I was never planning to cycle with the fast group today but as Pete seemed to have pointed straight to my direction for the group to gather, I figured – why not? I’m already assembled here. I don’t think my legs fully understood what I was in for over the next hour or so, but it certainly wasn’t the caring safe feeling you get in Main 1 (where people make sure you’re still there).

As we rolled out, the fast group had been the biggest that I had seen it. Roughly 20-30 riders. This gave me comfort. The conditions, as most of you know, were strong 15-20 knot easterlies which was going to make the ride out tough but on the other hand we knew Benara Rd would be like riding in a vacuum. Out to Guildford the ride was uneventful, but as soon as we turned off Great Eastern onto West Pde, I had found myself on the front with strong man Jono next to me. It just so happend that West Pde meant we had turned straight into the wind. Now in hindsight I should have peeled off straight away to seek shelter at the rear, but I figured everyone has to do their turn so I decided to stay and burn my matches. Wasn’t long before I was in the red and knew at this rate I would burn out way too early. So I peeled off and quite frankly struggled to even jump on the back of the group. It was only a navigational incident at the roundabout that forced the group to split in two different directions, slow down and re-group. I was back on.

Bushmead Rd was fast approaching and the strong cross-head winds would make this stretch the toughest. With no where to hide from such a devlish wind direction it was nothing short of all out power to stay with the group. As a roll through formed  I found myself on the front again with the cross winds cutting through everyone. I was suffering and as a gap slowly appeared in front of me, in a matter of seconds I was spat out the back as the group pulled away. The smashfest had begun.

The dis-heartened feeling of riding home on your own filled my mind and it was then I was wishing for the comfort of Main 1 like a baby to its mother. I looked back to see if anyone else had been dropped and saw John catching up to me. I could also see a couple others up ahead that had been popped off too. I was not alone.

Left onto Military Rd and John had zoomed past me making me the last on the road but I had to drop my pace and recover. Left onto Clayton Rd but more importanly left onto a tailwind! I had converted enough lactic acid back into energy by this point and stepped my speed back up to 40-45km/h. At this point an idea had struck! I knew the route was slightly chicaned to get back onto Great Eastern Hwy, and I usually take a more direct route to the end of Clayton and up Yelverton to cross the train line. There was hope! As the lone chaser I stepped it up and took a few roundabouts at dangerous angles in hope that I could catch the rest. As I pulled parallel to the train line, on the otherside of the tracks I could see the banking bicycles turning onto Great Eastern (so close yet so far). I had sight of them again and hope was instilled! As I raced on the wrong side of the track and crossed, all I needed was for the set of lights outside Guildford Grammar to hold the group up for me. And it did – just. I came within 20m of getting back on through Guildford only to be divided by a car and my big effort to get back saw the group pull away again with too much pace. So close.

The shortcut had meant I leapfrogged those that had been dropped in front of me, and Toby, John and I formed a chaser group up West Swan and down Benara. As we moved into the vaccum state all of us took long turns on the front cruising at 45km/h to pull back lost ground. As the rolling hills approached we had dropped John and it was just Toby and I left. Dejavu of Golden Spokes last Sunday except this time we were the chasers. Over the crest of a hill and sight of the group fell upon our eyes. And as we realised that they were stopped and traffic lights our eyes grew bigger and the legs pedaled that little bit faster to catch them. We were back. Good work Toby and John. As kharma rewarded the chasers with the lights turning green as we approached, our momentum zipped us past the group only to realize that there was the leading half of the group up ahead. They had been split. As Toby and I continue to work to get back to the front group, up ahead all had been stopped by another set of lights. Finally, we were mostly all back together at the end of Benara. What an effort.

The home stretch consisted of rolling hills which suits me much better than the fast flats, and staying with the leading group was relatively easy. Whereas the diesels were left behind. Lights continued to save the day and by the time we were over the top of Mt Plain St I was feeling pretty chuffed to be part of the leading group returning to the Bell Tower.

So as much as the ‘Gentle Coaxing’ recently has succeded increasing the fast group size, I can tell you it is a smashfest. But smashfests are the best sort of training at this level, and is the only way everyone get’s the most out of the ride. Just be prepared for the intensity, pick a route that has plenty of lights and complicated directions to save you. But really, its not that bad, just be prepared to chase! Back to the breast of Main 1 for me.

Jen