South Perth Rouleurs

the spot where carlos landed

there was a crash this morning during the fast group ride.  it had rained earlier and there was still a bit of water on the road.  going through the roundabout near uwa, carlos had his front wheel slip out from under him and he went down hard.  dr jim went straight over him and another guy speared off the road and into the treated pine logs on the side of the road.  all three managed to get riding again, but the rest of the morning was very tentative through the corners.  this is just a reminder to ride to conditions.  this means that if it is wet - slow down.  if it is busy - don’t swerve around to much, if there are kids/dogs/people on a bike path – don’t be riding at 40km/hr.  you are responsible for your own safety as well as that of others.  we think the road came off second best to carlos.

ironhorse clothing t-shirts - we still have some spr t-shirts left if you want to look part of the club.  especially if you are helping out at race events, these let everyone know who you belong to.  there is a link in the right menu and you can order online.

main 2 - we have a need to keep the main 2 group going as it provides a step for those progressing to main 1.  as such it needs a leader.  even though the extremely large shoes of russell will be hard to fill, this group really needs some direction.  i am looking for a couple of people that would be willing to lead this group on and off (i.e rotation) to keep it going.  if you are worried about not getting a strong work out, then you can easily change that by riding up and down the group, work on the front, helping slower riders get back on the group and even pushing people up hills.  unlike the corporate world, we have lots of indians and not many chiefs.  show some ambition and step up.

ride routes – nothing noteworthy on this weeks rides.  just come out and ride.

saturday 4th february

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 39.81km (shelley & bannister)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 51.36km (sth lake)

sunday 5th february

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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)

take that, asphalt

its good to have a day off midweek as it really breaks it up.  1 day back at work then a weekend to look forward to. it has been almost a week since i last rode my bike and i am missing it a bit.  the dreaded summer lurgy has taken hold and given me a further week out of my training after an enforced 2 week holiday.  looks like i may be back soon, but not looking forward to the heat that is on offer.

criterium - this weekend we will be holding race 2 of the crit series with the rccc.  we will need volunteers to help out as usual and since it will be hot, we will need more to help out so we can change out traffic management people more often.  the first race starts at 8:00am so we need to be there to set up at 7:00am.  if you can help out before/after your own race then that would be great.  if you are available to help, then put your name in the comments below so we can make sure we have enough people.  also, if you are coming by car, bring a chair as we always seem to be short a few.

spr kit & t-shirts - there are still a few bags of kit that have not been collected yet.  if you contact on email me we can organise a time to pick it up.

fundraiser donations - thanks to all that contributed to our fundraiser at the start of the public holiday ride.  we have raised $200 to help seb (snuggles jr) to get his own track bike.

forums - just another reminder that the forums are now up and running.  so if you want to buy/sell, get info/opinions, need help with something or looking for someone to ride with at odd times, register and you can post to the forums instead of the blog.

ride routes – no hills ride this sunday as you should all be at technology park ot be either racing or helping out with our next criterium.  there will be an earlybird, so you can still get a ride in if you need.  saturday will be a scorcher so we will try to take advantage of the ene winds and get a push back along guilford road.  i hope toby has the aircon running flat out for our arrival.

saturday 28th january

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 41.73km (canning vale reverse) (NOTE CHANGE)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 49.69km (holmes rd)

sunday 29th january

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

no hills ride today as we are running a criterium at tech park.  you should be there instead.

snuggles jr (seb - on the right) on the state podium

midweek ride routes this week due to the aussie day public holiday.  before i get onto the changes to the ride routes, there are a couple of things that i want to discuss.

forums - we have a new forums section where you can post classifieds, questions and discussions.  some of you may have noticed that you don’t actually have access to write a blog post.  the forums are different and you will be able to post to them as you need.  anything too offensive will be removed, but use your login to get access.

crits - there are 2 crits this week.  the rccc will be putting one on for aussie day at tech park and then we will be combining with them to put on another one on sunday.  remember, if your licence has expired, you need to renew before you can race or you will need to get a day licence.

community support - a few months ago during a ride, i was talking to matty upton and he suggested that maybe the group could do more for the community.  by this he meant that maybe once a month before a ride start, we could hand the hat around and everyone put in a gold coin or so for a nominated fund raiser.  there are usually lots of groups that people in the club are involved with that can do with a bit of extra support and this way we can be seen to be giving a back to the community.  if you are involved with any fundraisers, from schools trying to raise money for computers, to sporting groups looking at sending someone to an event, or even community groups raising money for a bus, then let me know and we can see what we can do.  this aussie day public holiday ride i want to start this initiative up by collecting for a development fund.  snuggles’ young son seb recently started riding and even competed in the golden spokes where he came 2nd in the under 13 race.  just recently he raced in the state junior track championships where he managed to come third in the points race.  he has got a new road bike, but is now saving up for his own track bike.  at the state champs he rode on a hire bike, with dunlop volleys and toe clips but managed to beat a kid on a pinarello.  he was even looking at selling his nerf guns to fund his own bike (and we have all been there).  so before the public holiday ride, i will be passing the hat around and would encourage everyone to drop in a couple of bucks (more if you want) so we can get the next generation a head start in cycling.

ride routes – according to the road closures for aussie day, we should be right for the start of the earlybird and the start of the main ride at 7.  cars will be restricted, so if you are driving to the start, then you will need to park near the corner of coode and angelo st and then roll down the hill.  on both rides, there will be road closures along burke drive for the aussie day triathlon.  this event starts at 6:30am so the roads will already be closed before the earlybird gets there.  in this case the earlybird ride will continue straight at the roundabout and continue along preston point road until it exits at canning hwy.  this way all of the point walter road will be missed.  for the public holiday ride, start along burke drive as usual, but then just before the road closure will be a turn to stoneham drive. follow this along to the end then a quick right, left will put you on the usual hill up stock road.

there will be a fast group, main group and development group at 5:30am, but just be aware that the public holiday ride will leave at 7:00am as normal.  if your group is looking at not making the time cut then you should look for a shortcut to make sure you do.

thursday 26th january

rides start under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am

early lap – spr thursday 43.54km (cott & freo) (skip point walter)

rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am

fast & main groups – spr public holiday 59.35km (shelley & freo) (skip burke drive)

shut up legs

what a start to the year for aussie cycling.  the nationals were awesome when i was over there and now it seems half of the rouleurs are hanging out in Radelaide for the tdu.  there have been more photos and stalker appearances so i will post them up as they make their way through.  i am still on holidays, but back in perth now so will make an appearance at some rides.  2 weeks off the bike, however, did mean that i had “fresh” legs for the first 10 minutes of the ride, before the “untrained” legs kicked in for the rest.  maybe starting with the thursday fast group was the wrong approach to take.  finally, not that i want to dicuss it, but shane warne is a dick.

crits - our next crit with the rccc will be on the 29th jan (next sunday) so we will be looking for volunteers again to ensure it runs smoothly.  the rccc will be running an aussie day crit on the tech park circuit, so if you want to race, then register now.

ride routes – new ride route for the main group this week so upload to your garmin, write notes on your stem or at least have a good look at the map beforehand.  there are a few left and right turns that you need to do so make sure that you know when they are or you could end up in joondalup.  sunday sees the next “berg” after the chook last week.  this one starts with f and ends with uckenberg.  if you haven’t done it before, then you have missed out on a marvelous ride.  cj sutton from the sky protour team did this ride with us a few years ago and even he said it was hard (mind you he was in the big ring doing strength efforts for most of the ride). EDIT – made a small change to the ride route for saturday.  after we cross the freeway we will then take the first left past IKEA and then onto scarbs road.  it seemed better than trying to change across 3 lanes to turn right.

saturday 21st january

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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

development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)

transitional – spr saturday 41.18km (reverse river ride)

fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.18km (alexander drive)

sunday 22nd january

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

early lap – spr earlybird ride

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

short – spr sunday 82.79km (brookton & weir rd)

long – spr sunday 96.36km (patterson & canns & urch)