welcome to the last daylight savings sunday hills ride. on my way to the carpark i missed a call from ryan. it seems that he and jerry were both having trouble getting to the start today because the freeway was closed for some damn bike ride. those inconsiderate bastards, taking up our roads. as we sat around for a while waiting for them to arrive, stu realised how cold it was and took off home to grab his vest. i knew that we had a couple of people waiting for us on the way and didn’t want to delay the start too much. jerry and ryan fronted up so we took off sans stu. he had the bike setup as a time trial bike, so i was sure that he could catch up.
we headed towards orong rd, which is not a usual route for us, as it would take us straight to the welshpool rd climb. there were about 20 riders all up with a couple of new faces. a young guy named sam was looking for a sunday ride so bella and sam (girl) had invited him along. he had a talent identification jersey on so it would be interesting to see how he went today.
we lucked out as we turned onto orong rd as a group of 4 guys managed to turn in front of us. they all had local team jerseys on and looked like they could be “a” graders so we caught up to them and let them draft us all the way along to the climb. on the way we picked up mark and sharon who were waiting on the flats before the climb started. stu had rang up to see where we were but had still not caught up to us yet. it looked like he would miss out on the fun.
the hill started and our 4 escorts were not in a fighting mood, so we had to go around. i am always wary of passing a rider who you don’t know as they could come and smash you later on the hill. these guys didn’t seem too worried though. as the memory fades from a long week at work, i cannot remember exactly who did what, but i got to the front at one stage to set the pace. i wanted to see how the young bloke went and the answer is – very well.
it all became too much for me and i fell off the pace allowing ryan, sam, mike and a couple of others to head up the road. i think that mat was in the group too, but eventually fell back from the pace. by the time we reached the lesmurdie rd intersection the three front guys had a decent gap on mat, lindsay and myself, who were chasing hard.
chasing mountain goats in mountain country is never going to work and i was sure that we weren’t going to catch them. i started to concentrate on the other 2 as we were still in the points and i wanted to maximise mine. another attack a bit later on was too much for mat and this left lindsay and i to fight it out for 4th and 5th. local knowledge goes a long way and i managed to jump at the right time to stay ahead of lindsay for the points.
ryan was too much for sam and mike and they finished in that order.
ryan – 10, sam – 7, mike -5, peter – 3, lindsay – 1.
i got to the top and found that i had a text message from sharon. she said not to wait for her as she would find her own way to coffee. not a chance. if she had enough energy to write a text, she was not trying hard enough. we waited to make sure she did the next hill.
i am running a week behind, so i will fast track the rest of this blog.
observatory climb i got blown out and sat up to make sure everyone got the turn right.
ryan – 10, sam – 7, stu – 5, mike – 3, lindsay – 1.
rolled back around and did the mundaring weir rd climb to kalamunda. it wasn’t the last climbs so i was looking for some pb’s on the hill climb times. it didn’t disappoint.
ryan – 10, stu – 7, sam – 5, lindsay – 3, peter – 1.
stu 7:29, ryan 7:31, sam 7:36, lindsay 7:51, peter 7:52, mike 7:58, jerry 8:12, mark 8:31, julian 8:34, dan 9:03, paul o 9:22.
down the zig zag and back up kalamunda rd. a few went straight to coffee and the girls went down kalamunda and back up again.
ryan – 10, sam – 7, stu – 5, mike – 3, peter – 1.
it’s been a busy week so sorry for the delay. not really used to this whole work thing after so long on holidays.
well a slightly busy evening as we needed to get the house ready for the onslaught of lycra that was to descend in the morning. moving tables and chairs, finding an esky, um…actually that was about it as lorriane was doing everything else. i went to move the cars out of the garage and found sharon waiting on the drive way. pretty soon jerry and melvyn also rocked up so that they would not have to ride all the way home after a belly full of brownies.
officially the sun was not going to rise till 7:20am but what is known as “civil twilight” meant that it would be light at 6:56am. lots of time to spare before the start of the ride. being a breakfast ride, the course was going to be a bit shorter than normal. however, since we had close to 70 riders on the line, we decided to split the group and try to make it more manageable. we would all head down canning hwy towards freo before the fast group would swing off to attadale while the main group would continue on to stock rd. after stock they would head back along south st and up banister. eventually jump onto albany hwy before heading to my place via manning rd. the fast group would take burke drive before heading up the stock rd hill behind the pt walter golf course. we would then chase the main group down and then add extra kms once they turned off onto banister. i envisaged that we would catch the main group on the early parts of south st and would need to split again at banister.
we got away to a fairly standard start with the group split a few times at the lights. the pace was pretty sedate and everyone was just chatting away and cruising along. once we hit north lake rd, the fast group needed to get into the right lane to do a turn while the main group was headed straight. as the two groups were intermingled amongst each other, this got pretty messy and traffic would have been confused (pissed off) that the bike were now taking up both lanes. we eventually got it sorted and headed off on our respective ways.
a slight easing of the pace allowed the pack back together as the fast group headed along burke drive. it is amazing the number of other riders that use that stretch of road as we must have passed 6-7 groups heading the other way. we rolled through till stock road and tackled the hill. as usual, it split the group up lots, but by the time we reached the top, the pace slowed significantly and allowed everyone back on before we crossed canning hwy.
we tried to roll through again, but lights, hills and traffic made it hard to find a consistent pace although it was anything but sedate. we soon reached south st and i was surprised that we had not even caught a glimpse of the main group. i thought that we may have seen them cresting the first hill on south street, but they were not to be seen. either, they had to stop on canning for an incident, or whoever was running that group was doing an excellent job. i was hoping for the latter.
we continued to roll through and the traffic was now not an issue as the road was three lanes wide. the hills made life difficult for some and the roll through continued with just the front half of the pack. as we continued along south st i was beginning to worry that something had happened to the main group. we eventually caught sight of a couple of lonesome riders that had fallen off the back so we knew we were on the right track.
as the day was progressing, i made the decision not to take the fast group along the second split point and rather, if caught them, just do banister rd with the main group instead. at the multiple lights around roe hwy, we finally caught up to the main group. i shouted some instructions so that the fast group can safely get passed the main group and heard a “no worries” from beside me. i look across to the small truck that was in the next lane and there is this big grin from the guy in the passenger seat. i tell him he can drive in front of us as he would make a good draft. “then slam on the brakes” he exclaims. a bit nasty, but it was all a bit of fun.
we took off at the lights and like a well oiled machine, the main group merged into a single file on the left, while the fast group became the single file on the right. as right overtook left, the roll through upped the pace to allow the fast group to start to break away. unfortunately the lights allowed everyone to merge back together and this fact may have made it hard for some of the riders at the back.
the usual suspects forced the pace along the rest of banister and the combination of roll throughs and attacks kept the pace high. a final push by ryan and a few others blew things apart once nicholson rd was in sight, but the group was still quite substantial by then. i jumped to the front and rode with michael for a bit to set a slow even pace. i then pulled over to the side to make sure that we had everyone. there were a few struggling groups, but people like mike and nev were leading them back to the main group as quick as they could. once we hit albany hwy, there were only a handful off the back and we caught up at the next light change.
i made my way to the front to find that dan and jules had taken off and lisa had chased them down. they were somewhere up the road and the comment was made that we hoped they knew where to turn. too bad so sad if they didn’t want to play with the group. there was a split at the lights again and i waited for that group so they knew where to turn. the lights at leech allowed a complete regroup and we gently cruised along manning road. at some stage we saw a couple of bikes milling around an intersection looking quite lost. it was out trio of escapees and i am guessing that they were not sure whether they should have turned or not.
i allowed one more sprint once we turned past curtain uni and half the group took advantage of it. some others, like myself, were content to sit in and take the last few k’s into home easy.
yes, my garage always looks like this
there was a lot of milling around at the front of the house as some people were not staying for the breakfast and were having a quick chat. a couple had arrived early but lorraine, mel, jody and kate pretty much had everything under control. ben was there to greet everyone with his spr t-shirt on and pretty soon the garage was full of bikes and the house was full of lycra. the girls had outdone themselves again and there was plenty of food and coffee/hot choc for all.
the raffle was drawn by ben who kept the crowd entertained with his smashing of one of the chocolate prizes. he also kept everyone on their toes by announcing the winning raffle ticket number – “nummer for” um no ben, that’s number 21. i feel sorry for the person that had ticket number 4 as he announced it for more than half the draws.
we signed up a couple more members for the club and jody will let us know when the online facility is available. the bike weigh in presented some interesting results and i saw my bike slip further down the leaderboard as more weighed in at the low 7kg mark. brendan topped the day with his bh weighing in at 6.72kg with tubulars on. this toppled mike t’s uci legal 6.80kg with his tubular zipps but neither came close to darren’s uber light bike.
all up a very successful breakfast. our next social event will be the family day to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of forming spr. there are a couple of races in between that i hope we can get a good turn out to and show off our spr colours. especially as we are now an official club.
this saturday will be the fourth spr breakfast since we formed last may. it’s the third one at my place, which will be a disappointment to some, after having the last one at jerry’s in city beach. the ride will be fairly sedate but looking at the route, we may split and reform a few times just to let the fast boys stretch their legs. breakfast and coffee will be supplied by lorriane and will cost $10 which includes entry into the raffle. if you are fairly new to spr, don’t worry, this is a good opportunity to get to know the others in the group. afterwards there will be a bike weigh-in, but i don’t think that anyone will get close to darren’s bike as it just checked in at 5.78kg. a few home-made carbon fibre parts helped out there, but i will report on that later.
anyway, breakfast. be there.
sunday will see a few spr riders tackle the fun (insanity) that is the freeway bikehike. for those of you that have experienced it before and want a more relaxed ride, then we have a pleasant day in the hills planned. four climbs with a exit for an early coffee for some and the chance for a good hill time as it is not the last climb this time.
if you are after a licence or need to renew your old one, jody from cycling wa will be bringing the eftpos machine so that you can use your credit card to pay. i have all the forms that we need to fill out, and will just need $20 cash for your club fees.
the predicted top of 38 degrees seemed a long, long way off when i reached the carpark this morning. a dark overcast day blocked what little light we see before 7am but the temperature did not seem too bad. a decent field of about 20 odd people with nothing better to do turned up to endure some pain. with a couple of new faces, some old returning ones and also some prettier ones as we had four girls at the start line. some regulars like davina and lisa as well as bella and sam. bella used to ride with the group on saturday years ago. it was always funny to see a 15 yr old girl beating half the guys in the final sprint along mounts bay road.
the course today was a pretty basic one with a couple of climbs up to rollystone and then the observatory and the final push up to kalamunda. there were 4 climbs with points today and we would continue the timed climb up mundaring weir road to see how everyone was going.
as we left the carpark, ryan was still getting his bike out of the car. i told him where we were headed so he could catch up later. the ride out to albany hwy was easy enough and soon we came across a rider waiting on the side of the road. it was ryan. he had taken the “old school” way along berwick rd and out near diesel motors to make it onto albany hwy. he was quick enough to have to wait for us as we turned off manning rd. as we progressed along towards maddington, i noticed that mike was not in the group. i was sure i saw him there at the start, but i was on the front as we rolled out and never saw him again. i talked to ryan and we were worried that he had slowed down to help ryan, but was left waiting as ryan took a different route. he is a big boy so we were sure he would have worked it out for himself.
the trip to the base of the kahuna was pretty uneventful until we went to cross the tonkin hwy. as usual for the mornings, the wind was pouring off the escarpment and straight into our faces. i was sure it was going to push us backward as the group seemed to be at a standstill. we eventually got everyone across the road and started the climb.
i was pretty happy to just sit in and see what happens, but some other wanted to assert themselves today. one of our new guys, ian, took off but i was reluctant to chase as i didn’t know how well he climbed. jerry took off soon afterwards with a case of “new bike syndrome” and he steered his prince to the front. i knew i couldn’t let him get too far so jumped across to his wheel. we set a tempo pace and quite a few riders fell into line behind us. ryan eventually took off but no-one had the legs to go with so he scampered up the road. i went around jerry to set my own pace and sat their for a while before julian came around me. i was a bit taken aback. he has been improving lately but he is now climbing quite nicely and pretty soon i couldn’t hold his wheel.
in the midsection of the hill there was a bit of yo-yoing with alistar and lindsay before i put in a bit more of an effort to shake them. as the hill progressed, i made my way back onto julian’s wheel at about the koala park entrance. julian rode beside me and asked how far to go from here, quite a bit more i told him. it was probably close to about a kilometre, but it did flatten out a bit. i rode tempo for a while to recover and to see whether julian was hurting at all. we had lost sight of ryan by now as the small twists and turns around the top hide the finish line. i knew just how far to go so put in a few surges to drop julian for good. a bit of riding scared kept me away from him until the line. alistar and lindsay filled the remaining places, while davina out sprinted jerry for sixth place.
ryan – 10, peter – 7, julian – 5, alistar – 3, lindsay – 1.
there was a rebellion at the regroup point and a small bunch took off for an early coffee. amongst the group was jerry, who must have been upset that davina beat him and his mega-dollar pinarello princess. the rest of us continued towards rollystone.
a nice descent to start had the girls showing how to take a hill as bella and sam flew past me in pursuit of davina. i was more worried about the climb and waited until ryan came past on the uphill out of the dip before i made an effort. a bunch of us rode the first stretch up to peet rd together and to where the hill starts to really hurt. not far into it, ryan surged and found a easy gap. no-one had the legs to go with him, but the change in pace pretty much split the field apart. i ended up riding with lindsay for the majority of the hill, but still tried to shake him with a few changes of pace. realising that i couldn’t shake him, we continued to the top but saw that ryan was probably too far ahead to catch now. i looked back and saw julian and davina cresting the hill behind us and making ground fast. by the time we reached the final straight, there were four of us all vying for the remaining points. i was on the front and no-one was willing to come around. i knew how this worked, but i also knew the finish and just what was needed. however, davina has won a couple of races on this circuit, so i knew that i had to watch if she made a move as well. i stayed on the front, but didn’t do any real hard effort to push the pace. ryan was too far ahead to chase down and there was no-one behind that would catch us. i had my point on the road that i knew that i could sprint from, but it would all come down to whether the others made a move. i finally went and went hard enough that the others didn’t follow and were content to fight it our for third. it came down to a sprint between davina and lindsay, with the latter getting it by less than half a wheel.
ryan – 10, peter – 7, lindsay – 5, davina – 3, julian – 1.
we regrouped and chugged along to karragullen for some refreshments before continuing to pickering brook. a change in the standard route had us entering the observatory climb via repatriation rd. it really just added some variety to the ride and a small hill to negotiate as well.
the group bunched up well at the start of the climb with john and myself on the front. the tempo wasn’t too high and people were able to sit in for quite a while. we made sure that ryan was boxed in behind john on the kerb side so that he couldn’t attack too early. it was all fun and games until john started to fade and the group split apart a bit. this allowed ryan a bit of free space, so i thought that i would initiate the move and chucked it up a couple of gears. a big attack allowed me to get a big gap, but i was running out of steam and ryan was bridging across. i had to drop back to a tempo ride before i totally popped and everyone past me so eased off a bit. ryan came up to me and sat on my wheel content to leave it to the end. i looked back to see who was coming and a small group with julian, lindsay and davina were going to catch us. i just kept plugging away waiting till the next attack came. there were the five of us altogether on the false flat before the final pinch when ryan took off. i sprinted after him only to find myself in serious oxygen debt and fading fast. julian and lindsay came past to fight it out for second while davina also dropped me to claim fourth. in my case it was too much with too little in reserve.
ryan – 10, julian – 7, lindsay – 5, davina – 3, peter – 1.
the final climb of the day approached and i explained about the timed hill climb. where the start and finish were as well as what the current record was. as the time depended on when you crossed the start line, the mountain points placing were not a good indication of the timing. especially when half the group had to give way to a 4wd as we went to turn onto mundaring weir rd. ryan and i started the climb together and i was determined to get a better time than last week. i set a tempo that i thought i could hold for the entire climb and started to pick up those that managed to get in front of the car. ryan decided that even though it was a nice tempo, he could do a faster one and took off up the road. when i came past a small group, davina, alistar and julian jumped on behind me to get a tow for a while.
i continued at my pace and kept looking back to see if there was still a wheel behind me. for the majority of the bottom part of the climb the three of them sat in but pretty soon only davina was holding on. after that brick wall that signifies not too far to the flat section, i looked down to see no wheel at all behind me. i continued along but was cognisant of the fact that i was starting to run out of reserves. i hit the flattish section in the big ring, but by then alistar and davina had battled their way back to be with me. alistar set the pace but i soon took over as i still wanted a good time. we hit the last pinch and i tried to keep the pace high, but was soon forced into the small ring. knowing that i would be jumped before the line, i ploughed on ahead until they both sprinted for the speed sign and finish line. it was close, but davina managed to take alistar on the line by about half a wheel. i struggled on watching my time tick further past my pb until i crossed the line. julian brought it in for fifth.
ryan – 10, davina – 7, alistar – 5, peter – 3, julian – 1.
we turned up to coffee just as jerry and the “princess” group was leaving so we secured their table. i was feeling like crap after such a sustained effort but managed to down most of my chocolate croissant. it was good to see the girls riding so well with davina fighting for the points and lisa climbing so well lately. they both have the same coach, so he must be doing something right.
the ride home was quite uneventful with some fast descents on welshpool adding to the fun. a couple of breakaways on the sprint to the first maccas saw ryan and alistar take off with lisa having enough energy to try to chase them down as well.
the expected high temperature did not affect the ride as it didn’t peak till almost 5pm making our part of the day quite pleasant. with the freeway bikehike next weekend i expect that the sunday ride will be just as popular with those that have endured the chaos that is a few thousand weekend riders that all think they are a top pro sprinter.
after a day trip up to the pilbara yesterday which included 3hrs of flying and about 3hrs of driving and about 3hrs of meetings, i was keen to expend a bit of energy today. i managed to get out early enough to be the second one to arrive at the carpark and sat around in the dark waiting for the nominated hour. there was a chill in the air which belied the expected top of 33 today and a number of riders were wearing vests. the dark and the cold made it seem more like winter than just leaving summer.
i didn’t think the numbers were too large today but decided to still split the group anyway. it has been a bit of a mess when we don’t so i think we may have seen the end of the one big group. maybe next week for the breakfast, we might stick together and take it easy. especially since it will be raining.
the common course took us out canning hwy down to risely and up past garden city shopping centre. we made our way to south street and the group was generally taking it easy and getting a good conversation in. a bit of a lane change mix up had us dodging a few cars near where we normally hang a left into banister, but all up not a bad start to the day. as we approached the intersection of ranford and nicholson, people began to move into their respective groups. this would be our split point and the main group would go left up past livingston marketplace shopping centre (home of livingston specsavers – for all your optical needs drop in and see sharon (i will invoice you for the advertising later sharon)), while the fast group would go straight. hopefully someone will enlighten us to the adventures of the main group for that was the last we saw of them for the day.
as soon as we headed through the lights i knew we were in trouble. there wasn’t much wind when i was tucked in the back of the pack during the ride out there. now we seemed to be riding straight into it. i got the roll through happening and got to have a look at who was riding with us today. most of the usual suspects but some others that were giving it a crack today.
we turned up warton rd and immediately got hammered by the fierce cross-wind. we continued to roll through but i felt we were doing it the wrong way as the wind was on the fast side of the line. however, in a non-race situation, rolling the other way while trying to keep out of traffic can be hard as the group seems to migrate across the lane. thankfully for some of the riders, there were enough sets of lights to allow a regroup along the way. we continued on and the wind seemed relentless. after we passed albany hwy the distance started to take it’s toll and the group really splintered into little survival packs. i had only one or two riders around me and we were trying to bridge across to a pack of four containing judd, jerry, davina and james. the rest of us continued were just trying to keep them in sight, but big judd and his diesel engine just seemed to power through the wind. i really have no idea who was riding around me at this time as i was sending all my blood to the legs rather the head and was just trying to survive.
judd in full time trial mode
as we hit tonkin hwy the lights allowed us to catch the front group which had now shed james who was back training after his fall in renae’s race. as the lights turned green, everyone did a “ryan” and seemed to have trouble clipping in as they didn’t want to go to the front. this allowed judd to take off and gain a big gap. davina tried to chase him down but he is a big strong boy and was setting a nice pace. the rest of us caught up and jerry and myself came around to help out at the front. even though there were at least three of us doing turns at the front, we just couldn’t put a dent into the gap judd had over us.
the pain finally ended when we turned onto crystal brook rd and gained the full advantage of the tailwind. quite a few of the group had caught up back at the lights and we now had a fairly solid group to chase judd down. we were pushing 60km/hr along crystal brook and onto welshpool, but unfortunately for us, judd was going just as fast. he managed to get the lights as we crossed back over tonkin and that was the very last we saw of him.
with our bigger group we tried to start to roll through again, but it just didn’t seem to work. everyone wanted to go faster than the last person and this meant that the pace just went up and up until the group started to splinter. we also tried to single file and pull off the front when you were done, but this also proved fruitless and we just seemed to go back to a couple on the front and a little bit of roll through when we could.
the rail lights were flashing along welshpool and we slowed to get behind the traffic. suddenly a ute in the right hand lane put his indicator on as he wanted to turn left after the rail crossing. he just started to push his way into the line of bikes. jerry banged on his window and asked what he was doing. he pointed that he wanted to turn and so therefore that was excuse enough in his mind to try to cut us off. as the traffic got going again, a few choice words and some single finger waving from both parties had us happily on our way again.
we turned onto shepperton road and made our final approach into town. the rolling hills always provide a springboard for attacks but not today as the group pretty much stayed together. the main split came at the lights before the causeway as some of the group ducked into the bus lane to get ahead of the traffic while the rest stayed behind the traffic. as far as our group riding etiquette is concerned, we really shouldn’t run up the side of traffic at the lights when we have such a big group as the cars just have to try to get past us again. in this case, the risk was that if there was a bus coming the lights would not have let you go, but you would have cut the bus off. anyway, the lights changed and i was in the group behind and didn’t make it through the next set. we watched the front group head across the causeway and out of sight while we just made our own way to the coffeeshop.
not really sure what happened as when we got there, most of the main group had already gone. it was rally busy as there were triathletes everywhere for the national series tri that was in perth the next day. some of our group headed around to south perth for a brew and others endured the long wait for theirs.
a new route for today and one where both groups go exploring. we will split again, and you will notice that i have put both maps on the same page. this is so you can easily see the differences between the two routes and what potential shortcut’s may get you from the fast group back to the comfort of the main group. with about 8kms difference, but only 25kms to make it up, i doubt there will be a catch, but it is really more about allowing the fast group to stretch their legs. both groups need to take careful note of some of the roads that you will need to take as there are some changes from the norm.
sunday will take a nice tour around the hills in the predicted 37 deg sunshine. make sure you have lots of water and food, but the route passes by the karragullen servo, so at least bring money. as mentioned previously, we have started a hill climb page, so make sure you check out the start and finish lines on the page so you know where to time from. as you can draft off each other, form an alliance with another rider of similar ability and work together to get a good time. you very rarely race on your own, so this will be good race day experience and allows those that are not always in the mountain points an opportunity to see how they are going.
i managed what i thought was the impossible this morning and snuck out of the house without waking anyone up. this is especially lucky as the microwave (for breakfast) is loud and usually precedes number 1 son’s equally loud start to the day. i was out the door and into the dark before my luck ran out.
we had around twenty at the start today and a new face (to sunday) as matt whom i have raced against before thought he would give our group a go. the rest were fairly regular sunday riders with the exception of rachael who decided give the hills a crack today. we headed out and picked up bonner and nev along the way to bolster our numbers a bit.
the course today is one of the most brutal that we have in our repertoire not for the distance but mainly for the steepness of the climbs involved. there were 5 categorised climbs today but we would start with the f_ckenberg which runs up the back of mt nasura. not as brutal as the chookenberg, but certainly there to test the legs. it is steep enough to make it almost impossible to start again if you stop on the way up.
a fairly uneventful run along albany hwy with the only fun being to watch stu and brendan on two separate occasions have to time trial it back to the group after a nature break. once we hit brookton hwy a split formed with a few of the dr’s and a couple of others opting for a run up the brookton hill rather than the fun of the f_ckenberg. the wind had picked up as the day progressed and was in our faces as we approached the base of the climb. as it looms ahead of you, the bulk of the climb is hidden by the fact that the road turns left to skirt the hill and is hidden by the surrounding trees. quite a few in the group had not the pleasure of acquainting themselves with this climb and so we were talking it up as much as possible.
i, myself, am not a big fan as the steep climbs do not bode well with me. the f_ckenberg doesn’t give you much of a chance of finding a rhythm unless you have a compact cracnk and a granny gear. as the road turned left some of the boys started to flex their climbing muscles and took off up the hill. i was content to let them go, but was concerned when milram dan shot past me as well. his fitness has been getting steadily better, but i was unsure about his climbing. i set my own pace as best i could and managed to eventually haul him back in as the hill was a little too long for the effort he put in. i didn’t make any more ground on the leaders and came to the top about seventh or so, but happy that i could actually see the front bunch this time.
mike – 10, brendan – 7, matt – 5, judd – 3, lindsay – 1.
a regroup at the top and a chance to get the breathing patterns back to normal and we were on our way again. this next climb up canns was nowhere near as steep but went for a couple of k’s and had a few pinches involved. brendan and i led the way and the rest of the group formed up behind. no-one was keen to make a move so we set a more relaxed pace as we were working into the wind. brendan was still recovering from some oral surgery from earlier in the week and was not feeling 100% because of the antibiotics. he said that whenever he got his heart rate too high, he felt crook. bad for him, good for me.
not doing this climb too often, it is hard to remember exactly where it ended and therefore exactly where to attack. as a right hand kink in the road approach, i thought that it was not too far away now so was up out of the saddle and broke away from the group. i think everyone was waiting for brendan to chase me down and it allowed me to make a decent gap. i was constantly looking over my shoulder and saw mike swing off and around the group in response. i held out as long as i could, but mike was making ground and towing a substantial group behind him. i eased off so that i had some reserves for when they past me, but didn’t quite have enough to go with mike and judd. i managed to jump on with stu and matt, but they also eventually dropped me. as the finish line approached, i thought that i could bridge the gap and stood up to accelerate. unfortunately for me, they also stood up at the same time so there was no chance i would gain anything. i looked back and decided that the others wouldn’t catch me so rolled up to the line.
judd – 10, mike – 7, stu – 5, matt – 3, peter – 1.
the decent down soliders rd is always fun once you get past the tight sections and today threw up a further obstacle. as we approached the decent, i commented to bec that they must have resurfaced the road as there was a lot of loose gravel on the top and the evidence that they had widen the road had been covered up. this caused a few concerns to some riders, including myself as the surface did not inspire much confidence and i had to swing wide on a few corners just to make sure. the nice and smooth road returned soon afterwards and i managed to clock about 73km/h as the road twisted it’s way down the hillside. everyone managed to make it down ok and we regrouped before hitting peet rd.
once again the pace was not on. i was expecting a few surges from mike at the very least but they never came. it was tempo up the first steep section of peet rd before a left hander onto urch. at the turn we still had a decent size group to contest the prize. the slight downhill gave a reprieve to the legs but also allowed a few people to sneak ahead and mark flew past in the tug position. i wasn’t too worried about him (sorry mark) as i thought that i could catch him on the uphill, but then matt took off after him. i was a bit worried about him and had to get a bit closer to his wheel.
once the hill started again, matt put in a big effort and jumped in front of mark and up the hill. i jumped across to his wheel as he was still putting in the big effort and sat behind him for a while. when he finally sat down, i attacked him to see if he had anything left. not enough to sustain and i managed to put some distance in him. the grinding climbing technique of mike and stu slowly dragged me back as there was a substantial amount of hill remaining and i couldn’t hold position behind them for very long. once we crested the hill, there is a section of flatish rd before it intersects canning mills rd which is the finish point for the climb. a bit of confusion last time we did this route found mike pulling up too early and a few of us overtook him before the line. this time he was making sure and he kept the pace on to stay well ahead of stu. i looked back a few times to see matt gaining once the hill eased up, so i clicked up a few gears to stay ahead. lindsay was climbing well and managed to secure fifth place.
mike – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, matt – 3, lindsay – 1.
judd decided to call it a day and took the decent down the kahuna for an early home time. the rest of the group ambled along the back roads to pickering brook and continued to the base the easy side of the observatory. no-one had made the early turn to the coffee shop which was good to see and the group is certainly climbing well. i was hoping for an easy start to the hill and that the attacks would start till later. unfortunately, brendan was in the mood to shake things up a bit and went off the front from the first turn. mike and stu chased and left me no choice but to try to get across. we soon caught brendan who was still suffering from that earlier complaint, but could do little surges to make people think that he was going.
mike and stu left me behind a they increased their pace and i looked back to see matt and lindsay on my tail. thinking that i would be better off in no-man’s land, i put in a effort when we were halfway to the top and managed to shake them off. i just needed the maintain now to make sure i kept my points. as the road flattened, i looked back to see matt stuck to the wheel of dr mark and they were making ground. i accelerated as best i could to stay ahead and thought that i was actually making ground on stu up ahead. in reality i was getting closer because he had started the hill while i was still on the flat. as soon as the hill started for me, i did feel that close. matt was now powering up the hill to the finish and i had to continually look behind to make sure he didn’t make up too much ground.
mike – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, matt – 3, dr mark – 1.
one last climb today and we are starting a new leaderboard. this one is not to see who can afford to buy the lightest bike but is more a list of personal best times and will show how well people are improving. our last climb on a sunday ride is generally up mundaring weir rd to kalamunda. from the bottom there is a road called aldersyde which is where the time starts. you then climb up to the top where there is a 50 km/hr sign just before the roundabout and stop the clock. i will start a new page which will show the start and finish points as well as a list of peoples best times. hopefully we can use it as gauge of fitness and it allows people to see where they stand.
anyway, the climb started and matt shot up the road after some early breakaways. i commented to stu about it and he thought that we should be able to make up the ground. i had started my clock and was determined to put in a good time so i set myself a nice tempo and took off after matt. he had sat up once he caught the breakaway so i picked him up quickly and sped past. a couple of turns into the climb and i noticed the train of mike, stu and brendan baring down upon me. brendan offered me the wheel as they came past and i jumped onboard. about halfway up the first section, and well into the steeper bit that i hate, mike made a big move off the front. i chased onto mikes wheel and held on for as long as i could. i thought that i was going ok and may have had a chance at sticking to his wheel when all of a sudden brendan shot past with a “yee-hah”. mike accelerated just enough to dislodge me but not enough to stick with brendan. unfortunately, this was just one of the surges that brendan was capable of, but couldn’t sustain and was soon overtaken.
i jumped back on stu’s wheel and we soon picked up brendan. mike was a fair way ahead but i thought we could make up some ground once the road flattened out. brendan came around and offered to take us up to mike and we jumped on board and caught him before the road turned the corner. brendan went straight to the front and kept the pace up until he felt crook again and had to back it off. the three of us approached the final pinch and suddenly mike and stu were sprinting for the line. my legs were just happy to be there and had no sprint left in them but i managed to keep ahead of brendan. my time was 8:03, so if you managed to get a split, send them to me via email and i will post them. when the page is up it will explain the rules etc.
mike – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, brendan – 3, lindsay – 1.
the "long coffee stop" group
the coffee shop was busy, but we managed to all squeeze around a couple of tables (with a few parked on the stairs). the early off shoot that left us on brookton hwy was still sitting at the coffee shop by the time we arrived. service was very slow and they were still waiting. we eventually received our orders and were late to leave as it was well after 11 o’clock. the most eventful part of the return journey was right at the top of kalamunda where a guy (with family) in a big range rover, deliberately swerved to our side of the road (oncoming) for no apparent reason. when i stuck my hand up (yes all the fingers) to say wtf are you doing, he did the same back to me as if i was doing something wrong. see mr dickhead can drive anything. i actually think that he was on his way home from church as there is one on that road. so i hope a drop bear lands on his bonnet.
a quick dash from the barrack st jetty this morning as i needed to bring some documents along to the coffeeshop for our meeting after the ride. i felt like i needed lights and was glad to see that the latest polls had perth pretty much rejecting daylight savings. lets move on.
we were going to split today no matter what. i think we have given the fast group enough of a taste of what to expect that they tend to want to go hard every ride. it caused problems last week when the group’s overall pace increased. and this was with most of the fast guys away racing.
with an easterly wind predicted, a course was set for benara rd. the main group would do the usual route, and the fast group would head out a bit further and do an extra 8km before heading to benara rd. i doubted that the main group would be caught, but it always gives some extra incentive when chasing a rabbit.
i would say about 50 or so riders were out this morning and we headed off together along great eastern at a leisurely pace. chris had already “volunteered” to head the main group and once we hit the turn to ascot, the group split with about 30 in the main and 20 in the fast group.
we started rolling through when i got tired on the front, but we managed to get all the lights until we were well past the airport. this made the roll through a bit difficult, but it was more about staying out of the wind than smashing a hard pace. my aim for the day was to stay with the group until we got through some of the back roads and onto great eastern again. i was sure that people didn’t know which way to go, as this was a new route, and some would get lost.
as we left the traffic lights behind, the pace quickened with a more consistent roll through. by the time we hit guilford, some people were only just hanging onto the back and not rolling through at all. the crosswind meant that the guy in front offered little protection and it was sorting out the boys from the men (lorraine and lisa had stepped up today though). the group slowed to get onto west rd and past the golf course, but when the pace picked up we really started to shed some people. by the time we reached helena valley road, there was no chance some would be getting back on and i hoped that they had looked at the map (there was a shortcut at this point).
i was beginning to sit on the back as i just needed to conserve as much as i could to act as navigator for the group. we turned just before roe hwy and detoured through midland to get back onto great eastern, but now heading the other way. the tailwind made this a bit more pleasant but also upped the pace. no turns for me. we finally got onto west swan rd and headed towards benara rd.
however, this is where the crosswind really sunk the dagger into a number of riders. with heavier traffic (single file) and no where to hide from the wind, the group quickly broke up into a number of little echelons. i managed to leap-frog across a couple of them and tried to bring the others up the road with me, but some people were really struggling by now. we turned onto benara with ryan and the others about 100m ahead.
with a group of about 6 on my wheel, i started to time-trial across the gap and was pushing a nice pace. we could see the we were gaining, but my heart was also doing about 189bpm and was pretty much at it’s limit. i looked back to find that only lorraine had managed to hold the wheel. we got within about 20m but couldn’t hold the pace any longer. lorriane managed to get a springboard off my draft and bridged up to kimbo who had drifted off the back of the front pack. i sat up a bit trying to suck some oxygen in and was soon caught by a couple more riders. the next set of lights determined the make up of our group that would stick together for the rest of the journey. kimbo, lorraine, steve, lindsay, dr mark, john and myself all did what we could to keep the pace on but we knew that we weren’t going to catch the front guys. i must say that today’s ride was the longest time on benara rd. it felt like such a struggle and even though we had a tailwind, it seemed to go on forever.
the rest of the trip was uneventful as it was mainly trying to keep out of the wind. we met up with brett and dan who were coming the opposite way onto whatley cres after they managed to miss a turn and ended up at the base of ridgehill rd. myself and couple of others were caught at some lights in east perth so managed to come in after our group, but made it nevertheless.
i gathered my documents and we had out inaugural meeting of the south perth cycle club. all the points on the agenda were ratified and carried and so we are now formally a club. it hasn’t even been a full year since the start of spr and we have made so many big steps in such a short time. i get emails all the time from riders i have never met but have been reading the blog and are interested in coming out with us. i think if we continue on our current path, we should be in for a successful year.
after 2 weeks off the bike, and number 1 son giving me a cold in that time, i was always going to struggle on a group ride. we had flown home on monday and i managed to slip a few rides in during the week but they were nowhere near the pace that i used to ride at. a constant push was fine, but any surges tended to hurt and i didn’t have the capacity for them.
the other big change over the 2 weeks is how damn dark it is again. it is time for me to complain once again about how daylight savings sucks. i know how i am voting come referendum time. the street lights were on as i was riding to the start of a 7am ride.
anyway, as i approached the start point i did a quick head count and only saw about 35 riders. within this was a severe lack of girls (i.e. none) and with some of our regulars down south for the race at pemberton there didn’t seem any point in splitting the group. a few new faces on the ride today too and it is good to see more people wanting to come out riding with us.
so the route without the split would take us along good old south st and onto banister rd. the aim was to make it as easy as possible until we got to banister then give it some stick. i lead out with jack and i managed to get all the way to the hill before stock rd before i had to drop off the front. a quick scurry to the back to see who was struggling and we managed to get everyone onto stock rd. the last climb between leach and south managed to unhinge a few riders but most jumped back on once we were on south st.
as expected, the rolling hills along south played havoc with the back markers but mike and myself managed to pull a few of them back to the group. the occasional stop light certainly helped us as well. doug decided to join us along south after thinking that he missed us on canning hwy. we had a delayed start due to a flat tyre so he thought we had already passed by so rode up to south st and caught us coming the other way.
once we hit banister the pace was on from the start. the field lined-out almost straight away and i was content to just sit in and hold a wheel as best i could. a few of the barista boys were in attendance today and were mixing it up at the front along with the usual suspects from the rouleurs. it got a little messy towards the end as people were surging around the sides as traffic was in the other lane. we need to keep that in check and at least look before you stray too close to the centreline.
once we hit nicholson rd, the call went up to ease the pace back. jack and a couple of others were already up the road with ryan chasing them, and so we just let them go. maybe we should have split the group today, but we would have ended up with two small groups.
anyway, the pace varied a bit along nicholson but most people managed to get back on. gregor slinked to the back to look for his mate who he invited out for the first time, only to find that he was off the back on banister. the indecision of whether to wait for a mate, or hang with the group. once we told him some regulars were back there with him and should know the way home, he decided to ditch his mate for the protection of the peloton.
the pace seemed to steadily increase along albany hwy and the group started shedding riders early. we were supposed to wait for the shep rd intersection and this is another reason why we will probably split the group every saturday. the first set of lights and the group was halved as some managed to get through on the amber while the rest of us contemplated the chase. as usual the long delay at the lights meant that any chance we had of catching was going to be up to how many sets of lights they caught and we didn’t. it didn’t really play into our hands too well and our group was split again before we reached riverside drive. with only 4 of us left, there was no sprint, just survival to the end.
the highlight of the final sprint came from brett who decided to be sneaky and slip through the t-intersection lights at victoria st. unfortunately he was spotted by and unmarked police car who flashed his lights and pulled him over. after a very stern talking too, and a threat of a $400 fine plus 8 demerit points (double this weekend) he was let off with a warning. probably a good reminder about rolling through red lights for the group. it happens sometimes, but you know we will wait, so just do the right thing and stop. in brett’s case, all he had to do was head onto the bike path and he would have ended up at the coffee shop.
running a bit late today as i decided to drive to the coffee shop with the spare kits and then ride across to coode st. normally not a problem, as i was up early enough since son #1 came and woke us up at 5:30. however, i was then running around trying to get him organised (plus getting mum out of bed) before i could go. hence, by the time i arrived i was pretty much out of breath. also, so surprising was the size of the group today. i estimated that their would have been between 60 and 70 riders which meant that we were strung out a fair way. this also meant that we would get stuck and split at quite a few sets of lights.
we were splitting the group today after about 8 kms and then kind of running parallel to see who could get home first. the main group would run all the way down to the stirling bridge then back via leach hwy while the fast boys (or “coalition of the willing”) would swing wide through attadale, up over the pt walter golf course hill, then get onto south st. both groups would use the nicholson/albany route as the return leg. the last few times we split, we didn’t even come close to catching the main group. it would be interesting to see if it could be achieved today.
as expected the group split at the lights a number of times coming down canning hwy but it wasn’t too bad and we were basically together once we came past the applecross shops. i had requested that the fast group make their way to the back before we get to the turn, but this didn’t really work too well as some riders just started slowing down to achieve that move, so big gaps appeared as the main group riders behind could not actually get around. what this achieved was both groups splitting into sub-groups at the turn and playing catch-up for a while.
the main group soldiered on along canning while we reformed on burke drive for a speed session before the hill. there were many groups doing their river ride heading in the opposite direction and everyone was going fast. we rolled through a bit but the speed was not exceptional as i think people were saving it for the hill.
we made the left hander before the usual pt walter hill and headed up stock road. the hill has a sharp beginning and a couple of riders hit it hard to make it to the corner first. unfortunately this is only 1/8 of the hill climb and you look up the road to see how far to go and how much energy you now have left. the hill broke the group up quite a bit with the usual suspects going hard to force the pace. some of the early attackers were now heading backwards as their efforts took their toll. the pace slowed as we made our way across the top and it allowed the group to reform. one of the new guys dropped his chain at the roundabout and steve and myself waited for him with another guy. this meant that we then got separated from the group as they crossed back over canning hwy, but they waited for us to catch up.
the pace picked up a bit on stock rd and a few lost contact on the rolling hills. as we turned onto south st a look back showed that about 4 riders were struggling a few hundred metres back. steve and brendan dropped back a bit to help them out but i said that i would not be able to catch back up if i did that so jumped onto the back of the pack. luckily the lights at north lake rd allowed a general regrouping.
once the rolling hills subsided, the group got into a good roll through and we headed towards canning vale. a quick call out as we approached banister rd to let the group know to go straight instead. i think the bike go onto auto pilot along there as we usually turn up and use it as our fast section. i would say that we got the majority of the lights along south st and it made finding a rhythm hard as we were always starting from scratch again.
we turned onto nicholson rd at livingston shopping centre (home of livingston specsavers – see back of jersey) and headed towards albany hwy. the pace quickened as we now had a little breeze on our backs and we were sitting above 45km/h on average. the roll through was a little disjointed as some riders were starting to struggle and could not get over the wheel quickly enough. as we crossed over ???? hwy we approached the roundabout for high rd where the main group should have turned onto nicholson. we couldn’t see them but very soon, up ahead i saw a row of little helmets bobbing along in the distance. this may have spurred the guys on and we soon caught them just after we turned onto albany hwy.
unfortunately we don’t have any procedure in place for when this occurs so it got a bit confusing. some of the fast boys went around the main group and started leading the pace at the front. this then meant that the main group was now tapping along at a higher than usual pace and hence the fast group could not overtake. a few dodgy moves and the majority of the group got around and we headed for home.
the pace picked up across the rolling hills on shep rd and we continued to roll through. lorraine went off the front a bit when she came around and i yelled at her to “go”. she thought that i was saying “no” and though she was in trouble for getting in the way off the fast group. i had to explain later that i was urging her on to attack and try to get away from the group.
the run into riverside drive contained the usual workhorses and i had good position behind michael who was tucked in behind a nice train of brendan, steve and ryan. unfortunately we got the lights at plain st and i never recovered enough on take off to effectively hold the wheel when the pace stepped up. i just watched the group sprint on ahead. so sad.
i managed to distribute a few more of the kits this morning, but there is still some outstanding. i am heading over east for a couple of weeks, so if you don’t get it before tuesday, then you may have to wait a little while. the coffee shop was very full as the bikeforce ride had taken up quite a few seats. there was also a reserved table for a group of old ladies, but they didn’t last very long as we were too noisy. other coffee shop discussion points included the constitution and becoming a club, the spr ride etiquette guidelines that we will post on the blog and a look at the race calendar to see which races we want to target this year (looks like most of them).
as i said, i will be away for the next 2 weekends, but i will still post the ride routes on thursday night. however, it will be up to individuals in the group to step up and take control of how we run it to make sure it stays safe and in control.
