ride report by peter.

with a race on sunday, i decided that i needed an easier day so as to not wear out the legs too much.  with the recently formed main 2 group, i decided that i would take a ride with them to see how the group was going.  the fast group was down on numbers this morning as there were a few that where racing on sunday so had moved down to the main 1 group.  some of the main 1 group were also racing so had moved down to the main 2 group.  the split was not really even between these three groups this week as we had probably over 30 riders in main 1 and only 13 in main 2.  we had this problem, way back when we used to leave from the bike shop as no-one wanted to be told that they were not good enough to go in the faster group.  yes, you should push yourself, but sometimes if you get dropped too often you get discouraged and will just not ride anymore.  if you feel that you are constantly struggling in the main group, then join the main 2 group.  it does the same distance, just not as fast.  realistically this group was set up to be that stepping stone between the transitional group and the main group as the gap was pretty wide.

anyway, we had about 13 riders heading out and we set a nice and easy pace along great eastern.  we started a bit of a roll through and the wind played havoc a bit as gaps formed quite frequently.  as we turned off to head past rosehill golf course, we stopped rolling through as the slight rises makes it hard to keep a constant pace.  once on bushmead road, we rolled through again as we were heading straight into the wind.  this wasn’t a hard pace roll through, but rather an easy way of sharing the load.  some guys were struggling a bit, but we managed to keep it together to get to midland.  it would be pretty much a tailwind from now on, so i thought we should be right.

we started to roll through again as we headed to guilford and the tailwind made this a bit easier.  along the way, we picked up some of the main 1.  chrissy had been convinced by meg to join main 1 and she had been dropped along the way.  it was a big step as she had only ever ridden the transitional group before this plus had ridden down from lesmurdie that morning.  darryl and brother dan were helping her along the road so she wasn’t left on her own.

we made the turn onto benara road and i moved to the front to give some instructions.  i said that they can go harder for the length of benara as long as they waited at the end.  nigel and i formed a draft for chrissy while dan hung back to keep jess moving.  we set a good pace along benara and almost caught the back of the group once or twice as they were stuck at the lights.  at one stage chrissy even wanted to sprint to catch them at the lights, but i was a bit wary of how much energy she had to get home.  we just kept plugging away to the end of the road.

the group had waited around the corner and soon we were all together again and heading through to the back of galleria.

there are a bunch of rolling hills between here and the city so it was a constant battle to keep the group together.  a few of us acted as sweepers and we all managed to get onto whatley crescent together.  as we crossed guilford road we past the fast group waiting at the lights.  they did about 5 or 6 k’s more and started just before us so i think we managed to set a good pace.  the last run into town was a bit disjointed but there was a nice clear road along riverside drive for the guys to stretch their legs at the end.

once inside the café, i managed to have a quick chat with the owner.  i mentioned that some places don’t want us turning up every saturday but he said that he was happy for us to come along each week.  it must be a disruption for him to have so many descend upon him, but i think he appreciates that we are quick business and consistent.