A hot morning greeted the 33 riders who made up the group for the Sunday ride. The morning easterly made life difficult, as did an usually large amount of broken glass along Mill Point Rd, but luckily there were no punctures. Passing the airport the wind picked up strength and turns on the front were fairly short. We split just before Ridge Hill Rd, with the longer ride tackling Coulston Rd and the shorter ride going over Ridge Hill, then onto Kalamunda Rd hill.
On the long ride there were 16 of us. On the first climb, a group of ~8 got away early and were never headed. I stayed back and rode with Jamie to the top and finished fairly fresh. Up ahead, Mike B crossed the line in front of Sato, Lindsay, Gregor and Andrew. We had a quick re-group then it was off to Ryecroft Rd. Sato, Andrew and I put some space between the rest of the group early. I confess to a bit of wheel-sucking on this climb and came around the others just before the end of the last rise and got enough of a break to stay away. Content with the points I turned to watch Andrew outsprint Sato to the line with Steve and Lindsay taking 4th and 5th, respectively.
We cruised through to Mundaring with only a couple of us listening to Peter’s instruction to re-group near the pub for a water stop. However, by the time we were half way to the weir, everyone was back together. Peter put on an impressive sprint and was first to the bottom of the hill and couldn’t keep up the pace once the ascent started. Mike B, Sato, Steve and Andrew then broke way as I couldn’t hold their wheels. Behind me, Jamie was also doing it hard and he managed to get on my wheel and soon it became easier with the two of us pushing along. Up ahead, Andrew had dropped off and we harboured thoughts of catching him, but we then ourselves caught by a group of 6, including Lindsay, Tim and 4 others who I can’t recall sorry. This meant there were 8 of us going for points and the pace picked up. Jamie was an early casualty, followed by Tim and it was down to Lindsay and I for the last sprint, with Lindsay letting me go at the end. Mike B, Sato, Steve and Andrew finished ahead.
A slow rear tyre leak slowed Jonny down and he was the last to finish, capping off a bad weekend after his crash on Saturday. With a bit more air in his tyres he was ready with the rest of us for the last climb. This panned out pretty much the same as climb 3 with Mike B, Sato, Steve and Andrew getting away. Gregor also put in a strong climb but was starting to tire on the last flat bit. I managed to catch him and get away on the last rise to steal a point. The top five were the same as the 3rd climb and there was no mention of fast times today. If someone did crack a PB, please let me know.
Kids sporting commitments meant an early finish for me and there were a few of us who enjoyed the wind down Welshpool Rd and the trip back.