report by jens/heiko

The wind had really calmed down compared to Saturday, but it was somehow a bit cold out there, but I knew I just need to get going so I’d warm up. I arrived pretty late at Coode Street. The car park already hosted maybe 30 riders. Some of them were here to do the Novice Sunday ride and others would go with us into the hills, but skip a few of the climbs, do just one instead, head up to Kalamunda and then back home. It is so great to see how many people have fun riding with SPR. One and a half year ago we sometimes just had 5 riders out for a Sunday ride, and now we even have 2 groups… but back to the ride.

We headed out Douglas Road towards Albany Highway. Pete was the first one to lead out the group and Chris and I started off in the fourth row, which is probably one of the worst positions you can start off as you will be almost certainly be at the front of the group just before the hills. Add a bit of head wind (which we luckily didn’t have too much of) and your legs don’t necessarily feel great when you arrive at the first hill.
The first hill toady was on Carrawatha Road. It starts of very nice, but as soon as you come around that first bend you actually see how steep it is. It’s not too long, but it is long enough to take your breath away. I tried to stay with the fast guys, overtook Peter, Alistair and a couple of other guys to find myself first hanging onto Brodie’s wheel and then overtaking him as he had some gear/ chain issues. On the last few meters I just heard someone breathing behind me. Just as I could saw the crest of the hill Brodie appeared again next to me. It wasn’t too much the legs who couldn’t respond, more the general constitution of my body at that very moment so I had to let him go, but could secure the last point on the top. The order on top: Michael B., Chris, Brodie, Nick, Jens

After the regroup at the top everyone had a bit of a snack whilst Peter explained the next few kilometres up to the top of Carradine Road. The decent down Carrawatha is pretty fast, but suddenly ends at the T-junction where the next climb already starts. I always liked Carradine Road although the surface is really rough and bouncy. It is a steady climb where you can actually find a rhythm for yourself. We had a split of the group pretty early on the climb, but there were still quite a few guys with us until Nick and Tim took over the lead and kept the pace up. Unfortunately my lack of training during the week didn’t allow me to keep with them, so I was by myself for the next few hundred meters, before Chris and Mike B came around me. At that point i turned around for the first time and realized that we had a pretty huge gap on all the others. What happened – usually I was the one getting gapped and not the one who gaps the others??? I guess I can’t blame that on the lack of training – now I have to come up with something else…Chris put a big effort on to jump onto the two guys in front which were maybe 300 meters ahead. I stayed with Mike, did fall back a bit, but could almost grab his back wheel again just before he accelerated up that small section which is a bit steeper before the end of the climb. The order on top was: Chris, Tim, Nick, Mike, Jens

The decent towards Peet Road was pretty quick as usual and we soon started the climb after making sure that everyone was back together with the group. Some guys just kept on going up Peet Road whilst we were still re-grouping, but I guess they weren’t battling for the points. Peet Road is a bit of a strange one as this steep section at the beginning just demands so much energy after getting out of the decent. The front group was formed pretty quickly and this time I was not in it. As the road flattened out i could recover a bit and gain some ground, make up for some of the lost places, but could not get even close to the fast boys who seemed to be already half way up to Roleystone Highschool as most of us were still on the other side of the hill. The points on top go to: Mike, Chris, Nick, Tim, Lindsey

The ride towards the Servo was quite uneventful at an easy pace. Everyone topped up on water and we headed up towards Pickering Brook, passing a wall in the middle of nowhere which apparently no one ever notices, apart from Brother Jules and Dan. I didn’t see it, just wanted to mention that wall so that everyone is keeping their heads up the next time we ride along this road (I guess as an East German I had to mention a wall some day…).
Michael and I kept the group together towards Pickering Brook and further towards the base of the last climb through Canning Mills. Michael wanted to set the pace up the hill for a time below 8 minutes – his target was 7:50. I was up for that, but was hoping that i could hold onto his wheel as I still wanted to beat the 8 minute mark, especially after Mark dC talking me up that i need to come in below 8 minutes. As we got there everyone seemed to be having the same plan – the speed picked up immediately. Tim and Chris were with me all the way from the first curve. When we were hitting the flat section I was about to get to the front, but Tim was just to strong on his Tri-bars. I always hate that last bit of the climb were the gradient kicks in again and you always have the feeling that you will never reach that 50 km/h sign. A couple of people were flying past me just on those last maybe 100 or 150 m. At the round about everbody looked on their times and it seemed like a lot of people cracked their personal best on Sunday. I did: 7:45 min. I didn’t really care about the order on top after that time, but anyway: Chris, Brother Jules, Lindsey, Tim, Jens

After coffee we headed back down the usual way and the cross winds made it quite interesting on Welshpool Road. No one wanted to Sprint towards the Sprint point at Roe Highway, so I must have looked a bit stupid taking off…Lisa was up for the next sprint towards the first Maccas, I had to bridge a few meters as I didn’t expect that…Thanks Lisa for making me not look like an idiot who just sprints for himself!

The final sprint on Berwick Road was a classic again as two or three guys were able to set a gap between them and us and we got stuck at the lights. On the next set of lights Peter took right off and put a few meters in between him and the rest of the group, before Alistair and Chris could actually take the sprint points of the peloton home (Alistair 1st, Chris 2nd)

Glueck Auf!