ride report by peter

another fine day was predicted but only if you were looking at the temperature alone. the wind was similar to saturday and was cutting through you to drop the temperature another 5 degrees. the act of riding into the head wind probably dropped it another couple just to make it freezing. so even though the overnight temp was a very pleasant 9 deg we were all waiting for the sun to come out properly to counteract the wind chill.

so, we had around twenty riders on the line this morning and a few were discussing a change to the route as i was turning up a bit late. the course today was a long one but not necessarily hard as there was a lot more riding in between climbs. most of the climbs were not too difficult either. not by the standard of other rides we do. or by the standard that dr melvyn described last week. however, late though i was, i arrived with loads of time to quash any rebellious thoughts of changing the route.

we would be taking the hard slog down albany hwy into a harsh, cold, strong crosswind coming down from the scarp. a quick heart starter up carawatha would thaw out the bones before another ascent up carradine. we would then cross over to albany hwy and tackle the last part of it’s ascent, regrouping at the turn off to canning dam. a nice cruise along past the dam before a final assault out of the valley back to karagulen servo. the normal way back to the coffee shop via mundaring weir rd would follow. that was the plan.

we headed out into the fray and copped the breeze right into our faces. by the time we hit albany hwy the wind had picked up significantly. ryan was again sitting pretty at the back of he pack keeping out of the wind. this is how he always ends up with nice fresh legs for the climbs and the sprints.

anyway, the fresh morning, combined with a hydration regime the night before put extra pressure on me for the first few kms of the ride. i had to duck off in the bushes along the way to relive some unwanted pressure (and about a kilo of weight). as the day progressed, i was not the only one as there were multiple “nature breaks” along the way. a quick sprint into the wind to catch up and i was all warmed up.

as we past by gosnells, we managed to pick up a couple of chicks. i’m sure that they were enticed by the tight lycra and rippling leg muscles, and i am quite sure that ryan probably thought that they were drawn to his charismatic aura. however, holly and claire read the blog and knew where we were headed, so decided to join in to get a bit of hills work. unlike the other type of chicks you may pick up in gosnells, these were actually cyclists.

the first climb of the day was soon upon us and we started climbing the lower section of carawatha. this is where is sits about 7% or so and james pushed hard and put a bit of a gap in us. once we hit the small plateau in between the inclines, heiko came around me and headed up the road. since he had not done this hill before, he wondered why we were taking it so easy. as we came around the corner realisation dawned on him like a dodgy curry at 3am in the morning. ahhh, shit. as we started the final climb at 14 or 15% heiko started dropping back through the riders that had been conserving their energy. ryan, stu, brendan and a couple of others caught and past me on the hill, but we all eventually made it to the top.

after a quick watering of the gardens from some, we where off down to carradine. i didn’t realise that they had been doing road works on the other side of the climb and the surface was not the best when combined with the cross wind. all safely down we grouped together to start the climb.

we stayed in quite a bit group for a while and there was probably about 8 or so riders tucked in behind. the wind was coming down the valley towards us so it was a hard slog for whoever was at the front. after a bit i thought that i would see if i could dislodge a few hangers on, and pushed hard. it wasn’t an attack as i came past ryan close enough for him to grab my wheel, as i thought that i will need some help later on.

the group stretched and split as the pace increased and soon there were only four of us up the road. after i did a decent turn at the front, ryan took off again and i couldn’t keep up. stu and brendan managed to get on, but i looked back to see no-one else on the road. taking a leaf out of thomas voeckler’s book from the 2006 tour, i just kept a consistent pace and managed to get back on the back.

on the next rise, ryan took off again and this time brendan was done. lots of km’s of training were taking their toll and he didn’t have the legs to go with us. i managed to claw my way back on with stu in tow as we approached the final section of road. ryan upped the pace again, and it was all too much for me, but i was happy to let him and stu fight it out for line honours as long as i kept ahead of brendan.

after another nature break, there was an opportunity for a short cut if people wanted but peer pressure kept everyone in line. i basically said that i give the people a choice (democracy) , but let them know that they are a bunch of wusses if they take the shortcut (dictatorship). like anyone really has a choice. exercising their right to a choice, brett and anna turned off to head down albany hwy while the rest of us headed further up the hill.

the climb is not too difficult and the group was managing to stay together well. dr melvyn was setting the pace early on before ryan got impatient and came around for a turn. after a bit he got even more impatient and shot off the front. it was all on and stu, brendan and i managed to latch on behind him. we swapped off turns for a while over the rolling hills and managed to put quite a bit of distance in to the rest of the group. by the time we reached the turn off for canning dam, the road behind us was empty as far as we could see.

the riders rolled up in little packs and claire managed to hold onto the second group. she is climbing well considering the issues that she has had with her back recently.

another toilet stop and we were off towards canning dam. there were a few rolling hills and one bonus climb that split everyone up. ryan and i were just discussing climbing techniques and how i preferred to climb standing while he is trying to sit more. next thing we know we had gapped the rest of the field. we slowed a bit and said that we would wait at the bottom of the descent into the dam. the wind luckily didn’t cause too many problems and we had a nice descent clocking up over 70km/h. the road surface past the dam is usually shocking but it looks like they were halfway through resurfacing it. it wasn
’t perfect, but to me it looked like they were preparing to put a hot-mix top coat on it. that would make this route a lot more pleasurable.

an orange ford focus past us about three times on that road. not sure if they just got their licence or thought that they were a rally driver, but he just kept popping up all the time.

a regroup at the little bridge and we lost a few more riders. the girls and mike decided to call it a day and headed down brookton hwy as the rest of us climbed up via gardiner. it was a nice climb and we took it fairly easy for the first section. ryan hadn’t done this one before so asked me how long it was. quite long I said, just so he wouldn’t take off on me just yet. it started to steepen up but I managed to hang on to ryan and stu while the others fell back. as we turned at the fork in the road, i was spent and had to let them go. i paced myself up the rest of the hill until jerry and james caught up to me and rode the rest of the way with them.
we regrouped at the karragullen servo where a couple of people had to refresh supplies. it was a long ride and energy levels were low. we were soon off and heading for pickering brook. james and i set the pace from the gun and kept it up until that first hill. we didn’t push too hard but some people felt the strain and dropped off early. once we hit the rolling hills ryan took off up the road with stu not far behind. the rest of us just seemed content to ride the hill at pace without straining too much. once we hit the false flat, we noticed that ryan and co was not too far ahead so we upped it a bit to try to catch them. they stayed away, and i was pretty much done by then anyway.

after a regroup, dr mark decided to call it a day due to family commitments, and was heading straight home. the other mark was going to go with him, but peer pressure forced him to stick with us for one last climb up mundaring weir road. heiko didn’t know where we were so i was reluctant to leave him behind so a stuck with him over the rolling hills through bickley valley. by the time we reached mundaring weir road, the other guys were too far ahead to warrant a chase from me. i left it in the big ring and rode a 53 x 14 to the top while staying in the saddle. my cadence was under 40 rpm for the majority of the climb, but my knees actually felt ok.

we rolled into the coffee shop and sat for a well deserved rest. as it was a longer ride, we turned up quite late and were expecting a bad service day. fortunately for us, the cold wind must have kept the punters away and we were served promptly. bruce made an appearance on the sunday ride, but only in civvies as he was meeting his brother for brunch. we said that he should at least been wearing his spr vest to show his support.

coffee’s sculled, as mark still needed to get home and james was on the phone explaining why he was late. we headed down welshpool road with mostly a tailwind, but a few swirls on the descent made for some interesting times. stu apparently had the speed wobbles again and reckons that his heart rate download pinpoints the exact moment he thought he would die.

the tailwind continued to push us home and it gave us a good run. dr melvyn made his early charge as usual and set off the boys a little too early and we were soon spread along the road. the lights at leach hwy soon got us back together and we headed along the last stretch of welshpool rd. the call went out to box ryan in and we had him set on the inside second wheel. dr melvyn went again, and we thought we were safe to let him go, but ryan had been tricky and slowed down to manage to slip out the back. soon everyone was sprinting up the road again.

the final run along berwick rd had ryan doing his usual tricks. slowing down to force others to come to the front so that he can conserve himself for the final sprint. i told him that it will make him stronger if he does all the work and then still contests the sprint, but he wants the easy gold medal. i ended up on the front for the final stretch but managed to get a bit of a jump at the last set of lights to gap the field. by the time i was on the descent, ryan had bridged to my wheel so i just coasted to try to recover. as we paced along the flat, he jumped and i could not hold his wheel. so had to settle for second. or i would have until brendan also past me before the macdonalds drive thru point.

so, over 100 kms by the time i got home and 5 main climbs “conquered”. hopefully this puts me in good stead for collie-donnybrook this coming saturday, but i think it will all come down to who i get in my handicap group. we have three of the team entered with ryan and stu also heading down to play. ryan was in a good position to win last year until a flat with no spares played heed to his grand plans. hopefully this year, team spr can come away with… something. aim for mediocre, and there are less chances of getting disappointed.