so i had an unpleasant experience on the bike last sunday. i was coming up mundaring weir road that last pinch up to kalamunda when a white mini cooper (number plate KM-2550) pulls up beside me. i was on my own (dropped by the group) and there was no other traffic around. the car drove besides me for a few seconds before pulling forward. i gave a “what the” gesture as i was practically in the gutter and so wasn’t holding them up at all. the car slowed again and the passenger window rolled down. ok, this is not looking good so i jumped up on the footpath to keep out of their way. a middle-aged woman was driving and she yelled out “are you from around here? no, then get the f_ck off my road.” i was so shocked that i didn’t really have time to think and so just yelled back at her. she started crapping on about cyclists that come and restrict her driving on her roads so we should just f_ck off. then her husband beside her started on about registration and how i didn’t pay any for my bike so i don’t have any rights on the road. sorry, but the WA road laws do beg to differ on this point, but how do you explain that during a shouting match. so this went on for a bit while i was still riding up the hill and i look back and there is about 4 cars banked up behind her and they can’t get passed. so, me being a cyclist and holding her up has now made her hold up about 4 other cars. i guess that is my fault too. anyway, after a stream of obscenities from both sides she eventually drives off. now i have been riding in perth for 8 years and have been abused pretty much on a daily basis. it is usually the 20-30 year old male that hurls abuse (or projectiles) and drives off. this is the first time that i have really been targeted and effectively bullied for riding my bike. i wasn’t holding her up but she just wanted to vent on any cyclist that she could because it was her right to be on the road. although we can’t change the redneck views of road usage, we can make sure that we do our part to minimise our impact on other road users. i try to map ride routes that take in double lane roads as that makes it easy for cars to get passed. on single lane roads, we must look at whether we need to go single file and make that call. this is also the reason why we try to reduce the group sizes and split the groups. what we do does effect how we are treated so be aware of other road users no matter how ignorant they are.
track day – don’t forget to register if you are coming to our come and try track day. more info here. it is on the 25th so not far away now.
christmas breakfast and ride – the 15th dec will be our christmas breakfast held at DOME after the saturday ride. our christmas dress-up ride will be on the 22nd (i.e. the last saturday before christmas). more info here.
criterium series – we will be holding our criterium race series again with the rccc. so far the dates are 09/12, 16/12, 26/01 australia day criterium, 10/02, 24/02, 10/03. these will be held on the tech park circuit and we will need volunteers to run these events. however we will also need people to race across all grades, so get training.
strava challenge – for those on strava, there is a challenge started that is set just in perth. it is for the tour down under and they have selected a number of climbs in each capital city. ours is welshpool rd and as such our sunday ride for the next few weeks will be heading up welshpool rd. it will be the first climb of the sunday hills ride, so your legs should be fresh which should give you a good time. have a look at the challenge here so you know where the segment starts and finishes.
ride routes – looks like a strong hot easterly for saturday so we will tackle benara rd. there has been a request for nice roads for roll throughs for the transitional group, so shelley and benara it is.
saturday 17th november
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – spr earlybird ride
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
development group – spr saturday 35.48km (novice shelley)
transitional – spr saturday 39.81km (shelley & bannister)
fast & main groups – spr saturday 50.98km (benara rd)
sunday 18th november
ride starts under the narrows (cityside) at 5:30am
early lap – spr earlybird ride
all rides start at coode st carpark at 7:00am
short – spr sunday 61.14km (welshpool & weir rd)
long – spr sunday 101.86km (welshpool & mundaring & kalamunda)
Peter it is a shame that the torment is continuing up in dem dar hills. Was only a month or so ago that a mate of mine along with and SPR rider was heading up Mundaring Weir Road and believe it or not got shot at. Yep thats right Shot at. Well in their general direction to obviously scare the you know what out of them. A visit to the cops at the top of the hill got the shooter a visit but because of a gun license they were let off as they said they weren’t shooting at them. Go figure! Moral of the story. Stay safe and stay together (if possible) up in the hills. I can’t see the problem going away for us at all to be honest.
benara rd??? wicked stuff ;0)
The Main 3 hills ride last week received some positive feedback. After discussions with Peter and others it is proposed to run this ride on a three weekly basis. The next hills ride will be on Saturday 1 December.
(will not be riding Main 3 tomorrow)
A heads up for the trannies group tomorrow. I would like to see lots of practice on roll-throughs. The best explanation which I can find is the following youtube:
http://youtu.be/t-3Gfh_Qsrc
The route should provide plenty of opportunities;
– Along the Esplanade if there aren’t too many cyclists
– All along Shelley
– On Nicholson Rd after the big round-about
– And maybe even Albany hwy / Shepperton road if everyone has been doing well and rolling through safely.
Tips to follow;
– It is not actually about the speed when you come onto and off the rolling line, but rather the pedalling effort.
– There should be next to no need to stop pedalling (freewheel) unless coming to the lights. And there is no need to get off your saddle to stomp ahead. Choose the right gear for a good cadence.
– Always call out – “last wheel”, “clear”, “slowing” etc
– Don’t let any gaps form, stay within 1-3 feet of the wheel in front
– If you think you might struggle, then don’t join the roll through – instead hang back a couple meters away from the last rider. Let that last rider know you are sitting back by calling “clear” or “Yup”.
We will not be trying to do the roll through at high speed. Rather, concentrate on smooth and consistent. I would say no more than 28-32 kph at all times.
If there is a hill, which tends to break up the roll throughs, the pair in front ease up slightly and let everyone get back on before the roll starts again.
Most of the time, I will not be part of the roll throughs, but will be moving up and down the right hand side as a 3rd line to try to keep things smooth (and yelling at ya! 🙂 So, don’t come up behind me and don’t form a 3rd line. Just ignore that I’m there.
Trust me, there is no better feeling than being in a peloton rolling through perfectly.