Report by Julian
The morning was postcard picture perfect and given the fact there was almost no wind, I was regretting my initial choice of Ridgehill Rd. A trip to Cottesloe would have been a much better way to ride off the Christmas lunch but the route had been set. A large group of ~50 bade farewell to the novices, once a flat tyre was sorted out, and were soon winging our way towards Hale Rd. Apart from the obligatory break up at the first couple of lights we stayed together well and even managed to get most of the group through the Welshpool Road/Leach Highway intersection without stopping.
Once we were on to Hale Road I shouted out instruction for the fast and main groups to split. With no Russell or Neville this morning I organised the main group with some help from Chris and the split after Tonkin Highway went very smoothly. The hot shots set off up the road and the 14 of us remaining in the main group settled into a steady pace. I went from front to back to front making sure everyone was OK and although the rolling rises on Hale Road slowed a couple of riders, by the time we turned into Kalamunda Rd we were all together.
We rolled through along Kalamunda Road and kept a steady pace in the high 30’s. Everyone was doing their turn without complaint and the pace was still strong by the time we hit Guildford. We went single file until across the river, then picked it up again for the flat section towards Bayswater. We rolled through again with a couple hanging on the back wheels to make sure they weren’t dropped.
The lights were reasonably kind to us and we only broke up as we neared East Perth. Shun sat back and pulled the last of the riders though and once we freeway intersection I looked around and was pleased to see everyone together again. I also noted that the first batch of the fast group were bearing down and ensured we stayed left to allow a smooth pass. There was some integration of the groups at this stage as some of us couldn’t help to push a little harder up Plain St. Down the other side a few got through lights whilst others were held up.
The final sprint was a non event for me as I made sure everyone in the main group came through OK and at the Bell Tower we were well and truly ready for a drink and refreshments. Given that it was a public holiday Saturday and there were plenty of people in town you’d expect the coffee shop to be open, but Perth being Perth this should not have been taken for granted. We made an executive decision to head back over the Narrows to Atomic whilst I tried to explain the complete farcical nature of WA trading laws to John and Emily from Canberra, who have riding with us for the last couple of weeks. I then headed off home to keep a promise to my kids of a trip to the beach. I did hear that the fast group ride was eventful and Heiko will provide an update on this.