Short ride report
By jens
It is amazing how dark it is already now in the morning … and i was equally amazed how nippy it was on Sunday morning as well. There were 3 groups of riders that started together with the mountain goats this morning. We started off with Mark D and Melvyn at the front at an (as expected) high speed. As we reached Burswood Michael B came around to slow the lads down a little bit as some of the transitionals/ intermediates probably had problems holding on to the group. We reached Ridgehill Road which is just a Bonus Climb, so there are no points on top of that. We regrouped on the crest and the groups split up for their dedicated routes.
Our first climb was Kalamunda Road which is quite a good hill, because it gradually climbs into Kalamunda. The headwind was quite strong, so sticking to the wheel in front of you would be essential if you wanted to grab some points up on top. Brodie made the first move, but couldn’t withstand the wind, the hill and the “growling dogs” for long, so Matthew broke the wind for myself and a couple of other riders behind us. Soon Michael made his move and no one really could react. Michael was first at the bus stop in Kalamunda, Jerry came in after him, after a nice attack just after the roundabout. I wanted to jump on his wheel but could not close the approximately 50 m gap. Stuart, who made quite a lot of work up the hill was fourth with Matthew on his wheel.
Some headed off to coffee and the others carried on down Mundaring Weir Road towards the climb to the observatory. We regrouped at the start/ end of Aldersyde road and there was a big dispute on how we want to finish the ride altogether. We decided on deciding that once we are on top of the Choockenberg (don’t know if that is spelled correctly). The chase towards the observatory started right away and soon there was a group of 5 to 7 riders together and everyone tried to get into the slip stream of each other. Michael made his usual move to the front and Stuart and i couldn’t react to that so Michael had a 100m gap pretty quickly. Alastair could react and went with the “mountainiest goat” of us for a little while. I tried to attack Stuart on the last few meters, but he upped the pace just i was next to him, he must have felt that i really hadn’t too much more to give. He could come around Alastair at the end. I came in fourth with Matthew maybe 50 meters back.
I think no one was looking forward the next hill who has ridden it before. The Choockenberg was on the route again! Most of us took it easy towards Pickering Brook and then Through Bickley Valley back on to Lawnbrook. I knew that i couldn’t grab any points on that steep f@*ker so i found myself in the group together with Mark D and Jerry. Mark still had time and air to check his Garmin on our way up Kiwana Road (the actual hill). He kept commenting on the gradient of the ascent. 20 % … alright i have ridden that before its not too bad….22%… oh well, its getting steep now….i can’t change to a lighter gear, but why does it feel like….24% … oh thanks Mark…. that is why… Those 24 felt like it was going on for ages…. “23, its flatting out now”… still doesn’t feel like its flatting out to me. I can almost see the crest now…. Why am i actually doing this again??? Done, over the top, far away from any points. The more lucky ones ended in this order: Michael B, Matthew, Stuart (tell me how you do that with those 42 teethes at the front), Brother Jules (how steep was that), Danny B.
After that challenge everybody probably thought that it can’t get any worse, so no one chickened out on the last hill and went down Lawnbrook (Dr. Mark, it might have been you who convinced the rest of the group). We went down Lawnbrook again and headed towards Mundaring Weir Road. This time tho, we wouldn’t take the timed climb towards Kalamunda, but jumped onto Aldersyde Road again which took us a little bit further down the hill before the climb starts. At the start I was trying to gap the group, and i stayed away for a little while before Michael B came around. There was still a gap towards Jerry who had again a good 50 to 100 m distance to the group. My challenge now was to stay away from him and maybe minimize distance (oh no, remember heiko, its Michael B there at the front) minimize the damage between him and me. Stuart went up the timed climb with a new PB of 7:38 and came back down again as i came into the last steeper section just before the KOM line. Jerry was out of sight so i was pretty happy about my 7 points on top. The order on top: Michael, Heiko, Jerry, Matthew, Brother Julian.
After coffee Stuart took us down the scenic route again, which we should really take one day as a climb up towards Kalamunda (we need to turn off at Melaleuca Road from Welshpool Road). We kept the pace up along Welshpool Road which led to a few problems at the end of the group. There were just a few of us for the last sprint on Berwick Street. I cant even remember who was at the front holding the speed up, as i was just concentrating on Jerry who was constantly sitting on my wheel. We were already down the small hill and i didn’t see anyone coming around, so i started my move but Jerry was right on my tail and came slowly around taking the MAccas sprint by just a few cm’s.
Take care everyone and maybe see you in Pemberton…Jens