by dr ronny
Today we were trying our new route. After a vote of confidence by Pete, we set off with the largest number of people I’ve seen on the novice ride since I “joined” a few weeks ago. It wasn’t till I was 30 metres down Coode St when Emma reminded me that I was heading the wrong way. (Just checking everyone knew the route :). So we did a u-turn and got on the bike path heading west towards the Narrows, crossing on the eastern side and then negotiating the giant puddle on the bike path at the bottom of the northeast corner which is there every week.
We got onto Mounts Bay Rd and Tracy and Emma set the pace. The right hand turn onto Thomas Rd at the end was well negotiated. Emma was smart enough to call me through to the front leaving myself and Tracy to lead. Lynda (who apparently has been sick this week) began to puff like I’ve never heard her puff before. The hill start at the red lights with Rokeby road caught a few people off guard before we gladly coasted down Nicholson Rd and then left onto Selby.
The hill on Lemnos street began to string out the group but I was pleased to see Lynda zoom by me on the downhill in chase of Tracey. We got to the end and turned left on Brockway. Lynda and Tracy had a small lead which stretched to almost 50m at one stage. This was the only part of the route that I had not ridden and I was disappointed to find that there was a lot of sand in the bicycle lane (which was not demonstrated on Googlemaps!). Mark, who was joining us today, kept the troops at the back in check and we made our way right onto Alfred to find another small rise. I told people it would be our last hill as I heard some groans behind me and at the bottom of the hill we caught a glimpse of the Elite Racing Cycles “Ladies” Group (perhaps our bizarro world doubles??? Or perhaps, we are the bizarros???).
We saw them disappear up the road along Davies to Claremont and then went across Stirling Hwy and through Dalkeith. Tracy, who had been at the front the whole day was still going strong and powered all the way to home along the bike path. We beat the other groups by 15 minutes and it was nice taking the prime seats for once (get used to it boys! 🙂
Overall, I thought it went well, we didn’t get lost (I never had a doubt!) and at least it was something different. I’d like to thank Mark who kept the riders up the back (and out of my sight) out of trouble. We’ll probably make the route a little longer next time by heading out east and taking the Causeway and Riverside drive to begin with (thus avoiding the bike path and the Narrows) or by turning right at Brockway and going past Challenger stadium (to avoid the Brockway “beach”).
I won’t be there next week so Merry Christmas to all.
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Hey Ronny was a really great ride I thoroughly enjoyed it and I liked the back up we had from Mark to the rear – kept us all safe and happy. Thanks for planning the ride it was really great!!!
My first ride with the novices and I really enjoyed it. The route was very scenic and you guys and gals are great to ride it. I found the pace relaxing but at the same time, by the time I got to the end I had a good ride. Cheers. I will be back 🙂
Thanks for the write up Ronny – and just hope that I didn’t sound too facist barking out orders from the back . . . .
Its good that the Novice group is getting a bit more ‘road’ exposure and in those situations it’s even more important that the Novice riders are aware of and apply the ‘rules’ of group riding. Getting home safely is the paramount aim on any ride.
For the first half of Saturday’s Novice ride frequently with the group riding along at 25kph & spread out along on the narrow roads with central traffic islands and a marked bike lane on the edge of the road, a couple of riders were sitting two up with one rider in the middle of the road lane. These are very risky (dengerous) situations for cyclists – car drivers can and will get very impatient and bully their way through and if pissed off will cut up the front of the group. Its one thing to sit in a tightly bunched pack of 20 bikes moving at 35-40 kph – the pack has a solid and dominating presence on the road, but the Novice group travelling at half that speed and spread out across the road means that each rider becomes a vulnerable target. In a cars vs bikes contact – the bike and rider will always be the ones getting bent. Happily to say that for the second half of the Saturday ride the group started to gel together nicely – well done.
And just as a reminder to the Novice group riders. Under the Traffic Codes (ie “the Law”) –
(i) cyclists must ride in single file on shared Bike/pedestrian paths unless overtaking (Traffic Code Reg 216). Very common to see a pack two or even three up heading towards us on the freeway bike path between Canning Bridge & Narrows – whilst their action is illegal (unless one of them is overtaking) please don’t rely on the law to assert your rights as a large number of cyclists don’t know the “Law” and are overdosed with testosterone and aggression. Its best that if you have space then move over to the left if you can & don’t confront them – just mutter quietly to yourself as they pass by or if feeling especially brave “dickhead” as they pass by is a well understood expression!
(ii) Similarly if there is a marked bike lane on the left hand side of any road and its in reasonable condition, then cyclist must use it and must ride in single file unless overtaking (Reg 213). Obvously this regulation is generally ignored by a pack of fast moving cyclists – but at the slower Novice level, please conform as it will generally allow cars to overtake safely, and means we get home unscatheed and in one piece.
Cheers & have a safe Christmas.
Did anyone record ride stats for this ride? I have not fitted a bike computer to my new bike yet so I have no idea of distance, average speed etc.
I hope someone had a computer. If not, I will have one by next week!
Cheers