As you may have guessed from the title I had the chance to ride with South West Cycle Club over the long weekend.

Despite being a former Bunbury resident I knew I had my work cut out for me when I rolled in to the start wearing my SPR kit and was suddenly swamped by 30-40 Jaffas (SWCC riders). If I was a little smarter I would have worn a different kit, but I thought I’d try to be obvious in my recon work.

To keep things short here are my findings in no particular order:

1. There is someone just like our Prez Pete in SWCC, except a female version and better looking.
2. The Jaffas are extremely welcoming, immediately spotting the newbie and making themselves known.
3. The fast ride is a fair bit harder than our fast ride which certainly surprised me. They power up hills as if it was flat and even with re-group points it was a challenging ride, so much so that I got dropped for the first time, and it was only half way through. I’m sure there was a little bit of ‘we’ll show this Kermit what fast is’ mentality, but still it was a tough ride.  
4. SWCC knows how to roll. From start to finish, wherever there was 50m or more of straight they were rolling. This was the biggest difference compared to SPR, where we usually have one or two ridders smashing the front for long periods of time. The rolling actually made it harder for the average rider, as you work the entire time, not just every 20 mins.
5. There was one sprint toward the end of the ride, starting at the top of a hill. A couple of riders cut off others mid-sprint, but were quickly reminded of what safe sprinting is by the ride leader.  
6. The cafe they stop at is also a Dome, who also seems to like their customers. We moved around 10 tables and they just kept bringing out our coffee with a smile. Perhaps it was because it was their 5^th birthday, or even the country air. Whatever it was I’m hoping out new venue will be the same.

All in all it was a great ride and I’ll definitely be taking my bike down the next time I’m in Bunbury.

I picked a great day to sleep in. I arrived at 7:05 expecting Prez to be late, but no….gasp…. the car park was empty. Perfect, a chance to practise my chase. After catching Main 2 I had a great ride with the sociable Main 2’ers. But the highlight was the dignitary who would be waiting to congratulate Main 2 on a great ride.

After arriving at the coffee stop I was confused to see everyone looking across the road, then I realised they were looking at our welcoming party lead by the PM. I immediately thought, iPhone it is your chance to shine as a camera. But without zoom there wouldn’t be proof that it was actually her. Then Meg suggests, I’ll take a picture with her. Surely they wouldn’t let us do that. So we walk over anyway, and PM and Co pretty much walk up to us, recognising the outstanding effort of today’s ride, and also a great opportunity. Snap, I’m now BFFs with PM.

Then we gave the PM the honour of standing among 14 sweaty, muddy and smelly  SPR cyclists for a group shot. Main 2 now has the record for the most photos with the PM, 1.

The Tuesday group seemed to have grown again this week, so much so that we have now migrated to the far side of the Narrows overpass. One advantage of this is that the acoustics are fantastic, so we can actually hear what Pete was saying rather than having to try to lip read through his mo. 

As I walked outside this morning I knew it was going to be a great ride, I just didn’t realise at the time that I would have an extra hour of riding up my sleeve.

It all began with Pete calling for even house numbers to go first. Unfortunately for me both my apartment and street number are odd, so there was no way I could go first. We got rolling at a steady 33km/h with a healthy tail wind. So it was surprising to hear the whole group quiet. Perhaps everyone was as tired as I was and therefore didn’t feel like talking. In fact, we stayed quiet past UWA, Steves, Bowling Club and Christchurch before we all woke up and began to acknowledge the person in lycra 3in to our left/right.

The sweeping decent to Freshwater Bay was a nice sight this morning. I’m sure others agree as we seemed to split on the way down. Okay, this is where the blog stops re-telling what you did and explains my route home. Around a hundred meters before the Mosman Park Hill I was fortunate enough to have a flat. After I negotiated my way to the side of the road Pete checked that I was okay. I promptly sent him on his way knowing that I had everything I needed and I didn’t want to make everyone late for work. Bike upside down, wheel off, tyre levers, check for any shrapnel, new tube……….no C02. How? Six months ago when I came back from the US with my bike I volunteered to dispose of all my C02 at the airport to save Qantas a crash landing because of a C02 canister (or rather to save my own bike from any damage). Since then I haven’t changed a tyre or remembered that I didn’t have any C02. Not to worry there are a million cyclists doing the Mosman Park Hill daily. So you can imagine my surprise when I was waiting on the side of the road, everything ready to go with my wheel on already, for no less than 20 mins. Where was everyone? It was a nice spot to wait, but 20 mins was a little to much picturesque at 6:30am. Eventually a small group passed, lent me their C02 which somehow split my tube. So I kindly asked my helpers friend for his tube and a pump. He agreed and changed it for me. I’m not sure if that was because he wanted to get going quickly or if he could see what I would have done with my bike if I went through another tube.

So off I went, trying to make up as much time as possible by using my tri bars which I hadn’t taken off since the weekend. Yes, I know that going for a run after a ride is a breach of the cycling rules, which is probably why I was punished this morning. Shortcuts were on the agenda this morning, so on top of my flat tyres I was cheating myself. My final shortcut would take me down Canning Hwy from Preston Point Rd. Traffic wasn’t too bad so I would be safe. But then ANOTHER FLAT. I’d already checked the tyre last time for any glass etc, so it must have been the impossible two flats in a day. So, without any air or tubes I was well and truly stuck. Walking down Canning Hwy I thought I could a) get a taxi, b) convince a bus driver that my bike was in fact a pram and would therefore be allowed to ride on the bus, hopefully for free, c) call a friend/brother. But whilst this was going through my head a group of 70 riders (I suggested they split based on birthdays) stoped at the lights just before the Melville Cricket Grounds. As I was walking with my head down I wasn’t looking at who I might know, but to my surprise someone called my name. It was my running coach Raf (PLUG: from the Running Centre in West Perth). He quickly gave me his spare tube and pump. Perfect timing as I was about to throw my bike into the Canning Hwy traffic. Although the valve on the tube was a little short for my rims I made it work, got back on the bike and had a steady ride home. I decided to work on my pedalling technique to ensure the ride was worth getting out of bed for. So arriving home an hour late with commute cyclists everywhere I actually felt great.

Moral of the story. There are generous people out there willing to give up 5 mins to change a tyre, give you there pump or to ask if you’re okay when you look like you’re trying to throw your bike in a dumpster. From a SPR perspective it is always handy to obey the Ride Etiquette (especially the part about spares/pumps), not just for the benefit of others but yourself as well.

Thanks to the random cyclists for helping me out this morning, it has given me a warm and fuzzy community spirit feeling.