Monday morning was going to be hot and the “conspirators” had agreed after the post Christmas Saturday ride that in an effort to beat the heat, the “N” group would leave Coode St carpark at 6.30 for the longer ride around the river and back to Atomic in Mends St.   At 6.35 when Gwyn & I arrived there were only couple of the girls plus Mike & Debbie, but by the time we had discussed the morning “easterly” and which way to go, the numbers were up to 14 including myself and couple of the other guys “ex” the main group joining in with the “N” group regulars. 

Heading off towards the Narrows at around 6.45am, we upped and over the bridge to re-group and pair up ready to head east along Mounts Bay Rd. Sitting on 30 with the tail wind, and Mike keeping the rear end in check, we rode as a solid pack “real cyclists” past the Brewery into Nedlands.  Turning left to follow the river alongside UWA, the pack went
through the “Steve”s” roundabout to tackle the first “lump” ahead as the The Avenue rose up into Dalkeith; this pushed a few of the heart rates up with the group spread out a little and three “old amigos” came past and took us on the hill.   

Re-grouping at the top we picked back up to a steady pace around 25-28, overtook the 3 amigos, and cruised up to
Stirling Hwy were we sat seemingly for ages waiting for the lights to change – too much carbon and not enough steel on the bikes I reckon to trigger the vehicle detectors in the road. 
Under the underpass, then left and up the next rise past Scotch College heart rates getting nicely elevated again, before stopping at the top for a quick strategy chat on tackling Curtin Ave in single file and the red lights on Eric and Jarrad St.  As luck would have it, both lights held green and let us straight through sitting on 27-30 with the
easterly helping us along.   Down through Leighton”s and the group looking very professional and business like – shame about the utes parked and blocking the bike lane heading south (no doubt the same d**kheads who like to hurl abuse at cyclists legitimately using the “their” road).  We even managed to overtake a couple of “targets” before taking a sneaky back street shortcut into Tydeman Rd.   
Little traffic around so we decided at the last minute not duck into east Freo, but head back via the Stirling Bridge, Canning Hwy and our third little casino pa natet lump up into Preston Point Rd.  More elevated heart rates with Tracy, Michelle and a couple of others storming up the hill and gapping the rest with a 50 metre lead out.  Up and over Point Walter and
then for a re-group to organise the roll through; after  pairing up ok, the inner line got a bit too enthusiastic and made it hard for the outer line pushing into the easterly to overtake, ending up with the group stretching out and separating somewhat.  A bit more practise around the longer section of Shelley and we”ll get there.    Waved and shouted
“pleasantries” at the Main group as they headed by in the opposite direction and had another crack at rolling through along Melville Beach Rd – bit better this time, and then again for the third time along the short section from South Perth Y.C to Canning Bridge.    Re-grouped by the Bridge and as we had only covered around 40 klms by
then, checked if anyone was game for quick deviation via Shelley – but the 60/40 split in favour of coffees at the Atomic  won through.  Funny that !   
So far we had run a safe and generally tight group ride – possibly a bit slow for some of the “guns” but a couple of the newcomers really appreciated Mike sweeping up at the back end of the pack and offering encouragement in times of need.  Heading north on the freeway bike path with a bit of a tail wind, Gwyn, Patrick & Tracy romped ahead.   As the main group turned off into the jet ski carpark, the large red & white pole in the middle of the bike path jumped up out of the red bitumen and assaulted one of our number (who wished to remain nameless) . . . . That sickening sound of screech crunch and thud behind can only mean one collective thing – pain embarrassment and expensive bike damage.  Thanks to the hospitality of the jet skiers and the ministrations of Michelle and a couple of the others, the recipient of the assault was laid out in the skiers tent in a bit of shock, whilst Mike checked the bike over.  With doses of TLC the patient recovered enough to re-mount and we all finished off the last klm of the ride back to Atomic (very carefully).  Just goes to show that after riding in the sun for an hour or two, it”s so easy for a bit of lapsed concentration to lead something ugly.  Fortunately damage to bike and body appeared to be minimal although someone will be sporting a few bruises and feel a little sore for the next few days.  Apart from the pole assault, thanks to Mike and the other “escorts” we had a safe ride, the group generally worked well together and gained a bit more confidence on some of the traditionally busy “cycling” roads.