(Training) ride report by Jarrad.

I believe that it was JFK, who was rather foresighted (all the way back in the 60″s) enough to state in his inaugural address: “Ask not what SPR will do for you, but what together we can do for SPR”, and on this warm, overcast and humid morning this was rather poignant….

Peter went on to explain what SPR can do for you, which is a helmet discount, and i wouldn”t mind stressing the importance of having an Aussie std compliant helmet, which pretty much all (o/s) internet sites don”t deliver/guarantee, especially in the event of an accident and the inevitable insurance issues. I only wish that i knew about this before going out and spending 400 bucks on a new helmet 2 months ago.

I was then asked what i can do for SPR, which was to take some responsibility for the Advanced group (and provide a write up). Regular Julian (i.e. not brother Julian) put his hand up to also help out, and we discussed the plan to basically get over the rises and onto S.B. Rd and then roll through.

And so (yes it”s poor form starting a sentence with a preposition), the group of around 30 or so took off on our way to Scarborough Beach Rd and West Coast Highway for 55k”s of fun. The group rolled along at a fairly brisk 36-40 ish in a very orderly and smooth formation for the first ten kilometers thanks to Daniel, Mike, Ben, Josh and others, which while comfortable enough to hold a conversation, was quick enough to get some blood pumping on the rises behind Kings Park. A young rider tacked on the back along riverside drive who was looking for the transition group, i whom i hope found his way. The intention was to get through the lights and small hills, and then start a smooth roll through, which was a little broken up by what seemed like never-ending red lights.

Onwards along S.B. Rd we briefly lost a rider (sorry I”m hopeless with names), who had a bit of a mechanical issue, but he managed to jump back on as we started heading uphill again although his knicks had a lovely new patina (black grease marks is the new black), over the rise and down to Scarborough Beach, the group was pretty much still together, thanks in part to lights, trucks and traffic. Round onto W.C Hwy the call was again to roll through (smoothly) and now it was time to open up a little with a nice uninterrupted section of road ahead. Ben, Josh, Brother Jules, Jonny and plenty of others were rolling
through which was online slots keeping pace up and the rest of the group strung out in a single file. Up through the rises into and out of Floreat, Mike Bonner, Jonny, Ben and regular Julian led the group, which seemed to put some into the red, but this far into the ride, i figured its ok to put some pain on.

Back along W.C. Hwy the group was reduced to around 10 or thereabouts and a fairly “limited” roll through ensued back to Claremont (cheers Benny and Mike), with the pace reasonably high. We picked up a few who found a shortcut from Floreat along the way.

After crossing Stirling Hwy and through onto the familiar territory in Nedlands, some guy who clearly like white a little too much (Pfft. shoe covers on a training ride? Poser 🙂 pushed a roll through pace a little too hard reducing the group of 12 or so to around 4, with Brother Jules, Ben, Captain poser and (sorry i should know your name) one other rolling through. Back along Stirling Hwy, after a wait at the lights, a bunch of 10 (and picking up a few short-cutters) all looked hesitant to put noses into the wind, with Ben and Brother Jules (i think) leading along for the first few k”s. Things got fairly twitchy with around 1 km to go, and the Pozzato-lookalike (although minus the curls) jumped first. Head-down and out of the saddle, the
chase was on, but Cpt Poser held pace high and fended off a spirited chase from Brother Jules and Regular Jules (to be confirmed).

All up a fairly reasonable pace ride, with no incidents (one heart-in mouth moment concerning a truck mirror and a head, but thankfully all was ok), and we beat the main group back for coffee.

Until next week,

Cpt Poser.