ride report by peter

i really don’t know where the year has gone. it’s the end of winter tomorrow and we spring into spring again. besides the cold starts, we can’t really even complain about the weather. it has been excellent from a cycling point of view with one of the driest august’s on record. but i guess there are repercussions and water restrictions will be one of them. even with nick’s sparkling new desal plant ticking along, we will still be up against it.

so, anyway, it was a cold start but just over 30 managed to brave the conditions and meet for a ride this morning. we were headed for a sprint-fest today so there was a good chance that we wouldn’t stay cold for long. after a short hop down canning hwy to riseley, we would come back along leach hwy to have a crack at one of perth’s special sprint grounds, shelley. after this we would head down to south st and sprint back along banister rd before home via albany hwy and a sprint along shep rd. if you had a crack at all three, then you deserved your coffee today.

we started out fine and caught a couple of sets of lights as per usual, which split the group. it was pretty low key and so the slower pace did not seem to worry many. heading up riseley, brett made a surge to the front as he said it felt like they were about to step off at the back. i was happy for him to do a turn so i slinked back to the midpack. it was all pretty cruisey along leach hwy and just as we came to the road from mt pleasant, we happened across the bikeforce group. we actually split the pack as some of them turned just before we got there, while the others had to wait for us to go by. well it gave us some rabbits to chase anyway.

as we turned onto the shelley course, i was at the front with ben and we were waiting to see who would make the first move. it took a while, but eventually christophe took off. ben waited a bit then decided to chase him. it was pretty much all on by then. there were continuous attacks and chases and the group was clicking along at a fair pace for the entire length of shelley. about halfway along, i took off, but was chased down almost straight away by christophe and the rest of the group. it did have the desired effect and started to stretch the group a bit. can’t have it easy all the time.

i was pretty much spent by now and just sat in the group till the end. i was not impressed with the heavy feeling in my thighs and was wondering where my form had taken off to. i put it down to the cold morning. yeah, that was it. cold, not unfit.

we regrouped at the end of the road and i doubled back a bit to see if lisa was still coming. we waited a while before deciding to keep moving before we cooled down too much. a slightly convoluted trip through the suburb of parkwood (who knew it existed, i’d never heard of it before) found us out on vahland ave and heading towards south st. we didn’t hang around on south street for very long as we turned onto banister almost straight away. this was the beginning of our second fast section, but no-one was keen to start the ball rolling. eventually jens and one of the barista boys turned the pace on, but did not attack so we all just hoped on board and made them do all the work. as we came to the lights at willeri drv, the group came back together for a brief moment as we were slightly held up. once the lights changed, it was all on and pretty much everyone threw an attack in to try to stay away. i made a move then james and christophe came around me. next thing we know, mike has taken off up the road. by then there were quite a few people in front of me so i have to fight hard to come around to the front with rob in tow. we manage to break free of the bunch and rob shows off his new time-trial bike by putting in a big pursuit to catch mike. i was fading fast by the time ryan came bursting out of the pack with a string of riders trailing behind and overtaking me. i managed to hold on to a few wheels to get me to the end.

as we turned onto nicholson, the aim was to slow right down to allow a regroup. i wanted us all together by the time we hit albany hwy as the trip past carousel shopping centre is always a busy one. the group did slow, but it also lane sliced along side some cars waiting at the lights. this is a no, no and the boys deserve a major spanking for that. the group is too big so we need to hold our position in the lane and not piss off the cars more than necessary.

quite an uneventful trip along albany hwy which is the best kind in my books, but soon we were on shepperton rd and the final sprint section. everyone was nervously looking around waiting for the first attack to go. i was content to sit in for a while as you really needed a small rise to launch on or it is too easy for the group to react. we approached the set of lights just before the rolling hills and it is usually my cue to attack. however, i was beaten to the punch this time by ryan with barista boy hamish in tow.

i jumped out of the bunch with jerry in tow and caught and past ryan. we had to keep the momentum going if we were to stay away. ryan eventually came past me an graciously didn’t smash my legs off on the next rise, but looked back to make sure i still had his wheel. you have to be pretty lucky to pull off a move on shep rd as the lights just before the causeway will pretty much always catch you out. no luck this time and the four of us were caught at the lights.

with ryan pulling his standard trick of not clipping in properly so he is not at the front leading into the sprint, it was left to me and james to take the pack across the bridges and onto riverside drive. i said to him, don’t go too hard so that we can react to any moves that go off the front. as usual, someone went way too early and the group all reacted. i managed to grab a wheel or two to stay in the hunt, but when the pace really started, i had no legs to respond. i sat up and rolled into the coffee shop while ryan took the sprint ahead of dr jerry… again.