By Jonny

Well we may be known as the ‘fast’ group but I’m pretty sure this is due to the speed on the road and not our ability to publish a blog. In this we are constantly beat each week by the other groups !

As Russel had noted we had a good sized group today. This is great to see and always makes the initial roll-throughs easier.

Heiko took his usual position at the front and dragged the group into the wind and out towards Guildford Rd. Good work mate. I was chatting to a few new people here who seemed happy and content as the speed had averaged 28km/h when we turned onto Guildford Rd; things would soon change I warned them.

We started the roll-through and immediately we were making life difficult for ourselves by rolling through into the wind. It’s quite hard to change this on the road without lots of confusion but luckily Pete pointed this out at the next set of traffic lights and the roll-through from the inside – out was much easier.

Going through Guildford we caught a group containing Aussie Crates, SRG and ECU riders but these guys were doing there own thing and we passed through without any hassle or mixing up of the groups. The pace picked up through Swan St and Bushmead Rd but it was Midlands Rd that caused started to cause problems. The wind here was bad but also the road is so heavy it drains your strength and it was extremely hard. It seemed like Julian was shouting last wheel sooner and sooner as we were loosing riders quite quickly here. Thankfully this didn’t last too much longer and there was a sigh of relief when the road got smooth again.

The lights at Kalamunda Rd gave some people a chance to get back on but it wasn’t long before the pace was back on. At some point the wind went from menace to friend and I looked down to see that although it felt like we were cruising we were actually doing 47km/h. Unfortunately the pace then picked up to 48km/h and the legs started to hurt. Alistair and Matty were dishing out some pain here and every start from the traffic lights and surge at the front had the rest of us strung out fighting to hold wheels. The roll-through had stopped but all in the group helped when they could and the pace was certainly high. The Intermediate group passed by on the opposite side of the road and with a few waves we continued on.

I noticed on the route map a funky little loop near Welshpool Rd and along Albany Hwy the reason was clear as we it allowed some of the riders behind to get ahead and join us for the charge home. Josh and I were being closely watched through Albany Hwy which was a nice complement but despite Jarrad trying hard on the uphill rises the group stayed together.

At the re-start from the lights on Shepparton Rd just before the causeway Jarrad dropped his chain Go Go Go was the call. Sorry mate that was a bit rough but take it as a complement that we were afraid of you. Matty and Alistair shot away and were helped by jumping behind a trailer that sheltered the wind. I’m not comfortable doing this but also I didn’t have the power to jump on either. Not sure who got the sprint as they disappeared pretty quickly up the road. I had a gap so carried on…. 50km/h over the causeway…..good…..still 50 coming off the causeway……still good…48km/h onto Riverside Dr……starting to hurt now……47….46…… Brother Dan caught and passed me at this stage but I was still happy to hold off the pack of wolves behind.

37km/h average by the end but with a little help from the wind !