well the start of autumn is only 4 days away and already i can feel a chill in the air…..not. the prediction for this week is for 7 days of +35 deg with minimum temps of about 24 deg. this summer just won’t end. maybe i should become nocturnal and that way i can enjoy nice moderate temperatures for a week.
earlybird rides – as mentioned in a previous post, there has been some changes to the earlybird rides during the week. monday and friday start on the south perth side of the narrows and both routes head south. some more feedback on whether these routes are appropriate would be appreciated as they will be adjusted if we feel they are too unsafe for this time of day.
pemberton – set for the march long weekend, this is not too far away, but needs a bit of organisation if you are intending to head on down. south west are running the event so you know that it will be well organised and well run. there is already a blog post here so let others know if you are heading down so you can fly the spr colours together.
agm, kit distribution and breakfast – we have secured a venue and will have a breakfast as part of this all inclusive event. one of our sponsors (esplanade river suites) has organised some space and food for us. more info to come.
spr easter camp – this year we will be holding our first spr easter camp down at margaret river. as discussed in the previous post there is quite a bit of dorm accommodation, plus space inside for swags and plenty of open ground for those with a tent. this is not just a bike riding trip, but the whole family is welcome to come along. details are still being finalised but if you don’t have any other plans for easter, then sign up as the more we have the better it will be.
ride routes – remember holmes road??? well it remembers you and is looking forward to seeing you again. we need to do this route again so that people become familiar with it. it is a good test of the legs and the roads are nice and quiet. on sunday, we again will be avoiding the roleystone area until things settle down there a bit. instead, we have the chookenberg and gooseberry in the one ride (insert evil laughter here).
saturday 26th 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 1 & 2 –spr saturday 40.86km (rebold hill)
fast, main 1 & 2 – spr saturday 49.69km (holmes rd)
sunday 27th 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) follow long course to welshpool rd
long – spr sunday 94.36km (chookenberg & observatory & gooseberry)
Pete, I checked out the stats for the Sunday hills ride on MapMyRide. It says:
– Nobody has listed this Route as a Must Do
– Nobody has listed this Route in their Top 5 Routes
– Nobody has marked this Route as a Want To Do
It must be a tough one, huh?
Pete, there have been a few comments about the Monday morning route. (I’ll recap). Generally it was pretty good, although the sun on South Street was a bit of a problem – very low and into drivers eyes. South St, although a 70kph limit, is always much faster than 70kph. Have to admit that I was feeling concerned and a tiny wee bit scared! It won’t be a problem in a few weeks time when it’ll still be dark. And I’ll still be in bed.
p.s. Holmes Road – oh joy of my heart, another hill for me to get popped off the back of the group on…better bring my chasing legs…again!
Pete,
Friday morning ride had 8 of us turn up. The route was good with little traffic until after Shelley. There was one point along Bannister Road where we had sun in our eyes, but this was only for about 300m so don’t think it is an issue. Once off Bannister and onto Nicholson we went single file due to the large amount of traffic on the road at that time of day. Sort of unavoidable, and I didn’t think it was that bad.
We turned onto Albany Hwy and with the three lanes there suggested that we try a double up, however Toby had other ideas and kept us at ITT speed (tail wind along there as well) and in single file. The way back along Manning rd, Kent st, Douglas st. was quiet and good.
All up I think this route is quite good. The only issue would be along Nicholson that can get a bit busy, but with this route it is unavoidable and I don’t think it is too much of a problem.
Don’t forget the Main 3 – we are looking forward to meet Holmes Rd.
I did the Monday morning ride and I second Mark H’s comments on concern along south street at that time of the morning – there is a little too much traffic for my liking to be safe, and with the the sun is in our eyes, and hence in the eyes of drivers coming up behind us, it doesn’t make for an enjoyable stretch to ride.
That was my only problem with Monday’s ride (though I didn’t think the traffic was that bad except for a small stretch just before Bannister Road), but we rode along there at just after 6AM on Monday. Sunrise next monday is 6:04 and then 6:11 the following week so I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for too long.
We were a little bit later going along Bannister this morning, but once again, give it 2 weeks and it won’t be an issue.
This morning was good!
Willeri Drive was really good. Perfect straight double lane road with no cars. Bannister was ok.
Nicholson was shit between Bannister Rd and High Rd, but after the Whaleback roundabout it was ok. So really this was the only bit. There is a bike lane there so single file is the way to go – its only about 500m though.
Albany Highway was ok too. But yeah – I had my eyes set on getting off onto the relative safety of Manning Rd asap.
here is the link for today:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/69946861
What’s this garmin link crap? You’ll never get free kit if you keep that up boyo 🙂
I notice how his garmin data doesn’t show how he got beat in the sprint last week 😉
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
😀
oh! i forgot! we were back in south perth by 6:45am and I was home by 6:50am. Thats pretty good if you ask me.
F#%kenberg AND Gooseberry…… HOLY C**P Batman…. I’m lucky i don’t do hill rides (mwa ha haa….)
seriously crew…south street into the morning sun????
Firstly some rebuttal:
Raph, those that can, do…
Toby has been working on his punchy hill climbing and leading out the train skills so he can’t win all the sprints.
Wednesday morning’s ride around the UCI (Kings Park) course was a good one. Six of us completed 3 and a bit laps in an hour and a quarter or so. It is a ‘busy’ technical course with the only flat bits being Mounts Bay Rd (into the breeze). The corners need plenty of practice so I’d recommend those planning to ride on April 16th do as many laps as they can prior to the race.
Perhaps there might be some small adjustment (i.e. mercy shown) to the Hills ride Sunday with a temperature range of 25 – 38 with humidity. I’ll be joining Pete et. al. for the early lap to avoid the heat both days (but no Holmes Rd – pity), so hope to see some of you there.