saturday morning rolled around once again and about thirty or so riders were keen to play. the course was picked to take advantage of the easterly wind, which didn’t seem to be blowing too hard at south perth. a nice easy pace out to guilford before a hard session on benara rd, a further cruise and regroup down to whatley crescent where we would go hard all the way into town. that was the plan anyway.

up great eastern hwy and out to ascot was a pleasant pace allowing us to hold a conversation and generally catch-up with the group. once we hit guilford rd the easterly wind was a lot more evident. after we past under the tonkin hwy i tried to get the group to roll through to make it easier for everyone. however, it actually had the opposite effect, as some of the more experienced guys thought that we were doing it to try to up the pace and started pushing harder. the group started to splinter and some guys couldn’t pull through for a turn. luckily we hit the lights at bassendean station and had a chance to regroup. unfortunately for john b, the stop meant that he almost ended up on the ground as he touched wheels with the guy in front and ended up riding his bike like a bucking bull trying to stay upright.

so we moved along, and gave up on the roll through and just let a couple of the stronger boys do the work. just before the bridge that separates bassendean from guilford, a couple of big slow moving trucks past us. the road was going from double to single lanes and the trucks were trying to get past before the bridge. unfortunately, chris decided to jump on the back of one and get a draft, but didn’t see the next one coming. he didn’t get run over, but the next thing we know, half the pack is now chasing to try to catch a draft. this basically spread the group along a couple of hundred metres making it difficult for traffic to get around.

it continued this way up west swan road and the nice and easy pace soon became a hard slog as riders battled the cross winds. i was stuck towards the back and was cursing the front guys for splitting the group up. i couldn’t get around to get to the front as there was a stream of traffic tryig to get around the little pockets of riders. i managed to jump up a driveway and get onto the bike path that ran alongside. it was pretty wide and in good condition so i managed to clip along at a fair pace. reaching the front pack i jumped off the curb and raced to the head of the field just as they were turning onto benara rd. our designated go hard point. as most of the group had already gone hard, i gave the guys my best gordon ramsey impersonation and a number of expletives about spltting the group up. i then made them all go easy pace to allow the rest of the pack time to catch up before we turned the pace up again.

after we past the first roundabout, i let them have their head of steam and the attacks happened soon after. nick, chris and ryan all sped off the front at some stage along benara rd and soon the pack was stretched out again. i was practicing my domestique duties and just chased down everything but didn’t attack my self. we came across dr paul and dr ian who had managed a very good short cut and were easily halfway down benara by the time we caught them. we did manage to catch most of the lights, but still thinned the group out by the time we reached the end. it is a nice long stretch but can be ruined if we don’t get a good run on the lights.

a easy pace down through morely and onto bayswater for the final run home along whatley crescent. this road contains a number of rolling hills and only a few traffic lights so you can get a good run in if you are lucky. i had discussed team tactics with chris earlier on in the week and we had decided that we would attack and wait for the others to chase. when the attack was caught, we would send another rider off the front to force them to chase again. hopefully, chris had talked to ryan, so he wouldn’t chase me down.

anyway, i went early and hard. bruce wasn’t far off my wheel so managed to jump across with me. he did one turn then turned off on garrett rd to head home early. i was on my own again as the road climbed up the next hill. a quick look over my shoulder and i saw that the group was closing fast. however, as i powered down the other side i managed to widen the gap again giving myself a nice buffer. not long after, i hit a set of red traffic lights and was brought to a standstill. my gap meant that i at least had a little time to grab a drink and get my breath back before the group descended on me.

as the lights changed, chris sped off with ryan close behind. i set off with the others but it seemed that no-one was really keen to chase. only a few had set off after them but no-one was really making much ground. i had recovered sufficiently and thought that i could give it another go and try to bridge across to them. if the rest of the pack came with me, then i would ease off, but no-one else jumped. jerry was off the front and i came around him too fast for him to get on so left him in noman’s land. by the time i hit east parade i had caught chris and ryan so tucked in behind to get a rest. a few turns between us and we still had a good gap by the time we cross the graham farmer freeway.

unfortunately the next set of lights put a stop to our shenanigans as the group caught us. dr melvyn sped past as the lights changed and charged through east perth to the hill next to the police station. the group splintered on the hill as normal but we managed to reel dr melvyn in or should i say that the hill forced him to slow down. we caught every single light between there and riverside drive which meant that the group was pretty much together for the final sprint. i had chris on my wheel and i was hoping that ryan and jerry would line up as well. we needed practice at the leadout train and this is a nice long stretch of double lane road.

nick jumped first at the light change and started to speed down the road. it was a long stretch, so i wasn’t too worried as even if i didn’t catch him, the next guy may do it. i didn’t accelerate hard as i wanted to make sure the chris stayed on my wheel. we pushed the pace and caught nick easily. james dropped in behind chris’ wheel with jerry just behind. ryan had to fight for position and come around a few bikes but was behind chris by the time i dropped them off. chris didn’t have much left after a few days off the bike due to a cold, but ryan still sped off dragging jerry along. the rest of the field was quite a way behind by then and everyone was pretty buggered after so chasing so many time today.

christophe commented on jerry being in his usual position of behind ryan’s wheel. he renamed him poulidor a french rider who always seemed to come second to the greats in the 60’s and 70’s.

so a good ride, and I felt strong which was good after a very poor showing on our thursday training ride where the guys had to wait for me a couple of times. hopefully a good sign for tomorrow’s hills ride.