ride report by peter.

a predicted max of 32 degrees is a good sign that summer is bearing down upon us.  actually it is only a few days away.  it also is a good chance that we will have a good turn out and this didn’t disappoint with around 70 or so turning up.  i had driven over to the bell tower so that i could set up a kit and bottle stall during coffee as there was still over 100 bottles stacked in my house.  on arrival i found lorraine also unpacking her bike from the car so we trundled over to coode st together.  on the way we picked up jason and julian so had begun our early social part of the ride.

once we reached the carpark, there was already a bit of a crowd milling around but most noticeable was the car and trailer parked in the middle of it all.  in the back was a bunch of malvern star oppy bikes so we weren’t sure what was going on.  after a while a couple of people got out of the car and told us that they were there all day promoting the new bikes and giving people test rides.  there was a free draw to win a  bike so a few people took up the offer and entered.  apparently, phil anderson was going to be there tomorrow to help promote the bikes as well.  now there is someone that we should try to get out on the hills ride.

with a quite big group and a big novice group as well, we all set off in search of cycling adventure.  well, set off anyway.  the route was a tried and true one with both groups heading out shep rd and onto welshpool rd before heading north along hale rd.  the main group would then head home via kalamunda and guilford while the fast group would take on ridgehill rd before returning via helena valley rd and guilford.  all nice and simple.

it was a pretty uneventful trip out past welshpool with the group being split at lights as expected.  all together along hale rd and the aim was to get the fast group to the front by the time we hit tonkin hwy.  after that we would put the pedal down and split the two groups apart.  russell volunteered to act as the paceman for the main group and would ensure that the groups split cleanly. 

after tonkin, to enforce the split, ryan and myself went to the front and started to up the pace.  russell kept the main group together so if anyone wanted to do the fast ride they had to come around and make the break.  it seemed to work well from what i could see as there wasn’t as much interaction this time around.
after a while we started a roll through, but due to the wind, had to roll the opposite way.  this always causes problems with the group and there were a few times when there was only the to few doing turns.  is soon sorted itself out and everyone rolled through well.  jarrad, after spending a week up north, had to blow some cobwebs out of his legs so shot off the front.  no-one chased him down so the group stayed together well.

crossing kalamunda rd at the lights, there seemed to be a reluctance to go to the front as everyone seemed to be wanting to save their legs for the hill.  once we got there it was on.  an early attack from alistar and others was soon pulled back as the hill continued on.  i jumped around the group to find ryan’s wheel but caught it just as bonner and he attacked.  i stayed on his wheel as long as i could but had spent most of my effort finding it in the first place.  i soon slipped back and crested the hill about 11^th or so.

now i know with this ride that if you are not on the wheel going over the top then you really have to be chasing hard to make sure you are at the bottom.  i had red-lined on the hill and now couldn’t chase at all.  i watched as the group inched further away from me.  looking back there was a group of about 6 hurtling down the hill towards me.  like any good handicap race, you don’t chase to bridge the gap, you wait for the group behind to catch up so you can all work together.

at the bottom we came together but before i had a chance to work out how to chase, alistar sped past.  well there’s a wheel i thought so gregor and i jumped on board.  after a short while he began to fade so we started a roll through.  there was 7 of us and we all managed to take turns well and kept the pace relatively high.  we were not making much ground on the front group, but pretty soon they were shedding riders and we managed to pick up 4 more.  the tailwind was helping as we were averaging 45km/hr, but the pace was taking a toll and people started to miss turns and gaps were starting to appear.  we rolled into guilford and turned the corner to see the front group stuck at the first set of lights.  we got there just on the change so integrated into one big group and cruised across the bridge into bassendean.

once again the pace was on and the group rolled through keeping it high.  riders were starting to fall off the back even along the flats as the average speed was close to 50km/hr.  by the time we hit the rolling hills we had shed a few riders and would probably loose some more very soon.  there were no real attacks, but the pace did not let up through the hills and we managed to only get one real traffic light.  with an average speed of 45km/hr it was hold on for dear life for most of the group.  we picked up a few riders from the main group towards the end and hit the lights at east parade were we came to a halt.  the chase had ended so the trip to riverside drive was at a pedestrian pace as everyone was preparing for the sprint.  nico was on his tt bike preparing for tomorrow so i said that he and i should lead out.  ryan was playing his usual games and had started to drift back to find a wheel to suck so he wouldn’t come to the front too soon.  there was a bit of a gap from brendan and i to the rest of the jockeys jockeying for position and the lights changed quicker than most had expected.  i rolled through the corner and looked back to see that i had a big gap.  oh well, might as well have a crack.  with 1 km to the next set of lights, it was a tall ask on my own.  looking at the download from the garmin i managed to hold an average of 54km/hr for the first half of the block.  i then steadily declined back to 48km/hr over the next 200 metres and the group started to make some ground on me.  i was riding scared but was running out of legs fast.  up out of the saddle and i managed a small burst of speed but couldn’t sustain anything.  the lights ahead were red and the traffic was still at a standstill by this time.  i stopped pedalling as we were running out of road just as the group sprint flashed past me.  as i was slowing for the lights and since ryan had to actually go around the traffic to stop hitting them, i will claim the sprint victory.  a well deserved win by the yellow jersey.