i think it will be cold this weekend.  so the last few days of the tour and i am sensing only a marginal improvement on last year.  there has not been the dominance of the sky team, but there has been the dominance of the sky rider.  i have been quite vocal in my suspicions of just how clean froome is and i think that after lance, every exceptional performance will be under the spot light.  however, should we be giving everyone the benefit of the doubt?  is there room for honest hard work and gains, or do we see every winner as a potential cheat? as darth vader once said “i find your lack of faith disturbing”.  i think the main problem is that as cyclists we like to see our hero’s suffer.  we know how much it hurts to ride fast and i don’t think people would mind froome winning if he at least looks like it hurt a bit.  it was refreshing to see riche porte not be able to back up the first mountain day after such a strong ride.  however, i will let you all make up your own mind…

spr riders on other rides – i received a very irate email this week from a pedestrian who was almost knocked over by some of our riders on a dual use path.  it happened at the end of shelley on saturday in that little section of path that we take to get onto fern road.  last saturday, however, all our rides were out on abernathy road and didn’t go along shelley.  it seems that some spr riders were out on another ride and they were identified within the group not taking care on the path.  i have no idea which group it was and how many other riders were involved, but spr riders were identified and hence i cope an email.  we have some pretty strict rules in place on our rides around how the group acts and where we ride.  a lot of other groups do not have any organisation at all except people just know where to meet and the ride route.  this usually means that no-one takes responsibility for the group’s actions.  unfortunately, when our riders are in these groups, we all get tarred with the same brush.  from a clubs perspective regardless of which ride you are on, if you are wearing the kit, you are representing the club.  please bear this in mind and think about how you are representing, not only the club, but cycling in general.

raffle tickets – toby will be selling raffle tickets to raise money for the DOME team to go race in east java.  they will be available at the coffeeshop this weekend and will be drawn at the tony lendrum cycling photo exhibition.  for just $10 you can win a pair of carbon clincher wheels from nero bike. check out the flyer for more info.

ride leaders – thanks to those that have volunteered to be ride leaders this week.  we have lots of spots left that are just begging for you to put your name down in.  see the previous post for more details or sign up here.  please help out the club and volunteer your time.  if we can get a few weeks filled in advance it is going to lessen the need for me to be constantly nagging you.

ride routes – the maddington route has parts that are fairly new and we have only done it this way once before.  make sure you have a look at the route so you know the way.  once we hit canningvale, it is the same, but the approach is a bit more convoluted.  i still need to remap the sunday short course routes onto garmin.  it is on my to do list, so sorry if it is causing anyone a problem.

saturday 20th 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 – maddington 51.87km spr saturday

sunday 21st 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

short – spr sunday 70.93km (kahuna)

long – khna can mills 94.55km spr sunday

so the first week of the tour is usually full of injuries and i seemed to have started the second week on the back foot. the first week of staying up late to watch the tour, then getting up early to do the spr rides seemed to have diminished my ability to fight off any colds.  i haven’t been on the bike since saturday and even then it was an aborted attempt.  a head cold has taken me out of the earlybird rides, but luckily still allows me to stay up and watch the tour.  for some reason, if i don’t watch it live, i don’t really feel like i have watched the tour.  the aussies had a good first week, but a disastrous second week as all gc hope faded.  there is still lots of tour to go and luckily the other teams are attempting to take on sky to add some life to the party.  the last week should be awesome with so many mountain passes and hill top finishes to smash the race apart.

ride leaders – thanks to those that have volunteered to be ride leaders this week.  we have lots of spots left that are just begging for you to put your name down in.  see the previous post for more details or sign up here.  please help out the club and volunteer your time.

ride routes – well now we are past the shortest day of the year we can expect warmer weather and more sunshine….hopefully.  it has been pretty cold this last week and even a bit wet.  don’t let this stop you from coming out on the weekend and putting in some big winter kms.

saturday 13th 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 abernethy 39.96km spr saturday

fast & main groups – abernethy rd 48.21km spr saturday

sunday 14th 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

short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday

long – carr peet obs 97.72km spr sunday

how unpredictable has the tour been this year.  no-one picked the stage winner for the first three stages and i can’t say that any of them were obvious.  the greenedge boys certainly redeemed themselves after the debacle of stage 1 when the bus went for line honours.  seeing gerrans out sprint sagan was unreal and watching the guys take out the team time trial was amazing.  my body is slowly getting used to staying up till 11:30pm to watch the stage finish then getting up at 5:00am to go riding.  it is not the most productive work day but it just doesn’t feel right to watch a tour de france replay.  it is, however, a good time of year to not be living on the east coast and having to stay up till 2am.  a couple more stages left before the gc boys come out to play in the mountains.  looking forward to that.

ride leaders – we need ride leaders for this saturday’s ride.  we will be releasing a ride leaders guide soon, but in the meantime a few points are as follows – pick a group below where you usually ride.  split the group before you leave the carpark.  for the riders in the group, the ride leader has volunteered their time, please be respectful and listen to instructions.  if you can do better then feel free to sign up.  see the previous post for more details or sign up here.  please help out the club and volunteer your time.  thanks to those that have already put their name down.

rapha women’s ride – cathi dixon is organising a ride for the rapha women’s 100.  details as follows.

Join me on the 7th July to ride 100km as part of the Rapha Women’s 100.  The Rapha Women’s 100 is a global event getting thousands of women around the world to ride 100km on the 7th July wherever they are.

On the 7th of the 7th at 7am we will be meeting at Dôme Westralia Plaza Shop 5, Westralia Plaza 167 St Georges Terrace, Perth. World champion track cyclist Sarah Kent will be rolling with us. This is not a race it is a group ride. A chicks group ride. So come along bring your female cycling friends.  We will be riding a river loop x 2, so if 100km is to far you can peel off at 50km.
Come on pedal pedal pedal

tour de france dinner – a chance to do some french stuff that doesn’t involve the bicycle.  more info here.

focus kids ride – cold.  it is going to be cold. kids ride is on this weekend at 9:30am and we will have people there to ride with you, but we fully understand if it is too cold for your kids.

ride routes – yes, it will be cold for the ride, but at least it will be dry.  all you have to do is wear more clothes.  i look forward to freezing with you.

saturday 6th 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 – canning vale & welshpool 49.74km spr saturday

ride starts behind boatshed cafe (coode st carpark) at 9:30am

focus kids group – ride along bike path to causeway and return (6kms)

sunday 7th 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

short – spr sunday 63.49km (gooseberry & kalamuda)

long – darl weir 100.09km spr sunday

the tour is starting.  the tour is starting.  get ready for three weeks of late nights, cold early morning bike rides and falling asleep at work.  i told my guys at work to expect me to be cranky for the next few weeks.  i told them the same thing last year and the sky team went and ruined it for me.  it just wasn’t as much fun. everyone is saying that froome will win this year based on the sky formula for tour riding.  however, it doesn’t take much in that first week to make it all come undone.  cadel isn’t the strongest rider, but the other year, he kept out of trouble while others suffered from a number of misfortunes.  the tour is three weeks long so don’t count anyone out or anyone as a sure thing just yet.  now where is that no-doze.

ride leaders – we are trying to be proactive by setting up our ride leaders in advance.  this way you can work out your training and on your “off” days you can help out taking charge of one of the groups.  see the previous post for more details or sign up here.  please help out the club and volunteer your time.  thanks to those that have already put their name down.

spr breakfast – the quarterly spr breakfast is on this saturday after the ride.  cost is $15 and this gets you a coffee and a selection of food.  please try to bring along exact change to speed up the process.

tour tipping comp – with the tour de france starting this weekend we again will be running our tour tipping comp.  it is quite detailed and it gives you a reason to stay up and watch even the boring stages.  cost is $20 and all money goes into the prize pool.  the more people that enter, the bigger the prize pool.  more info here.

bwa swan valley – we have a number of groups entered in the cyclo-sportif this weekend at swan valley.  please do your best to wear the current club kit as we are using this as an opportunity to update the club photos and will be looking at getting as many people photographed as possible.

track cycling grand prix – if you are not doing the cyclo, there is still an chance to see some first rate track racing as tickets are available to the track cycling grand prix.  more info here.

spr kit order – the next kit order will close at midnight on monday 1 july and arrive in mid august.  orders are made via the champion systems online ordering system.  advice on how to order can be found on the team kit section of this website.  SPR kit wishlist_June2013 provides a summary of current kit options.  don’t forget only financial spr (south perth cycle club) members can be seen around town in our kit…

ride routes – with the club breakfast on, i thought it was a good chance to build up an appetite by doing the holmes road route.  on sunday, there will be lots of people off doing the cyclo, so make sure you know the ride route.

saturday 29th june

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 canning vale 42.34km spr saturday

fast & main groups – holmes rd 50.42km spr saturday

sunday 30th june

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

short – spr sunday 70.93km (kahuna)

long – khna can mills 94.55km spr sunday

so there seems to be lots more people out on our rides with go-pro cameras on.  i would love to get more group riding footage, so if you want to put something together like blair did above, feel free to send me a link.  if you have any stills from the back facing cam it would be great as well.  we are working on a new look to the website and we need to get an few more pics of people in the new kit.

kit collection – the latest kit order should arrive this week and be available for collection at DOME this saturday.  for other options, see the previous post for details.

spr breakfast – our next spr breakfast is on saturday 29th june at DOME after the regular saturday ride.  more details are on the previous post so put your name in the comments so we know how many to cater for.

bwa swan valley – if you have already signed up in the previous post, please make sure that you register in your team.  it looks like we will have quite a large number of teams flying the spr colours.

tour of margaret river – if you are interested is doing a multi-stage tour in november, put your name in the comments in the previous post.  there are limited spaces and you need to be able to commit to the event.  the race sub-committee will make the final selection as to what team riders end up on in the interest of providing balanced teams.

ride routes – there is a bit of the above footage that shows the group totally missing the turn into morley drive last saturday.  make sure you know the ride route.  it was called “morley drive” so we probably needed to turn there.  this week we are having another go at whiteman park.  this route was the catalyst for the move to garmin for the mapping facility.  hopefully this week the map will take us on the right route through the parks various turns.

saturday 22nd june

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 – whiteman park 50.4km spr saturday

sunday 23rd june

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

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd) follow long course to first climb

long – wlsh obs kal 90.32km spr sunday

why are some of our training rides more popular than others???  the monday and wednesday ciao rides seems to only pull in the regular 6-8 riders.  thursday ride today was massive.  at a glance, both the fast and main groups could have been split and still given a good size group.  the ciao ride surprises me though.  it is flat and fast (does shelley twice) and is significantly easier than the thursday ride as we just cruise between the fast sections.  are people saving their legs for thursday??? when wednesday was the uci ride, we would have over 20 riders tackling the much harder kings park circuit.  probably the least popular ride is the sunday earlybird.  not many people opt for the sunday double, but it is a good way to increase your km count or get a longer ride in if you need to get home early (earlybird + short hills).  try something different.  the training rides are there for the members.

kit order – the kit orders are open and a new design has been added for the mountain bikers.  for those that are worried about their kit getting dirty, we have a black version of the jersey.  please note that the official club kit is the white version and you cannot race in road races in the black kit.  bit more info in the previous post.

cyclocross – cyclocross racing is back in perth and starts this sunday.  as explained in the previous post, it is a combination of road, mtb and picking your bike up over obstacles.  think of it as “tough mudder on bikes”.  this type of racing is very popular in europe and quite big in america.  australia has started to embrace it and it gives you another type of bike to buy.

spr breakfast – our next spr breakfast is on saturday 29th june at DOME after the regular saturday ride.  more details are on the previous post so put your name in the comments so we know how many to cater for.

bwa swan valley – a few spots left in the bwa cyclo-sportif teams.  put your name down in the previous post if you want to be involved.

ride routes – easterly winds are predicted for saturday, so lets get a tailwind home.

saturday 15th june

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 – morley drive 50.77km spr saturday

sunday 16th june

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

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd)

long – wlsh weir kal 101.71km spr sunday

hands up if you are sick!  half of work seems to be off at the moment.  i have had a lingering cold for the last 2-3 weeks.  it comes and goes and the month of may was a bit off a write off (bikewise).  the family has also been knocked around as well, so it has been a wonderful couple of weeks.  well, winter is here and we have had some pretty cold days.  the video above, was main 1 on the first day of winter and you can see how much everyone was rugged up.  however, they are great rides as they are usually dry and riding hard certainly warms you up.  so, no excuses.  if it is cold, just put more clothes on.  see you on the road.

ride routes – nothing outstanding this week in the ride routes.  it may rain, it will probably be cold.  same time, same place.  see you there.

saturday 8th june

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 abernethy 39.96km spr saturday

fast & main groups – tv stations 50.29km spr saturday

sunday 9th june

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

short – follow long course to kalamunda, then do gooseberry.

long – kal obs goose 97.40km spr sunday

winter is coming.  not only is the official start to winter upon us on saturday, after an extended period of warm weather, we are in for a frigid start to the weekend.  friday morning has a predicted 2 deg with saturday not much more than that.  i hope that you ordered up big at the previous kit order, as full finger gloves and jackets and leg warmers will be the order of the day.  just think of it like the second last stage of the giro.  hope your gears don’t freeze.

racing – good luck to those making the trip to kalgoorlie this weekend for the goldfields race/ride.  there is also the first in the cyclo-cross series starting this weekend behind the velodrome.  more info can be found here.

boot camp – tuesday morning for those that are after something a bit different. more info here.

focus group kids ride – first saturday of the month, so we have your kids ride on at 9:30am.  bring the kids for a leisurely ride along the bike path.  last month we had 3 families and about 7 kids. get involved.

ride routes – i have managed to get the majority of the saturday and sunday ride routes mapped to the garmin site as well as a couple of the weekday/special ones.  this should make transfer to a garmin unit easier.  the public holiday means another 2 rides to add to your weekend.  monday earlybird is usually under subscribed (just rob on his own this week) but is a really good ride.  check it out since you have the time.

saturday 1st june

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 shelley 40.59km spr saturday

fast & main groups – maddington 51.87km spr saturday

ride starts behind boatshed cafe (coode st carpark) at 9:30am

focus kids group – ride along bike path to causeway and return (6kms)

sunday 2nd june

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

short – brktn weir 82.89km spr sunday

long – f’berg urch obs 96.16km spr sunday

monday 3rd june

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

south stock 33.76km spr monday

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

trans & main – public hol 58.97km spr special

not much to talk about for the ride routes today.  i have probably forgotten about some race to promote, or some event that we need volunteers for, or it is actually just a quiet period for us. the giro is coming to a close this weekend with the last 3 out of 4 stages set to create some fireworks.  that is as long as the riders can actually ride up the mountains.  a front of cold weather is expected to bring sub-zero temperatures to some of the climbs and there is talk of there being a route change.  cadel is sitting pretty in second, but i can’t see him making a dent unless nimbali has a bad day.  a few late nights are on the agenda starting with the mountain time trial tonight.  it also makes it hard to get up in the morning for our rides, but at least it doesn’t snow in perth.

earlybird lights – it is pretty much pitch black for the earlybird rides now.  as such you need to make sure that you have adequate lights on your bike.  by this i mean not just a little flashing LED but a decent set that both shows you the road and lets others know where you are.  people will spend thousands on their bike and hundreds on shoes, but then skimp on the bike lights.  when you are in the group, a flashing front light is not only useless, but really annoying if you are riding next to it.  do the right thing and get a good set of ay-ups or exposure joystick and stay safe out there.

ride routes – there has been a bit of discussion lately about the size of the saturday groups and the speed of some of the riders.  as the fast and all the mains do the same route, there is an opportunity for some of the faster main 1 riders to have a crack at the fast group.  if you get dropped or split at the lights, then you can get picked up by main 1 coming along quite soon after.  if a few of you work together, it can be a challenge to try to stay ahead of main 1 whilst trying to catch the fast group.  with traffic lights, etc, it is sometime possible to catch back up and still get a good solid ride in.  we have had a number of main 2 riders step up to main 1 but not so many main 1 take the jump to fast.  have a go, suck wheel if you need to.  no-one will care if you don’t do a turn.

saturday 25th may

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 – hale & ridgehill 50.58km spr saturday

sunday 26th may

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

short – spr sunday 66.71km (greenmount & gooseberry)

long – spr sunday 95.04km (greenmount & parkerville & mundaring weir)

so i am enjoying the giro so far this year.  unfortunately it is not for a very sportsman like reason.  i am enjoying that wiggo isn’t going well.  all the expectations and bluster of how the super team will blow the race apart haven’t materialised and we now have a domestique higher up the standing than the team leader.  fair enough, he has been sick on the climbs, but descending like a wuss didn’t help his chances.  it is also good to see cadel going well.  i am embarrassed to say that during the last big mountain stage i was expecting him to falter and waiting for him to fail.  luckily he proved me wrong and was there to the end. this weekend involves a couple of big mountain stages, so i am looking forward to a lack of sleep again.

armadale kermesse – we now have enough volunteers for this race as per the previous post.  thanks for all that volunteered.  we have good numbers racing the event as well.

spr boot camp – starting next week, a bit of cross training is being offered to keep you fit over winter.  see the previous post for details.

ride routes – some big logistics problems this sunday as there are a number of events on that we don’t want to come across during our hills ride.  firstly the armadale grand fondo rules out anything around roleystone then the bwa cyclosportif rules out anything around mundaring, observatory area.  at the end of the day, we cannot totally avoid them, so just be aware of other road users.

saturday 18th may

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 abernethy 39.96km spr saturday

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

sunday 19th may

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

short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd)

long – spr sunday 101.86km (welshpool & mundaring & kalamunda)