ride report by peter

i haven’t been out on a public holiday ride for a while, but as there were 2 public holidays, this weekend, i managed to sneak out on the monday session.  as previously posted, the closure of our normal carpark meant that we had to meet just around the corner.  everyone seemed to find it ok so we headed out along douglas.  i looked back at the lights and realised that we had a pretty big turn out.  luckily, being a public holiday, most people were still sleeping off their hangover and there was little traffic on the road.

as we passed by the uni, i drifted back and did a head count, while most people tried to interrupt me by shouting out random numbers.  about 55 or so on the road meant that we were bound to get split at the lights sometime.  heading towards shelley and we passed the old pappas group coming the other way.  it made our group seem a bit smaller, but not that much.  and anyway, it is not the size of the group, but how big it can grow that is important…or something.

anyway, we had to ease up a bit once we hit shelley to allow for the group to catch up after negotiating the small section of bike path.  it is a shame that it isn’t a bit wider through there even if it is just for bikes as the majority of the groups must pass through there at some stage.  once we were all together, the hammer went down at the front initiated by lisa and jason on the tt bike.  davina, chris and jarrad headed off in pursuit and i had to jump around the guy in front of me that was not in the chase to close the gap.  i finally caught onto the back only to find that chris offered little in the way of wind break.  i was still struggling to hold on when jarrad moved to the back and cut a fine hole in the air for me.  jason was starting to tire and people were doing turns to keep the pace high.  the next group was a bit of a way back and we were determined to maintain that gap.  i did a turn at the front but pretty much had nothing once i was overtaken.  the cumulative affect of holiday, sickness and injury have left me lacking a bit on the endurance side.  in other words, i can only fake it for so long before it all goes to crap.  i sat up and watched the other groups fight it out.

we regrouped at the top of the hill and set off through mt pleasant.  it was a bit confusing here as there was a guy that went off the front which some people then tried to keep up with, but i wasn’t sure if he was meant to be with us or not.  michael and i just let them all go and set the pace for the rest of the group.

we got back onto canning and made our way down to the burke drive.  with little traffic around, it was easy to make the turn and the group didn’t get split too much.  a short delay in getting the group back together and we were off again.  well not really.  no-one wanted to make the move so i sent chris off the shake things up.  this got the ball moving and the pace quickened.  i was determined to be a passenger this time and sat in the best i could so that i could still be there for the hill.  now i am the one that maps the ride routes that we take, but even i totally forgot that we did the turn up page st to tackle stock rd.  i had my mind set on the shorter straight ahead option when i heard davina call out left turn.  ok.  i guess we are doing the hill.  seems my lack of attendance on the public holiday ride was to blame for not actually knowing the route. 

we set off up the hill and the slowing for the corner had allowed most people a chance to catch up.  there was a general swamping of riders on the short first section as riders all surged to get position.  i used to do this hill as a hills repeat session a while back so i knew what to expect.  i took it easy up the first section, then hit it harder once we turned the corner.  a lot of the guys that had earlier sprinted up the hill were not sucking in oxygen and were easily picked off by the halfway mark.  although, mike b made short work of the hill and flew past me like i was struggling myself.

we reached the top and i turned back after getting my breath back to make sure that we had the last of the riders up the hill.  once they arrived, we carried on only to find that the rest of the group had continued.  there were a few of us, so we stuck together along preston point rd until mike b and i decided to catch up with the group to make sure that they regrouped properly after left bank.  we did a two-up time trial and swapped turns all the way along preston point and left bank but didn’t catch the group till after the speed humps.  once there it seems that davina had words to them about not regrouping properly on the hill so they were all waiting nicely at the bus-stop.

we headed off towards cottesloe and i had made the call to not push hard until dalkieth as it would be busy and the group was a bit big.  the pace stayed down and was a very pleasant trip through cott, although the cooler weather kept the crowds away.  kimbo made a call halfway along marine parade as a couple of girls were just getting out of a car.  on closer inspection, it seems that one would have only been about 13 and the other was her mum.  apparently, the new oakleys can get prescriptions put in the lenses.  it may be an option for him.

we actually made it through the next few sets of lights with the group intact and we were on the home straight heading through dalkieth.  i can see why so many groups use this stretch of road.  low traffic, curvy roads, small rises, all the things that make a strong finish.  somehow i ended up at the front as soon as we started, so i decided to smash myself early on to save the embarrassment later.  i hit the chicanes hard knowing that it is always easier to make the corners when you are at the front and then kept the pressure on down the dip.  up the otherside towards waratah ave and i was trying to do my best cancellara after being inspired by the flanders tour last night.  got pretty much to the top then swung off to let davina take over.  i got back in the group about 6 or so wheels back and tried to recover.  after a few minutes i was still sucking in o2 and then jason time trialled to the front.  this put the pace up a couple a km/hr more and i was pretty much done.  i flicked the elbow to let the person behind me know i was dropping off and sat up to recover.

i watched as rider after rider whizzed by and reminisced on what once was and and what would take a while to get back.  i caught up with a few more riders and we grouped up to make our way back along mounts bay together for safety reasons.  onward to atomic, which was already busy, but seemed to cope ok with the sudden influx of lycra. 

a good ride today and the group seemed to cope fairly well even with the bigger numbers.  if anyone wants to let me know what happened at the end of the ride, add it to the comments.  hopefully i will be out for anzac day later this month…hopefully.