Report by Julian
A great morning for a ride this morning and I expected a good turnout. However, the numbers that had gathered left me amazed. Even Mike Bonner turned up on time!! I reckoned at least 70 riders were present and this would present problems with keeping the group together initially. The ride routes for the novices, main and fast groups were yelled out (apologies for those at the back who couldn’t hear) and we were soon on the way.
Heiko and Alistair led the way down Coode St and were so enthusiastic that Brendan had to reign them in to stop the pack breaking early. As expected, the group split at the lights going onto Canning Highway but we were soon all back together for the trip to Melville. On the hill up to Stock Road the pace at the front picked up but as we turned the corner I looked around and noted that everyone was still together. As we progressed along Stock Rd, I sent a message via Kim to get the fast riders to the front so that we could split once we hit South St. This was dutifully done and once we turned the pace picked up. We hit a few lights early along South Street but once we went past Murdoch Uni the fast group of about 20 started to roll through and pick up the pace.
Continuing along over the freeway the pace was maintained in the mid 40’s and a few of the group, including me, started to drop off. By the time we got to Canning Vale three separate groups were on the road but a red light at Livingstone Market brought everyone back together. Ranford Road had been re-surfaced since the last time we came this way so it was nice to have a smooth surface to keep the pace going. We rolled through into Warton Rd but went to single file as the road duplication is still in progress. Luckily no cars passed us along this section but the single file and a red light split the group in two. Jarrad worked hard in the second group to try and bridge the gap and a second red light, this time catching the front group, brought us all together again. We negotiated the roundabout before the instruction to turn left into Albany Highway went out. Brendan was quite keen on turning left just before the intersection so as to visit the McDonalds drive through.
On Albany Highway I was expecting a nice tail wind but this did not eventuate. We maintained a good rolling pace though Cannington before the attacking started again on the small rises going into East Vic Park. A couple of riders were hurting by this stage and began dropping off but the pace was maintained. Heiko was determined to drop me, having thought I’d fallen back earlier but I was determined to stay with him. I believe he was trying to get back at me for keeping him in the lead for the early part of the ride!
Once onto Shepparton Road Jarrad and Matt maintained the attacks and Jules, Brendan and Mike also joined in (apologies if there any others who I didn’t mention). Everyone else was trying to hang on or bridge the gaps and a group of about 12 were still together after coming down the hill into Vic Park towards the causeway, before getting stopped by the more lights. Once over the bridge, Matt and Jarrad made another attack and a few others went out after them. I watched from the back but couldn’t make out who won the sprint to Victoria Ave, where another red light halted the charge. We cruised up the Bell Tower and I said my farewells. There was no café stop for me as junior cricket has started again after the break but I was pretty happy with the pace and it was a pretty good workout and certainly cleared out the last of the Christmas excesses from my system.