countryside, river and bushland of the Collie River Valley. The race is a relay which starts and finishes at the Collie Showground; participation is invited from individuals or teams. Last year’s race was a huge success with a record number of teams and individuals competing.
The stages are:
27km road bike race to Collie Power Station and return
15km horse circuit through bushland south east of Collie (optional)
10 km canoe paddle along the Collie River from the Showground to Minninup Pool
1km swim in the Collie River at Minninup Pool
25km mountain bike circuit into jarrah forest north west of Minninup Pool
10km footrace alongside the Collie Golf Course and the banks of the Collie River, back to the Showground
SPR rider Pete Gill is having a crack at it solo (brave man). Who out there is interested in forming an SPR team? No expertise required just a bit of enthusiasm and willingness to
our SPR riders will be entering this challenging event. Of special note is Nigel Adcock who is riding to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of WA… by “Riding for Someone Who Can’t” .
has been changed (AGAIN!). Sorry for the messing about guys.
We will be meeting at 1pm at the Dell off Mundaring Weir Rd.
Any questions give me a ring.
0415489173
Loz
Due to the recent surging interest in MTB within SPR (no bias here whatsoever) there will be a group of us heading down to Jarrahdale this Sunday 5/9. As it is Father’s Day it will be a later start so that sleep-ins and obligatory paternal love and appreciation can be dished out beforehand 😉
a structured skills session but just an informal training ride where you’ll get to have some fun and practice your skills in the beautiful forest trails in Langford Park. It is aimed at ANY skill level from absolute beginners with all the gear and no idea (yep… that would=ME!) to regular riders and those of you with a MTB tucked away at the back of the shed that hasn’t seen the light if day for a while!
ago the bunch of guys and gals I ride with has grown, evolved, become a club and grown again beyond that which anyone of us could have imagined.
Organising the breakfast, whilst enjoyable in so many ways, has always meant a lot of work for those involved especially Kate and myself. The club has grown to a point where holding the breakfasts at someone’s home (i.e. Pete & Kate’s) is simply not feasible any more. In addition, the organisation and food preparation is too much for the same few people to take on every time.
The social aspect of SPR is integral to the wonderful welcoming atmosphere our club has. So,
held at the Mount Leonard Mountain Bike Circuit, Pile Road, Dardanup in the beautiful Ferguson Valley.
This is the last Enduro event of this series and a great chance to have a go no matter what level of experience you have. The atmosphere is friendly and fun at these events and is a great day out for those of you with families!
There are 3 types of entry – Solo, or teams of 2 or 3. If your not up to doing it solo and would like to form a team, let us know in the comments and we
can organise buy cialis a few teams. Check here for entry options. We will have the SPR team tent setup in the transition zone as well with plenty of supporters and supplies!
Online entry for the event closes next Tuesday 20th July, but you can still enter on the day with an extra fee. Full details are available on the event page. You can register here.
Need a lift?… Got room to take someone? Let us know.
I’m not talking the Evans, Lloyd, O’Grady or Rogers type but rather the professional variety of a different gender; Gilmore, Ryan, Whitelaw, and O’Donnell…
Our Aussie female road cyclists!… Who would have thought!
The 2010 Giro Donne, otherwise known as the Women’s Giro D’Italia, commences on Friday with a record fourteen Australian women representing various professional teams along with the 8 rider strong AIS / National team (Kirsty Broun, Tiffany Cromwell, Shara Gillow, Lisa Jacobs, Lauren Kitchen, Emma Mackie and Carlee Taylor).
The tour winds its way across northern Italy from Trieste through a remarkably tough series of stages including the iconic ‘Passo Stelvio’. The Giro Donne has never climbed so high, up to 2725 metres, the Stelvio will be the last major climb of the race before the final stage around the Monza motor racing circuit on July 11.
At any one time our fleet of Aussie female cyclists racing abroad include doctors, lawyers, physiotherapists, podiatrists, massage therapists, budding journalists and a swag full of future honor students,
religiously studying between races with their text books in tow.
More often than not these women come to the sport later in life as in my case – after education, careers and even motherhood, and make the decision to spend years away from potential careers, family and risk financial instability.
Most of you wouldn’t realise our Aussie women’s road cycling champion is a humble quiet achiever. Ruth Corset form Townsville, is 33 years of age and a mother of two!
women’s cycling is on the improve. Especially since the inception of the Australian Sports Commission’s National Talent ID Program. However the Aussie Women’s National / AIS team is currently operating without a sponsor, with little funding and still competing at the pinnacle of the sport.
To rise and meet an international standard as a cyclist requires a yearly 7 month stint combined of UCI races throughout Europe and / or North America. These long embarkments are necessary to elevate essential race experience. Fundamentally the early stages of one’s cycling career are often unpaid requiring frequent dipping into the life savings account.
The global entities offering to splay logos across rider’s lycra outfits are few and far between. Hence there are no houses in Monaco, business class airfares or celebrity status involved in our cycling world!
Rachel Neylan
To give you an idea.. the numbers that make the wheels turn were recently pointed out by Aussie Cyclist Chole Hosking in an article published in Bicycling Australia earlier this year…
”Consider this; the rumored $AUD50 million budget of David Brailsford’s British dream team, Team Sky, is enough to sponsor a major women’s team 60 times over”
At this level of cycling it is never just a job its a life choice and a want that is completely
driven by passion. It’s a quest for sporting glory and ultimately to wear the green and gold at the World Championships and Olympic Games. I know I go to sleep at night dreaming of standing on top of podiums in Green and Gold.
While the men are battling the mountains of France and you are battling that 8am meeting after staying up half the night watching SBS, stop and think about the girls going just as deep and just as hard in Italy at the Giro Donne.
So when you’re checking up on the cycling news results during the TDF, scroll a little further down and check up on how our Aussie women are going.
Round 5 of the MTB XC series will be held at Boddington on Sunday July 4th.
Rego is between 0800-0930 and racing kicks off from 1000. All the regulars will be attending and hopefully a few others will make an appearance. SPR jerseys are becoming regular appearance at MTB events.
of fun, with some fast descents and berms that flow beautifully, a few technical features including ski jumps & log overs. To race this track is well worth the drive you will not be disappointed! This track is considered a favourite by many mountain bikers.
Register your interest in the comments so we know who to expect and have enough supplies for the day.
Round 4 of the series will be held at Pile Road near Dardanup on Sunday June 13th.
Rego is between 0800-0930 and racing kicks off from 1030. All the regulars will be attending and hopefully a few of the other lurkers will make an appearance.
This race will also be a great opportunity to scout some of the trail that will be used for the upcoming 4hr Enduro in July. The area is well signposted and has enough trail to keep you going for most of the day. And when you’ve had enough time on the bike pop into The Wild Bull Brewery just up the road, for some food and
Last Sunday saw the second event in the WA Mountain Bike Enduro series. 6 hours of fun at Langford Park in the Jarrahdale forest.
Jonny "volunteers" to let Ryan go first
SPR’s presence on the MTB scene is growing and for this event we had 2 teams: The SPR Mud Wrestlers comprising Jonny and Ryan, and SPR Young and Younger which was Scott and my son Nick.
Getting a teenage boy out of bed before lunchtime on a Sunday is quite a feat in itself however, the excitement at getting on a brand new Giant XTC had Nick and I organised and on the road by
Langford Park is a favourite spot for MTBers and it was easy to see why. Beautiful forests and well maintained trails. A little after we arrived Scott and his wife Gaby rocked up. We quickly found a good spot for the new 3×3 sunshade near the transition area, unloaded the cars and then drove up to the carpark area. By the time we walked back Gaby and Nick had already gotten the tent up and were setting up chairs. Gaby is a woman after my own heart and was super organised with thermoses, food, cool drinks, first aid kit…. so along with ALL my provisions no-one was going thirsty, hungry or would bleed to death!
Garmin ready to go...
A little after 9 Ryan and Jonny appeared and settled themselves into the SPR base camp. Registrations complete and numbers on bikes (very un-aerodynamic) consternations and murmurings began as to who was going to front up on the start line to begin the day’s epic adventure for the Mud Wrestlers. Jonny, being the gentleman of the two, relinquished the honour to Ryan. Nick the Novice was feeling nervous about the whole affair and was glad to leave the race start to Scott.
The start line was back at the railway lines at the entrance to Langford Park. After a short distance on the road to sort things out, the riders would then join onto the singletrack race circuit. The 8.5km loop was shorter than the original 9.5km due to heavy rain earlier in the week. 10 am… they were off, and 6 hours of fun in the dirt began.
Not much more than 25 min later the first of the riders riders began to appear. Being up the front of the bunch would have been a great advantage in avoiding the argy bargy of the bottleneck when the riders left the nice wide road and began the circuit. In the first flush of riders was Ryan who had set a cracking pace in his first lap. Here, as the riders entered the feedzone/transition area they dismounted and walked through a barricade chicane to ensure a safe changeover of riders. No stopping for Ryan though as he and Jonny had agreed to do begin with 2 laps each. Nick, who had been the picture of pre-race nerves, only had to wait a few more minutes before Scott appeared and he took off on his first lap. Jonny paced around a bit more while he waited for Ryan to appear and Scott headed back to base camp for re-fueling. The wisdom of starting with 2 laps for Ryan and Jonny was in question as Ryan appeared… Steaming in the morning sun like a cup of tea in the antarctic, he reflected in true Fynn-esque vocabulary that indeed, he would NOT be doing 2 laps again!
Nick’s first lap went well and he reappeared some 36 min later intact, uninjured, bike in one piece and a smile on his face… good to get that first lap out of the way! His mother, who had embarrassingly yelled out “take it easy”…. “go for the B line” as he
The day rolled on and apart from a few minor scratches to body team SPR remained intact. The pace stayed strong despite legs growing tired. Hungry team riders queued at the sausage sizzle that had been provided for the day. Solo riders quickly grabbed drinks and food as they sped past transition. Commentary, updates, music and calls for missing team riders poured out over the PA system. The atmosphere was fantastic!
Team changeover
Just after 2 I had to leave all the action to get back in time to start work. So will leave the wrap up of the day to Scott…
I came in from a lap just after Lorraine left and young Nick headed out on his last effort. By now there where many tired and weary bodies around. Attrition was taking its toll with riders out from injury and mechanicals but team SPR was soldiering on, with Ryan and Johnny still putting in good lap times.
With Nick out on lap 8 and just over an hour left I was counting down the time to see how many more we could fit in. At this end of the race timing is critical, can you fit in that extra lap or will you smash yourself for nothing and miss the cutoff by secounds. 1 racer did such and missed the clock by 3 seconds. Unfortunately the day had taken its toll on our young rider and I only had enough time for 1 more before kicking back to watch Ryan and the other riders try to beat the clock. The day finished with some big efforts by riders trying to beat the clock and a few fast laps recorded. SPR finished the day in 1 piece with team SPR Mud wrestlers completing 12 laps to get 6th in their category and SPR Young & Younger taking 50th. Also 2 other riders that make an appearance on SPR weekend rides raced the event with us as well. Chris Brown & Peter Gill fresh from the Alice Enduro entered the day as solo riders and must be commended for their efforts, now to get them into SPR kit.
All in all a good day had by all. Nick enjoyed himself greatly and looks to be an up and coming racer, and it was good to see Ryan make an event as well. The next race in the Enduro series will be the Ferguson Valley 4hr on July 25th. It would be great to get a bigger showing of SPR riders along. We know there are a number of closet MTB riders out there so make yourselves known and join the fun.
No sooner has the 6hr finished and the next round of the 2010 XC series is upon us. 
