For those curious about the future of hospitality, read more about online concierge possibilities for hotels to discover how technology is shaping the next generation of guest services. Looking ahead, integrating AI-driven concierge services represents a promising evolution in hospitality, allowing hotels to anticipate guest needs and deliver personalized recommendations effortlessly.
For the first time ever Daniele a.k.a. Stelvio Man, Elisa and the HF team are coming to Perth to check out our beautiful city and share a few rides with SPR!
The Hotel Funiva team are planning to join the Saturday ride on 23 November and Stelvio Man is also keen to sample our hills and will be along for the Sunday Hills ride on 24 November. Don’t hesitate to come along and say G’day!
Post ride they will also be available to reminisce about the wonderful experiences they have shared with you and answer any questions for those who may be considering a cycling holiday in Italy.
Hotel Funiva is a family owned hotel located in the cycling mecca of Bormio in the Italian Alps which is a great base to ride the epic Stelvio, Gavia and Mortirolo Passes, all of which are iconic climbs that feature regularly in the Giro d’Italia. In fact next year’s Stage 18 of the Giro will feature an ascent up the Stelvio Pass as well as an uphill finish at Lake Cancano which will be featured for the first time. Anyone who has stayed at Hotel Funivia would have had the opportunity to ride this beautiful climb affectionately known as ‘The Princess’.
As a hotel operated by cyclists and dedicated to serving cyclists, at Hotel Funivia you will have the opportunity to ride not only the iconic climbs but also discover the beauty of this alpine region and all the secrets it has to offer. Cycling packages at Hotel Funiva feature all the amenities a 
cyclist needs to enjoy the perfect cycling holiday; daily group rides from the hotel with van support, gourmet meals, secure bike storage and cycling kit washing service. Not to mention the Stelvio Experience Bicycle Café dedicated to ‘the rules’.
The beautiful town of Bormio has everything to cater for cyclists and non-cyclists alike. So if you are thinking about a cycling holiday in Italy say G’day to Daniele, Elisa and the Hotel Funivia Team.
Your ToMR Squad for 2019 are prepared and are heading South this weekend for the big event. We are fielding four teams this year – 1 women’s, 3 open teams.
SPRouleurs, your Squad for 2019:
As always, we bring a team volunteers to make the weekend happen seamlessly for the racers and to just “Be More Club”. The Vollies are as much a part of the ToMR adventure as the racers, and year after year put in a huge investment of time and emotion to making things just happen – as far as the racers know, anyway!
Our ToMR Volunteers for 2019 are:
We also have the new addition of Zac Williams, who has photographed all three Grand Tours this year and a host of other WorldTour level races with legends such as Rupert Guinness and Beardy McBeard. In between engagements with the ToMR Eent Organisers (Hi Bec and Brendon!!) Zac will be documenting the SPR experience for us. And also lifting heavy stuff – he is a unit!
There’s likely to be some coverage on the “socialz”, as el Prez calls it – getting down with the lingo of the kidz – so keep an eye out.
Wish us luck.
good to see some green on the podium to go with that gold at last weekend’s state championships down in bunbury. this pic shows the gold medal winners from each division in the road race, but we also had some success in the individual time trial as well. well done to all those that took part, especially those that raced on a very hot and windy sunday. also, don’t forget the sunday ride now starts at 6:00am sharp.
cycliq camera lights – the lights have been dispatched so we will distribute as soon as they hit my doorstep.
ToMR race team – final teams for the tomr will be announced soon. we have 3 men’s teams and a women’s team and more importantly a team of awesome volunteers.
ToMR Breakaway 2019 – There’s more to ToMR than just racing ToMR!!! ToMR are hosting their “Breakaway” rides – get to ride the full race courses ahead of the race in a fully supported group.
Last year, that group was headed up by none other than Jens Voigt – who else would you get to lead a Breakaway if Thomas De Gendt isn’t available? If there is suitable demand from non-racing SPR members, we can look towards packaging an accommodation bundle to travel with the SPR ToMR-ers. If you like bikes and riding it is one of the best weekends away all year. For more info on the Breakaway rides, check out the ToMR event website. Email if you are interested or chat to Steve or Greg after Saturday Main rides at Dome.
The Beverley – a couple of recaps from the beverley race the other weekend. a race report from kate bonner and a race overview from mo von moinstein. check them out so you know what you missed out on this year and hopefully inspire you to get on board for next year.
sunday start locations – as numbers increase over summer, we are looking at how we can manage the groups on a sunday morning. as such we are implementing a start location system to give us an idea of how big the groups are. we can then split them before they leave the carpark to ensure that the groups are a safe size on the road. see the previous blog post about where to meet and the new start time.
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, juniors, juniors. the weather is looking good so get the kids out and onto the bikes. we had 5 with us last week including a first-timer who climbed 3 hills in kings park.
from the ride coordinator – A reasonably practical one from me this week reinforcing to everyone the change in start time for this week’s Sunday Hills ride to 6am, as posted by El Prez earlier in the week. Note also the intent to split both short and long hills groups to cater for different speed/capability (if there are sufficient numbers to allow).
saturday 2nd 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 – kings park juniors 23.72km spr saturday
development group – novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday
transitional 1/2 – trans reabold 38.69km spr saturday
fast/main – reabold & cottesloe 50.91km spr saturday
sunday 3rd november
rides start at coode st carpark at 6:00am
note: sunday rides now start at 6:00am from nov to feb
development group – coffee ride
short – khna weir 72.23km spr sunday
long – khna trnr obs 101.76km spr sunday
monday 4th november
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
south stock 33.76km spr monday
tuesday 5th november
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)
wednesday 6th november
ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am
interval training – stock road repeats
thursday 7th 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 8th november
ride starts under the narrows (sth perth side) at 5:30am
summer is approaching fast and last sunday’s taste of it was an indication that it may be a warm one. along with the heat, comes longer days and more riders returning from hibernation. as such we are making a few changes to the sunday ride to account for all three.
firstly, the start time. as of the 3rd of november (i.e. the first sunday ride in nov) we are changing the time to a 6am start. this is for all groups – long, short & coffee. please make sure that others that you ride with that may not read the blog know about this or they may be a little lonely this sunday at 7am.
this earlier start time primarily allows the long hills ride to get back to the city before the day gets too hot. however, there are lots of occasions where riders have started the long hills and have not had a good day, so have waited for short hills at the top of the first climb. this is why we need all groups to change their start time.
the sun is also getting up early, so we can take advantage of not having daylight savings, by moving our rides forward. however, we will not be matching this ride with daylight savings changes for a few key reasons. firstly, it is very rare that we get a 40 deg day in october or march. secondly, come the end of feb, the sun is not rising till 6am. likewise in october, there is both limited light and a higher risk of riding into the sun during this time. therefore the 6am time change for the sunday rides will be in effect from november through to the end of february.
to account for more riders coming out we want to split the rides where we can. this means that, if numbers allow, we will have –
although it would be best to split at the top of the first climb, this is not always practical and therefore we will break into groups in the carpark before we leave. this will be modelled on the saturday rides and therefore have a look at the map below to see where you need to meet.
there is already an unofficial relaxed, short hills ride that has been operating for a while, so we will formalise it from now on.
the main caveat around splitting the groups is the number of riders in each group. there needs to be a minimum of 12-15 riders in a group to make this work. if, for example, we go to split the long hills and everyone thinks that they are so fast that there are only 5 people remaining in the second group, then there will be no split. trying to fight your way into the wind with a small group is just not fun and a group that small creates a bigger risk being harassed by traffic.
hopefully, by riders, self seeding in the carpark, we can filter the groups out into safe sizes. remember that these are club training rides and as such are run in accordance with our ride etiquette guide. looking after each other is key to ensuring that everyone has a safe ride.
It’ll be OK on the day.
And it was too. The Beverley 2019 has been an interesting lead up. Lots of variables are expected, and pretty well planned after a few years in practice.
This year has been a process of handover. After three years as a near one-Mo-show, this year was approached with the aim of handing on the experience and knowledge to others in the Club.
Running The Beverley day entails a volunteer group – at Registration managing any changes, misses or requests from racers; volunteers to build, manage and pull down the start/finish area and timing systems; a convoy of lead and follow car drivers with radio communication and coordinating with Commissaires and external bodies, like Traffic Management.
Some things crop up and just get managed on the fly and no one notices. It’s these issues in that no one is aware of that make the directing of The Beverley rewarding. Last year, when we expected to have Stop/Slow bats available for the Start/Finish area – they didn’t show up. Some quick thinking, and one race convoy vehicle hightailed it out to our traffic managers to borrow a set and we were sorted. 12 minutes is all it took. No one outside of the Event Staff even noticed and on we went with the day.
This year was an unavoidable pot hole at the 50km mark that appeared days before race day. Spanning half the road width and several inches of deep wet sand there was risk involved. We talked it up at rider briefing, and again on the start line, the area was spray painted pink, attended by Event Staff (thanks Fi for waving arms furiously!) and it was safely navigated around by the whole field. Sorted. Smooth as…..
Our Volunteers for your Beverley 2019 were:
| Back at Base: | Race Convoy: |
| Steve Burns | David Menarry |
| Nick Vinson | Adam Ralph |
| Selina Hanson | Fiona Williams |
| Megan Fyfield | Dan Harvey |
| Mike Morris | Marcel Willimann |
| Kathryn Dines | Pete Mah |
| Charles Roche | Andrew Williams |
| Ingrid Roche | |
| Neil Gerace |
Thank you, Crew.
The feedback from our Chief Commissaire and racers really hits home why we do this. “Favourite race of the year”, “best managed race on the calendar”. The weekend must be fun. There must be a good time had, or why would we bother? There are always things we can improve, and there is a hit-and-miss aspect to things we do, no doubt. But to have this sort of message come back indicates we are generally on the right track. May we be even better in future.
There are a number of other thank you’s that need to be given:
WA club run race events, in general, have become much more challenging to host over the years since we started this. Participation numbers at club run events have suffered enormously. So a wholehearted thank all of those racers and volunteers that came out to make The Beverley happen this year. SPR racers – first timers AND all-the-timers. Midland CC who brought a huge contingent along, those in Race Team colours holding memberships across a range of clubs – Dome Coffees Cycling Team, Chaotic Energy (with a bit of SPR mixed kit!), King KOM, Cove Legal, VeloFit to name a few. The event is hosted FOR you and happens BECAUSE of you.
Thanks for coming out to The Beverley and we hope to see you all and MORE next year.
1st female, fastest female time, 5th overall, 1st female teams classification.
A race report from Kate Bonner. Over to you Kate. (Feature image: The Legend – Daniela Tomassi)
Race day. Excited. An hour and a half of sitting in the car with Ben. Not so excited. Arrived at Beverley Hall to see it entirely decked out with some of the coolest bikes, awesome, totally vintage cool. 22 mins from Scratch, sweet. Olesya, Darcie, Teneal and Annie, so much strength in this group. Ness, Bec, Ali, Kirstie and many other talented women within 7 minutes. Scanning the list for other familiar names… Hang on, how did Hanno get off at 34 mins! The cheek of it!
Race smart, not hard. We knew we were out for a tough day. Ladies agreement that we would use the first part of the ride to ‘warm up’, forming a paceline and taking even, steady turns along the rough as guts road. It wasn’t long until the 21 min group caught us. Toby, Ross, Tom, Chris… hell this is just like a Fast Too group. This. Is. Going. To. Hurt. “Up, up, up, up” we hear as the group has already swamped us, they had us sprinting to get up to speed and start rolling through immediately.
After a messy 10-15km, we finally got the group working well. Yes, that’s right, only one side needs to be riding hard to drive the pace. Unsurprisingly, the women were holding their own. At various points on the way out, we picked up Bec, The Chaotic Energy Crew (incl. Nancy, Kirstie, Jo and Shannon) “Have a rest and then roll when you can” was echoed throughout the group. Nope, none of that. Straight into it. Inspirational stuff.
Unfortunately, with the weather being warm (yet not apocalyptically warm) and a high average speed, I looked back to find a smaller and smaller group. Within a km of the turn-around, we caught sight of the leading group, they didn’t seem that far ahead, but they had more numbers. Once we cleared up the confusion of the U-turn (where the cones finish is where we are meant to turn around, Roger, stress less) we faced the reality of our smaller group and our roll throughs turned into a pace line. As we continued down the road, we saw the flood of smaller groups coming the other way. Bloody hell, they seemed close – I’m sure we would be caught. Once they joined to form a bigger group, they would overpower the 6, 7 maybe 8 of us left working together.
Current plan, keep this group as far ahead as we can for as long as possible, retaining enough energy so that the jump onto the next group would not result in a leg explosion and getting dropped. 2 gels, 4 Clif blocks, a bottle and a bit down. Plenty of food and water left, I felt confident. 66km… 75km… 80km… I started looking back. Where the hell was scratch? Tom very kindly reminded me “Stop looking back Kate, Hanno’s up ahead, we have to catch him first.” Right you are Tom, let’s keep rolling. By 95km, we caught sight of the front group, rounding a slight uphill bend, a few shouts of encouragement and we were pulling short, hard turns to bump up our speed. With a steady surge up the hill, we started to absorb those who had been distanced. This change in pace also put a few others in strife, leaving wheels dropped and only 4 of us left from the 21/22min group.
At 105km, suddenly the realisation that Scratch was not going to catch us sunk in, and if we wanted to catch the front group, we had to do it ourselves. Ross, Tom, Darcie and I had our work cut out for us. We edged closer and closer until we hit the final hill, roughly 4km from the finish. Ross rolled off the front, and the front group was in sight, and what seemed to be within reach. It would take a pretty hard turn to close that gap, as they could taste the win on the tip of their tongues. Right, I thought, now was the time. I pushed down on the pedals harder and harder, and tried and reduce the gap to the front 5. When I looked back and saw a gap had formed between myself, and the other 3, I decided to attempt to catch them in a solo pursuit. Cresting the hill with around 300m of distance between myself and the leaders, I tucked down as low as possible in the drops and pedaled manically down the other side of the hill. The 53/11 was no match for this hill and I found myself spinning out very quickly.
The last person I would pass would be Adrian, barely off the back of the front bunch but 112ish kilometres had taken their toll, a fantastic ride none the less. I pushed on for those last 3 and a bit kms solo but couldn’t quite match the speed of the group ahead, rolling across the line for 5th place, and 19 seconds down.
What a day. While I was undeniably happy with my personal results, I was more thrilled with the atmosphere and the privilege of being able to race with so many fantastic personalities that I ride with weekly. The banter in the groups were second to none, and the familiar faces eliminated any nervous energy that might have otherwise been present.
Thank you Beverley Heroic, I can’t wait to be back next year.
Kit order has arrived!
If you had kit on the order, or previously ordered kit that you have yet to collect, it will be available to pick up from the DOME post ride tomorrow and next week as well (19/10 & 26/10).
most of you would have heard of cycliq camera lights. a perth based company that has combined front and rear lights with a constantly recording camera. there are many of you that may already have these lights as they are quite popular within the peleton.
however, if you don’t have any, or are looking at upgrading to the latest version, then we have a deal for you.
cycliq have offered the club a volume based discount on the fly6 ce and fly12 ce models. what this means is that if the club buys 10 units, we get a 20% discount, 20 units a 25% discount and 30 units a 30% discount. it must all be done through the club, then a bulk order sent out for us to distribute.
so, in the shop are 2 new items, the fly6 ce for the discounted price of $215 and the fly12 ce at $330. this is down from $259 and $399 respectively. this represents the 20% discounted price plus a bit for us to run it through paypal. if we reach the 20 or 30 unit level, then the club will reimburse the difference in savings. if however, we don’t reach the 10 unit mark, we will just refund all parties.
we will keep this offer open till mid october to see how we go. there is no pressure, just an opportunity to get some safety lights at a reduced price.
click here for access to the club shop.
