ride report by mark

 

the river looked glassy as i rode in from home along the bikepath up the freeway, and i had a good feeling about todays ride. we started off with 21 riders on what was the most perfect morning i’ve had so far this year.

there was a good mix of new and familiar riders, young and more experienced (i’m starting to prefer that to “old”) and included two girls. with pete and a few of the big guns away, things looked a bit more open on the points chase. stu must have been happy when he saw that.

 

john b and i lead the way out, and after a little confusion up front, we headed off via douglas street towards albany highway. the traffic lights all seemed to be changing at the right time; more indications of a good ride ahead. i couldn’t help comparing it to last week, when we had a howling headwind along the same road, which made things very different.

all the way thru gosnells, past brookton highway, (some of the group took a short cut up brookton hwy) to the somewhat imposing climb of carrawatha rd. it’s short but it sure as hell ain’t sweet.

i took it easy as a salvo of eager guns roared past me as the hill kicked. i knew if i chased here i could spoil the rest of my morning, and with great weather and some hill points up for grabs (not something i’m usually interested in) i wasn’t about to do that. i watched my heart rate and kept it below 180 for the climb, and ended up at the top with moderately aching legs, but still content to carry on with one of my least favourite hills; carradine.

the positions at the top of carawatha were: 1 stu, 2 jerry, 3 jeff.

dr carl had to turn back at the top to attend to his overseas guest at home. the rest of us had a careful descent, knowing that the t-junction kinda sneaks up on you, and then turned left for the long steady climb up to the next t junction at canns rd. this time i tried; i really tried to stay with the front runners, but no luck. stu took off as usual, with jeff  and dr jerry on his wheel. i sat with them for about 500m, and then decided the heart rate was not good for me. dr mark came past me quickly, and i sat with him for a while, and even took a turn in front, but he was more determined, and i watched him go after the others in the last 500m. that gave him 3^rd place. jerry did well to pass jeff and take second place, with dr mark 4^th, me in 5^th. Stu took first.

a couple of the new lads looked tired at the regroups, but they were keen to press on, and so we did. we stuck together well enough to all remember the right turn at churchman brook road, and had a leisurely decent past the dams, safely around “scott’s corner” and on to the next regroup stop at brookton hwy. at this stage the weather was still pleasantly cool, although the humidity was unusually high for a clear blue-sky day. as we started to climb pete rd, i knew that i had to stay with the front boys to have any chance of points. after the steep bit of pete rd, it flattens out a lot, and if one has a bit of a break, two or three riders are hard to catch for a lone chaser. jerry made the mistake, and i hung onto stu and jeff for dear life, that is until stu got bored and went ahead to play on his own after the roundabout on raeburn rd. i sat on jeffs wheel till i thought i could outsprint him, which i did, to take second. jeff was third, followed by shao, and i think dr mark or jerry was next. john b told me over coffee that he chased like hell there, and overtook, thinking he was going for a point, only to find he had chased for 6^th. bummer, i’ve done that a couple of times.

we regrouped again at the servo, where some stocked up with various performance enhancing fizzy drinks and lollies. still the weather felt fresh, and there was hardly a breeze to speak of, as we coasted through pickering brooke. stu decided that he didn’t need any more points, so he went off to do the observatory; and he took two other suckers for punishment with him. we were suitably impressed.

we cruised round to the start of the last climb, with everyone pretty much together as we rounded the corner at the bottom of mundaring weir rd. my speedo wasn’t working by that stage, which was a good thing, as i didn’t really want to know my heart rate. the wind was slightly into us, which meant no record breaking speed, but still just as much effort. it’s fair to say that jeff did all the work up the hill – not even most of it. so jerry and i did feel a tiny bit bad when we dropped him at the last kick after the false flat. but only a tiny bit, and it didn’t diminish the joy we felt at getting first and second. i stayed with jerry on his first kick, and wasn’t sure how much it took out of him. i was disappointed to find out that the answer was “not enough” – he timed his second kick perfectly just before the last right hand bend, and had nothing to answer with. he took it by 50m or more. jeff got third, with bill and dr mark taking 4^th and 5^th.

the coffee was good, and it was great to see 15 of us there, including some first timers, herman & shun. on the home run, it was good to see everyone riding single file again along the canning rd, and i think the motorists appreciate it. jerry got a break as we crossed onto welshpool, and stayed away on the descent. john b and i caught him at the bottom and kept a good pace to the lights, where john took the sprint. as we approached albany hwy, anna let rip with a break, and no-one was quite sure what to do. then lisa jumped, and the two of them were away. the levels of testosterone in the pack went ballistic; gears ground and chains hopped as everyone tried to save face for the male species. it was close but i think we just made it. anna went again at the approach to macdonalds, but jerry was ready for it and eased past for the last spoils.

i came home the long way, along the river all the way. south perth, freeway bike path, and mt pleasant esplanade; and on a day like today, even though it was pretty warm by then, i realised why perth is such a fantastic place to live if you’re a cyclist. a total of 118 km for me for the day, which was just what the doctor ordered.