the collie donnybrook classic was run last weekend , in not the nicest weather conditions, and was won by gary boylan of rccc with our very own stu gee coming in second.  these two old wily devils made use of their handicap and were never caught by scratch.  both these guys have a very well rounded background in cycling and it is evident that they are still good riders to this day.  if you are friends with gary on facebook, you will see that he is also very vocal about mental health issues as he has been a long time sufferer himself.  i used to work with him and have seen what can happen if these things are not dealt with properly.  competitive cycling is all about showing that you are stronger than the other person, so often we put on a brave face when out on the bike.  however, if you see a change in someone’s behaviour or attitude, don’t be afraid to ask “R U OK”.  it is not just a catch cry for one day of the year, we should be looking out for each other all the time.  people’s personal lives can change quite dramatically but their cycling persona may still seem to be the same.  it is about being there for others and should be what we do for each other as part of the club.  you would be happy to lend someone a tube whilst out on the ride, how about lending an ear.

ride leader sponsor – there is no ride leader sponsor for august.  if you would like to be involved, please contact the club for more information.

spr tomr 2017 – the teams for the tomr were announced this week and we have 3 men’s, 3 women’s and 1 mixed team.  please note that these may not be the final teams as things are generally very fluid around this time and firm up closer to the event.  however, practice will start for the ttt this saturday as there are 2 team time trials in the event.  meet at the usual spot for the saturday ride and then head out on the normal saturday course and work as a team.

tomr nutrition  – we have scheduled a presentation on racing nutrition with spr member jessica gammon at the vic hotel in subiaco at 7pm on monday 28 august with a $7 entry fee at the door. this will be a very informative night with specific advice on fuelling for the three days. however, it is open to all riders that may want to learn about race nutrition.

uwct world champs – this weekend a number of spr riders are over in france for the uwct world champs.  today was the time trial where the latest report had amanda nabi coming in 6th in her age group.  keep tabs of them via all the terrible photos that are coming through the facebook feed.

club van guidelines – to ensure that club property is used effectively, we have developed a guideline for van usage so that everything is above board.  it is a resource for the club to use and this means not just the committee members.  have a look at the previous post for more information.

entertainment books – this year the club has decided to sell the every popular entertainment books as a way to raise funds.  even better there is now an app available so you don’t need to carry vouchers with you.  the app can also be shared between you and other family members,  there is also a cool function where you can see a map of your location and all the available offers in the area.   remember, you only need to redeem a few item to make up for the cost of the book and at the same time you will be helping the club. check out the previous post for more details and links to registration.

thursday training ride – we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable.    we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities.  have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit.  there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.

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.

ride routes – last week of winter and it is looking pretty damn good this weekend.  the last 2 weekends have had about 10 people tops meeting up at 7am.  hopefully we can get a few more this week.  there will be tomr training on during the main ride so we are heading to benara rd where they can practice their tt technique.

saturday 26th august

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional – trans benara 39.90km spr saturday

fast & main groups – benara rd 50.76km spr saturday

sunday 27th august

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group – coffee ride

short – grnmt goose 65.22km spr sunday

long – grnmt prk mnd wr 93.71km spr sunday

monday 28th august

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

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 29th august

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

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 30th august

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 31st august

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 1st september

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

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

service and support. i recently had a very good experience at bike related customer service.  had an issue and rang them at 11am. they came and picked up the item at 11:30am.  they rang me back at 1:00pm saying that they have identified the problem and have rectified it.  drop the item back to me at 2:30pm the same day.  we all love to get a bargain and there are not many people out there that haven’t made a bike related purchase from overseas, via the internet.  however, price is only one part of the equation.  there also very few people that have never had anything go wrong with some part of their bike.  this is where you need to make the choice.  price vs service.  as a club, however, the prices are not much different in wa, so we need to show a point of difference in our service to riders and how we interact with other road users.

ride leader sponsor – there is no ride leader sponsor for august.  if you would like to be involved, please contact the club for more information.

collie donnybrook – this classic of the wa cycling calendar is on again for the 92nd edition on saturday the 19th august.  this is generally considered an expected race for any of the tomr nominees as it will give you a good hard hit out and an understanding of where you need to improve. it is one of the few races that starts and finishes at a pub.   head over to the previous post for more details and a link to registration.

spr tomr 2017 – the long team for the spr tomr squad was announced last week and it is from this group that the final teams will be decided.  as always there will be withdrawals due to injury/sickness etc, so we need to maintain a few more riders.  the other news this week is that one of our women’s teams will have annemiek van vlueten as our guest pro rider.  there has always been pro riders in amongst the race teams, but this year annemiek will be helping us.  you can read a bit more about her in our previous post. as usual, any further info about the tour of margs teams will be published under the team tab on this blog.

club van guidelines – to ensure that club property is used effectively, we have developed a guideline for van usage so that everything is above board.  it is a resource for the club to use and this means not just the committee members.  have a look at the previous post for more information.

entertainment books – this year the club has decided to sell the every popular entertainment books as a way to raise funds.  even better there is now an app available so you don’t need to carry vouchers with you.  the app can also be shared between you and other family members,  there is also a cool function where you can see a map of your location and all the available offers in the area.   remember, you only need to redeem a few item to make up for the cost of the book and at the same time you will be helping the club. check out the previous post for more details and links to registration.

thursday training ride – we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable.    we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities.  have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit.  there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.

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.

ride routes – the weekend weather is looking good, so lets grab it with both hands and smash out some k’s.  the long term averages show that we are currently 4-5 deg lower than the average, but we are actually behind in rainfall.  so yes, you can complain about the cold, but not about the rain.  it is all about layers.  unfortunately, getting past the first layer of doona is the hardest step to make in the morning. rug up and get on the bike.

saturday 5th august

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional – trans rebold 38.69km spr saturday

fast & main groups – reabold & cottesloe 50.91km spr saturday

sunday 6th august

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group – coffee ride

short – wlsh weir 62.23km spr sunday

long – wlsh weir kal 101.71km spr sunday

monday 7th august

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

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 8th august

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

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 9th august

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 10th august

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 11th august

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

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

so there has been a bit in the news this week about the idaho stop laws that someone has tabled for consideration.  it is an interesting concept and one that has generated a lot of angst from drivers.  what i can’t understand is why the angst.  if cyclist are allowed to safely roll through an intersection and cars are not, what difference does it make to the drivers???  it seems to be that it is just not fair and drivers will have to wait longer (even though they cover more ground quicker with that engine thingy).  there is no downside that i can see for drivers by introducing a law like this.  however, i cannot see it happening in perth as we are generally as progressive as a not very progressive thing.  if it did come in to effect, it would not change the way we run our group rides, as there is no way it would be safer for us to filter down between stopped traffic to cross an intersection.  we would take the lane and wait behind vehicles as we always have.  next time someone argues against things like the idaho stop, ask them what they see as the downside for them as drivers.  i would be interested to see any responses besides “it’s not fair”, or “there should just be one rule for all road users” argument.

ride leader sponsor – our ride leaders for july are proudly sponsored by JDRF. JDRF is the leading global organisation funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.

collie donnybrook – this classic of the wa cycling calendar is on again for the 92nd edition on saturday the 19th august.  this is generally considered an expected race for any of the tomr nominees as it will give you a good hard hit out and an understanding of where you need to improve. it is one of the few races that starts and finishes at a pub.   head over to the previous post for more details and a link to registration.

tour sweepstakes – this years tour has been run and won and as expected, froome picked up the yellow jersey again.  there were a few surprises in there with matthews in green and barguil in polka dots, but even more surprising were those that didn’t make it to paris.  some teams entered the tour with such high hopes only to have them dashed before the end of the first week.  the results from our sweepstakes have also been posted our blog with the overall winnings as well as the washup from the final classification.  the club will be in contact with you soon so you can claim your winnings.

spr tomr 2017 – the long team for the spr tomr squad was announced last week and it is from this group that the final teams will be decided.  as always there will be withdrawals due to injury/sickness etc, so we need to maintain a few more riders.  the other news this week is that one of our women’s teams will have annemiek van vlueten as our guest pro rider.  there has always been pro riders in amongst the race teams, but this year annemiek will be helping us.  you can read a bit more about her in our previous post. as usual, any further info about the tour of margs teams will be published under the team tab on this blog.

club van guidelines – to ensure that club property is used effectively, we have developed a guideline for van usage so that everything is above board.  it is a resource for the club to use and this means not just the committee members.  have a look at the previous post for more information.

entertainment books – this year the club has decided to sell the every popular entertainment books as a way to raise funds.  even better there is now an app available so you don’t need to carry vouchers with you.  the app can also be shared between you and other family members,  there is also a cool function where you can see a map of your location and all the available offers in the area.   remember, you only need to redeem a few item to make up for the cost of the book and at the same time you will be helping the club. check out the previous post for more details and links to registration.

thursday training ride – we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable.    we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities.  have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit.  there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.

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.

ride routes – there seems to be a very small window of opportunity on saturday morning where the rain may stop.  take advantage of it and get on the bike.  in the uk, many groups won’t let you ride with them without mudguards.  if you do turn up without them, they make you ride at the back for the whole ride.  even though they may not look cool, mudguards do make the ride a lot more pleasant for everyone else.

saturday 29th july

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional – trans reverse river 40.58km spr saturday

fast & main groups – shelley & mosman 50.14km spr saturday

sunday 30th july

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group – coffee ride

short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday

long – carr peet obs 97.72km spr sunday

monday 31st july

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

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 1st august

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

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 2nd august

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 3rd august

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

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 4th august

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

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

so i hurt my back this week and had a couple of days off work.  that also meant off the bike and off any form of exercise.  i realised just how much my routine revolves around exercise.  i had a reprieve of sorts with watching the tour as i didn’t have to get up early the next day, but i certainly felt like i was missing something.  although to outsiders, it sometimes looks like we are a little obsessed, there are a number (a very large number) of worse habits to be into.  it is good to have a break (even enforced) as it gives you time to re-evaluate what is important to you.  it is however, hard to eat all the pancakes and bacon without putting on weight.

ride leader sponsor – our ride leaders for july are proudly sponsored by JDRF. JDRF is the leading global organisation funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.

collie donnybrook – this classic of the wa cycling calendar is on again for the 92nd edition on saturday the 19th august.  this is generally considered an expected race for any of the tomr nominees as it will give you a good hard hit out and an understanding of where you need to improve. it is one of the few races that starts and finishes at a pub.   head over to the previous post for more details and a link to registration.

tour sweepstakes – if you are in this years tour sweepstakes, make sure you are checking out the tour leaderboard which is updated daily.  this shows how much each team wins per stage and how much it has accumulated so far during the tour.  there are only a few stages left for your teams to make an impact.  however, most of the prize money comes from the final classifications in paris.

spr tomr 2017 – the spr tomr squad was announced this week with the extra massive news that we will have a secret female pro in one of the teams.  get ready to support our racers in green.  updates for the squad will continue to be published under the team tab on this blog.

entertainment books – this year the club has decided to sell the every popular entertainment books as a way to raise funds.  even better there is now an app available so you don’t need to carry vouchers with you.  there is also a cool function where you can see a map of your location and all the available offers in the area.  check out the previous post for more details and links to registration.

thursday training ride – we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable.    we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities.  have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit.  there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.

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.

ride routes – so to coincide with the start of game of thrones, it looks like winter has finally come.  most rides have been washed out this week but there seems to be a small window of respite around the time our saturday ride is on.  be aware that the roads may still be wet from the night before so care must still be taken.

saturday 22nd july

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional – trans mosman 40.39km spr saturday

fast & main groups – cresswell & herdsman 48.86km spr saturday

sunday 23rd july

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group – coffee ride

short – goose kal 63.41km spr sunday

long – darl weir 100.09km spr sunday

monday 24th july

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

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 25th july

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

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 26th july

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 27th july

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 28th july

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

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride

what a difference a week makes.  this time last week the tour de france was in full swing and all the favorites for gc and sprints were beginning to battle it out.  now, with still a week and a half to go, it looks like the contenders are not contending or have unfortunately crashed out and the sprinters are being schooled by a german with outstanding hair products.  however, it is still the tour de france and it was good to see that the sky team was not dominating.  my sleeping patterns are also not dominating.

ride leader sponsor – our ride leaders for july are proudly sponsored by JDRF. JDRF is the leading global organisation funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.

collie donnybrook –  this classic of the wa cycling calendar is on again for the 92nd edition on saturday the 19th august.  this is generally considered an expected race for any of the tomr nominees as it will give you a good hard hit out and an understanding of where you need to improve. it is one of the few races that starts and finishes at a pub.   head over to the previous post for more details and a link to registration.

tour sweepstakes – if you are in this years tour sweepstakes, make sure you are checking out the tour leaderboard which is updated daily.  this shows how much each team wins per stage and how much it has accumulated so far during the tour.  there is a long way to paris and there is lots of money still to be shared out.

spr tomr 2017 – the spr tomr squad is set to be announced this weekend.  the squad will have 6 teams selected from within it and a few surprises will be let out of the bag.  get ready to support our racers in green.  updates for the squad will continue to be published under the team tab on this blog.

numbat cup –  the next round of cyclo-cross is next sunday 23rd july to be held at guilford grammer.  a mountian bike is all you need and there are kids events as well.  a number of spr riders have been regulars, so if you are interested, come and give it a try.  entries can be found here.

entertainment books – this year the club has decided to sell the every popular entertainment books as a way to raise funds.  even better there is now an app available so you don’t need to carry vouchers with you.  there is also a cool function where you can see a map of your location and all the available offers in the area.  check out the previous post for more details and links to registration.

tour of esperance – if you are thinking of heading down to esperance in july, then make sure that you take your bike.  this year the tour of esperance will be holding a handicap race on the 16th july with lots of prize money to boot.  being a handicap race, everyone has a chance of winning the prize.  check out their facebook event page for further details.

tour de france dinner – LAST CHANCE the annual tour de france dinner is on again this year at Petite Mort Restaurant.  it will be held on the 16th july and is open to all spr members (partners welcome).  check out the previous post for more details and a link to purchasing tickets.

ride london youth focus – club member paul cumberworth is heading back to the uk, to take part in ride london on 30 July 2017 to raise funds for youth focus. youth focus helps young people who are suffering from mental illness, self harm or suicidal thoughts offering free individual or family counselling to help them through tough times and on to a brighter future. paul strongly supports this charity and probably could have done with something similar at a younger age, after losing his brother and dad in a short space of time. he is hoping to raise $1000 for the charity and you can help  by donating to the following link.  https://cycle.gofundraise.com.au/page/PaulCumberworth

thursday training ride – we implemented a new system of splitting the thursday group ride to keep the size manageable.    we think that we have come up with a good way of splitting the groups, but we need you to be honest about your own abilities.  have a look at the strava segment for the ride so you know where you sit.  there is nothing to stop you stepping up to challenge yourself, but this will at least provide a guide as to how much more challenging it will be.

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.

ride routes – so they are predicting a bit of rain on saturday but the worst will be in the afternoon.  plan to head out as the forecast is only 50% chance.  however, be prepared as that 50% chance could be 100% chance that it will fall on us.

saturday 15th july

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group –  novice shelley 36.06km spr saturday

transitional – trans rebold 38.69km spr saturday

fast & main groups – scarbs beach & hale 51.21km spr saturday

sunday 16th july

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

early lap – earlybird 40.93km spr special

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

development group – coffee ride

short – grnmt goose 65.22km spr sunday

long – grnmt prk mnd wr 93.71km spr sunday

monday 17th july

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

south stock 33.76km spr monday

tuesday 18th july

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

spr tuesday 36.37km (river ride)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

wednesday 19th july

ride starts raffles bike path at 5:30am

interval training – stock road repeats

thursday 20th july

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

see previous post for ride groups

spr thursday 37.26km (cott & freo)

ride starts frasers ave at 5:45am

development group – interval training kings park

friday 21st july

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

spr friday 42.01km (shelley)

friday training/recovery ride