report by jens/heiko

The wind had really calmed down compared to Saturday, but it was somehow a bit cold out there, but I knew I just need to get going so I’d warm up. I arrived pretty late at Coode Street. The car park already hosted maybe 30 riders. Some of them were here to do the Novice Sunday ride and others would go with us into the hills, but skip a few of the climbs, do just one instead, head up to Kalamunda and then back home. It is so great to see how many people have fun riding with SPR. One and a half year ago we sometimes just had 5 riders out for a Sunday ride, and now we even have 2 groups… but back to the ride.

We headed out Douglas Road towards Albany Highway. Pete was the first one to lead out the group and Chris and I started off in the fourth row, which is probably one of the worst positions you can start off as you will be almost certainly be at the front of the group just before the hills. Add a bit of head wind (which we luckily didn’t have too much of) and your legs don’t necessarily feel great when you arrive at the first hill.
The first hill toady was on Carrawatha Road. It starts of very nice, but as soon as you come around that first bend you actually see how steep it is. It’s not too long, but it is long enough to take your breath away. I tried to stay with the fast guys, overtook Peter, Alistair and a couple of other guys to find myself first hanging onto Brodie’s wheel and then overtaking him as he had some gear/ chain issues. On the last few meters I just heard someone breathing behind me. Just as I could saw the crest of the hill Brodie appeared again next to me. It wasn’t too much the legs who couldn’t respond, more the general constitution of my body at that very moment so I had to let him go, but could secure the last point on the top. The order on top: Michael B., Chris, Brodie, Nick, Jens

After the regroup at the top everyone had a bit of a snack whilst Peter explained the next few kilometres up to the top of Carradine Road. The decent down Carrawatha is pretty fast, but suddenly ends at the T-junction where the next climb already starts. I always liked Carradine Road although the surface is really rough and bouncy. It is a steady climb where you can actually find a rhythm for yourself. We had a split of the group pretty early on the climb, but there were still quite a few guys with us until Nick and Tim took over the lead and kept the pace up. Unfortunately my lack of training during the week didn’t allow me to keep with them, so I was by myself for the next few hundred meters, before Chris and Mike B came around me. At that point i turned around for the first time and realized that we had a pretty huge gap on all the others. What happened – usually I was the one getting gapped and not the one who gaps the others??? I guess I can’t blame that on the lack of training – now I have to come up with something else…Chris put a big effort on to jump onto the two guys in front which were maybe 300 meters ahead. I stayed with Mike, did fall back a bit, but could almost grab his back wheel again just before he accelerated up that small section which is a bit steeper before the end of the climb. The order on top was: Chris, Tim, Nick, Mike, Jens

The decent towards Peet Road was pretty quick as usual and we soon started the climb after making sure that everyone was back together with the group. Some guys just kept on going up Peet Road whilst we were still re-grouping, but I guess they weren’t battling for the points. Peet Road is a bit of a strange one as this steep section at the beginning just demands so much energy after getting out of the decent. The front group was formed pretty quickly and this time I was not in it. As the road flattened out i could recover a bit and gain some ground, make up for some of the lost places, but could not get even close to the fast boys who seemed to be already half way up to Roleystone Highschool as most of us were still on the other side of the hill. The points on top go to: Mike, Chris, Nick, Tim, Lindsey

The ride towards the Servo was quite uneventful at an easy pace. Everyone topped up on water and we headed up towards Pickering Brook, passing a wall in the middle of nowhere which apparently no one ever notices, apart from Brother Jules and Dan. I didn’t see it, just wanted to mention that wall so that everyone is keeping their heads up the next time we ride along this road (I guess as an East German I had to mention a wall some day…).
Michael and I kept the group together towards Pickering Brook and further towards the base of the last climb through Canning Mills. Michael wanted to set the pace up the hill for a time below 8 minutes – his target was 7:50. I was up for that, but was hoping that i could hold onto his wheel as I still wanted to beat the 8 minute mark, especially after Mark dC talking me up that i need to come in below 8 minutes. As we got there everyone seemed to be having the same plan – the speed picked up immediately. Tim and Chris were with me all the way from the first curve. When we were hitting the flat section I was about to get to the front, but Tim was just to strong on his Tri-bars. I always hate that last bit of the climb were the gradient kicks in again and you always have the feeling that you will never reach that 50 km/h sign. A couple of people were flying past me just on those last maybe 100 or 150 m. At the round about everbody looked on their times and it seemed like a lot of people cracked their personal best on Sunday. I did: 7:45 min. I didn’t really care about the order on top after that time, but anyway: Chris, Brother Jules, Lindsey, Tim, Jens

After coffee we headed back down the usual way and the cross winds made it quite interesting on Welshpool Road. No one wanted to Sprint towards the Sprint point at Roe Highway, so I must have looked a bit stupid taking off…Lisa was up for the next sprint towards the first Maccas, I had to bridge a few meters as I didn’t expect that…Thanks Lisa for making me not look like an idiot who just sprints for himself!

The final sprint on Berwick Road was a classic again as two or three guys were able to set a gap between them and us and we got stuck at the lights. On the next set of lights Peter took right off and put a few meters in between him and the rest of the group, before Alistair and Chris could actually take the sprint points of the peloton home (Alistair 1st, Chris 2nd)

Glueck Auf!

Ride report by heiko

Another hot day in Perth for our hills challenge. It wasn’t quite as windy as it was on Saturday, but the ride to the ride wasn’t the most pleasant thing i have done. There were already about 16 people, i guess, waiting. At first it looked like Julian had taken the good old Trek out again, but he hasn’t taken the cycling clothes out with it as he had some family commitment on that morning. As soon as he explained the route we were on our way into this nice Easterly wind. We were really taking it easy as the head wind seemed to be getting stronger the closer we got to the hills.
The roundabouts on Helena Valley Road did cause a bit of confusion – again, but everyone eventually find the right way towards the first bonus climb which was Ridgehill Road today. I was slowly grinding up in a big gear to get some extra training in, thinking we would re-group on the other side before we had to go up Gooseberry Hill. When i arrived at the roundabout at the bottom no one was waiting so i had to chase down the boys. Unfortunately i didn’t put enough effort in to catch them before the hill started. I pretty much had lost sight of the fast boys at the front and came in 7th or 8th i guess.

The more successful places were: Chris, Stuart, Jarrad, Jerard, David

When everyone was on we headed down the Zig Zag and took Kalamunda Road pretty much back up to where we were coming from. You wouldn’t want to ride at the front at up this hill again as the head wind was still quite strong. Stuart took over the lead pretty much after the last set of lights at the bottom. Jarrad jumped straight onto his wheel with myself getting drafted by them. I think Chris was with us from the start as well. I didn’t really turn around on the climb, but couldn’t hear any gear changes from a fifth bike either. Half way up Chris overtook me as i had left a little gap and he might thought that i hadn’t anything left. I was close to letting them go, but Jarrad seemed to have been thinking the same as he dropped of Stuarts wheel. I put a big effort in to see if i could still hold on and could catch my breath again on a small section just before the petrol station.

The final points up Kalamunda were: Stuart, Chris, Heiko, Jarrad, Jerard.

At the re-group almost everyone seemed to be having enough and wanted to go to coffee already. Luckily Stuart and 3 others wanted to suffer a bit more on the final climb up Mundaring Weir Road. We headed off at an easy pace passing the petrol station on top of Canning Road. When we reached the turn off to Aldersyde Road Jarrad and Chris were with us as well as they were obviously keen for some KOM points (after not getting a spot at the Merchant). With the Easterly i thought i might be able to put down a really good time. Just after the first bend we weirdly had to cycle into a head wind. At that point i probably ticked off my new PB off in my head. Stuart, Jarrad and David came passing by, but due to my high pace (well, high pace for me) at the bottom i was struggling to keep up my speed, so they were further putting meters between me and them. Just before we hit the flat section i saw Jarrad dropping of Stuart’s wheel. I could manage to pass by David at the end of the flat section. My time was 8: 13, which isn’t particularly brilliant, but i might blame it on the wind and my mind which was already thinking about how to write up the blog tonight 😉 .

KOM on Mundaring Weir Road: Stuart, Jarrad, Heiko, David, Chris

After the stop at the coffee shop Stuart took us down to Welshpool Road on a completely different, but very scenic and beautiful route with the best views of Perth city. When we reached the bottom, i wold Chris we should actually ride that one up one day. I will try and map something this week.

We all rolled through on the home stretch. The final sprint for the Maccas was quitte weird as i was trying to jump behind a bus to get some draft, but it was pulling into the bus stations all the time, but my last effort almost payed out, but Chris came around me and i could just hold on to his wheel. I guess i really need a new cluster with that compact crank, cuz otherwise i will always have to pedal like a maniac on the sprints…

short report of the additional climb …

As the main part of the group took off to the coffee shop Julian already showed some signs of dehydration as he couldn’t really determine which side the cars were coming from. 😉

The five of us headed down Gooseberry Hill (after we found it because all the intersections somehow look the same). The decent was really quick with my speedo hitting about 82 km/h, but over all too soon. Unfortunately that bend half way down the hill forces you to slow down to approximately half that speed. We turned right at the roundabout and had to tackle Ridgehill Road before we could go up the ZigZag. Lisa said she had forgotten that there was a bonus climb up to the Zig Zag…
Dean kept on going straight once we were at the top and turned off back up the Zig Zag. That left us with 4 people. I didn’t know how the other guys were feeling but Ridgehill Road always takes so much out of me that i very often like to just get off the bike on top of that really not too hard “hill”… it’s really weird.
We kinda regrouped at the turn off and started as a group of four. I started to increase the pace a little bit just to see what would happen and if one of the John or Dale would attack. As we reached the first switch back I had a small gap to those two and Lisa was maybe hundred meters further back. All three of us kept encouraging her to minimize that gap (I don’t know if that was helpful…)
Up to the top we really didn’t really smash it too hard, but kept a nice pace and i think John (please correct me if it was Dale, i still mix you guys up, and i am not good with names) was at my tail up the whole way. Just as the road got a little bit steeper towards the end i managed to gap him a little bit.
points on top: Heiko, John, Dale, Lisa

After a chat up the top and a few minutes of rest we decided to go down Gooseberry again and jump onto Great Eastern Highway back to town. We rolled through once we were on Kalamunda Road. Apart from Lisa’s flat before Great Eastern we had a pretty good run home. Thanks for the extra loop, I really enjoyed it, we should do that again next week!

Oh, before I forget: Julian, here is the version for the points: All four of us came in pretty much all together and i think it was a photo finish on top, so we should all get 5 points. 😉

Heiko

Report by Heiko

Julian nominated me on Saturday to lead the group out. I never looked more often at the ride routes page than on that Saturday evening! Make sure you know the route well, Peter said.
When I arrived at the car park that morning there were already about 20 people there. Brad explained the route to Lisa and Davina so even if I wasn’t too sure about the route he would hopefully help me out. A few Cyclemania guys were with us as well this morning. A quick head count came to 28 riders this morning who wanted to tackle Ridgehill Road as a bonus climb, Kalamunda Road, the Observatory from the shallow side and Lawnbrook Road up to the coffee shop.
I was a bit nervous that the group wouldn’t go the right way towards the hills as there were a few new guys as well who haven’t been out with us before. Luckily all was fine and peachy and no one got lost on our way out of the city. Ridgehill Road was first on the ride as a warm up and I tried to attack right from the start. Unfortunately whilst I was going flat out the young Cyclemania lads overtook sending me right back into the bunch.

After the re-group just before Kalamunda Road and some refreshments we headed off towards Kalamunda with the fast boys attacking pretty early and taking off out of my sight. All I could do there on top was writing down the KOM points (Kalamunda Road): Karl, Adrian, Nick, (who came in 4th here), Michael B.
To get to Pickering Brook we took the unusual decent down Mundaring Weir Road this time. The rolling hills through Aldersyde and Glenisla Road are actually worse from this side than they are from the side we usually used to ride them. We re-grouped just before Canning Road. Johnny and I were riding at the front towards the base of the climb to the Observatory. The Cyclemania guys and Michael B. took off and everyone else didn’t really seem to make any progress on them.

Observatory points: Karl, Sam, Adrian, Michael B., Nick

Down the observatory we went trying to take as much speed with us as we possibly could. It’s great to come down the Observatory as you ride down this really steep last bit of the decent and you think you can take that momentum up Lawnbrook. Just as you finish that thought though you almost come to a certain stop and need to put on the smallest gear there is (well, I had to, I think…). Luckily the climb flattens out towards the top which gives the opportunity to catch up a few which might have gone to early…

Lawnbrook KOM point: Karl, Sam, Adrian, Nick, Matthew
We should have had a tail wind on the way back in, but as it usually happens during a ride the wind direction changes, so that you ride out with a head wind and ride back in with one as well!
Thanks for the ride guys! And thanks to Brad and the rest who kept us on the right track and re-grouped at the right spots.

After the Christmas feast on Christmas Day the ride hold Ridgehill Road for us to tackle. I wasn’t feeling too bad, although the turkey and the Christmas pudding with Brandy sauce (well, more Brandy than sauce) should pay its tribute. Soon after the split we were heading along at a nice peace rolling through. As we turned on to Gooseberry Hill Road one of the other riders already asked me who put a hill into the Saturday ride. I ensured him that we aren’t taking on Gooseberry today and that Ridgehill Road is a lot nicer.

As the hill, or should I say big bump appeared ahead of us I thought I give it a try and see how much turkey and Brandy sauce the other guys had on the 25th. After maybe 300 or 400 metres I regretted that decision as most of the fast guys overtook me leaving me with more metres to “climb” somewhere in no-man’s-land. Catching my breath back on the top, Matthew (I think his name was Matthew, please correct me if it wasn’t) and I tried to chase the other boys down.

Initially with 3 people we started to chase down the others. We were catching up a few people on our way towards Hazelmere sitting around 40 km/h. I was just back at the front, as we were doing turns, when I heard the noise which you don’t want to hear on a bike ride. Lindsay had swerved into Mark D’s back wheel. He came off the bike almost immediately leaving Mark with two bikes. Lindsay’s handlebars had locked the back wheel and you can’t really ride with a blocked back wheel and another bike attached to your own. Luckily there were no cars around and neither Lindsay nor Mark had serious injuries, just a few scrapes. The bikes however had taken some damage. One front and one back wheel had considerable buckles in them. We sorted some issues with the brakes and rolled back to Perth with an easy pace. The rest of the ride wasn’t that eventful, but I guess we had enough excitement for that day and ride…

Heiko

for those of you who want to  watch the full length stages of this year’s Giro, for example to see the whole ride of Vogte like on stage 4, universal sports broadcasts the episodes live on the internet.

you can have a look at the istructions here: http://www.cyclingfans.com/

you could also subscribe to eurosport.com live tv for 4,90 euro for one month.  unfortunately i don’t know if that works from Australia, but it might be worth a try…

enjoy…

jens