Just on of us 40 set off for the sojourn up Greenmount. An uneventful start soon turned into a momentous occasion with a bloke on a Harley Davidson motor bike sidling up beside us along Great Eastern Highway and requesting Michael to give him a high five – all with a big smile on his face! After this he gave us a toot and went on his way – very bizarre. The other odd thing about the morning was the complete absence of an easterly head wind, so the ride out was quite pleasant, if not a bit humid.

The first climb was uneventful for me as I stayed back to help out a few of the back markers. Up the front Jono took the points from Sato, Jerardo, Stuo and Todd KO and I have no idea how the tussle of the climb went. At the regroup, about ¾ of the group headed off for the shorter ride. This left 11 hardy souls to tackle the rest of the ride. The ride though John Forrest was very peaceful, apart from the rough surface and gave me a chance to catch up with the brotherhood of Jules and Dan and honorary brother Todd. The conversation centred around who was going to do the uniform order for the 3 of them.

We did a quick check to see if everyone was together after John Forrest and were soon on the Parkerville climb. Having taken it easy on the first climb I decided to stretch the legs, with Jono and Sato following. Those 2 then dropped me and I sat back to see Jono make his move too early and Sato putting a good kick to take the points. Behind me, Stu and Brother Jules took the remaining places. We then cruised onto Stoneyville and a stop at the shop, followed by the haul into Mundaring.

On the decent into the weir, Jono and Todd K set a good pace. Stu joined me to say the Peter had stopped to help Brother Jules so I did a 180°C turn at the roundabout and went back to assist. Luckily it was a small problem and having negotiated the last bit of the descent began the climb out of the valley. I tried to get Matthew and Rupert to stick behind me but then settled into my own rhythm and steadily climbed. There was no one to be seen in front so again I missed the action of the points but the order of finishing was Jono, Stu, Sato, Todd K and Steve P. We waited at the re-group and I went back to help out Brother Jules, who was now in a world of pain. He didn’t stop at the re-group and I signaled for everyone else to start up.

Brother Jules soon picked up on the downhill stage, with Brothers Dan and Todd in close proximity, helping out. Onto the climb and the usual suspects all went to the front. I crossed the gap on the first rise and a train of 5, led by Stu settled into a good pace. On the false flat the pace quickened with Jono and Stu clearing out. Todd K, Steve P and myself fought out the minor placings with two other non-SPR riders thrown in for good measure. I was surprised not to see Sato making a challenge, as he is well known for good efforts on the last hill. In the end Jono won the climb, with Stu, myself, Todd K and Steve behind. I was pretty happy with a 7 min 56 sec but didn’t hear any other times, so if there was any PB’s , please let me know.

We then split up with those not stopping for coffee heading straight home. The Merchant was its usual social affair and the Welshpool Rd descent fast and furious. Another motor bike gave way to us as the Lesmurdie Rd intersection to allow everyone to stick together and this was well appreciated. Maybe a few car drives could learn from the behavior of the motorcyclists encountered today.