All posts by peter

saturday 10th oct – risely and cott

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ride report by peter.

 

4:25am.  alarm goes off.  not the one if have set on the alarm clock but the one attached to the vocal chords of the 10 month old who is coming down with a cold.  even though he is at the other end of the house, it still manages to wake me just as well as the real alarm clock.  a bottle and a cuddle and he is back to the land of nod, while i am now wide awake and listening to the rain on the roof. 

hang on, it wasn’t supposed to rain till later on in the day.  i am sure that is what the weather girl had said.  late showers, it said.  that should mean a nice dry morning ride.  so me worrying about riding in the rain meant that i didn’t actually get back to sleep this morning, but the early rise did not equate to getting to the start on time.

so i turn up at the allotted time and see that the group is not as big as previous weeks due to the slight shower.  however, we have 4 for the novice ride, which is usually the first to drop in numbers when it rains.  maybe they are stepping up and becoming more hardcore.  so to those that sat this one out today, the novice ladies are more euro hardcore than you.

the route would take us down canning hwy to risely the split with the main group heading along leach while the fast group took south st.  very few issues for the first section with only a slight split caused by the lights, but the relatively smaller group meant that we stuck together fairly well.  i dropped back to make sure some of our new riders were going ok and to let them know what was about to happen with the split.

at the end of risely i would say that it was a 2/3 vs 1/3 split with the majority going to the fast group.  the main group turned right and headed towards freo while the rest of us took a left and then onto murdoch.  the group generally does this section at quite an easy pace.  i am guessing the even though we have split and have the green light to go hard, the impending rolling hills of south street put everyone on edge and all seem to be waiting to see what happens when we hit them.  also, as there is a light change we have to wait for at the end of murdoch drive, any attack now could be for nought. 

so we turn onto south street and the pace immediately steps up.  probably under coaches orders, lisa attacks off the front and hold a gap for a while.  even from the back i could see all the head turning as riders looked at each other to see who was going to chase.  it is always a dilemma.  do you expend the energy now and risk getting dropped before the hills really start or do you chase down that attack.  then there is also the added drama of being shown up by a girl.  that usually spurs the guys into action and they start to do harder turns at the front to drag her back to the group.

after that the road headed downwards into the first of the undulations.  i was sitting at the back not intending to do any work but thought i better move up a bit just in case some gaps appeared when the climb did.  by the end of the first hill, there was a couple of splits appearing and groups started to huddle together for comfort.  i was pretty happy to be at the pointy end of proceedings but was generally just hanging onto the coattails of the faster riders. 

i was dropped slightly on the end of a couple of the climbs but managed to get back on with the help of a couple of other riders.  luckily i was still with the pack when we got to freo and headed past the jail.  the pace dropped significantly and julian and chris sat on the front all the way to port beach road.  a couple of the groups managed to get back on through freo so we had a decent size once we headed towards cottesloe. 

i knew that i should have kept my big mouth shut, but i told the guys to start rolling through once we hit port beach rd.  a couple of turns through and i was off the back.  way off the back and watching the train disappear off into the distance.  looking up i could see joe on the front pushing hard and with the slight cross wind, i knew that i would not get back on.  i debated heading straight and skipping cott altogether but i thought that i could maybe pick up a few stragglers and we could work together. 

onto marine parade and big john caught up to me so we worked together a bit.  we caught daniel and a couple of others and kept it going pas the beachfront.  just before the round-about we got onto the back of julian, brother julian and lorraine.  the road was a little damp here but nothing that i thought was too bad that would cause us to slow too dramatically.  there may have been a bit of oil on the inside of the roundabout because next thing we know julian is on the deck and we are all taking evasive action to avoid the bitumen.  after a string of bad luck this year, lorraine did well to hop over the edge of the sprawling bike to make sure she was not on the deck too.

julian picked himself off the road and we made sure that he was ok.  a bit of claret coming from his knee, a rip in his knicks and a graze on his elbow was all the visible damage.  the bike didn’t do too bad.  the levers were moved and the chain was off.  the rear derailleur had some scratches but looked straight and seemed to change gear ok.  everything (bike and rider) seemed to be in working order so the five of us slowly made our way home. 

it was pretty uneventful after that and i needed to head straight home due to some early morning appointments so missed the coffee shop banter.  anyone who wants to fill us in on the rest of their ride (including the main group) can add their side of the story to the comments.  hope everything is ok with julian (but i may finally get some points tomorrow).

sunday 4th oct – cyclosportif pinjarra

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race participation event report by peter.

 

the last cyclo-sportif of the year and after our good showing at the state team time trials, there were a lot of people wanting to put in a couple of good teams.  just like the team time trial, this would start at pinjarra.  unlike the team time trial, this one had a very big hill in it.

the course was one that we had done a few times before and has featured every year since the inception of cyclo-sportif events.  the only flat section is the first (and last) 10kms but there is always a headwind as it is so open.  after that you tackle 10kms of climbing to take you up to dwellingup before it rolls along del park rd where you turn around and head home.  there are a number of climbs both out and back along del park road, so even after you turn around, there are a number of climbs before the long decent.

we had two teams organised thanks to some running around by ryan, lisa and myself.  both were doing the long distance but there was a clear “a” team and “b” team. 

that “a” team had the following riders – ryan, brendan, steve, michael, judd, joseph, julian and david.  (hopefully ryan will get a race report out soon…)

the “b” team had – myself, davina, lisa, mark, alistar, shane, brett, dan and julian (the brothers making their spr racing debut).

we made good time down to pinjarra thanks to the shmick new freeway and by the time i got there, the spr tent was already set up.  a quick move away from the septic outflow and pretty soon we had it surrounded by almost all the teams cars.  it made for a great meeting point made things like sharing pumps and tools a lot easier.

seeing we had some first time racers in our group, the topic of race nutrition & hydration was discussed pre-race.  next thing we see is julian heading off in the car to get some powerade while dan minded the parking spot.  it was interesting to see who ate what over this sort of distance.  there were 56 teams doing the long distance and they were off at 30 sec intervals and we had the unfortunate “honour” of acting as a rabbit for the “a” team as we were starting only 1min ahead of them.  a short warmup and soon we were on the start line.  the game plan was set out.  form a single line and do 30 sec turns at the front.  if you were struggling do shorter turns.  once we hit the hills we had to stay together.  this meant yelling at each other to slow and pushing struggling riders if necessary.

the team that was meant to start 30 sec in front did not show up so we had 1 min to make up on our closest team.  we were off.  davina made sure that we didn’t smash it too much in the first few kms by getting everyone to do shorter turns at a slower pace until we had warmed up.  this was great as i usually rode with the “a” team and had my ring hanging out from the start. 

lisa driving the train
lisa driving the train

there was a definite head wind on the way out and we were hoping it didn’t swing around so that we had it on our backs for the return journey.  the road turned left and right a bit so we had to echelon across the road to get the best draft.  the long single file made this a bit hard in places, but we managed to slip through the first 9kms unscathed.  along the way some teams obviously hadn’t read the cyclo charter and tried to hang onto the back as our group came past to get an arm chair ride.  not really cool as this is a timed team event, but we soon dropped them as some of their crew couldn’t hold the pace.

at the 9 ½ km mark the “a” team swept past.  not too bad.  we were still passing teams and were travelling along at a comfortable pace so i wasn’t worried about them. 

they were still in sight when we started the climb and stayed not a large distance ahead for the first half at least.  it was interesting to see how the other teams tackled the climb.  some just totally disintegrated as a group as people did the climbs at their own pace.  we were past by a couple of guys from one team, but looked back to see that the rest of their team were still struggling a long way back.  we were determined to stick together to get the advantage once the road flattened out a bit. 

we crossed two sets of train tracks on the climb and one is just after a 12% section of the hill.  it makes for a tricky decent on the return but no time to worry about that now.

we reached dwellingup with everyone intact and turned left onto del park rd.  the road still climbed upward, but soon we were heading down.  these were the climbs we were going to tackle on the way home, but they felt good now.  mark had been doing some long strong turns on the way out and i asked him how he was feeling.  i was worried that he might burn himself out but he said that he had an easy week and had energy to burn.

the road was constantly up and down but we were picking up lots of teams along the way.  davina was making sure everyone was eating and drinking and alistar commented that he had never eaten so much on a ride before but it felt great. 

we had just came down a very long climb that was the king of the mountain point for the pinjarra classic when we noticed that brett’s rear tyre was going down.  we quickly pulled over to the side and actually got off the road as there were lots of teams following behind.  this gave a couple of us an opportunity to get some more food down while mark, dan and brett seemed to be all trying to change the tyre themselves.  many hands make light work or too many cooks spoil the broth.  the tyre was difficult to get off but soon a new tube was in.  one gas bottle later another tube was then put in.  some initial air from a pump to make sure it was ok before smacking another gas bottle into it.  ok.  we were off again.

a lot of the teams we had passed were now up the road and we started clawing them back.  the constant undulations and twisty roads meant that cars were having difficulty passing riders and seen we were stuck behind a car that couldn’t pass a few struggling riders.  we were bunched up behind it and couldn’t get around either.  this driver really didn’t want to put the foot down but eventually got enough clear air to get around.  it was getting busy as riders were now coming back on the return trip so it was difficult to pass, but we got stuck behind the same driver another two times before they eventually got free.  frustrating for them, but even more so for us as we were on the clock.

on the final climb up to the turn around, i noticed that dan had not done his seat bag up properly after the tyre change.  he stopped at the turn and fixed it while we slowed right down to wait for him.  we were soon off again and enjoying the descent when there was a pop and hiss in front of me and brett’s tyre was down for the count.  as per the “three strikes” rule he told us to leave him and he would get a ride back with the sag wagon.  i’m sure he can add his story to the comments as it took him a long time to get back.

mark was still doing big turns on the front and not seeming to be suffering for it.  the climbs put dan in difficulty and a bit of assistance was needed but the group stayed together well.  on the climb up to the king of the mountains, we got mixed up with a couple of groups that actually integrated with us for the climb.  strangely not their entire group, but just a few of them.  this meant that once we reached the top they all had to sit up and wait for the rest of their group to struggle along.

a few more rolling hills and pretty soon we were on the last climb before dwellingup.  unfortunately it is not just one long decent as it kicks up a couple of times which caused a few gaps.  people were keen to get home but the group still needed to stay together so had to slow to accommodate.

davina driving the train
davina driving the train

the start of the descent saw davina hit a hidden pothole (i.e repaired but sinking again) that dislodged her drink bottle.  i also hit the hole and thought of smashing carbon forks entered my head as it jolted my bike enough to ring the bell.  however, i then had to make sure i didn’t hit the drink bottle as it skidded across my path.  shane probably had a déjà vu moment as his bottle dislodged on the thursday group ride and jammed in between his spokes and frame causing the back wheel to lock up.  the subsequent skid ripped right through his tyre, tube and started eating into his rims.  not good.  luckily everyone made it through the incident today.

so we were screaming down the hill and as we came around the corner, there was a guy waving a flag (but not very well) so we started to slow.  as we exited the corner we realised that we had to slow real fast.  there was a very large steam train chugging across the road with a number of carriages containing a whole lot of people happily waving at us.  nice.  apparently we were the only team that got held up by the train today.

back into the fray and we continued down the remaining hill to find that the wind had continued from the south and we would actually get a tailwind home.  10 kms to go and it would soon be over. 

we formed into a line again but this time davina jumped on the front and stayed there for about 3 kms punching out around 48km/hr.  we all just held on for dear life but enjoyed the draft while we could.  as she peeled off, we all did short turns before mark and then davina both pulled out some big efforts.  this long/short process continued for a while before dan was really feeling the effects of fatigue and was struggling to hold a wheel.  with about 2 kms to go we formed up as two lines with mark and davina smashing along at the front so we could form the biggest draft window that we could to get the rest of us home.

we held together well and passed a number of teams that were just trying to make it home.  as we passed the 500m to go sign, lisa decided to go for the sprint but went a little too early.  we spat a couple out the back with that final effort, but that didn’t matter as i had the timing band on my leg and as i finished at the front, mine was the only time that mattered.

the “a” team were already at spr central and there was a litter of bike and bodies all around the tent.  some of the guys had a hard time on that team too but a great effort was made by all.  at the end of the day, only lisa and myself were the only two that stayed for lunch as brett was still making his way back with the marshals.  our nine raffle tickets yielded nothing so we then joined the mass exodus back to the freeway.

a great job by the team today and a good introduction to a few riders as to what racing is like.  awesome efforts by mark and davina to drag us around and a good finish to the cyclo-sportif season. 

the 8th november is the next proper race with the golden spokes event which is a flat circuit around champion lakes.  a good opportunity for those that want to get into the racing scene as there are no hills to make it too hard.

sunday 27th sept – greenmount, parkerville, mundaring weir

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ride report by peter.

 

it has been a long time since i have had to write up a sunday hills ride report.  massive credit to julian who has taken this job upon himself which takes an extra burden off me.  however, an early morning text told me that he would not be making it today, so i thought that i better take note of what went on during the ride.

i would say that we had in excess of 20 riders at the start this morning.  a few had other plans and the doctors went off to do their thing early.  we headed out great eastern and made it as far as the mcdonalds near the airport before josh (i think) had a flat.  a quick change in the carpark also meant that there was a chance for a toilet and drink stop.  i was hankering for an angus burger, but it was before 10:30.  we took a nice convoluted path through midvale/bellevue area to end up back on great eastern hwy and at the base of the climb.  unsure of how i would be climbing today, i was happy to follow any leads and see how the day progressed.

this climb starts off fairly lightly before hitting a more consistent grade which then continues pretty much to where we turn off at the entrance to john forrest national park (jfnp).  there was a decent group that set the pace and i held on for as long as i could.  there were no surges or anything, but i just didn’t really have the legs to go with them.  with about 10 riders in front of me there was no point in trying to catch up as i would blow all my reserves to bridge, then get spat out again.  i noticed a couple of riders had gone off the front of the group and this may have broken things up a bit. 

looking back i found myself pretty much halfway between the two main groups.  i decided to just to set my own pace and try to stay away from any chasers.  i didn’t make up much ground on the guys in front and bruce was starting to gain on me from behind.  i upped the effort slightly over the last couple of hundred metres to make sure he didn’t catch me.

the riders that broke away from the front group were mike b and matty u with mike taking off towards the end to drop matt.

the top five places for greenmount went to –

mike b, matt u, steve h, jerry g, anna k.

we waited for all the riders to make their way up before jerry and mel took off with brodie’s dad who came out with us today.  they needed a quicker day so were heading up gooseberry instead.  we continued on through the rough roads of jfnp towards our next climb.  this road is really crap and i can remember riding the old full aluminium cannondale along it and getting the crap shaken out of me.  davina went off the front to stretch her legs but came back into the fold after a few minutes.  john managed to set the pace well and full credit to him for just plugging away for the majority of that section of road.  we eventually made it to the foot of the oxley climb and started the next climb.

this is a fairly short climb, especially compared to greenmount but it has a section of close to 13% just to make sure that you are concentrating.  we had just passed that section and heading around the corner when i looked around to see who was there.  i realised that i was in the front group and suddenly felt good about climbing again.  it was hurting but sustainable so i though that i may be able to hang in for a while.  that is just the moment that mr bonner attacked with such ferocity that it forced an expletive from my lips.  i had nothing and just watched matty and steve jump on mikes wheel and disappear up the road.  medium alistar and jules were still in front of me and stepped up the pace a bit, but not enough to catch the front three.  credit to jules as he is climbing quite well.  maybe an indication that he should pack that footy thing in and concentrate on riding.

that was pretty much the way it finished too.

oxley – mike b, matty u, big-ring hedley, jules j and medium alistar.

a quick regroup and we headed to parkerville shop for a quick break.  at first there were only a couple of riders heading in but soon half the group followed and grabbed some refreshments.  the road to stoneville is really nice. smooth road and very little traffic.  so much better than how we used to negotiate part of great eastern hwy again.  however the bit from stoneville to mundaring is a bit tighter and with a bit more traffic.  we needed to go single file and even then the traffic was reluctant to come past.  we came out of it unscathed and had a quick regroup in mundaring to endure the group was all together.

our next regroup point was going to be a long way away and there was a nice decent plus a number of steps in the climb before we actually finished.

the group took off quite fast and revelled in the smooth downhill section.  there is a small kick up before the remainder of the decent towards the weir and i attacked as the group slowed to start the climb.  i almost made it to the top, but just ran out of puff before the crest.  this allowed medium alistar to come up alongside and we worked together for a bit.  the gap wasn’t enough and and soon we were joined by the majority of the group all bombing down the hill.  as we weaved our way around the roundabout and twisty roads to the base of the weir, matty and steve moved to the front to try to get a jump on bonner before the climb started.  it is a long climb with a number of smaller climbs after the main drag out of the weir.  in between there are a few flat or slightly downhill sections to give you a break, but also can allow the leaders to get further away. 

the first section is pretty steep and really takes a lot out of you.  there were a number of riders up the road in front of me and new that i couldn’t catch them on the climb.  i set my own pace and picked up a few riders on the way.  by the time i reached the top, i had kind of resigned myself to not catching those up the road.  there was a group coming up behind me and i jumped on behind davina, lisa and a couple of others.  they seemed willing to chase so i joined in to help out.  we managed to pick up a few others on the way and soon we had a decent size group.  i asked some of the others how many more riders were up the road and was surprised when i heard that it was only 2.  bonner and matty.  looking around there was still quite a few points up for grabs and i wondered how well i could go when it came down to the last climb.  as we approached it, shao said that he would give me a leadout for the final climb.  before it started, i noticed that the group was not actually working too well and they were leaving one guy on the front for a long time.  this usually meant that everyone was getting tired and didn’t want to work anymore.

shao took off just after the hill started and i jumped on his wheel.  he put in a great effort and we managed gap the rest of them quite quickly.  i looked back a couple of times, but we had committed now so had to give it my all.  shao eventually slowed so i came around and continued to keep the pressure on.  i left it in the big ring and tried to push for as long as i could to keep away.  i was constantly looking over my shoulder but it seemed that no-one wanted to chase.  my heart rate was close to 190bpm for the rest of the climb but i could see matty in the distance so tried to keep the effort up.  looked back enough to know that i would not be caught so backed off enough so the i would not blow up.  the next two positions were not contested as the group just crossed the line in dribs and drabs.

asher rd – mike b, matty u, pete m, track brett, steve h.

the final climb of the day was almost upon us and there was just a nice decent to negotiate first.  i was leading the group out when davina and young ben came flying past.  i stepped up to join them but ben sat up after a while.  d and i worked together to take up most of the decent, but i ran out of legs about halfway and had to sit up as well.  the group came down in little packs and a few riders got in front of me before the start of the final climb. 

not thinking that i had the legs for a surge and attack, i decided to do one big se effort and left it in the 53×14 for a seated climb.  it was a slow climb but the main group didn’t actually get that far away from me.  in hindsight i probably could have picked up some points, but when i saw mike and matty take off from the start, i thought that i how the climb would go.

mundaring – mike b, matty u, anna k, track brett, ben w.

coffee was a bit slow, but the merchant had no room for us today.  the nice weather has it’s downside as more people want to come out and do brunch.  there was only a few that stayed for coffee and even less that ordered it.  even so, it certainly delayed things for us and the guys had to scull so we could get away in time.

the ride home was interesting.  the decent down welshpool was held up by the wind making for a slow top speed.  davina and john bombed to the bottom and were miles ahead by the time the rest of us reached the traffic lights.  we had not seen the jacobs brothers at the top so pulled into the school to make sure that they got down alright.  it took about three light changes at the hwy before they finally rolled up.  each had a different excuse. one said that the other had seen his gay boyfriend in kalmunda while the other said that the first had trouble on the decent and had to hold his hand as they came down at 40km/h.  ah brothers. 

along welshpool rd it became obvious who still had some legs and a bunch of us just couldn’t go with the group as the pace increased slightly.  we caught up again at the lights of maccas, but only because they waited.  as we turned onto berwick st, davina and lisa took off with john and josh.  john turned off home bu the rest of us really had no legs to chase them down.  we caught them a the next set of lights, but lost them straight away.  it seemed that the girls were making a serious effort to put the rest of us well and truly in the hurt box.  it was working.  the rest of us made it into the carpark after quite a few minutes of rest time at the traffic lights.

so, a great ride today and even though only a handful made it to the end, it was a good solid hit out.  next week will see a few of us heading back to pinjarra for the next cyclo-sportif but there still should be a hills ride on regardless.

saturday 26th sept – hale rd

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ride report by peter.

 

with a sunny but cold morning predicted i was expecting a decent turn out for the ride this morning and was not disappointed.  there would have been between 50 – 60 riders which meant that we took up quite a lot of road length once we got going.

with the help of yas, michael and chris i managed to get my bike back on the road, but dr paul thinks that maybe i cannot be trusted with a baum any more.

we headed off in the direction of shepperton rd and snaked our way along to welshpool rd.  a very uneventful start but you could feel the wind increasing as we got closer to the escarpment.  i was hanging off the back of the group with mike just before we turned onto hale rd and helped a couple of struggling riders.  this was a big diversion from my game plan which was to sit in and do no work so i had something to get over ridgehill.  once we turned onto hale the crosswind made it very difficult to find any shelter and we were a fair way back from the pack.  mike waved me on indicating that he would take over shepherd duties and i tried to make my way back to the group. 

i was not sure what instructions had been shouted, but the group was approaching tonkin hwy which is where it would split.  some others had splintered off the back and i caught them before coming around to try to get them back to the group.  the crosswinds made that difficult and a few were dropped off.  i made it across to the back of the group just as the lights changed with alistar slipping in behind me. 

it looked like the split didn’t happen and the usual suspects were not driving the pace.  i spied a few of them sitting pretty in the main pack and conserving energy for the hill and long run home.  i was sitting in the last ten or so riders when a car split the pack at a round-about.  this made us chase for probably half (if not more) of hale rd further depleting my limited energy supplies.  between russell, shao and myself we managed to keep the pace up and just reached the group as the lights changed to cross kalamunda rd.  the main group turned left and apparently regrouped to allow those caught up in he crosswind catch back up.  the fast group headed towards ridgehill.

i knew that i should move forward before the hill or i would spend the rest of the ride chasing, but just didn’t have the legs for the effort.  the pack surged and swamped slower riders and i did manage to move up a bit, but could see a pack of about 10 strong crest the hill quite a way in front.  by the time i reached helena valley rd there was young ben, snuggles, dr mark and myself.  a group of about 4 were a bit further up the road and the main ten were further again (but in sight).  we worked together and caught the next group as well as some stragglers that fell from the front group.  with a bit of vocal motivation (read: yelling) we managed to get the group working well together doing 15 sec turns before peeling off.  the usual method of riding till you die (or being left at the front till you die) isn’t really sustainable.

by the time we reached guilford, the group was still just in front of us.  i was hoping for the lights to slow them, but unfortunately they caught us and let them get away.  by the time we stopped at bassendean the group behind had caught up giving us more numbers to spread the load.  unfortunately this didn’t happen and the roll through was less than effective.  people were either hurting or unwilling to keep the roll through happening so it would die after only 5 or 6 riders came past. 

some more motivational yelling and we got it working a bit better through the rolling hills of bayswater and into mt lawley.  we managed to get every single light which was the most frustrating bit.  probably a bit too frustrating for a couple of riders that ran the red near mercy hospital.  it was very red and most of us in front had stopped so no excuse.  maybe a 1 week suspension from the tribunal would be on the cards…

the group rolled on towards east perth but there was no way that we would reach the front group.  there was a sprint for the minor placings but i had run out of legs by then.  service was a bit slow with such a big group and i had to scull my hot chocolate to make it home before i got into trouble.  all up though a good ride and i do enjoy the chase home especially with a tailwind.

what not to do…

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a reminder by peter.

distractions. 

there are many things that distract you while you are driving.  phones, gps, cd changing and kids just to name a few.  with ben in the back of the car demanding chips, we both forgot that my pride and joy was still attached to the roof when we drove into the garage.  the noise and the sight of my bike bouncing off the back window of the wagon will not be one i forget in a hurry.

yas has had a look tonight and he is sure that the frame is all ok.  his recommendation is to replace the bars, stem and seatpost (as well as the forks obviously) just to make sure.  my recommendation is to not have your bike on the roof of the car.

state team time trial

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the results from the state team time trial are up.  the spr women’s team managed to get a bronze medal in the event so a great job by them.  the two men’s open teams were very evenly matched with only 2 second separating them.  the masters teams rounded out a great showing by spr today.

it was a great sight to see all the spr jerseys around the sunshade today and i think it made a great impression on the rest of the competitors.  especially when we could continue to spin on the trainers under the tent while it was bucketing down and most others were hiding in their cars.  so congratulations to all that competed today and also to chris, melvyn and lorraine that made the effort to come down for support.

 

Sloan Wood Scanlan 1:10:19     3rd Womens
Lumbewe Hughes-d’Aeth Carreno Hedley 1:05:13     5th Mens
Otley Nichol Ghossein Fynn 1:05:15     6th Mens
Ramsden Mah Gee Owen 1:04:57     4th Masters
Gorman Wlasenko McLennan Johnson 1:06:03     5th Masters
Buchanan Phillips Barrett Harvey 1:09:51     7th Masters

saturday 19th sept – spring breakfast

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ride and breakfast report by peter.

 

spring breakfast was on today and as is always the case, rain was predicted.  i think that the easiest way to break any drought is to schedule a club breakfast every weekend as there has only been 1 out of 6 that was relatively dry.  a different venue was on the agenda with mark opening up his house in booragoon with the opportunity for us to christen his new patio.  as such a different course was planned to finish up at the new address.

the normal round the river ride was on the agenda and would take in dalkeith and mosman park before hitting attadale and applecross.  from there we would cut across to risely ave and up past garden city to marks house.

there were 40 rsvp’s to the breakfast so i knew that we would get a decent turn out and wasn’t disappointed.  there would have been over 50 riders at the start with some a little wetter than others after being caught in the last minute downpour.  the idea was to be a very sedate pace today with a couple of fast points to test the legs.  the novice group were also set on their course and i gave them a little laminated map to help find their way to the breakfast location.

as we wound our way along mounts bay road, a couple of other groups past us by as we were taking things that easy.  some of the guys really had to curb their enthusiasm as cyclist in general really don’t like to be past.  nice and steady pace though, and there were only a couple of stragglers coming up from crawley but we managed a shortcut.

out onto stirling hwy and there was a little confusion in which road to take to cut back in towards mosman park.  the group started to take the 2nd road when it is the 3rd one we need.  a little evasive action bought those boys back on the right road.

we made it down the normally fast, speed-humped road in damp conditions to eventually be greeted by the mosman park hill.  lisa had in her training program to do some intervals and had already gone off the front earlier along mounts bay but went again on the hill.  with the time trial the next day, i was not going to be stressing the legs any more than i needed to so i slowly meandered my way up to the top.  there was a regroup point at the water tower at the top of the hill and we found the group waiting patiently. 

once we made our way through freo and onto preston point road, the group started to break up a bit.  as it is familiar territory for most of the group, the pace seems to step up slightly so there were a few people struggling at the back.  by the time we hit burke drive there must have been at least three groups spread along the road.  i ended up doing a bit too much work to try to get the back-markers up to the next group but eventually caught them when we found them waiting at canning hwy.

the last stretch through applecross allowed a few people to turn off as they were not going to stay for the breakfast.  the rest of the group headed up risely to marks house.

lorriane, kate and joan (mark’s wife) had done a great job and everything was all good to go once the group arrived.  the novice group had found their way in and by the time i got in there, it was in full swing.  the patio was well sheltered and had the added bonus of not having to worry about dropping brownie crumbs on the floor (they are every sort of evil).  hot food was continually brought out and i am sure that everyone had their fill.

we dug up some prizes and besides the couple of pbk gifts there was also stuff donated by cycling wa, carboshotz, yas’ bikeclinic and some stuff from brendan’s trip to the grafton-inverall race.  with the kids helping draw, read and distribute the prizes we managed to give all the stuff away, so congratulations to you but there was so much stuff i forget who got what.

a big thanks to mark and joan for providing the house and a big thanks to lorriane for providing the wonderful food.

so another breakfast done and dusted and the next one will be the christmas breakfast close to…well, christmas.  for those that came along for their first breakfast, i hope you got something out of it and at the least a welcome to our group.  for everyone else, thank you for making the group what it is.

saturday 12th sept – scarborough beach road

ride report by peter.

 

the weather has turned nasty again with lots of rain and lots of wind during the week.  it was forecast to be similar this morning and there was lots of rain overnight.  fortunately it eased off to give us a relatively dry start to the morning.  the wind, however, didn’t seem to ease off and looked to be a factor today.

it was going to be a new look at an old route as we headed to scarborough beach road.  we headed through the centre of town for a change, as it took off about 6kms from the original route that went around kings park.  we managed to get a number of traffic lights, but as we were only on cruise mode, it was just a minor irritation.  the lights and the small climb up to kings park spread the field a significant amount but we managed to be all back together to turn onto thomas. 

a pretty uneventful trip up loftus and onto scarborough beach road with james and ben setting the pace.  the westerly winds were gusting between 30 and 40 km/hr and we were heading straight into them. at least we would get a good push home.

just before the rolling hills started, we split the pack with the fast group turning onto ewen st while the main group continued along.  i discovered the ewen st hill when i had to go to lisa’s house for a committee meeting.  even though it was a while ago, i have been trying to get it onto the saturday ride and today would be the chance. 

we started the hill and their were no attacks as a don’t think anyone knew what to expect.  i came around and hit the front but didn’t last very long before i was at my max.  the hill pitches up a final time towards the end and everyone started coming around me once we hit that.  people were starting to stretch their legs, but there was a full on race to the top between davina and jarrad where neither looked like they would yield.  i was just on damage control mode and limped over the top.

we came down the other side and onto west coast hwy.  we didn’t stay that long on it before we turned up the boulevard.  the hill was made significantly easier with the strong wind on our backs and soon we had turned back onto oceanic.  this little detour was to add kms to the fast route as well as add a couple more climbs.  it would also give the main group a chance to get ahead of us.

back onto west coast hwy and the pace really started to pick up.  we were soon running single file as a combination of the pace, the traffic and the wind made things more difficult.

we picked off a couple of main group riders that had been dropped earlier and soon we were heading through swanborne.  we had lost a few from our group and they were chasing to get back on.  as we approached the lights at stirling, we found the main group waiting for a lights change.  when they did, they hardly stayed green and their group became split with us further behind a bit of traffic.  this allowed quite a number of our group a chance to catch up while the main group waited over the road for the rest of their riders at the lights. 

at the change, we came past the main group and suddenly the hammer was down.  i had to work hard to bridge across as i was held up coming around the main group, but finally made it before the group got too far away.  i was content to sit in now as the group sped through dalkeith and over the rolling hills. 

the pace didn’t seem to diminish and i found myself  slightly off the back again with paul o.  we finally made it back just as the lights changed to get onto mounts bay road.  no rest for the weary and we quickly jumped on the back of the group.  from then it was just a matter of hanging on to the end and i was too far back to see who picked up the sprint.

coffee was quite quick this morning and i actually got the chance to have one after a number of saturday morning appointments.  jerry was at the coffee shop after skipping the ride to keep his legs fresh for tomorrows atta time trial.  his first attempt and a chance to air the new bike.  however, he is starting just 1min in front of the guy that usually wins the events.  calculations have it that he will be caught by the first lap.  good luck jerry.

the spring breakfast is next saturday and the state team time trial championships are on the sunday.  looks like we will have a good turn out for both.  don’t forget to rsvp to lisa so we know how many to cater for the breakfast.

state team time trial – 20th sept

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the state team time trial champs are coming up soon.  we got a silver medal for the masters in this event last year and would like to see if we can medal again. 

i think we have enough people to get a women’s team, an elite team and 2 masters teams.  details are below, but add your name to the comments, which division you want to go in and we will put you in a team.  it will be pretty much like a cyclo-sportif event as you all have to ride together and you can only drop one team member.  this will be a good opportunity to show off our team colours and just race with the people you want to ride with.

also, this is the last event in which points are accumulated towards the team championship series in which spr is currently leading the support team category.

 

State Team Time Trial Championships
20th September 2009
Pinjarra
  • Men’s: 4 rider teams with the 3rd rider to count
  • Women’s: 3 rider team with the 2nd rider to count
  • Juniors: 2 rider teams with the 2nd rider to count

Nominations

  • Mens Team of 4 – $140.00
  • Womens Team of 3 – $105.00
  • Junior Teams of 2 – $40.00
view Flyer – Nominate – view Map
Nominations close Tuesday 15th September 2009 10.30pm AEST

Cycling WA Licence Mandatory for all Team Members.

 

saturday 29th aug – risely and cott

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ride report by peter

 

back from the dead but riding like a corpse.

 

a brisk 3 degrees this morning, but being a dry day, we had a decent turn out.  i was back on the bike after fighting off another chest infection and probably my 7th cold of the year.  i knew that i would suffer today, but was determined to stick it out with the fast group as long as possible.  the route would head into booragoon before splitting with the fast taking south and the main group taking leach.  both groups would head past cott before heading home via dalkeith. 

it started out well and we headed down canning and up risely.  the small hill played havoc with a couple of riders and i dropped back to help out.  as i was not at 100% this became a big struggle for me to catch back up.  ryan dropped back and drafted me back to the group, but even that hurt like hell.  we reached the end of risely just as the groups split and turned left to follow the fast group.  we reached the group at the lights and had a moment to catch our breath.  when the lights changed, ryan dropped his chain and i waited for him to fix it.  we only just made it through before they turned red.  we were chasing again.

i couldn’t hold ryan’s wheel but managed to jump on with mike b to make the group.  unfortunately, when we hit the slight rise, i was off the back again.  luckily the lights let me catch back up.

now i knew that south street was going to hurt.

as soon as the small rolling hills appeared i was off the back.  couldn’t even hold a wheel and didn’t have the power to catch back up.  pretty soon the group was off into the distance.  after a couple of hills mark, melvyn and myself formed up and worked together.  we were a long way off by the time we hit freo so decided to skip cott and headed straight up stirling.  the hills along there were a struggle and we were sure that the group was too far ahead.  we decided to continue along stirling, but got caught at the lights a christ church grammar.  as we sat there, the fast group came through the lights and into dalkeith.  we changed lanes and headed after them.

still too far behind, we took waratah and only just got ahead of the group.  so we finally made it back to the group before it revved up on mounts bay road.  i was just happy to be there and had nothing when the group all went for the sprint.

so a really hard day for me and i had to head straight home, so no time to relax with a coffee and company.  hopefully i can hold on a bit longer next week.