Ride report by heiko

Another hot day in Perth for our hills challenge. It wasn’t quite as windy as it was on Saturday, but the ride to the ride wasn’t the most pleasant thing i have done. There were already about 16 people, i guess, waiting. At first it looked like Julian had taken the good old Trek out again, but he hasn’t taken the cycling clothes out with it as he had some family commitment on that morning. As soon as he explained the route we were on our way into this nice Easterly wind. We were really taking it easy as the head wind seemed to be getting stronger the closer we got to the hills.
The roundabouts on Helena Valley Road did cause a bit of confusion – again, but everyone eventually find the right way towards the first bonus climb which was Ridgehill Road today. I was slowly grinding up in a big gear to get some extra training in, thinking we would re-group on the other side before we had to go up Gooseberry Hill. When i arrived at the roundabout at the bottom no one was waiting so i had to chase down the boys. Unfortunately i didn’t put enough effort in to catch them before the hill started. I pretty much had lost sight of the fast boys at the front and came in 7th or 8th i guess.

The more successful places were: Chris, Stuart, Jarrad, Jerard, David

When everyone was on we headed down the Zig Zag and took Kalamunda Road pretty much back up to where we were coming from. You wouldn’t want to ride at the front at up this hill again as the head wind was still quite strong. Stuart took over the lead pretty much after the last set of lights at the bottom. Jarrad jumped straight onto his wheel with myself getting drafted by them. I think Chris was with us from the start as well. I didn’t really turn around on the climb, but couldn’t hear any gear changes from a fifth bike either. Half way up Chris overtook me as i had left a little gap and he might thought that i hadn’t anything left. I was close to letting them go, but Jarrad seemed to have been thinking the same as he dropped of Stuarts wheel. I put a big effort in to see if i could still hold on and could catch my breath again on a small section just before the petrol station.

The final points up Kalamunda were: Stuart, Chris, Heiko, Jarrad, Jerard.

At the re-group almost everyone seemed to be having enough and wanted to go to coffee already. Luckily Stuart and 3 others wanted to suffer a bit more on the final climb up Mundaring Weir Road. We headed off at an easy pace passing the petrol station on top of Canning Road. When we reached the turn off to Aldersyde Road Jarrad and Chris were with us as well as they were obviously keen for some KOM points (after not getting a spot at the Merchant). With the Easterly i thought i might be able to put down a really good time. Just after the first bend we weirdly had to cycle into a head wind. At that point i probably ticked off my new PB off in my head. Stuart, Jarrad and David came passing by, but due to my high pace (well, high pace for me) at the bottom i was struggling to keep up my speed, so they were further putting meters between me and them. Just before we hit the flat section i saw Jarrad dropping of Stuart’s wheel. I could manage to pass by David at the end of the flat section. My time was 8: 13, which isn’t particularly brilliant, but i might blame it on the wind and my mind which was already thinking about how to write up the blog tonight 😉 .

KOM on Mundaring Weir Road: Stuart, Jarrad, Heiko, David, Chris

After the stop at the coffee shop Stuart took us down to Welshpool Road on a completely different, but very scenic and beautiful route with the best views of Perth city. When we reached the bottom, i wold Chris we should actually ride that one up one day. I will try and map something this week.

We all rolled through on the home stretch. The final sprint for the Maccas was quitte weird as i was trying to jump behind a bus to get some draft, but it was pulling into the bus stations all the time, but my last effort almost payed out, but Chris came around me and i could just hold on to his wheel. I guess i really need a new cluster with that compact crank, cuz otherwise i will always have to pedal like a maniac on the sprints…