Yet another enjoyable Sat ride lead out by DrRonny with 14 starters including some new faces. Heading south for Applecross and the Majestic Hill when DrR. offered a ‘hill-avoiding’ shortcut via the left, but most kept to the right (like lambs to the slaughter) and tackled it ok.
Back to Canning bridge and around the narrow bike path alongside the rowing club, where a couple of the group made a bad call by overtaking a pedestrian or two in the face of two oncoming cyclists who emphatically expeleted their displeasure . . . Could have been ugly, but the approaching cyclists were clearly experienced and everyone managed to sneak by and stay upright. Just goes to show that we need to always concentrate 100% on the narrow sections and if in doubt always give way . . . .
Group was a bit scrappy down the Esplanade and when we re-grouped just before Shelley, DrR decided with the couple of new faces that we should pair up, not roll through this time around, but work on our group riding skills to maintain as neat and a tidy a pack as possible. This we did and it worked well sitting on a steady 26-28 all the way down to the end into a bit of an easterly head wind.
The return back along Shelly was equally good with the pace up a bit, courtesy of the tail wind, and riding back past the rowing club in a safe single file this time. Back on the freeway bike path heading north we had one puncture, and a bit later a ‘saddle malfunction’ – unfortunately as ‘sweeper’ I hadn’t come through yet (slowed up by the puncture repair) and Tracy was left to fend for herself and solo-ed it back to the cafe. Please remember if some one does have a ‘mechanical’ and others ride by, its always good to stop and offer support and company – that’s part of the pleasure and benefits of group riding.
Thanks Dr R for another good ride and see you next week – Mark S
Hey Mark – you beat us too it !!! and cheers for your support on Sat see you next week!
Heres Carol and my version for flavour !!!
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It was fantastic to see such a large group of cyclists keen to get together and hone their skills on the novice SPR ride. We took off soon after the main group so did not catch all the names but there were the regulars with Michelle returning after a triathlon training course to test out her new bike skills – seems we are doing OK on the information side for cyclists. Newbie’s Greg, Andy and Mandy and Tania (returning between dog training and kids) and first timers Shaun, Patrick and Kylie were there, think we’ve missed a few, and we were all keen to get going – it is great to get critical mass for the much needed visibility on the road.
We managed not to get lost in Applecross this time (!) and with the larger group and new newbie’s (newer than new….it is possible) we successfully split up before Majestic and regrouped after the hill….the precision timing t’was pretty impressive.
Dr Ronny and Mark would have a challenge keeping this lot together though…and they did! It was new for the group to have so many so it was a struggle to stay together up the freeway and to balance the speed. After a short group talk along the way (yes us Novices stop for a drink and chat!) Dr Ronny rightly decided that if we couldn’t stay together rolling probably wasn’t the best idea, and although the pace was up, we kept together around Shelley – Shaun and Tracy keeping a steady pace at the front. With Mark sweeping and Ronny eagle eyed watching the pack we were in good hands.
After a quick ride to the end of Shelley, the second chat stop had to wait (yes there is a second chat stop) when a garbage truck decided our turn around spot was also his turn around spot! We made short work of the Shelley section finishing with our sprint uphill to Bullcreek (the old peoples home). The boys Andy, Dr Ronny and Greg flew past making short work of it and Tania flying up for the girls (impressive for not having cycled much for the last few months) with Michelle on her toe clips. … go that triathlon training.
Strung out again we made our final push up the freeway path to the coffee shop (our LAST chat and drink stop) with technical problems, a swivelling seat (Tracy) and a flat tyre (Mandy) making it a delayed return for some. Thanks Mark for helping out with Mandy’s flat (wife of Andy)… Andy, hope the coffee was on the table when your wife retuned!
Ronny looked a little vexed with our posse at the end…need to reign in the horses for the next, much anticipated ride…we will try Ronny.
Overall a very successful ride, can’t wait till next week. Hope to see everyone again next Saturday.
Other rides this week (interval/hills training at Kings Park meeting at Frasers Car Park):
• Tuesday 6-7am
• Wed 5-6pm
. Sun 6:30 am ( Coode st – 100km cycle to Rocki and back)
Hey everyone, I thought the ride finished very well (mechanicals aside). The first half was a little scrappy. For a start, people at the front didn’t signal for the turn to go over the freeway overpass (several riders, including Gwen who has been on the ride before, missed it and had to turn back), the bit along the Esplanade was sloppy (I was on the back with one of our new riders and could see everyone else up ahead. There were several paired riders, several single riders and everyone was spread out with gaps everywhere over 100-200 metres. We certainly weren’t riding as a group. A few cars who were behind us actually turned right into the sidestreets, I can only assume to avoid passing such a motly looking crew). Once we got to Shelley, it was good and I’m sure most people would agree this was the most enjoyable part. The pace was even, people kept in orderly pairs and there were no large gaps. I was very impressed with the bunch especially as were we heading into a strong headwind. The ride back was also very enjoyable with mark and greg continuing the work on the front and keeping it at 30kph+.
It’s great the group is getting larger and with that, we get several advantages. For instance, we have more presence on the road (if we ride together), there’s more variety and there’s more people to share the work at the front. In general, the more the merrier. But there is a tradeoff. It’s harder to keep everyone together and when we get sloppy on the road, it gets dangerous – for instance, cars will find it harder to pass 20 cyclists spread out over 200 metres than a well organised bunch. In the end, they will start taking risks which puts us at danger as they try to pass single riders when there isn’t a large enough gap.
With a bigger group, we also need to realise that the people in the middle and back of the bunch can’t see the trouble ahead. The people on the front are the EYES for the WHOLE group. If they don’t signal, if they don’t call, the guys in the middle and back have NO chance of knowing what’s there. That goes for EVERYTHING – cars, pedestrians, other cyclists, hazards on the road like holes, water, sand, bottles and things like poles on the bikepath. If there is a need to brake or slow, no matter where you are in the group, you need to call “Braking”, “Stopping” or “Slowing”. It means the person behind you, or the person behind them won’t be running into the back of the rider in front. In addition, we also need to keep the pace more even to avoid the need for people to brake as much as possible which also encourages people to ride closer together.
I think we will need to review the route – the larger numbers certainly makes riding on the bike path more difficult to manage. (that’s what I was thinking about at the coffee shop Tracy!).
I think that everyone is getting better and enjoying themselves. I just wanna keep everybody safe. My single aim for the year is to have NO accidents. That means no accidents for me and for anyone in any group I ride in. If someone in a group has an accident, that is a reflection of the ENTIRE group, not just that rider. Most times, it’s because someone in front of them didn’t call or signal, or someone braked without warning or because some people were tired due to people setting a pace that was too fast causing others to get hypoxic or fatigued and sloppy and lose concentration.
We need everyone to step up a little as we get bigger, especially the guys/gals who have been riding for a little while now. We need to set an example for the first timers and keep both OURSELVES and EVERYONE else around us ORGANISED and SAFE.
We are doing a good job at the moment and the new riders are very welcomed but there’s still some room for improvement.
I enjoyed the ride too. I take your points about lack of calling and not riding together. We didn’t do well at the start but improved as we went along. I am not a big fan of training rides on the PSP but if we have to ride it we should be single file.
When we have a number of new riders it may be worthwhile to have a quick chat before the ride starts about calls, riding as a group and single file on the PSP etc.
The ride back through Shelley after the turn around was pretty good though. The group rode together well and made that headwind a lot less work. It was good to see a number of new faces.
See you on Wednesday arvo. I hope we don’t die from the heat!
OK, I’ve been looking at Googlemaps and I’m suggesting the following changes for rides where we have more than 10 people.
1. We ride dual line all along Coode St, right onto Thelma St and then our usual left onto Melville Parade. This will mean staying together a little better on the small uphills.
2. We then ride down Melville Parade, double file to the end where we will go single file onto the bike path and over the freeway overpass. I think this will work better as the road is very nice, we avoid more of the bike path and there’s a slightly longer single file section for people to get ordered before getting on the overpass. In addition, there is a flattish section on the other side where you get the join the bike path from the left and not the right. The only downside is that the overpass itself is slightly narrower and I think slightly steeper.
3. Once onto the bike path, we go single file, turn left onto the Canning Bridge and do our usual to get to Majestic.
4. Once we climb Majestic, I think that we should turn left straight away onto Kintail Rd. This avoids having to do that annoying left onto Dee Rd, crossing the McLeod St intersection, going through the Ardross St roundabout and finally the having to do a right hand turn onto Kintail.
5. Once down Kintail, we go single file under the Canning Bridge and then onto the Esplanade.
6. Now, there is an argument for riding single file along the Esplanade and Mark thinks it’s a good idea. I”m sure others of you may also agree. However, I think it’s actually safer for us to ride double file IF we stay together as a group. We will need to discuss this further but I think it’s easier for cars to pass 12-20 cyclists who are paired than 12-20 cyclists in a single line spread out over 40 metres.
7. As usual, we get onto the bike path, go single file and then onto Bull Creek Rd and down the hill. I’m not sure if a break at the nursing home at the top is beneficial but I’m happy to keep it either way. Once we get down the bottom of the hill and everybody is back together again, we can do a roll-through which should begin by riders calling to start a roll-through.
8. From there, it’s the same as always and back for coffee.
Any comments?
guys, your group is getting bigger which is great to see, but the comments about the bike path are valid. i think you should start to look at other ways to get where you are going without the path at all. if you can get the group to stick together, there is no reason that you cannot head straight down canning hwy as it is two lanes so the traffic can get around you easier. as long as you have some experienced guys along like ronny and mark, i don’t think this should be a problem. the important thing to remember is that you all have to look out for each other. this means that the people on the front have to look behind to make sure the group is still together.
it seems to be all going well for the novices, so maybe it is time to expand their horizons a bit.
peter