Ride to Conquer Cancer

Cancer affects everybody.  In March this year I was shocked to discover that I had prostate cancer. I was fit, healthy, not overweight, and ate well, but that didn’t guarantee immunity. With the help of family, friends and good doctors, I came through surgery and was recently given the all clear. This explains my absence from Sunday rides from April to July. I’m happy to say that I am now back on the bike, and building up the k’s. On 20 and 21 October I’m doing the Ride to Conquer Cancer, to raise funds for Cancer Research here in WA. It’s 200km of riding in 2 days – from Perth, heading South, camping overnight, and cycling back (Just a warm-up for some, I know). I’m aiming to raise over $3000 through donations from friends, family and colleagues. It’s a cause very close to my heart right now.

Click here to read more, and to donate online. It’s quick, safe and easy.

Regards

Mark de Castro

Opportunity of a lifetime to test your limits.

Dr Jim and I entered 5 Dams ride on 15 April 2012, only to find we’d double booked with a weekend away with both our families. Unfortunately the organisers can’t refund, but suggested we transfer our entries.

If anyone is up for 236km of glorious cycling through the magnificent Perth hills, let us know by leaving a comment. You need to enter in pairs. Cost was $125 each; we’re open to offers. For event details, goto  www.bwa.org.au/events/110/. I did 3 dams this year, and it was spectacular. Imagine 66% more fun!!

Mark dC & dr Jim

Report by mark

Sunday November 8
Most of the guys were away at the Golden Spokes event, so I was surprised to see a good turnout of 18 at the start.
Another beautiful day for riding – not too much from the Easterly wind, and a comfortable 15 degrees.
Mike B joined us on Douglas road and before you could say “warm-up”, we were climbing Welshpool road.
As all the mountain goats were racing that day, the field was wide open for points.
I tried to stay with the front bunch, but fell off half way up, and watched in amazement as Johnny flew past me, muttering something about how good he was feeling on the bike. Nice to hear!
The order at the top was Matthew, Richard, Johnny, Dean, Mark dC.

There was some confusion after this, as we were supposed to head off right to the observatory via Patterson Rd, but everyone carried on left. I didn’t get any takers to turn right when we hit Glenisla either, so I assumed that was it, and psyched myself up for MW Road. As we approached along Aldersyde, the bunch looked smaller, and Simon asked why I never joined the others up to the Observatory. I did try – honest.
I cruised up Mundaring Weir Rd ahead of the bunch, and then did a U-turn, and headed back down to catch the others on the way back from the Observatory. They approached from the opposite direction, as they’d done the Observatory loop backwards.
I’m told the order at the top was: Dean, Matthew, Johnny, Richard, Marc S.
Anyway, we all made our way back to our favourite hill, and had a good climb to the top. After a helping hand most of the way up (can’t remember who’s wheel) I managed a PB of 8min10sec which I was very happy with. 8 minutes is looming ever closer…. The order at the top was Richard, Mark dC, Dean, Matthew, Johnny, Heiko.
The planned route of Zigzag down and back up Gooseberry was quickly vetoed by the group, and we headed straight to the Merchant for another round of great service and good coffee.
The usual ride home was uneventful, with a hard push along Welshpool/Orrong, up to Albany Hwy.

Sunday November 15
The following Sunday was an even better cycling weather day.
Hardly a breath of wind, and lovely cool dry conditions.
Tour de Perth was on in the afternoon, but I was expecting a good turnout for the ride. I was surprised to see only 10 people there, with a few first timers – always good to see; Welcome to Todd and Nathan.
My old friend Vic and his mate Pascal were also there. Vic took me on my first ride around Perth two days after I flew in from Cape Town in Jan 2005.
The route was Cahunu (Mills Rd East), Urch& Pete, Observatory and Mundaring Weir Rd
We headed out past Curtain Uni, onto Albany and then left, over Tonkin, to the foot of the first hill.
New Chis and Brodie took off early and stayed away to the top. I caught Stu (who was cruising) near the top, and he let me stay in front for the points.
Order was: Chris Brodie Mark Stu Ben

There isn’t much of a break before you hit the next one, and once again Brodie and Chris went hard at the start and closed the gap I’d pulled on the downhill. I paced myself up the steep part, and then worked hard on the flat to catch Chris. Then Ben attacked while we were all waiting for someone to go, and he kept the gap to take second place, followed by myself, Chris and Dan.
We filled up with water at the servo on Brookton, while some admired the U-beaut Ducati’s that pulled up.
Then onto Patterson and up to the Observatory. I can’t remember much, but the order at the top was Stu, Chris, Dan, Brodie, Ben, Mark
Vic, and Pascal headed back home via Welshpool, while the rest of us did the TT up Mundaring Weir Rd to earn our coffee.
I followed Dan most of the way up, and saw Chris and Brodie break clear, but didn’t have the legs to go with them.
The order at the top was Chris, Brodie, MdC, Dan and I missed the next one (apologies – feel free to leave a comment if it was you)
Coffee and service were great once again at the Merchant.
Standard ride home, made more pleasant by the traffic light gods smiling on us, and giving us a clear run all the way down Welshpool.
I pushed as hard as I could along the flat up to Leach Hwy – in preparation for riding my new TT bike which should be together by the weekend, with my bits that arrived from CRC this week.
Watch this space…

Ride report my Mark
The morning started off a bit strangely, as I thought I’d overslept.
Alarm went off at 6am; I got up, looked at the phone – “bugger – I’ve overslept! Its 5 past 7.
Rush to kitchen, get drinks from fridge – look at clock – Relax – it’s only 10 past 6. Blackberry has adjusted for daylight saving – oblivious to the results of the referendum. Turns out the computer did the same things.
Anyway – popped into the city on the way to the start to see how the triathletes were preparing for their world long course championships today. Saw a couple of guys with disc wheels wobbling along mounts bay road in the howling easterly gale. Bad idea.
Back to the start to meet about 18 starters. Peter did the honours of telling us about the forgotten hills we’d be riding today. Then he and Alistair led us off along Douglas Rd, towards Welshpool. I was chatting to Dan and Carl safely tucked at the back of the bunch, and managed to stay there till we reached the first hill – Welshpool rd.
My hill climbing practice has been sadly lacking; with lots of time spent in the tri bars riding to work and back along a flat bike path.
I started off with the front bunch, but about a ¼ of the way up I was passed by a whirr of well practiced climbers, including Mr Bonner, Julian and a couple of the strong new lads. Peter M came flying past – and I expected him to crash and burn. He slowed to let me catch him, but then found another burst of energy which carried him all the way to the top, and some points. Every now and then I’d try and hold onto a wheel that came past, and managed to stay with new Chris for most of the way to the top. We didn’t do the usual Welshpool rd up to the top, but rather turned left into Lesmurdie, to follow the normal home run backwards.
KOM 1: Mr Bonner, Julian, Judd, Jarrad, Peter M
We went right at the roundabout, and were supposed to carry on to Glenisla, but there was an order yelled out to take an early left turn onto Lawnbrook road. Fine by me. I knew we were meant to do Observatory and Chookenberg, in that order. I suggested that as we were about to pass Chookenberg, we reverse the order. Pete wasn’t having any of it. That way it’s too easy he said, as we miss out on the approach to the Chook. Talk about a masochist! Up we went to the observatory, without turning right onto Patterson as we normally do. At the bottom of Lawnbrook we hit a serious wall as we went from 75 to 5 km/h in a couple of meters. My experience of the hill was much the same – started off at the front, fell back and back as the hill progressed, and ended around 10th.
KOM2 Bonner, Julian, Peter m, Tim, Joe

After regrouping at the top, we did a U-turn and headed back down the hill (with the wind this time) and then up the other side towards the infamous Chookenberg. Once again the nice long downhill meant I hit the hill with a fair lead, but not for long. Michael, Julian – woosh and the rest. I was trying to keep something in the legs to ensure that I pedalled all the way up, as I remembered it from last time, when I accidentally unclipped, and struggled to restart on the hill. I looked down every now and then, and think I saw 24% at one stage – but I was suffering from tunnel vision at that stage so it could have been less (but not much).
I made it without stopping, which I was happy with. Alistair came flying past at a scary rate, making me wonder just what he’d had for breakfast. The order at the top was:
KOM3: Bonner, Julian, Peter, Dan, Herve

From there some riders headed off home, while the rest of us went back onto Lawnbrook (3rd time!!) and headed down to the dip, but turned left this time towards Mundaring Weir rd. We began our standard climb up to coffee, but immediately took a right turn into Alderside (where we normally start the clock) and headed along the bottom of the valley before the left turn and steep climb up towards the top of MW road. Same-old same-old on the hill. It was a fair bit steeper than I remembered from the last time we did it – but definitely one of the better cycling hills that we do; tough gradient, a few tight hairpins, beautiful surroundings, and hardly any cars. I rode up with Heiko most of the way, and led him up the last part of MW road, thinking I’d surprise him with my usual kick at the top. Wrong!. I kicked, and then Heiko showed me what a real kick was, and pulled 5 bike lengths before the top.
KOM 4: Bonner, Tim, Peter, Chris, Alistair (medium)

We regrouped at the roundabout, and a few headed back home for other commitments, including watching the triathletes in action.
The rest of us (around 7 or 8) went off to Merchant coffee shop, just down the road from Paris Brest. What a shock to the system.
They took down our orders with unfamiliar efficiency, and then hardly gave us time to sit down and complain before showing up with the coffee AND food.
It was all too much for us to comprehend. Whilst the ham & cheese croissant was not quite up to PB at it’s best, and the waitress behind the till didn’t know my name and order before I’d spoken, I reckon I’ll take my chances at the Merchant in future.
Dr Marc had to deal with his Macchiato Latte being served in two parts (he thought it lacked a coffee flavour on first taste) – but he managed to pick up the pieces and carry on with his day.

From there it was down Kalamunda Rd and along the flat with the wind behind us all the way to the causeway. We managed to keep a brisk pace – and I was loving the tri-bars.
A few of us watched the Triathlon world champs on the foreshore for a while – and marvelled at the real athletes. Sports men and women who spend 20 – 30 hours per week training, come rain or shine.
Not many prima donnas there – I think they’re a rare breed that reflects the true meaning of sport. They compete to see how good they are against their peers – and to improve. Not for money or glory – just for sport.
It was fantastic to see, and who cares if they blocked the freeway for an hour or three. They deserve the freedom of the city in my books.
After meeting my wife there, and supporting the competitors we knew, I cruised home down the freeway. The wind had died down, and the river looked spectacular.
After spending a week in China, I couldn’t help thinking how lucky I was to live in Perth and ride a bike.

ride report by mark

i didn’t think i was up to a ride this morning, having had a somewhat less than ideal few days in the run up to sunday.

i started feeling sick on thursday, and spent friday, in bed with a fever. things got worse from there on, as kids got sick and surprised us with technicolour yawns all night.

on saturday i was well enough to try my hand at being a lumberjack after hiring a chainsaw. i don’t know why having a chainsaw in your hand brings out some kind of weird streak in guys; sort of like a cross between jack nicholson in the shining, and big arnold in conan the barbarian. anyway, my back yard is much neater, and my pavement looks like a 1950’s south west timber mill.

i didn’t set the alarm on saturday night, hoping that i could lie in and maybe take a short ride around the river on my own. as luck would have it i awoke at exactly the time my alarm would have gone off, and that was it. i knew i had to ride.

i got to the start 5 minutes late, to find a group of about 10 chatting away – a couple of newer faces again, which is always encouraging.  dr paul announced that he was in for a shorter route today, to which i replied that i had similar intentions. without the likes of brendan, ryan, and peter, the rest were like dominoes, and that was the decision made. all it took was the words helena valley, zigzag & coffee” and we’d all just become “blouses” in the blink of an eye. but here’s the thing – we had a legitimate excuse  that came to us when we were sipping lattes in paris brest. there was racing on at technology park in bently, and the short route would allow us to have coffee, ride back, and watch the racing. all of a sudden we were no longer blouses, but rather loyal club supporters, who, with careful planning and a strong commitment to their fellow cyclists, were able to squeeze in a reasonable training ride plus go and support their mates. how organised is that!!!

so we ambled out to the zigzag taking turns in front in pairs, as good responsible riders do, and regrouped at the bottom of the zigzag. we all felt bad saying that the next regroup would be at the coffee shop, but not bad enough to change our minds.

in fairness to ourselves, we pushed a fair pace up the hill, until about 2/3 of the way up when hunter went to the front and let rip. shao and julian went with him, and i tried, but gave up after a short while. i think paul (d.i.d.) was close by most of the way up. hunter saw another group waiting at the top of the zigzag proper, and stopped with them. when i rode on past, he realised the error and took off again, easily passing me. i chased them all the way from there, but never got closer, so the order at the top was: hunter, shao, julien, mark, paul

coffee was great (is it ever not?) and it felt a bit strange being there so early. i am (only a little) embarrassed to say that we’d clocked a total of thirtysomething km by the time we got there (slightly more for those of us who have a bit of a ride in). it was still almost chilly when we left kalamunda, for a brisk ride back. the residual energy in the group was evidence by the fact that we never had to wait for anyone at the school at the bottom of welshpool. dr greg took honours at the bottom of the hill this time, after a tactical break over lesmurdie hill.

paul, dir greg and myself missed the turnoff at berwick to go and watch the racing in bently. what a great venue , for both riders and spectators; the best i’ve seen in perth so far. sloping grass banks overlooking the finish, complete with shade, and easy access for all. (note to self: do the bently crit next year, but make sure you enter an appropriate grade; c sounds good)

we met james who’d just finished the c-grade race, where he had the misfortune to crash on the finish line (not before taking out 7^th place) right in front of his wife. i have to envy the sympathy he received for this. in the past, when returning home bloodied and battered, i have been crapped on for taking unnecessary chances, damaging expensive clothes, bleeding on the patio, etc, etc. 

the b-graders had just started when we arrived, and we saw chris and judd (sounds like a footballer?) hurtling around with the pack. then someone put the hammer down, and we saw judd hurtling around, while we consoled chris on the sidelines.

judd did lots of work up front and was unlucky to get swamped on the last lap and miss out on the sprint.

it was great to see that more spr comrades had shown up to support the riders – jonathan, lenny, stu g and michael b, who tells me his ticker is well on its way back to race form. brendon was our single hope in the a-grade; and he was only treating the ride as a training run for next week at pemberton. he looked comfortable all the way, rode a very sensible race, and even went with a couple of the breaks (just to show he could). he ended up comfortably in the pack, and in top form for next week.

i left just after the girls started, and it was amazing to see so many familiar faces riding; lorraine, bec, lisa, renae, nicole, anna, josie, other bec etc. josie looked like she had things under control when i last looked.

quote of the day goes to chris, at the start of the girls race: “i hope the girls last longer than i did” . there were several clever retorts, but none that can be repeated here.

well done to those who raced, and good luck to the brave ones heading to pemberton next week. cya.

ride report by mark

the river looked glassy as i rode in from home along the bikepath up the freeway, and i had a good feeling about todays ride. we started off with 21 riders on what was the most perfect morning i’ve had so far this year.

there was a good mix of new and familiar riders, young and more experienced (i’m starting to prefer that to “old”) and included two girls. with pete and a few of the big guns away, things looked a bit more open on the points chase. stu must have been happy when he saw that.

john b and i lead the way out, and after a little confusion up front, we headed off via douglas street towards albany highway. the traffic lights all seemed to be changing at the right time; more indications of a good ride ahead. i couldn’t help comparing it to last week, when we had a howling headwind along the same road, which made things very different.

all the way thru gosnells, past brookton highway, (some of the group took a short cut up brookton hwy) to the somewhat imposing climb of carrawatha rd. it’s short but it sure as hell ain’t sweet.

i took it easy as a salvo of eager guns roared past me as the hill kicked. i knew if i chased here i could spoil the rest of my morning, and with great weather and some hill points up for grabs (not something i’m usually interested in) i wasn’t about to do that. i watched my heart rate and kept it below 180 for the climb, and ended up at the top with moderately aching legs, but still content to carry on with one of my least favourite hills; carradine.

the positions at the top of carawatha were: 1 stu, 2 jerry, 3 jeff.

dr carl had to turn back at the top to attend to his overseas guest at home. the rest of us had a careful descent, knowing that the t-junction kinda sneaks up on you, and then turned left for the long steady climb up to the next t junction at canns rd. this time i tried; i really tried to stay with the front runners, but no luck. stu took off as usual, with jeff  and dr jerry on his wheel. i sat with them for about 500m, and then decided the heart rate was not good for me. dr mark came past me quickly, and i sat with him for a while, and even took a turn in front, but he was more determined, and i watched him go after the others in the last 500m. that gave him 3^rd place. jerry did well to pass jeff and take second place, with dr mark 4^th, me in 5^th. Stu took first.

a couple of the new lads looked tired at the regroups, but they were keen to press on, and so we did. we stuck together well enough to all remember the right turn at churchman brook road, and had a leisurely decent past the dams, safely around “scott’s corner” and on to the next regroup stop at brookton hwy. at this stage the weather was still pleasantly cool, although the humidity was unusually high for a clear blue-sky day. as we started to climb pete rd, i knew that i had to stay with the front boys to have any chance of points. after the steep bit of pete rd, it flattens out a lot, and if one has a bit of a break, two or three riders are hard to catch for a lone chaser. jerry made the mistake, and i hung onto stu and jeff for dear life, that is until stu got bored and went ahead to play on his own after the roundabout on raeburn rd. i sat on jeffs wheel till i thought i could outsprint him, which i did, to take second. jeff was third, followed by shao, and i think dr mark or jerry was next. john b told me over coffee that he chased like hell there, and overtook, thinking he was going for a point, only to find he had chased for 6^th. bummer, i’ve done that a couple of times.

we regrouped again at the servo, where some stocked up with various performance enhancing fizzy drinks and lollies. still the weather felt fresh, and there was hardly a breeze to speak of, as we coasted through pickering brooke. stu decided that he didn’t need any more points, so he went off to do the observatory; and he took two other suckers for punishment with him. we were suitably impressed.

we cruised round to the start of the last climb, with everyone pretty much together as we rounded the corner at the bottom of mundaring weir rd. my speedo wasn’t working by that stage, which was a good thing, as i didn’t really want to know my heart rate. the wind was slightly into us, which meant no record breaking speed, but still just as much effort. it’s fair to say that jeff did all the work up the hill – not even most of it. so jerry and i did feel a tiny bit bad when we dropped him at the last kick after the false flat. but only a tiny bit, and it didn’t diminish the joy we felt at getting first and second. i stayed with jerry on his first kick, and wasn’t sure how much it took out of him. i was disappointed to find out that the answer was “not enough” – he timed his second kick perfectly just before the last right hand bend, and had nothing to answer with. he took it by 50m or more. jeff got third, with bill and dr mark taking 4^th and 5^th.

the coffee was good, and it was great to see 15 of us there, including some first timers, herman & shun. on the home run, it was good to see everyone riding single file again along the canning rd, and i think the motorists appreciate it. jerry got a break as we crossed onto welshpool, and stayed away on the descent. john b and i caught him at the bottom and kept a good pace to the lights, where john took the sprint. as we approached albany hwy, anna let rip with a break, and no-one was quite sure what to do. then lisa jumped, and the two of them were away. the levels of testosterone in the pack went ballistic; gears ground and chains hopped as everyone tried to save face for the male species. it was close but i think we just made it. anna went again at the approach to macdonalds, but jerry was ready for it and eased past for the last spoils.

i came home the long way, along the river all the way. south perth, freeway bike path, and mt pleasant esplanade; and on a day like today, even though it was pretty warm by then, i realised why perth is such a fantastic place to live if you’re a cyclist. a total of 118 km for me for the day, which was just what the doctor ordered.