January blows by - time for more rides!

Wow - January just disappeared in a puff of smoke! Nice magic trick.

Been riding a lot since the start of the New year - to and from work most days, and long rides on weekends. Weather in Perth hasn't been super hot, so apart from the ever present winds of summer it's been great riding conditions. The bike has been faultless - really a joy to own and ride.

So, motivating the update is a couple of cycle events on the horizon: both in March and both events I've done before.

First up is the BP Ultimate/BRW Corporate Triathlon Series SuperSprint race in Perth on March 9th (site link below).

BP Ultimate/BRW Corporate Triathlon Site

It's a Corporate Triathlon event held in most major Australian capital cities during March and April. Great fun, lots of competitors, and a very enjoyable format. The race consists of teams of three people completing the following elements of a triathlon: a 400m Swim, a 10km Cycle, and a 4km Run.

Luckily for myself, Perth also offers a 'Sprint' format; a shortened version of the race where one team member completes the swim, another completes the cycle, and a third does the running. Luckily, because I swim like a stone! This makes the event a viable one for more people and gives it an extra element.

The event is held at Langley Park, on the doorstep of Perth, and utilises swimming, riding and running courses along the Swan River. Link to the course map below:

Perth Course Map

Should be fun!


Next up, following closely on the heels of the above, is the The Freeway Bike Hike for Asthma 2008 event, taking place on March 16th 2008. Link below:

The Freeway Bike Hike for Asthma 2008

This is an open ride along parts of Perth's North/South Freeway system, which is specifically closed off for cycle-only traffic for the event. A great and a wonderful ride.

This year, the ride has been extended to include not only the 10km 'Family' and 30km 'Tunnel' ride, but also a 60km 'South to North' ride along the entire system! Excellent! This leg is split into estimated completion time groups of 'Under 2 hours', '2-2.5 hours', and '2.5 to 3.5 hours'. Knowing how the higher classes of the 30km ride turned into virtual sprints in previous years, I'm betting that the 'Under 2 hours' class will be popular. Sounds like the class for me - I'll just get in the middle of a group and laze my way along for 60km!

City of Perth Great Bike Ride 2007

Sunday the 25th of November is the date for the 2007 City of Perth Great Bike Ride, a jaunt (or flog depending upon ones desires) around the Swan River from Perth to Fremantle and back.

The website for the ride is a good one, with explanations of the event, route, info, merchandise, entry procedure etc - url is below:

City of Perth Great Bike Ride Website

This is the fourth year it's been held but will be the first time I've (hopefully) done it. The first year I wasn't aware of it, the second I was away, and the third I entered but got a monster summer-style flu' the week before the event and chickened out! So, fingers crossed for this time!

There's options of a 53km one or 106 km two lap ride - I'm partaking in the shorter one, as I am NOT a morning person and couldn't imagine starting a 106 km ride at 6am! The 53km ride has a much more sociable 7:40 am starting time :P

Below is the link to the Google map of the Swan River (unfettered by street names) - refer to the Great Bike Ride site to suss out the route: it basically follows the river anticlockwise from the green arrow start and end point.

Link to Larger Map view

Really looking forward to this - will try and blatt it out as hard as I can just for the fun of it.

Any Perth-ites interested can register on the site - go for it! It's for a great cause ("hosted by Rotary Club of Perth and raises much needed funds for three worthy charities: the Heart Foundation, St John of God Foundation and Hope for Children") and a great opportunity to ride around suburban streets in organised safety. Let's take over the streets for a couple of hours!