All posts by brendan

A view looking back

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Ride report by Brendan (VP ) 🙂

Well after checking my program before heading off it seemed I was meant to do all the hills at a “hard” pace hmmm well off to the usual start.
Once there it was nice to see a group of around 25 riders.
After Pete explained the days ride we set off towards them there hills..
A few usual guys n gals were up at NDCC crit at Osborne Park so also shows just how big our group(guess we can say club soon J) is. Great to see. let us know how you guys went….

Trip out was nothing unusual, plenty of laughs and general chit chat and how annoying the wind was getting, oh yeah we had a nasty puncture that sliced one of the guys tires like Pete’s the other week, alas ride was over and home he went, bugger(sorry didn’t catch the name but feel free to add a comment) .
Once out near our first turn towards the lovely Kahuna we turned straight into a rather nasty head wind that straight away made quite a few start thinking and talking of how today’s ride was going to hurt.

Onward and upward to the lower slopes of our first climb, with no one really willing to push to hard considering the wind I remembered my program of riding hard on the hills so I decided I may as well stretch the gang out and see who wanted to play (read hurt) today. I attacked pretty hard and gapped out to 100m (guessing) and rode to over half way before looking back to see the damage, guessing more from the wind than trying to chase me… As usual Stu and co were in a good rhythm up the hill so that allowed me to set the rhythm to match to ensure I scored max points for the climb.

kahuna
Brendan 10, Stu 7, Ben 5, Paul 3, Andrew 1

After our regroup Dr Paul and a few others headed off for a shorter ride and we threw around the motion of skipping Peet rd due to winds etc was going to make the ride approx 5km shorter which was approved so off we headed down the normally fast decent towards Peet rd but with the high Head wind the speeds weren’t so fast today. Once at Peet rd we re grouped just to make sure no one headed up the hill (as original map) and we headed towards soldiers climb. When free wheeling down Peet rd you realise how steep it actually is and with that nasty T intersection on the hwy it pays to have well adjusted brakes.

So onto the climb #2 a steady tempo was set which was pretty much maintained all the way up ensuring a sprint finish was on the cards, after a quick chat to confirm the finish line the pace crept up until we were over 40 with the tail wind and increasing, I had 3rd wheel and was in a prime position and launched about 200 or so meters out to take the win. With remainder at

Solidiers rd
Brendan 10, Stu 7, Ben 5, Paul 3, Peter 1

After re grouping at the T intersection and me getting the crap scared out of me turning around and being face to face with a bloody great horse we were off down to Bedfordale climb #3. Once on the climb a nice tempo was set with Pete and I in second wheel talking about when some attacks might happen and sure enough near the top Pete launched and quickly gained a gap which at first no one was too keen to chase so I eventually got out front the inside line and chased with just about everyone in tow. Once we caught up the last rise prior to the turn off/finish line to Canning Dam I launched hoping everyone was too tired to go again and time trialed to lead everyone else there with Gerry leading the gang into await a final regroup prior to heading over towards our second last climb up Gardiner rd.

Always nice to cruise along this rd when the weather is hotter as its usually quite fresh through there which anyone who has done it in winter will attest it gets frigging cold.
Once over the rough section and onto the nice smooth Bitumen we had the great decent in towards Araluen Park where we had another re group to ensure we had everyone before the nasty little climb back up Gardiner rd and to Karagulen servo for a quick food/drink stop as req’d. Back o the climb we set a reasonable tempo which I couldn’t resist a few surges to see who was feeling ok, once up the first main part of the climb and onto the sharp corner we accelerated again to pretty much force a split of Stu, Ben and I from the others but I was feeling pretty good so had a few accelerations on the last rolling climbs and only seeing 1 wheel behind me I kept upping the speed to dislodge who ever was there which took until the last rise before Brookton Hwy which I though was Stu and on turning around realised it was Ben so onwards to the servo for re group.

Gardiner rd
Brendan 10, Ben 7, Stu 5, Paul 3, Peter 1

Its really great to see everyone getting stronger as the time we wait for re group seems to be getting less and less and the top 5 of climbs always has a few different names in order over the last few months so good work peoples,

Once relieved and fuelled as req’d we headed over towards our last climb into Kalamunda with the only scare of the day coming from a big Redneck F250 ute driver straying onto our side lining us all up which raised a few heart rates and flurry of words towards him but gladly he ventured back onto his correct side of the road. When we had reached Pickering Brook Melvyn and Michael (new cervelo guy) decided to cruise straight into Kalamunda while we ventured down past Sanatarium factory down the quick decent with Mark using his downhill skills to lead us only to get rather friendly with a Harley Davidson bike on the corner which resulted in a rather close passing manoeuvre.

Over to Mundaring Weir rd and onto one of my favourite accents into Kalamunda.
Mark set the pace early only to come back to the group after the first bend and the pace started moving up, Stu was the first culprit so I went pretty hard to see who could push the pace, Stu got back up to me and surged as he went passed me which highlights how well he goes on his old bike (look out when the cervelo is back) but I was feeling good so got the wheel and sat tempo but Stu paid his price for closing the gap and went back a gear so I jumped again and as I was pushing my bike ring I rode hard up to the top and started thinking of a cold drink and food as I watched Stu come in for second.

Mundaring weir to Kalamunda
Brendan 10, Stu 7, Ben 5, Mark 3, Jerry 1

As the group rolled into the coffee shop we all re fuelled on an assortment of yummy food and hot n cold drinks. A few laughs and comparing different stories of the days ride we finally packed up and headed back to Welshpool road decent where I made sure I had Marks wheel as He always descends very well and a fast pace is ensured and with a new record (for me anyway) we hit 92.4 Kmphr and time trialled to he end for a re group at the school. Not long after we were on our way towards home, mainly uneventful trip home, the tail wind was nice and the pace stayed nice and high pretty much all the way through to Berwick and down to Bunnings for a quick chat and laugh before we all took our weary legs home for a well deserved break.

Total Kms for the day (my computer) 110kms and plenty of tough climbs and strong winds are sure to help those that are heading to Pemberton.

Geez reading back I waffled a bit so sorry to those that got bored reading this.
Take care and ride safe, Brendan

monday 26th jan – public holiday ride

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ride report by brendan

Well after getting to our backup meeting place right on 0700 I expected a few more riders but after waiting another 5 or so mins we had swelled to around 20.

Dr Paul and a couple of others decided to go and do a shorter ride so headed off in another direction while we decided who knew the way (Pete warned me the day prior he might not make it), hah being my first Monday ride with SPR (I seem to be always at onsite when these public holiday rides are on) I was a little sketchy but Julian put his hand up and between us we lead the group off for Shelley Beach to stretch the legs.

While mainly uneventful and general chit chat seemed to be the way of the group we sat on a steady tempo. With numerous detours and roadwork’s we tossed up which way we could go in case of closures etc we thought all would be well as we hit Shelley beach.

I did a little roving of the pack of 15ish riders saying go for it and we would re group at end of the Shelley Beach run. Was sort of like letting dogs of a leash everyone was straight into a higher rhythm and started rolling through quite well as the pace climbed higher and higher, while I was doing the “Pete thing” making sure all were happy at the back through to front I finally managed to get back up onto the front and upped the pace again to see who really wanted to get a little hurt going.

We quickly passed a couple of smaller groups as we were averaging around mid 40’s with a few smaller surges by Ronny and Co I decided to stretch the group right at the last Km to finish off, which reminded my legs  of yesterdays effort in the hills (note to self recovery ride is Monday!).

After the regroup we continued through to Applecross over a short section of roadwork’s under Mount Henry bridge which turned out to be only sand and pretty smooth so no punctures and new bitumen heading through to Canning bridge made quite a enjoyable ride. Several Boats/People were starting to get prime positions around several key spots on  the Swan River but overall the traffic was generally well behaved towards us. Once under Canning Bridge we settled into a relaxing pace and made way to Point Walter which of course due to the Ozzy Day Triathlon had the road closed we detoured around the edge and came back not far down from the Point Walter golf course and continued on our way.

On heading down around (can’t remember the roadJ) heading towards The Left Bank the pace picked up and with a few little attacks ad surges the pace picked up and I’m pretty sure everyone came through for a turn which was pleasing as the speed was mid 40’s and goes to show how everyone is ever improving on these rides, on coming to the end we had a slight wait to make sure we had everyone and heading off up towards Cott.

With the change of direction came a rather nice tail wind blowing us along rather brisk pace right up into Cottesloe with Ronny and Co seeming to holding the pace high for quite a while we suggested that they can go off the front to have a break back in the group which they quickly took up on. The pace continued to stay high straight through Cott and for a change there was hardly any traffic which always  makes riding in a bunch more enjoyable… Going up over the crests (I refuse to call them hills, many might disagreeJ) heading back up to West Coast hwy we for my first time ever scored a green light and the whole group made it through and headed up towards Dalkeith. As we were nearing where one of our Saturdays sprint spots the pace was increasing higher and higher and never one to back away I added a few km’s an hour to that as Ronny made a surge passed me Dan and a few others went for the sprint while I sat back and watched which is a nice change and great seeing other people slogging it out for gloryJ , making sure everyone turned right heading back around to Mounts Bay road we continued through to the back of UWA where Dan on his squeaking Specialised took off, pretty sure everyone in the neighbourhood heard him go as he defiantly gets the noisiest bike award for the dayJ With no one too keen on chasing we let him get a few hundred meters up the road before we upped the speed and held him at that distance and as Murphy’s law 8x out of 10 the lights will get him and sure enough we had a laugh when the lights got him, but on a big SPR no-no he jumped through the RED light to get as much advantage as possible heading for our run into the coffee shop sprint, we yelled DQ to him and generally hung you know what on him, when we took off (from the GREEN light) and chased him down, everyone rolled through until the pace moved up into the high 40’s and a few started to fall off and hang on as the speed kept on climbing, Dan was looking back and starting to think the worst and is speed was fading fast as the Train caught him with around 600 to go to the sprint line, we all hung a few passing words of encouragementJ on him and powered to the Swan Brewery where I was offered a lead out (sorry missed your name) and not one to pass those up we shot off and I powered away for a nice finish with the group relatively intact.

the chosen few
the chosen few

Due to several blocked access ways we made our way unconventionally to the coffee shop (don’t think I will elaborate on that any more) so after ordering food and drinks and sharing a few laughs mainly at Dans expense for his cheeky move and noisy bike, Lorraine took a few piccies of us all and Dan as she wanted to post him up on the blog some name and shame feature haha.

So overall a most enjoyable ride with pace and recovery sections and quite a few good laughs had by all…Till next time watch this space….