ride report by peter.

well summer is here with a vengeance and the plus 30 days we have had all week don’t look like they will stop soon.  however, they do make for nice mornings just as long as you don’t stay out too late.  the pleasant conditions meant that we had about 50 riders turn up this morning.  for some reason the estrogen level was through the roof as we had an influx of girls coming out to play.  all good though as i know that lorraine is keen to get more girls involved in the racing scene, so getting them along on a group ride is always a good start. 

the plan today was to break into two groups to let the fast boys stretch their legs a bit.  we would be nice a sedate out great eastern, through ascot and along guilford before turning onto kalamunda road.  we would then travel down hawtin/hale rd to be deposited back out on welshpool rd.  the plan was then to split into two groups with the fast boys doing an extra 5km to hook around beckenham and back onto albany hwy near the shops at cannington.  the rest of the group would continue along welshpool and onto shepperton rd and into town.  the fast boys would try to catch the main group before the final sprint of the day.  that was the plan.

the initial part of the journey went exactly to plan.  the pace was very easy and it gave a good chance for people to catch up and have a chat.  riders at the front had a decent wind to contend with but nothing that would dampen the spirits too early.  brendan and steve did the majority of the work leading out and although they needed some navigational prompting occasionally, it was more than made up for by the long kilometres of hard slog.

the pace was so sedate for some riders that i was worried that it would be considered too slow.  as we turned onto hale rd i told the front guys to go at ¾ pace along that stretch.  unfortunately, i wasn’t vocal enough to let the rest of the group know and when the guys took off, the group instantly split and began chasing.  this caused it to splinter even more and pretty soon there were three distinct groups stragglers in no-mans land between.  i was off the back trying to help some struggling newby riders that i didn’t want to leave behind.  i corralled them all together with dr wally so that there was safety in numbers and took off to try to make it closer to the front.  i picked up a few riders on the way, but four weeks of inconsistent riding meant that i didn’t have the capacity to bridge a gap like that any more.  luckily the lights at tonkin hwy and another oversize load meant that the group was soon all together.

james was keen to stretch his legs and took off along welshpool rd with a couple of riders in tow.  i expected that they didn’t really know that we would be splitting soon and i was waiting to see how far they would get ahead.  luckily for him, a navigational dilemma meant that they slowed at the lights to get some direction on which way they were to go and the rest of us caught up.  the little “left-right” we normally do to head home via welshpool became the decision point for the group today.  i had already explained that the fast boys would be doing an extra 5kms but i don’t think people realised just what speed we would be doing that at.  i would say that half the group turned right to go straight home, and half turned left for the fast run. 

there was quite a bit of in decision as soon as we turned as most people didn’t really know what to expect.  mike came past and asked if we were just staying on this road, and headed to the front when i confirmed.  he set the pace high and this caused the group to start the chase.  after a short while we started to roll through and the pace was really on.  some of the group didn’t roll through but sat out the back, and this is fine, but what we wanted to try to replicate was a race pace situation and what it does to your body.  soon i was sweating like a pig and was really struggling to hold the pace even with a roll through.  we lost a couple of guys as the wind was not yet in our favour so the ability to hold on at pace while not getting a full draft, due to the crosswind, was not available to everyone.

the group split at an intersection, but came back together for us to turn onto albany highway.  i explained to everyone that if we get split at the lights from now on, we are not to wait and it is up to the group to try to stay as a solid unit.  it didn’t take long and the pace caused little gaps along the line.  as it had also started to line out to single file, the length of the group meant that a break at the lights was inevitable. 

i was running out of puff and i was soon in the back half that was caught at a set of lights around the leach hwy underpass.  we worked hard to try to bridge back on, but my heart wasn’t in it (well cardio really).  by the time we were on shepperton rd i was in the back half of the second group and got split at the lights again.  there was no way we were making up that much ground and i resigned myself to a cruise home.  not the other in the group and soon i was dropped by melvyn as he continued to push the group.  i sat up and rode the rest of the way with holly until we were caught by a few others on the narrows.

all up i think it was about 15kms of hard riding and with the lights and gaps, it turned into a hard interval sessions.  so it must be good for you.  as we have discussed before, we will not be splitting every week, but it at least allows the wide spread of abilities a chance to have a ride that they can enjoy.  whether it is a more relaxed pace or a sadomasochistic pace it at least gives individuals the option.

i had driven into the coffeeshop today to deliver some more christmas present hats to the group and there are still some more to go.  the family also turned up with ben sporting a spr t-shirt and daniel sleeping like a baby.  so a good turn out today and a good fast run back into town.  the main group also held together well so thanks to the guys that stepped up to keep that in order.