with the tour underway, things like sleep, family, friends and work start to suffer. this is a common affliction but take heart that for once, the 2 hr time difference to the east coast falls in our favor. even worse if you are a kiwi and you have to get up at 1am to watch the race. the coverage has been excellent, as usual, and regardless of how you feel about the commentators, at least we get to see it live. when i first started to watch the tour (way back in the late 80’s) the only coverage was a 5min segment as part of channel nine’s wide world of sport. in those days, there was a 3 hr sports program on a saturday arvo that covered all the main sporting events. no ipad apps or streaming footage. just a week of cycling squeezed into a 5-10 min segment.
focus group – it is the first sunday of the month and as such we will be running the focus group ride. if you have any kids under 10, feel free to bring them along. more info here.
spr accessories – the orders are now open for the accessories order. gloves and booties will be available in spr colours. keep your fingers and toes warm this winter and get your kit matching for summer. head over to the team kit page for order details. orders will remain open till the end of next week. you can try on the different style at the cafe on saturday.
tour tipping – well with the tour underway, the tipping comp is going strong. there are 25 teams currently registered and the chase for sprint points and stage wins in on in earnest. a winner has been picked in every stage so far as there have been no real surprises. the team that guessed the closest time in the prologue was mine (team BumChin) but as i already have a custom bike, i will forgo the bike fitting and give it to the runner-up, team ramrod (luke ellis) who was 1 second off.
ride routes – there has been a request for a main 3 speed hills ride on saturday and the forum suggested that there may be some interest. this group will be doing up welshpool and home via lesmurdie rd. it will follow the saturday hills ride out to the bottom of welshpool so that the group has some protection in numbers. we will see how it goes this week and will determine if it is to be a regular ride.
saturday 7th july
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 40.72km (mosman park)
fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.23km (ewen st)
saturday hills – spr sunday 87.99km (welshpool & observatory & camelberg & gooseberry)
main 3 hills ride – spr sunday 52.25 (welshpool) (follow saturday hills out to the hills)
ride starts adjacent to the boatshed cafe at 9:30am
focus group – slow ride with kids (under 10ish) to the causeway and back
sunday 8th july
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 70.93km (kahuna)
Thanks Pete for putting together a main 3 hills ride, looking fwd to the pain of welshpool rd.
Yeah Hills ride is good but Matthew might be better! : )
Damnit – was hoping to ride the main 3 hills on saturday but my bike wont be back from the repair shop. Will the main 3 sat hills be a regular thing?
Cheers,
C
big thanks to all who waited for me this morning – it was mighty amusing watching 10+ boys trying to fix a puncture, particularly when the “good tube” and the punctured tube got mixed up … but I really really appreciate all your help ;0). special thks to andrew, rob & brock! xxx
This must be a record Lennie. Pete arranges the Ewen St ride and your first comment features not one complaint about it!!!
+1 🙂
I believe I was more of a hindrance this morning, hence my departure from the proceedings.
🙂 YAY! I love Ewen street ride
11 RULES FOR RIDING WITH MAIN 2:
With the number of riders joining Main 2 growing considerably over the past few weeks, there has been some comment (read: criticism & requests!) about our ride protocols so I am putting forward the following “suggestions” for your diligent & careful adherence:
1. If you find yourself on the front, do not RACE off at re-starts (eg. lights & corners & stop signs). The idea is NOT try and “get back up to speed as soon as possible!”, it is to gradually build back up to speed so the people at the back can get on.
2. If half the group gets caught at a red light call “SPLIT!”. And if you are on the front at the time, ease up until the call “ALL ON” comes up the line.
3. If you are the ones catching up, call “ALL ON!” when you have caught up.
4. RELAY all calls backwards or forwards up the peloton as required.
5. Do not sit on the front being a hard-arse for the whole ride “because you can!”. By all means help others but share the lead, & when you’ve had enough call the next pair through & drop to the back.
6. Ride in pairs & ride LEVEL with the person next to you (ie. do not ‘half wheel’ when you are on the front). Try not to leave people on their own & try not to leave large gaps.
7. ROLLING: when you reach the front of a roll gently move across to the left & then ease up about 2 km/h. Do NOT speed up or sprint as you get close to or on the front (& call others back if they do & please do not get offended you may not realize you are doing it… it is for the betterment of the group).
8. Call “LAST WHEEL” as you move across to the right from the back of the peloton to start your roll.
9. If you miss-click in your cleats – don’t stop peddling. Keep going with one foot in so people behind you don’t ride into you!
10. If you have a flat or a mechanical – call it… LOUDLY! If it is in the 1st half of the ride everyone will stop, if it’s more at the end of the ride, at least 4 or 5 must stop for assistance but also for safety reasons so the person concerned isn’t left exposed riding on a busy road on their own.
11. On the SPRINT home: Go for it! But keep left if not passing & do NOT go over the white lines.
And while we’re at it…
1. If the group is too big this week, we should consider splitting from the outset. (What is “too big”? In opinion, over 30 riders like last is too big).
2. Study the Route on SPR Blog! Each rider has to take some responsibility here…
3. If you consistently can’t keep up in Main 2, go back to Main 3. Likewise, if you’re consistently finding it easy… try Main 1. That’s why there are 6 groups!
4. Lastly… sorry in advance, but while we’ll all do our best, with so many riders of varying levels of ability & experience each week, we ain’t gunna have the perfect ride with perfect “roll throughs” every week!
Now… all pray for fine weather & let’s have a great ride tomorrow!
good stuff Graham! these rules certainly need to be put in front of people, particularly those non-members who join in occasionally with M2 and M3 and haven’t had the benefit of Trannies group riding, and members who seem to have forgotten!!
Thanks Graham – I think you’ve covered all the issues very well. I particularly agree with the sentiment that if you find it too easy, move up to Main 1, rather than hammering the rest of the group. For me, the fact that there are groups for all capabilities is one of many great things about SPR.
i dont agree with this Graham,
3. If you consistently can’t keep up in Main 2, go back to Main 3.
If people never challange themselves and join a faster group, they’ll never improve. Sure they might get dropped for a couple of weeks before hanging on, but i see no issue with this.
Agree with you Luke … know the route and adhere to the ride rules but getting dropped is how we improve and get better.
Fair comment Luke… I retract that part of my comments! Some of my proudest moments or achievements have been (finally) NOT getting dropped! 🙂 Mind you… there is a limit – if you know you’re likely to get dropped make sure you know the route!
Well said Graham and applicable to all groups.
Ewen Street tomorrow! Might have to stretch the legs and give that hill a decent crack. Let’s hope the rain passes by overnight and we have a dry ride in the morning.
What a shame I am holidaying down in Dunsborough and will miss one of my favourites… “Spewin Ewen”!
Bon Voyage to all the SPR Guys and Gals heading off to conquer Pyrenean heights just a tad higher than Ewen St… Have a blast xxx
Thanks for mapping this route Pete, everyone had a great ride this morning. We were talking over coffee and thinking that maybe we should do this route twice a month, maybe every 1st and 3rd Saturday. Cheers
That was a really good solid ride. I had alot of fun…particularly on the downhill. It was a great group to compliment the ride too. Thanks guys!
I’d be up for every second week, but if there is interest to do it more often than that I would keen : )
Thanks again Pete for mapping it out for us.
That was loads of fun! It was so nice to be away from the traffic lights & up for a different challenge. Thanks so much to Leigh for the idea and Pete for putting the ride together. That was fab.
I’m very keen for these rides every week, but I’ll settle for fortnightly if that’s the general consensus.
Short hills ride on sat was great, something i’d do once a month or so.
Cheers