South Perth Rouleurs

Ride Routes 4th – 10th July

The key focus for SPR has always been the training rides. Besides the Monday ride, which we are currently working on, we have at least one ride on every day of the week. Hopefully this caters for most people’s needs, whether it is the balance of work hours, or ride intensity, there should be enough variety to cater for most people. Of course there will be segments that feel that they are underrepresented, but the goal is always to provide what the club and community need. This, has and will change as the club also changes, but being inclusive is one of the cornerstones in which the club was formed.

Winter-time always makes this hard, as numbers are generally lower and therefore the spread of abilities is more pronounced. When the fair weather riders (and there is nothing wrong with being that) come back, there are generally bigger clumps of similar ability riders so it is easier to find a group to suit. The issue for us as a club is how to manage that and ensure that it is giving people what they need without disadvantaging others. Basically an impossible task, most of the time.

A great example of that was in this morning’s earlybird ride. Thursday is the fast day and it is expected that it will be hard no matter which group you are in. However, in group 3 today there were a number of times that the roll through stopped as someone got on the front and drilled it. This strung the group out with only 1 or 2 people attempting to get to the front. At the end of the day this is a group ride and therefore the more of the group that contribute the better. Now, not saying that there isn’t a place for the strong riders, but this was group 3 and if you are going to smash the group, then maybe jumping up to group 2 would have been a better ride for you. No-one looks at you on the front and says “wow, they are so strong”, it most likely gets people to re-evaluate if they will attempt to roll through again, leading to more and more just sitting in and not contributing. Even the person on the front can get disillusioned as they will also think that there is no point riding with the group if they don’t pull their weight.

There is a happy medium, though. If the stronger riders don’t jump up to the faster group, then they need to wind it back so that more people can contribute. At the end of the day, the group should dictate the pace, not just the fastest or slowest rider. Some groups we run are no-drop groups and they will deliberately stop and wait to ensure that riders are not left behind. Thursday is not the day for that and everyone understands that it will be hard. However, trying to smash the group does not make it fun for the majority. I realise that this doesn’t really apply to group 1 as they are trying to make it as hard as possible, but once you are in group 3, there needs to be a level of control or a “rules of engagement” to ensure stability of the group.

Like they say in Zwift, fast is fun, but in group riding smooth is fast, and that is what makes it fun.

There has been a lot of wet weather lately and this further complicates matters. Often when there has been showers overnight, and usual showing of 2-3 groups can be whittled down to just one. This is where we need to enforce a “wet weather protocol”. This is where the faster riders need to wind it back and ride at 80% to not just smash it up entirely. I have seen this occur on Thursday, Friday and Saturday rides, where riders just treat the group like normal, and ride hard at the front. Almost instantly, the majority aren’t rolling and soon riders are off the back.

The club tries to provide for all different segments of the riding community and our regular rides reflect that. Once there is a disruption to that, like cold or rain, riders must remember that these are still club training rides and as such we would like you to look out for all riders in your group. If you are strong, you can still show you are strong by dropping back and drafting someone back to the group. There are no medals or podiums on our rides, but we still want you to get what you need from the rides. Just not at the expense of the group as a whole.

https://southperthrouleurs.com.au/2026/07/02/ride-routes-4th-10th-july-3/