ride report by peter.
so a week off the bike with the vain hope that it would give me time to recover from my cold. unfortunately it is still lingering and starting to piss me off somewhat as everyone else i know got over it quickly. i am still somewhat snotty but at least i am not having coughing fits that kind of screwed me around on the great perth bike ride (gpbr).
so, with a pleasant day predicted with the sun shining and little wind to speak of, i was expecting a big turnout and was not disappointed. there were between 50 – 60 riders waiting to go this morning by the time i turned up (late again). we were going on a gentle lap of the river but the reverse direction of the gpbr and including cottesloe to break things up a bit. it was a fairly standard route that we used to do quite regularly and one that i often map out when i am not coming as everyone knows the way.
we rolled out and didn’t even make it to the lights at mill point rd when chris was out with a flat. he told us to keep going as with a group this size, we would be taking up a lot of space. also, as the ride had only just begun, we would be on cruise mode for a while and with the help of james and ryan, who stopped with him, he should be able to catch back up.
the rest of us headed out to canning hwy and down towards freo. i didn’t last long on the front and soon joined the tail of the group so that i could get a good draft. i just found that i could not sustain a decent effort for very long and was probably more of a hindrance at the front. we turned off the hwy and onto burke drive which was our first designated fast section. usually the group really goes to town here as the long stretch with no intersections to slow you down makes for a fast pace. for some reason, no-one was in the mood for dancing. i was also content to sit on the back of the train and watch the frustrated car drivers not be able to get around due to all the traffic islands on that stretch of road.
about ¾ of the way along burke drive i see a figure heading up the road. young bec decided to have a crack and went off the front. melvyn thought that he better not be shown up by her and took off in pursuit. however, he was no match for the current state women’s criterium champion and never came close. the rest of the pack soon picked him up on the hill over pt walter.
the group was playing nice today and stopped after the roundabout, but it was not necessary as since the pace had not been on, the pack had not been strung out. we happily continued down towards the left bank.
along this stretch the pace was on and some of the boys were keen to go off the front. i made a half-arsed attempt (as i only have half an arse worth of effort in me) and got caught in to man’s land. i did notice jerry and brendan and a few others off the front, but it was all a bit of a haze for me by then.
a nice cruise past cottesloe with an opportunity to enjoy the view (i love summer or even summer-like weather), and we were headed for home. i got a text and as we are almost at baby-time, i had to check it in case i had missed a call. it was however from chris, and he wrote – “i’d like to publicly apologise to my team mates ryan and james for my use of faulty equipment. i hope they caught back up.” it turns out that chris didn’t have the proper valve extenders for his deep dish rims and could only put half the required amount of air in his tyre. the other guys left him at raffles and chased us down in swanbourne.
the pace home was actually quite civilised and i got to have a chat with a few people that i hadn’t caught up with for a while. mike (tall guy, ice-cream jersey and argon 18 bike) is now working a 4 and 2 roster out of china so most of his riding is confined to a trainer. and lisen who used to be a regular, but has been caught up doing the whole doctor thing and has not had time lately. it was good to see them out again along with a few new faces to the group.
the pace did eventually pick up as the road rolled through dalkeith and jerry made sure that he sat on ryan’s wheel so that he could take him on the line by the war memorial. i was happy to still be with the group by now and had to laugh when lisen asked if i wanted to get out when i was boxed in on the left hand side.
we ended up passing the elite cycles group around the university and this may have caused some confusion leading into the sprint. we had enough spr riders up front to set the pace, but elite were tucked in behind all the way along mounts bay rd. i managed to get to the front early on to test the body out on a extended effort, but was soon overtaken by james and then got boxed in by the other 30 or so riders that came around. in the end i am pretty sure it was ryan on the line, but i was too far away to make out the minor placings.
coffee for all and we managed to fill up the outside area easily as the pace had not been high enough to lose too many riders. ronny had joined us from the elite group and it was good to see him and john up and about after their altercation with a spped sign at the gpbr. i am riding on borrowed time at the moment as the imminent birth of son #2 will be putting a serious cramp on my riding hours. however, regardless of my situation, this is a reminder that our next spr breakfast will be on in a few weeks time on the 20th dec. this will be the christmas breakfast and will be held at jerry’s place palace in city beach. the ride will be very casual and fancy dress will be recommended. stay tuned for more as we get closer.
Saturday’s ride was a little out of the ordinary. It was good to see Blouse Norris on his toeing the line on Saturday morning. When I noticed him pull over at the start, I thought I better stay to make sure he did not blouse out.. Well, over 5 minutes had gone and both him and James were looking at the broken valve extender and discussing spare wheels etc at Jame’s house.
I was thinking ‘we are now a long way behind and no matter how slow the boys were going, it would be tough to catch up’.. So mounted my steed and told others to follow. Chris was saying his tyre was way to flat but he came rolling through so I figured we would have his assistence for a little while at least. But when we hit the first rise before getting to Canning Hwy, he dropped back (soft tyre must have prevented him from powering up the hill)..
Onto canning highway and we were held up at the next set of lights and Chuck caught up but turned right to go for a dirty stop in at the raffles?? James and I worked hard up Canning hwy towards Freo, making good time.
We turned right off Freo and headed towards Point Walter, thinking we would cross paths with the rest of the group as they came this way. After a minute or so of trundling along, James pointed out that the group usually turned down to ride past the leftbank meaning they did not come this way.. Fec, he was right so we put the gas on again and powered to the round about and headed down towards the Leftbank, not sure if we were in front or behind now.. We did a decent pace along this stretch and did not see anyone ahead of us.
After the left bank we arrived at the main road and pulled over at the bus stop. I was sure we were ahead at this stage but thought I better call Pete. Upon talking to Pete I realised we were still about 1.5kms behind. Fec, back on the bike and stepped up the pace (James was loving having a solo ride with me, I am sure that is what he was saying behind me as we crossed the bridge at close to 60km/hr)..
We went right past the Oyster Bar and kept on going.. Up towards Cottesloe. Once going along the coast, I am sure I spotted a glimpse of the tail of the group and I was relieved and felt I could afford myself some breathing time and admire the scenery (as surely this is what was happening up front?).. Anyway, rolled through cottesloe and past North Cott Surf Lifesaving club and still we could not see the back of the group, I decided we had to take a short cut at Grant street to make up a little ground and sure enough when we emerged at the main road, we could see the group turning right onto the same road. We were reunited again..
Trip back to the coffee shop was fun, we got to sit in for a little while resting tired legs. I was thinking I had used up most of the gas in my tank and I would sit in for the remainder of the ride (I have thought this before but always seem to get ants in my pants, especially when the pace picks up :-)..
So, rolling through Dalkeith and turning up past the bowling green I decided to move up a few spots on the false flat. I was feeling pretty rough but thought I better do my usual and hit it up the final hills before we turned right. I sped past the group and got into a rythm, although I noticed there was a wheel behind me.. I was impressed, turned out Poulidor was close by when I made my move and was now loving the tow. Jerard stood up and powered past me (again impressed) but I sat on his wheel and he eased up a little as we crested the last hill. Now I am not sure where this little mini sprint/kom battle officially finishes but I kept going to the white line just before we turned right and pointed it out.. I am sure in Jerard’s mind he had the hill but I know the line is the official finish 😉
I always ease up once heading towards Steve’s (Nick usually uses this section to launch his break away atempt) but Steve (from Aussie Crates, now fellow SPR racer) came past so I thought we could keep going. We were not going too fast and the group was soon all on and who should make a move past, but Kimbo on his flash new Soloist and Nick took the bait and followed after him. Daryl tried to coax me into chasing them but this is the time where I trie to drift back down the pack as much as I can inconspicuously.
I noted I had both Steve and Brendon behind me so was thinking today could be another loss in the sprint for me. Things picked up on Mounts Bay road but I was sitting in pretty comfortably, making sure I could see who was up front and that there were no breakaways.. Christo came past (reliable diesel engine so I jumped behind him for a lift closer to the front).. I was thinking when to go and then Judd came past and I could see he was making his move. I was not going to repeat my mistake of a few weeks ago when I was more worried about Pete on my wheel than Judd getting off the front and I paid the price.
I was right onto Judd’s wheel, perhaps a little too quick as I had to slow whilst he went around some people up front. I then picked it up to get around him and powered to the line, watching my rear wheel to see if there was anyone in tow. It seemed today I was going to get an easy win.. After sitting up and changing gears down to do my spinning to the coffee shop, Brendon came just behind me saying he still did not know where the finish was.. I told him it was the 60km sign, hopefully next time he can not use ignorance as an excuse.. 🙂
So all in all a good ride, harder than usual at the beginning with some hard work at the end to top it all off… Noice noice..
I hope to see a few people out on Thursday morning, be it for the B group ride or the A group hit out..
Good work lads, again my humble apologies.
Yes, good effort Ryan, on both the commentary and the riding back to the group, what I was actually saying when we crossed the bridge was ‘do you want to go straight up Stirling Hwy?’ I thought about saying it louder but figured it was better to breathe properly than to shout over the wind noise.
No need to apologise, it was enjoyable.. Wasn’t it James?
🙂
Sorry for the large comment, only realised how long it was when I came back into the comments.. Succinct is not my middle name..
James, you are one funky Spud..
Ignorance hey 😉
A funky spud…you two have some ‘thing’ going on eh 😉
Yep good relaxing ride to start my big week off as Ryan stated “Noice Noice” 🙂