Training ride write-up by Jarrad – On The Road

Not to be confused with Jack Kerouac”s brilliant opus which shares the same name and whilst with that said, those familiar with the works of the great American novelist would certainly agree that he was quite the sartorial (and obviously literary) icon, never was he a man who would be tainted wth the moniker “Captain Poser”. In fact, i would think that if one was draw any similarities with the aforementioned patron of beat culture with any of the SPR crew, “El Presidente” Peter”s writing style (i.e. no caps) would be perhaps the nearest comparison, although i thought i was kind of treading a fine line with “El presidente”, i”d probably be just confusing everyone (including myself) with “El Kerouac”. Nevertheless, i”ll try and write this with consideration of the “spontaneous prose” style of writing for which Ol” Jacko was renowned for.

And so (note the complete lack of regard to proper english, SO Kerouac) we rolled off, through the green valleys of Como (i”m going to stop trying here) and down towards Risely at a nice lesiurely pace where discussions ranging from Ryan”s imbibements from the prior evening (i.e. too much booze = hangover), Daniel”s new hills-trained super legs through to pretty deep-section carbon wheels and the prettiest PRO cycling kit out there (Pozzato”s Italian champion Katusha well and truly taking first place there) all ensued. Moving on through Murdoch and onto the beginings of South st, no-one really budged, and the 25 or so riders were happy to remain in the two-up formation rolling along comfortably.

As anyone who”s studied history can attest to (and i did NOT study history), it usually takes a singularity, a nucleus for any significant event to occur, be it a war, or the uprise of a new political leadership. One can use the examples of the demolition of the World Trade Centre as the nucleus for the Afgan and Iraq wars, or the Reichstag Fire as the moment the Nazi”s truly came to power. Without at all exaggerating the matter, today a red light along South st was our Reichstag Fire. After a little confusion, the group, which had split into about three after this red light, began to re-assimilate and a few of the usual”s moved towards the front to begin a roll through.

The roll though worked quite well for the majority of South st, with most of the riders taking part, we all motored into the head wind quite well. A quick left and the long, straigh stretch to the bottom of the hills was upon us. Probably around half of the group now at this stage were beginning to look a little ragged, as the rolling at the front seemed a little more limited, and towards Madington, the Poser and newcomer (i think) Roger launched what some might say was a Boonen and Cancellara-esque escape  (others may have just called it rolling throught a little quickly), although after a few km”s of co-operation, a round-about and a set of traffic lights meant the two eschapee”s were swallowed up by what was now a  fairly depleted peloton, numbering 12 or so.

Further on towards the hills the peloton moved, the roll through at the front comprised The Flying Fynn (TFF), Poserboy, Ben (can casino online someone come up with a nickname?) and Roger, with the rest pretty much happy to sit in (hang on?). With the turn at Crystal Brook rd not too far away, Jason moved up to the front to set the tempo which, while well appreciated by all, was subsequently attacked by the Poser with about half a km to go (not too cool on the whole etiquette-meter).

A left at Crystal Brook rd and now it was all downhill (literally), and the group re-formed and begun rolling through again, with a fair push to try and get the green light at Roe Hwy (just to make sure those we spat out earlier wouldn”t catch). Unfortunately we still got caught up at the lights, but no extra riders joined us (i think). Now along Welshpool rd, we saw the tail end of the 2nd Main group, whom we caught and passed quite quickly, and had a smooth efficient roll through with pretty much each of the 10 or so riders taking part, which considering we”d done 40-odd kay”s was impressive given our track record.

Now pressing closer to the usual sprint, Ben (as usual), Roger, Jason Daniel and Nick C seemed to be pulling turns at the front as we headed towards Vic Park, with Ryan putting a few efforts in over the rises. Along the way we also seemed to chew up the transitional group as we moved through Vic Park.

Over the causeway, now the usual”s seemed to move towards the rear, happy to let “Diesel Ben” (better nickname required here) work on the front, with Joel (i hope i got the name right), Roger, Ainsy, and i think a few others do the work. As we exited off the bridge, Josh was the first to show his impatience, perhaps was hoping to get through the last set of lights, or even capitalise on  some confusion when passing a CRT bunch ride, both were negated by both a red light and road mod”s for the Red Bull airrace, which saw the sprint alley narrowed to a single lane. A the green, The Flying Fynn put it down, with Josh trying in vain to grasp onto his wheel. Jerard now made a strong appearance, and the Poser was now out of the saddle to chase down TFF, however, all progress was hampered by Truckosaurus, which comprehesively had us all beat in the sprint (i.e. single lane caught behind a truck), and so we rolled on through to coffee.

All up a fairly comfortable ride, which looked pretty quick on the speedo (despite my speedo not working. And especially with the tail wind. P.S. did anyone get a speed at the sprint? My GPS thingy says 70, which i”m surprised at given i was impeded by truckosaurus).

If anyone was wondering, i did deliberately title this “On the Road” just so i could show off my (fairly limited) knowledge of Jack Kerouac and as somewhat of a homage. To any readers who may actually have significant in-depth knowledge of his works, i do apologise, as the above could almost be construed as absolute rubbish. Also, if anyone is now thinking “Jack who?”, i also apologise….

Cpt Poser