ride report by peter.
it was a crisp and clear morning, although the sun wasn’t due to get up till quarter past seven, as i sprinted my way to the start line. i was late again and so blamed the fact that i didn’t win 53.2 million bucks on ozlotto during the week and couldn’t afford a house right on the foreshore. in actual fact having both kids wake up within the usual “getting ready and out the door” time kind of made things hard.
i would have to say that there was about 40 or 50 on the road this morning, but i haven’t really done a head count for a while. the break in the weather must have inspired a few people to kit up and make the most of it. if it isn’t raining next weekend, then i expect even more as people get inspired after watching the tour. maybe i schedule gooseberry hill as our own saturday morning pyrenees. even mike b was out on a brand new cube bike after breaking his norco at the cyclo-sporitf last weekend.
the course would take us out shep rd and onto welshpool. up hale then a variation where the main group turns left along kalamunda rd while the fast group get to do ridgehill rd before the routes converge for the stretch home along guilford road.
the size of the group meant that we were repeatedly split by traffic lights but we kept it pretty well under control and the group always got back together. after we turned onto welshpool/orong rd, there was a sound of a tyre not feeling well and michael pulled off to the side. he waved the group on. he has been trialling the new tubeless rims and tyres so it is interesting to know how they go. not a good advertisement for them so far.
after we turned onto hale rd we moved the fast group to the front so that after tonkin hwy they would take off. it all went fairly well to plan and everyone made it across the intersection. the fast group started to turn the pace up and i was content to sit at the back and take in the stretch and compress that you always find at the rear of the peleton.
i could see up the road the guys like jerry, ryan, judd and mike were forcing the issue. the pace, however, was not that high as i think that people were saving themselves for ridgehill. i know that i was.
we hit the lights at kalamunda rd and got a breather. the group eased off a bit on the next section with the anticipation of the hill to come. it is not that big, but as there is a long, long way to chase afterwards, it can make a bit impact to your day.
as we hit the base of the hill, holly and lisa both made moves to get closer to the front and onto ryan’s wheel. however, as he started to power up the climb they both slipped back. i jumped around and onto his wheel and found myself in unfamiliar territory. i have not been this close to the front in ages. while ryan stayed in the big ring, i dropped down and span out a bit. the new bike geometry allows me to finally get more power down while seated. as the road hit a sharper pinch, the bigger gear slowed ryan down a bit so i made a move to go around. the fact that i was close to the front of the pack again, must have gone to my head as pretty soon i was struggling for breath as ryan, mike, jerry and judd came past me as we crested the hill. i peaked at about 187 bpm on the heart rate monitor and knew that i was in trouble. i also knew that if i didn’t get on, i would be chasing for the rest of the morning.
even though i was feeling faint, i pushed on and was on their wheel as we reached the bottom and flew through the roundabout. i looked around and saw two other riders on my wheel but could not sustain a long enough look to actually identify them. ahead of me ryan, jerry, mike and judd continued to roll through. myself and the other two riders just held on for dear life. instead of rolling off the front, these guys were coming up from 3rd or 4th wheel to get back to the front. there was no way that i would have had anything left to do a turn is i had made it to the front. i just sat in. judd admitted to me later that he would always leave a gap between 3rd and 4th wheel before he moved to the front to try to cause a split and get us three passengers dropped off the back. fair call as we were not doing anything to help.
we made it back onto guilford road and started to get caught up in the traffic congestion. as we were stopped at the lights in the centre of guilford, the main group turned onto the road in front of us. we would be passing them pretty soon by the looks of it. the lights also allowed some of the chasers back onto our group and this effectively doubled our numbers.
after the lights at lord st in bassendean we passed the main group and i noticed anthony speed up to jump on board. tricky move.
with the bigger group and the double lane we had a more consistent roll through and the pace picked up again. through the rolling hills of bayswater a few splinters appeared as the group attacked and surged. we got a few lights though to bring it all back together. on the final hill the group stretched out and i was at the back. by the time we hit the lights onto east parade, they were well red so we got separated from the rest of the front runners. the usual multiple lights stops and by the time we hit riverside drive, we could see the rest of them just getting the lights at the far end. we upped the pace a bit, but no real sprint to be had. the rest of the group filtered in so that there was a decent size group for coffee. all up a good ride with some nice weather.