ride report by peter.

 

an early morning text from chris claiming chain troubles had me heading to the startline a bit earlier that usual.  a pin was had not been put back in properly and was only hanging on by one side of the chain.  not the best thing for a hill climbing day that would place a lot of strain on the chain.  we popped the link out and put on a sram powerlink that i had spare.  it was spare cause i asked for a removable link and they sold me one that once it is on, it doesn’t come off.  not really that removable.  i need the wipperman one next time.

 

with an ideal cycling day predicted, the number of cyclist was sure to exceed expectations and did not disappoint.   we had around thirty turn up ready to go by 7am.  we had a few new faces with ronny trying to get extra points by bringing a friend, jill and the ceo of cycling wa, chris turning up to see how the group runs.  most of the regulars were their but noticeable by his absence was ryan who we think had been scared off after we talked up chris’ climbing ability during the week.  mike was also a no show, so stu and i would have to be carrying the torch for the spr team.  just as we were about to roll out, dr melvyn turned up and told us that darren was just down the bottom of coode st with a flat tyre.  i gave everyone directions and sent them off while steve and myself went to find darren.  dr mark was also down there helping with tyre, but he had it fixed promptly and we were soon on our way. 

 

while the rest of the group headed along angelo st and out onto canning, we passed the roadblock and headed out along mill point rd hoping to connect with them before too long.  as we worked into the wind along great eastern, i was not confident that we would even catch up as we could not see the main group even when the road straightened out.  as we got closer to the airport, we saw them at the top of the rise and managed to catch up just after tonkin hwy.  that was my first effort for the day, and it hurt.

 

we eventually made it out to the base of greenmount and started the hill in earnest.  after a blocking move by our chris, the real pace began to kick in.  it took quite a while and is a testament to the increased climbing skills that the group has developed, but we eventually whittled it down to the final 8 riders.  most had held on for the majority of the hill and it wasn’t until it really steepened up and the pace was on that they began to drop off. 

 

a couple of bends in the road before the finish and i decided to see if i could shake things up a bit and went on the attack.  i got a fair gap before i think steve led the group back to my wheel and i was swamped within sight of the finish.  i explained to everyone where the line was and realising it was that close they all started sprinting for the finish.  i had nothing left and should have timed my attack a bit later.

stu – 10, brendan – 7, chris – 5, jerry – 3, peter – 1.

 

a regroup at the top and we were on our way again.  the winding, rough roads through john forrest always seem to break the group up and i told the guys on the front that we would regroup at oxley road before the next climb.  luckily i did as the call when out that darren had gotten a flat again and was changing it.  i went back to see if he was ok and found him on his own.

 

probably a good time to set the ground rules about what we should do about flat tyres.  if during a climb or descent where it is going to be too hard to pull the group up, then the person closest to the flat tyre should stop to make sure that they have all the right equipment to change it.  anyone else around should continue on and tell the rest of the group that there has been a flat so we can wait at the regroup point.  during a normal transition stage of the ride where we are just cruising along and are easily forming a pack, the call should go out immediately for everyone to stop.  if the person with the flat is on the back of the group then a call forward to stop should be passed down the line and a rider should also come forward to make sure the group knows what is going on. 

 

the reasoning is simple. firstly they may not have all the appropriate tools (which in itself is an offence, but usually punishable by public shame) and secondly they may not know where the hell they are.  we don’t always stick to main roads and some of the newer riders may not have even been on these roads in their cars let alone on a bike.  the worse thing is a triple play of no tools, no mobile coverage and no idea where the hell you are.  it is usually about then that you hear banjo’s playing and billy-joe wanders out of the bush and asks “what y’all doin’ out ‘ere all alone”.

 

so, i checked with darren and since it was his second flat of the day i bludgeoned him to death with his own sub-six kilo bike and left him for the bears.  he was going to find his own way across to mundaring weir road.  i continued down to the regroup point.

 

once there, i explained the hill and where the kom line was for the points.  this was a particularly nasty climb and has some really steep pinches that test the legs.  the move was made early by chris and stu and i tried to go with is for as long as i could, but both put distance into me.  chris danced away from stu and neither of us made up any ground there.  behind me jens was waiting for brendan and steve to make their moves but they never did so he had to attack to make sure that he didn’t have to sprint for the points.  hugh came with him and made up the final points.

chris – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, heiko – 3, hugh – 1.

 

when we got to the top, julian and nick were already there.  it seems that thay didn’t hear the call to regroup at oxley and thought that they had the points in the bag.  as the group gets bigger, it is important that messages, like regroup points and such, are passed on especially if people move forward to the front of the group.  this message didn’t get through and created a lot of confusion.

 

we soldiered on and took a different route out of parkerville as we headed towards stoneville.  this would allow us to skip the section of great eastern hwy that we usually tackle for about a km.  it was at the turn though parkerville that nick received a puncture and the call went up.  however, he was left to fend for himself which is why the rules of engagement have been set out above.  by the time the message got to the front, there was confusion over who it was, what the problem was and how far back they were.  this unfortunately meant that he was left with no mobile coverage, little tools and a banjo themed soundtrack.

 

the rest of us headed across to mundaring township and onto the weir road.  i needed to stop to explain the next bit as we were not going to regroup until the coffee shop.  there would be two lots of kom points on this next stretch of road and there would not be a regroup after the first.  this meant that any chase group would have to go hard to catch up after the first main climb, and any leaders would have to go hard to stay away.  much like racing really. 

 

a group got together and bombed it down towards the weir.  i was not initially worried as the main climbers were not in attendance, but stu managed to find his way into that group and they had made some ground.  we chased hard and managed to catch him as the climb started.  john had the dubious honour of leading the charge up the hill out of the weir and i was wondering how long that would last for.  before we turned the corner at the carpark brendan had decided to up the pace and soon it was the two of us with stu and chris making up the front runners.  as we hit the corner and the hill hit it’s steepest part, chris attacked and stu didn’t respond.  i sprinted around and got on chris’ wheel but it didn’t last long and i had to watch him disappear up the road. 

 

as the hill flattened out, i sat up and waited for stu as i thought that the two of us had a better chance of catching chris.  we made some ground, but he always pulled away ont eh climbs and by the time we hit the last pinch, there was no way we were going to catch him.  stu put in one last effort and i couldn’t respond so he ended up with the second place on the climb.  i held on for third with a fast finishing brendan taking fourth and heiko rounding out the points.

chris – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, brendan – 3, heiko – 1.

 

as this was not a regroup spot, i pushed on and headed down the hill.  i was limiting my effort as i was worried about how much i had left in the tank.  brendan scared the utter crap out of me as i flew past on the descent.  no time to react and he was off down the road after stu.  i made sure i kept an eye on the road behind me after that to make sure i didn’t give up any more ground.

 

the final hill was a lonely affair for me but we managed to pass dr paul, dr greg and darren who had found their own way along the course.  there was no way that i was going to catch brendan and stu, so it was just a matter of continually looking back to make sure jens and jerry didn’t catch up.  jens came close on the final pinch, but i made sure i had enough to stay in front.

chris – 10, stu – 7, brendan – 5, peter – 3, heiko – 1.

 

the beautiful day meant that the coffee shop was already busy but we managed to make enough people uncomfortable that they moved.   we took over the bottom section of the outdoor area and made a pretty pattern with the tables and chairs.  coffee points went to the following 1 – heiko, jill, dr ronny, lorraine, dr jerry, john, stu, dan, brendan, chris, jules, dr mark, dr carl, dr greg, dr paul, dr melvyn, mike, john, phil, steve, hugh, todd, peter, nick, darren, christophe, paul.

 

during the trip home we kept seeing this couple in a 4wd standing on the side of the road watching us go past.  the first time was weird, the second time was freaky, and on the third time where they were waiting for us at the maccas south perth, jules explained that it was his and dan’s parents.  not really sure why, but i guess it is like going to watch your kids at footy training.  the sprint to the welshpool rd maccas was won by heiko who teamed up with john for a 1-2 punch where john gave a long lead out to make sure the german left everyone behind.  the final sprint to south perth found christophe taking off early but brendan managed to overtake everyone and take the win.

 

so a glorious day weather-wise and a pretty good ride despite the issues with tyres and instructions.  it does however allow us to reiterate the groups guidelines on flat tyres and why we should stop.  remember, we have to look out for each other out there.