Report by Julian

 There were about 15 of us gathered at the car park for the Sunday ride.  No doubt the City to Surf kept the numbers down and thankfully the temperature was a couple of degrees warmer than Saturday.  Despite the low numbers a couple of new faces were present and introductions were soon made.  Stu came down to see us off on his way to get the paper.  He had returned bloodied and bruised from Timor – courtesy of stray dog (no doubt more will be told about that) and had a chat for a few minutes before we motivated ourselves to got going.  We picked up Mike Bonner on Douglas Ave and soon were taking turns on the front on the way down Manning Rd and Albany Highway. 

I kept myself amused by telling Alistair (a Kahuna virgin) about the difficulty of the climbs ahead, to the extent that he approached Mills Rd with some trepidation.  The climb began and I decided to put my new bike to the test and went to the front.  Joe, Damir and Matthew followed and soon we were joined by Mike.  Mike and I broke away about half way up, before Mike dropped me on the last of steep bits.  I held it together on the final bit but the damage was done.  Matthew, Judd and Joe followed in behind with everyone else making their own pace.  At the top, the sprint group went directly to coffee, resulting in the group being reduced to about 12.  

KOM 1 – 1.Mike B,  2. Julian,  3. Matthew,  4. Judd,  5. Joe 

As usual, the Urch Rd descent was quick and the Peet Rd ascent slow.  I’m slowly getting to detest this hill less and today it felt pretty good.  Together with Mike, Steve (back on his first hills ride in over 6 months), Matthew, Joe (I think that was it) the pace was up on the way to the roundabout and the final climb to Roleystone.  I made a break half way up and dropped everyone except Mike. And he made me pay on the last section, leaving me behind.  Steve finished fast but I managed to hold him off for second.  The highlight of the re-group was watching Melvyn coming up the hill, closely followed by a kid on a BMX in jeans and a hoodie.  It looked set for a gripping finish and didn’t disappoint.  Melvyn got it by half a wheel, to the general cheers of the rest of the group and the hoodie kid rode off in search of new challenges.  

KOM 2 – 1.Mike B,  2. Julian,  3. Steve,  4. Matthew,  5. Joe 

We set off down to Brookton Highway and turned right for the descent almost back to Albany Highway.  At the bottom Judd and one other didn’t fancy another climb up the Kahuna so they headed back home.  The rest of up re-grouped for the more challenging of the 2 Kahuna ascents.  The steep sections quickly sorted out the group with Mike, getting away from me with Steve behind also getting a small break on the rest.  Alistair found his climbing legs and put in a good effort but couldn’t get to Matthew.  Pretty much everyone made it up the hill without much suffering – even Peter didn’t look too shattered at the top despite recent illness.  

KOM 3 – 1.Mike B,  2. Julian,  3. Steve,  4. Matthew,  5. Alistair 

Melvyn decided his triumph at Roleystone would not be bettered so he left us with his head held high, whilst the rest of us headed towards Kalamunda.  One good thing about having three climbs close together is that the longer ride to the last climb is a good chance to get the legs feeling better and to talk to others.  Daniel and Joe, two of the new guys were enjoying themselves and Brett and Anna were also hanging in there.  Peter and Steve dropped of the back for a chat and Carl followed them.  We all came together at Pickering Brook for the last hurrah through Bickley Valley before the final climb. 

One we hit Mundaring Weir Rd I decided to put the foot down and try to set a time.  Damir and Alistair followed but after the first part of the climb I managed to shake them.  I then noticed the shadow of Mike Bonner behind me and tried to maintain the pace.  Kindly, Mike decided to sit in behind me and so by the last little rise to the still absent 50 km/h sign, I was feeling pretty wobbly.  Predictably I was spat out by Mike in the finishing run but managed a 7.59, which I was pretty happy with.  The others followed in various intervals until at last we all reached the roundabout. 

KOM 4 – 1.Mike B,  2. Julian,  3. Alistair,  4. Damir,  5. Matthew 

A vote was taken and we headed off for coffee at the Merchant, where Simon and Brett had just settled in after finishing a mountain bike ride.  We sat outside and once again enjoyed very good service – my hot chocolate, ordered after Carl’s take way coffee arrived first, although points were lost as there were no marshmallows.  They also let themselves down by having mostly male wait staff this week. 

An uneventful descent back to South Perth followed with riders dropping off at regular intervals to head home.  By the time we arrived back the boatshed we were down to 4 and a very good ride was had by all.  The winter rides have now concluded and with spring starting next week everyone’s thoughts should turn to hills, hills and more hills.  I look forward to seeing big groups out in the next few weeks as the warmer weather returns.