by dr ronny

After the week of rain it was good to get back on the bike. We had Catriona (?spelling) along for her first ride with us joining the other usual girls Tracy, Michelle and Anna. Twelve of us headed out into the easterly breeze with everyone contributing at the front during the ride. Michelle especially took a long turn at the front along Guildford Rd into the wind but managed to keep on the back when she peeled off.  I was most impressed with how aware people are becoming in the group. When gaps formed, riders would fill them in (after checking it was clear to do so, of course). This kept the group organised and helped people who were struggling momentarily to recover. I think that was reflected in the average pace of the ride (29.7kph) which most people seemed to do easily.

The roll through on Benara Rd just keeps on getting better. Every now and again, the formation would struggle but people are now starting to figure out how to fix it. For instance, shortly after setting off from a set of lights, the riders on the left were  20 metres in front the first rider on the right (Tracy) as some people had taken off from the lights with more gusto than others. I went up the side to see what was happening. Tracy said she was slowing the pace of the right lane down and after 30 seconds, she was at the front and moving over. After that, the roll through was smooth and efficient for the rest of Benara.

The trip back  contained another big diesel effort by Michelle in Morley before Shaw and I couldn’t resist going down a downhill full gas but we were all back together on Wheatley Crescent. Shaw continued at the front and the lumps along that part strung out a couple of guys but they held on so everybody was together at the bottom of the “Battale Royale St” Hill. Now, I thought that this would be the bragging rights part of the ride as I expected Riverside Drive to be closed so I was suprised when the pace slowed once we crossed Royal St. I went up the right to see who would bite and the first to jump was Shaw from the front. Now, Shaw doesn’t look like a climber but don’t be fooled. He put in a mighty effort after being on the front for the last 10-15 minutes on that hill. Tyrone and Anna (who do look like climbers) started to chase and were only 3-4 bikes lengths away half way up. I thought they would catch him but Shaw turned himself inside out to win by a safe margin.

We were pleasnatly suprised to see the two lanes of closed road on Riverside Drive and so an impromptu sprint began. I moved up the right to lead everyone out but only Tyrone came. I checked to see he was on and then lead out. By the time we stopped, I couldn’t see anyone in sight and we made it back to coffee first, with Anna gradually shortening the gap.

A very good team effort today. I was really impressed with how everyone stuck together and how riders would move about during the ride and roll through to keep the formation in order. This helped bring the avergae pace of the group up and made us look really pro…but perhaps not as pro as some….although, perhaps we will try this next week if someone needs to pee on the bike —->