Ride Report by Julian

Sunday morning at 7 am we gathered at the rendezvous, only to be joined by every dog wash specialist, pet manicurist and general canine treatment person in Perth. View here all the Chesapeake Bay retriever colors available. However, the million paws walk around the river was not going to affect the 28 tyres sojourn into the hills. Jerry, Melvyn and Ryan formed a breakaway group at the start, only tackling Welshpool Road before heading home, whereas the other 11 riders headed out to Manning Road and down Albany Highway to Mills Rd for the first of two trips up the Kahuna. The lack of the usual front-runners meant that points would be easier to get for the rest of the pack

On the climb up Mills Road the group split early with Herve and another of the Subiaco guys setting a fair pace up the hill. The pace continued and at the Koala Park I overtook Herve and held it to the finish. Ben, another of the newer riders held on for third, closely followed by Mark and his un-oiled chain and then John. At the top, there were several comments about a flat tyre on the climb and Herve received a call from one of the Subi group to assist with repairs. He headed off back down the hill and the rest of the group, now down to six, headed off to Roleystone.

KOM 1 – 1 Julian, 2 Herve, 3 Ben, 4 Mark, 5 John.

The Urch Road descent was pretty quick with John, Mark and I making good time. As we hit Peet Road I’d make a break and was feeling pretty good until I heard the unmistakable screech of metal on metal and turned around to see Mark gaining fast. We stayed together until the final hill, when Mark pulled out a big attack and won by a couple of lengths. Ben, John and Mike came in next with James, on his first hills ride with the group, bringing up the rear.

KOM 2 – 1 Mark, 2 Julian, 3 Ben, 4 John, 5 Mike.

As we headed off from the high school there were slight murmurings of turning left and a short-cut to coffee, but these were quickly put to bed and we all turned right onto Brookton Highway to head down the Scarp and a climb up the other side of the Kahuna. I sat at the back of the group down the hill as we all enjoyed the descent and turning off at the bottom of Brookton Highway the 6 of us had re-grouped for the climb. Given this was my first time up the hill I was unsure of what to expect but soon found myself at the front accompanied by the sound of Mark’s chain. As the climb steepened I put in a couple of efforts and found myself in alone, then settled in to really enjoy the climb. Ben had gone past Mark and held on up the hill with Mark John and Mike to follow. We re-grouped at Kahuna and commented on how good the hill was and congratulated James on his effort in completing the climb. James was lost for words at his effort and nodded in agreement to head off to Kalamunda.

KOM 3 – 1 Julian, 2 Ben, 3 Mark 4 John, 5 Mike.

We rolled up to Pickering Brook, minus James, who had decided to take it easy, and cruised into Bickley Valley. Mark managed to lose a water bottle during on of the descents so he turned back to retrieve his bottle whilst the rest of us freshened up for the final climb. Once we hit Mundaring Weir Road I quickened the pace, hoping to get a good time before the winter conditions set in. It was good slog up the hill and I cracked a PB (just). Mark hit back from the lost baggage episode but could not quite catch Ben before the 50 km/h sign. John and Mike came in together and we all enjoyed the re-fuelling at Paris Brest.

KOM 4 – 1 Julian (7.56), 2 Ben (9.03), 3 Mark (8.33) 4 John (10.04), 5 Mike (10.06).

We met up with the Subi boys at the Café and did the descent with them. A slight head wind on the hill meant that no speed records were set, but the sprinting pace was on from Crystal Brook Road. Mark got the Tonkin Highway lights, then loyally waited for the rest of us to get through. Another couple of sprints on Welshpool Rd managed to drain all the energy out of my legs and the group started peeling off and heading home as we headed through Vic Park. All in all a very good ride and looking back we’ve had a pretty good run in May with the rides. The Sunday rides have attracted and retained a few new riders and hopefully we can continue building up the group.