ride report by peter.

 

after a gastro induced sabbatical from the bike last week, i was keen to get some hard k’s in to try to “cram” before next weeks race.  not ideal but i was running out of options.  i have only entered 2 races so far this year and so my results have been a dnf and a dns.  i got up early and did a lap of the river before 7 and turned up to find a mass of riders awaiting instructions.  there would have been close to 70 or so there.

we were splitting into three groups again with julian taking the novice group, nev leading the main group and me trying to keep up with the fast group.  the novice group was building on it’s success and there were now six riders heading out along the shelley course.  it seems that they are getting used to it fairly quickly so we may have to extend the route for them a bit.

the ret of us were going to do hale road and split at the welshpool road end rather the kalamunda end.  this gave the fast group a bit more time to stretch their legs and maybe a chance to make up the extra km’s difference between the two groups. 

we started out alright, but just as we were climbing the small hill out of the causeway, lisa sped to the front to let us know that we had a flat tyre in the group.  nowhere to stop, we kept going for a bit before pulling into a side street to keep out of traffic.  we used to be able to regroup in bus stops, but 70 riders and bikes take up a bit more room.  james a i headed back down the hill to find tony sitting in a bus shelter doing a quick change.  pretty soon we were on our way again.

the pace was pretty good and we managed to avoid getting split too badly by the traffic lights.  once we hit hale, we tried to get the groups split so that the fast group was ahead by the time we reached the lights at tonkin hwy.  it went fairly well, but i think some of the main group became entangled in the fast group.  this wasn’t the worse place for this to happen as if the pace was too much, the main group would soon come along and sweep them up.

the lights changed fast at tonkin as well and only the fast group managed to make their way through.  however, the pace was pedestrian as the front of the large group had not heard that we were all on.  i rode to the front and turned the speed on.  pretty soon there were a few of us rotating through to keep the group going.  mat, jerry, davina and myself did lots of turns up hale rd until we reached the kalamunda intersection.

once across, we headed towards ridgehill rd and this is where the group really splintered.  as the road pitched up, the morning river lap took it’s toll and i couldn’t hold the pace as the fast boys attacked the hill.  i set a tempo to the top and then tried to catch up on the descent.  by the time we reached the bottom, i was in a small group with ian, lorriane and davina.  there was a group just up the road with ryan, james, michael, judd and some others, plus there were about two more groups behind us.

we were not really effective in working together and came within about 50 metres of catching.  i thought we could bridge and put in a big effort only to hear that “pop” noise as i pushed myself over the limit and went into the red.  as i pulled off the front i just had to watch the other three head up the road.

i kept a tempo up but eventually got caught by a group of four from behind.  we worked together and caught the other three as they were waiting at the lights in guilford.  when we sat at the lights in bassendean the next group also caught us so that we had about 12-15 riders in the group now.

we started rolling through all the way back to perth, but new that there was no way that we would catch the front few.  the lights along guildford rd also conspired against us, but from what i hear they conspired against all the groups today.

at the end of the day it was just a procession to the coffee shop with no real sprint, just a surge at the end.  all up a good hit out, that had me still searching for some form.