Today I thought I’d share a handful of photos from around Fremantle, Western Australia, taken as the sun was going down last night. I’m not a great photographer but I do like trying to capture a reasonable image.
Click on any of the photos to see the larger versions of the photos.
While I’ve got a lot more to say about my recent trip to Ethiopia and Rwanda, I thought I might write about something a little lighter today.
This morning I took the controls of a Cessna 152 flying out of Jandakot Airport with the Royal Aero Club. While I’m terrified of heights, I love flying, even in a small, ageing two seater like the plane I flew in today.
While Grant, the pilot, was constantly making adjustments during my thirty minute flight, he did let me take the controls a lot of the time. Of course I was under no illusions. Grant was doing a lot more than supervising. I was just the novice who was following instructions with more than a little correction coming from Grant’s dual controls.
We headed away from Jandakot down to Fremantle, up the coast to Cottesloe, then south again to Coogee before returning to Jandakot. The flight was a gift from my wife, Pauline. While I flew, she took pictures from the ground.
I was also able to take some photos while in the air. You can check out a few of them below. Just click on them for a closer look.
We spent a few hours in Fremantle today and I snapped some photos as we wandered around. Just click on any of the photos to get a closer look.
In case you missed the exciting racing of the Smokefree Perth Criteriums for 2011 you can see a great compilation of the action in the video above. Races were held in Northbridge, Victoria Park, Leederville and Fremantle.
The series was absolutely amazing with the series winner for each division being decided with their final races in Fremantle last night.
Below are the winners and top riders in each category for the series.
Open Men
1st Alex Carver (Jayco)
2nd Steele Von Hoff (Genesys)
3rd Dean Windsor (Budget Forklifts)
4th Rico Roger (Budget Forklifts)
5th Eddy Hollands (Nuchange)
Open Women
1st Emma Lawson (Pure Tasmania)
2nd Rowena Fry (Pure Tasmania)
3rd Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo)Support Men
1st Fenton Moran (Riders Choice)
2nd Sean O’Neil (Bikesure)
3rd Corey Eaves (Bikesure)
I’m looking forward to some excellent cycle racing around Perth from Saturday the 12th to Monday the 15th of February.
Smokefree Perth Criteriums 2011 is on its way with some spectacular racing around various street circuits. The series is being run by the team at TriEvents and promises to be a highlight of the Perth cycling calendar in 2011. I’m looking forward to once again being part of the commentary team with Gary Suckling of Riders Choice. Gary is such a professional and it’s a real honour to work alongside him.
Criterium racing is the most exciting version of road racing. Each race involves high speed and intense competition, around a tight and intimate circuit. No rider is guaranteed a win and no spectator walks away disappointed, which sets the scene for a perfect week end of racing.
A Criterium is a fast paced, multi lap cycling race on a tight and relatively flat street course. The course is approximately 1km in length. Criteriums are raced over a specified time rather than a distance with the races lasting no longer than 1 hour.
Most venues give spectators the opportunity to see a high portion of the course with the circuits being tight and intimate. Tactics are usually played from start to finish; so spectators are more than entertained for the entirety of the race.
Each rider receives points for placing in the top 10 of the race and these points accumulate to decide the overall winner. With a large calibre of cyclists in the event, the overall winner is often not decided until the final race.
Smokefree Perth Criteriums is made up of four events over four days. The events are afternoon / evening races in four high profile locations – Northbridge, Victoria Park, Leederville and Fremantle.
The first event of the series gets underway at 2:00 p.m. in Northbridge on Saturday the 12th of February.
Western Australians are great supporters of this kind of cycle racing and there’s sure to be plenty of spectators watching each event. There have been a number of Perth Criterium Series over the years and they’ve all been nail biting spectator events. If you get a chance, get out and enjoy some fantastic racing.
Race One:
Northbridge – 2:00 p.m. Saturday 12th February 2011Race Two:
Victoria Park – 2:00 p.m. Sunday 13th February 2011Race Three:
Leederville – 6:45 p.m. Monday 14th February 2011Race Four:
Fremantle – 6:00 p.m. Tuesday 15th February 2011