All posts by peter

sunday 11th jan – gooseberry & kalamunda & mundaring weir

ride report by peter.

 

the combination of hills and hot, hot weather seemed to be a deterrent today as the turn out was poor compared to recent times.  the normal core group was there, but none of the new additions of late had fronted and looking at the weather forecast, who could blame them.  a predicted top of 38 had been downgraded overnight to a top of 37, which i am sure would make all the difference.  especially when tackling the three main climbs around kalamunda. 

the course would see us all warm up on ridge hill rd before heading up gooseberry hill.  a cruise down the zig-zag and back up kalamunda rd before passing through kalamunda and back via bickley valley and mundaring weir rd.  as i said previously, that hardest part will be not pulling the pin early and stopping for coffee.

we rolled out into a fairly gusty easterly breeze that meant the front guys had a bit of work today.  the load was shared fairly well and we picked up melvyn along helena valley rd to get the numbers up to about 16.  the first climb of the day was a “bonus” climb and did not contain any points.  we were generally taking it easy but ridge hill rd was one where people will still try to race up no matter what.  i wanted to save my legs and opted for a quite chat at the back of the pack.  the regroup point at the base of the zig-zag marked the first opportunity for an easy day and only one rider decided to head up the zig-zag instead.  the rest of us sped down the newly laid hot-mix and onto the main climb.

gooseberry hill sucks.  there is no other way to describe it.  it sucks, but i am starting to learn it.  not enjoy it, but learn how the road pitches up and where it flattens and where it tries to deceive you.  basically, to know how to measure your effort when climbing and when to chase an attack.  however, the attacks went early today and dan took off like a rocket from the base of the climb.  jerry and i dodged traffic to get on his wheel and i was wondering how long he could hold that pace for.  i looked back and no-one else had made the junction but i could feel my legs starting to protest and knew there was quite a lot of even harder hill to go.  i fell back from the wheel and set my own tempo.  mike and stu came past in their typical “slowly but surely grind you down” pace.  if the hill is long, they will eventually beat you.  i counted up the road and i was still in the points…for now.  i looked back and saw the familiar colours of milram and dan j was climbing well today.  mark was with him and soon they both overtook me.  knowing the road certainly has it’s advantages and i was sure that dan hadn’t played on gooseberry much before.  as he is built like a footballer, not a climber, i thought that i will be able to make up ground once we turned the corner.  mark accelerated through the “flat” section of the climb but i didn’t want to go with him as i needed to conserve as much as possible today.

the climb has three main kinks in it to catch you out.  the first right hander is after the first part of the climb.  it flattens out quite a bit and you think that you are over the worst of the hill.  it even rolls down for a bit before heading up to the next corner.  this left hander starts the climb off again and it is on this stretch that i got back ahead of dan j and still had mark in sight.  there are some pitches on this stretch that really test the legs and you are hoping that it is over soon.  the road turns to the left one more time and you look up and realise that you cannot see the top because the road is so steep.  i set myself a tempo and managed to latch back onto marks wheel for the steepest section.  i remember my back wheel slipping a bit on the twigs and crap on the road as i was standing up with so much weight over the front wheel.  i finally saw my saviour in the shape of a road sign signifying that there was a round-about ahead.  i know there is only one round-about and it is at the top.  i mentioned before about learning the climb and knowing when to attack.  i could now see the top and measured my effort to shake off mark and “sprinted” off up the hill, securing that final spot.  dan who attacked at the start of the climb didn’t know the hill and paid for it at the top when mike, stu and jerry managed to chase him down.

mike – 10, stu – 7, jerry – 5, dan – 3, peter – 1.

 

dr mark was climbing well today and managed to get to the top at the front of the pack.  as i mentioned before, dan j was climbing very well for a footy player and someone fairly new to the whole “bike vs hill” thing.

at the top we traded one dr melvyn for a russell as mel went for an early coffee and russ had made his way up from darlington.  we started the always fun descent down the zig-zag.  it isn’t very steep and certainly gives a different perspective as opposed to the white knuckle ride down welshpool.  suddenly we were back where we started at the top of ridge hill rd. 

kalamunda rd was a full on head wind as we approached along the flats.  russell was on the front as we started the climb and everyone tucked in behind trying to shelter as much as possible.  as the pace slowed too much for some of the whippets, stu lead the charge around to the front with myself and about five others on his wheel.  sorry to have done it, but we left him out front for most of the climb as he set a nice tempo into the wind and up the steepest parts of the climb.  about halfway up i saw a bike coming down the hill at speed.  the guy was on a mountain bike and was probably doing 50 if not 60kph.  in front of him, attached to the cross bar, was a wee-ride kids seat and a kid no older than two strapped in.  now i have one of these and ben loves it when we go fast, but this kid looked like he was crapping himself.  i’m sure his wife would have killed him too if she found out.

stu continued to grind out the k’s with the train following behind when mike made the first move and it was a good one.  some expletives escaped my mouth as he went past fast and was suddenly up the road.  i had a decision to make, and i made it way too late, and went to follow mike.  no-one else came with me and i found myself in no-mans land and back to finding a tempo i could maintain.  dan and jerry had left stu by now and were making ground on me.  i realised that i was not going to catch mike so set a pace that left at least one more attack in the tank.  i was soon caught so i jumped on board and allowed them to set the pace to the top. 

we finally saw the roundabout near the servo and i thought that this would be a nice place to attack as i was sure i knew how far to the finish.  off i went and again managed to get halfway across to mike.  however, with the heart-rate managing to push into the 190’s i was pretty much on my limit.  i looked back to see dan and jerry slowly making ground.  i was at the top and circumnavigating the perimeter of stirk park, but they were gaining too quickly and came past with only a couple of hundred metres to go.  mike had sat up but had enough of a buffer to hang on for the win.

mike – 10, jerry – 7, dan – 5, peter – 3, stu – 1.

 

this would have to be the first time that we actually had a regroup point in kalamunda that didn’t involve the coffee shop.  we stopped at stirk park and worked out who was wearing the blouses and who was wearing the pants.  about half fluffed their puffy sleeved blouses and headed off to the coffee shop while the remaining eight hardcore cyclists took off along canning to the sanitarium factory.  we stayed together well all the way through bickley valley and to the base of mundaring weir road.  i was down the back a bit with mike while dan and stu were setting the pace at the front with john.  the hill started in earnest and mike decided to set his pace on the climb and i just held on as best i could.  we picked up stu and dan but left john behind and powered up the climb.  i didn’t last that much longer and soon had to drop the wheel as my legs were gone.  john soon picked me up and just as quickly dropped me again.  i was in severe damage control mode and even though i knew that i would suffer on the hills, i needed to put in the kms as i had been given permission to ride.  shao soon passed me but tried to encourage me along and offered his wheel.  too late as the legs had already departed for an extended holiday.  i was left to suffer my way up the hill with only the voices in my head for company.

mike – 10, stu – 7, dan – 5, john – 3, shao – 1.

 

the other blouses, i mean boys, were still at the coffee shop once we arrived and hung around while we ordered.  there was a slight delay on the coffee, but the shorter ride gave us an early mark and we were soon back on the road and heading home.  the nice tailwind was a payback from the earlier headwind and the homeward journey was a much more pleasant trip.  no sprints at the end of welshpool but we certainly noticed the temperature heating up and pointing towards that 37 top. 

dan j got away after the kent st lights and almost stayed away till the end, but was halted at the george st set.  the rest of the group was not delayed for so long and i tried to get the jump as we were still rolling when it changed.  not possessing the endurance of old, i only made it to the top of the hill before my heart tried to break through my ribcage.  i looked back to see that jerry was not far behind and gaining fast.  i sat up for the downhill and let things be.  dan tried to chase him down but didn’t quite have enough at the end.  however, it was close enough that jerry didn’t have time for his trademark victory salute.  juan antonio fletcha has this salute where he mimics an archer pulling a arrow from his quiver and drawing his bow.  this is a play on his name which means archer in spanish.  jerry, however, has a salute that is based more around his profession and involves a single finger and usually a latex glove.

saturday 10th january – hale rd (reverse)

3 Comments

ride report by peter.

 

well summer is here with a vengeance and the plus 30 days we have had all week don’t look like they will stop soon.  however, they do make for nice mornings just as long as you don’t stay out too late.  the pleasant conditions meant that we had about 50 riders turn up this morning.  for some reason the estrogen level was through the roof as we had an influx of girls coming out to play.  all good though as i know that lorraine is keen to get more girls involved in the racing scene, so getting them along on a group ride is always a good start. 

the plan today was to break into two groups to let the fast boys stretch their legs a bit.  we would be nice a sedate out great eastern, through ascot and along guilford before turning onto kalamunda road.  we would then travel down hawtin/hale rd to be deposited back out on welshpool rd.  the plan was then to split into two groups with the fast boys doing an extra 5km to hook around beckenham and back onto albany hwy near the shops at cannington.  the rest of the group would continue along welshpool and onto shepperton rd and into town.  the fast boys would try to catch the main group before the final sprint of the day.  that was the plan.

the initial part of the journey went exactly to plan.  the pace was very easy and it gave a good chance for people to catch up and have a chat.  riders at the front had a decent wind to contend with but nothing that would dampen the spirits too early.  brendan and steve did the majority of the work leading out and although they needed some navigational prompting occasionally, it was more than made up for by the long kilometres of hard slog.

the pace was so sedate for some riders that i was worried that it would be considered too slow.  as we turned onto hale rd i told the front guys to go at ¾ pace along that stretch.  unfortunately, i wasn’t vocal enough to let the rest of the group know and when the guys took off, the group instantly split and began chasing.  this caused it to splinter even more and pretty soon there were three distinct groups stragglers in no-mans land between.  i was off the back trying to help some struggling newby riders that i didn’t want to leave behind.  i corralled them all together with dr wally so that there was safety in numbers and took off to try to make it closer to the front.  i picked up a few riders on the way, but four weeks of inconsistent riding meant that i didn’t have the capacity to bridge a gap like that any more.  luckily the lights at tonkin hwy and another oversize load meant that the group was soon all together.

james was keen to stretch his legs and took off along welshpool rd with a couple of riders in tow.  i expected that they didn’t really know that we would be splitting soon and i was waiting to see how far they would get ahead.  luckily for him, a navigational dilemma meant that they slowed at the lights to get some direction on which way they were to go and the rest of us caught up.  the little “left-right” we normally do to head home via welshpool became the decision point for the group today.  i had already explained that the fast boys would be doing an extra 5kms but i don’t think people realised just what speed we would be doing that at.  i would say that half the group turned right to go straight home, and half turned left for the fast run. 

there was quite a bit of in decision as soon as we turned as most people didn’t really know what to expect.  mike came past and asked if we were just staying on this road, and headed to the front when i confirmed.  he set the pace high and this caused the group to start the chase.  after a short while we started to roll through and the pace was really on.  some of the group didn’t roll through but sat out the back, and this is fine, but what we wanted to try to replicate was a race pace situation and what it does to your body.  soon i was sweating like a pig and was really struggling to hold the pace even with a roll through.  we lost a couple of guys as the wind was not yet in our favour so the ability to hold on at pace while not getting a full draft, due to the crosswind, was not available to everyone.

the group split at an intersection, but came back together for us to turn onto albany highway.  i explained to everyone that if we get split at the lights from now on, we are not to wait and it is up to the group to try to stay as a solid unit.  it didn’t take long and the pace caused little gaps along the line.  as it had also started to line out to single file, the length of the group meant that a break at the lights was inevitable. 

i was running out of puff and i was soon in the back half that was caught at a set of lights around the leach hwy underpass.  we worked hard to try to bridge back on, but my heart wasn’t in it (well cardio really).  by the time we were on shepperton rd i was in the back half of the second group and got split at the lights again.  there was no way we were making up that much ground and i resigned myself to a cruise home.  not the other in the group and soon i was dropped by melvyn as he continued to push the group.  i sat up and rode the rest of the way with holly until we were caught by a few others on the narrows.

all up i think it was about 15kms of hard riding and with the lights and gaps, it turned into a hard interval sessions.  so it must be good for you.  as we have discussed before, we will not be splitting every week, but it at least allows the wide spread of abilities a chance to have a ride that they can enjoy.  whether it is a more relaxed pace or a sadomasochistic pace it at least gives individuals the option.

i had driven into the coffeeshop today to deliver some more christmas present hats to the group and there are still some more to go.  the family also turned up with ben sporting a spr t-shirt and daniel sleeping like a baby.  so a good turn out today and a good fast run back into town.  the main group also held together well so thanks to the guys that stepped up to keep that in order.

ride routes 10th & 11th jan

sorry, sorry, sorry.  i totally forgot what day it was and should have posted the ride routes last night.  i have extended my baby leave for another 3 weeks so i will probably forget again during this period.

anyway, saturday will see us try to get stuck behind slow moving heavy machinery again on hale rd.  we will split into two groups again once we hit welshpool rd with the fast group doing an extra 5kms team time trial to try to catch the rest of the group.  i will endeavour to bring the hats to the coffee shop this weekend, so if you have not collected, or if you want to buy some spares ($10 each) for the family, then see me after the ride.

sunday is predicted to be 38 degrees and as such we will keep the route close to home with lots of options for an early exit.  only three categorised climbs but the trick is being able to ride past the coffee shop twice and keep going.  i think the temperature will be the deciding factor.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 12 (hale rd reverse)

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 08 (gooseberry & kalamunda & bickley)

christophe’s alps tour 2009

as previously mentioned, christophe is taking another tour to france to ride a few of the “little” hills they have over there.  the highlight being the famed alpe d’huez plus a few others that you may have heard mentioned by phil liggett as you watched the tour de france.  attached is the flyer for the trip and it details dates, routes and costs.  for any further information, christophe’s contact details can be found on the attached document.

Alps Tour Flyer

sunday 4th jan – carradine & peet & observatory

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ride report by peter.

 

hark the herald angels sing i got permission to go on a sunday ride.  with number 2 not even 3 weeks old, i was on the bike with mum at home with the boys.  to paraphrase off some old poem – ‘ask not the reason why’.  just get on the bike and go go go.

so off to the start and there was already a group of familiar and non-familiar faces ready to go.  a lot of surprised looks when i turned up, especially after riding yesterday too, but i think mark was glad that he didn’t have to blog this week.  we were off to mt nasura and roleystone today with the return trip via the observatory.  being the first weekend of january, the slate was clean as far as mountain points was concerned and with five climbs scheduled today, there were maximum points available.

between 20 – 25 riders were out with us today and the gentle breeze made it interesting, but not unpleasant as we made our way down albany hwy.  we picked up a couple more along the way with mike and nev joining in enroute.  as we crossed brookton hwy, however, nev peeled off to do his own thing, while the rest of us climbed up towards carawatha. 

ronny was off the front early trying to get a break, but ryan was having none of it and must have been looking to recover the polka dot jersey that he has neglected for a couple of months.  i chased hard to get his wheel as i thought that i may be able to hold on if i get far enough ahead on the shallower part of the climb.  once the road really kicked up, ryan showed a clean pair of heels and i was left to see how much fitness i have lost.  ronny came past me and was pushing hard on the very heavy borrowed bike to stay ahead of the pack.  pretty soon ben, gregor and stu also picked me up and maybe even a couple of others.  by then it didn’t matter as we were all out of the points.

ryan – 10, ronny – 7, ben – 5, gregor – 3, stu – 1.

 

a quick regroup and we headed down the hill and onto the next climb of carradine.  nowhere near as steep but much longer and with a road surface that could only be described as crap, this is one of my favourite climbs.  i think that it is because the gradient allows most people a chance to stay on, so you have to do a bunch of attacks to get away or to break some people off.  a new rider (to me anyway) andrew, who is a friend of gregor, headed out to set the pace early.  the rest of the group lined up behind as we tackled the early slopes of the climb.  john came to the front as well and paced it with andrew, but no real attacks as yet.  once the road turned rough, it was more a matter of finding the right line, and people hunted for that elusive smooth patch.  i looked back and saw that the majority of the group was still together so i thought i should shake things up a bit.  a bit of an attack with ryan in tow and we had a gap on the field.  i stayed on the front for a while but ryan eventually came around as my resolve was beginning to fade. 

ben and stu bridged across and i had to let them go but attempted to keep them in sight for as long as possible.  dan then jumped across and sprinted to catch the other three.  i just marked time, pedaling a tempo that i knew that i could maintain till the end.  andrew and, i think, john caught up with me and i sat on the back for a while as the road flattened then pitched up again.  knowing the roads has an advantage and i could judge my final effort to the end.  on the second last kick, i came around the guys and put myself in no-mans land in fifth place which i managed to hold on to the end.

ryan – 10, ben – 7, dan – 5, stu – 3, peter – 1.

 

a regroup at the top and chance to drip sweat all over the road as the weather was certainly heating up.  as mentioned in previous posts, the waiting time has reduced significantly as the group has improved so much in the hills.  however, while we were stuffing around, lisa, lorraine and ronny decided to take off to get a head start on the rest of the group.  we slowly pulled out and were quite spread along the road as we headed along canns road.  now the trick to getting a headstart is to actually know where you are going.  by the time i reached the turn to soldiers rd, half the group had gone straight.  some of them were sitting up as they realised that they maybe should have turned.  i turned as did the others behind me and we laughed at the rest with poor navigational skills.  as the group got back together, i slowed down to see if we had missed anyone.  lisa, lorraine and ronny were notably absent and i wondered whether they had planned to go a different route and had taken off early because of it.  oh well, not going to head back to chase them down now, so we pressed on.  the descent along soldiers rd was as usual a pleasure and again, knowing the roads meant that i could take some of the corners a bit faster and over take half the field.  at the regroup it seems that judd had lost a bottle from his arse-cage behind the seat on one of the rougher corners.  another spr collectors bottle loose in the wide world.  while we were stopped, the phone rang and it was lorriane.  it seems that they realised that they had gone the wrong way when they almost ended up back at the base of the last climb.  giving a few directions, we said that we would meet them later at the coffee shop if not before.

the climb up peet rd was going to be a new experience for a couple of our latest additions so i tried to explain how easy it was going to be.  i don’t think they believed me.  judd and another dan took the early mark and headed down brookton hwy and off home, while the rest of us jumped across to peet rd.  a bit of traffic split the group and this gave ryan a bit of an advantage as the hill starts almost instantaneously.  in my current condition, i knew that there was no way i would be able to catch him on the climb let alone stay with him, so i set tempo and did the hill at my pace.  i just ground my way up the steeper sections and just tried to make sure i didn’t lose much ground to mike and dan who were up ahead.

as the road finally eased off a bit i kept the effort the same and managed to catch those two just before the downhill.  not wanting to lose my momentum, i went straight around and kept the effort going down towards the corner.  once the road pitched up again slightly, dan attacked and i had nothing to go with him.  mike came around and jumped on his wheel but i just had to watch them go.  up ahead, i could see ryan had a clear gap over ben and stu, but it looked like it would come down to a sprint for second.  i counted back to see that i was outside the points and realised that i had no legs to make up the ground that i had lost so resigned myself to just finishing.  a couple of guys came past on the final pinch up to roleystone highschool, but by then i didn’t care.  it seems that ben and mike got the better of their respective climbing buddies to take out the minor places.

ryan – 10, ben – 7, stu – 5, mike – 3, dan – 1.

 

we cruised along to the karagullen servo for a refill and to see if lorraine et al would be turning up.  after waiting a while and allowing time for refill, refuel and re re re, well taking a leak, we headed off to the observatory.  a nice pace was set and it allowed a reprieve as there were two climbs remaining.  we used to smash it along this stretch of road, but since there are no points set on the small climbs, everyone pretty much takes it easy.  i was suffering big time once we hit the rolling hills and dropped right back so that i was actually last to arrive. 

at the regroup simon turned off and headed straight for coffee.  the rest of us headed into pickering brook and to the base of the observatory climb.  i moved to the mid pack to make sure i didn’t get dropped straight away, but the effort of even doing that clean my legs of any real challenge.  the pace wasn’t even on and i couldn’t keep up.  i started to set tempo but had a look around and saw todd one of the new guys so i dropped back to have a chat with him.  it seems todd is a friend of tim (pronounced “tum”) who is a friend of alistar the ex-sandshoe riding young fella.  it’s good to see the “invite a friend” system works and whatever is being said about our group means that people are wanting to come and ride with us.  anyway, up ahead ryan had his own way again.

ryan – 10, stu – 7, ben – 5, andrew – 3, dan – 1.

 

final regroup and everyone was keen to hit the coffeeshop.  a quick descent allowed me to discover that my new chain and old cluster were not meshing too well at the high end of town.  a problem i will have to rectify before my next ride…whenever that will be.  straight up lawnbrook and straight away my legs didn’t want to play.  the big boys took off and i was left to ponder my own mortality.  not pondering for too long as the cramps in my left quad kind of took my mind to other matters.  i was already in the easiest gear and was seated, and was spinning as fast as i could (up that hill is pretty slow spinning).  next plan was to start using my right leg to pull up (use the hamstring instead) and then compensate by pulling up with my left on the other side of the spin.  this is kind of like the “pat your head and rub your stomach” thing.  it can be done, but you really need to concentrate.  anyway, it got me up the climb and onto the flatish section for the final run.  not last this time but not far off. 

ryan – 10, ben – 7, stu – 5, dan – 3, andrew – 1.

 

off to the coffee shop for a well deserved rest only to discover how late we were meant how busy it was.  by the time i got it all together, the line was out the door so i followed ronny’s example and went next door for an ice-cream.  simon was still there and the group had seen lorraine’s group go past as they were waiting at the end of the last climb.  tum’s group had peeled off after the last climb and mike had headed home.  a previous winner of the prestigious spr mountain jersey, mike was suffering from a bit of a heart condition today and had it “flutter” a few times at up to 236bpm.  he generally has to take it easy for a bit to calm it down.  however, it didn’t stop him from kicking my arse on peet road. 

coffee eventually came along with many a jug of water to account for the hot and getting hotter day.  service was slow as they were so busy so we were late leaving kalamunda.  this combined with a plus 100km ride with 5 climbs meant that i was going to be pretty close to the end of my leave pass by the time i got home.  the descent down lesmurdie rd was punctuated by that little climb about half way down that found me off the back of the group.  my legs had not ridden this far in over a month and i was really, really suffering.  it would be damage control all the way home.

i managed to catch up some of them at the welshpool rd intersection and then got into a nice enough tuck to overtake a few more bombing down the hill at plus 80kph.  however, the usual time trial along the flat was absent from my quiver and i just hung on as best i could.

a nice pace was set towards home and only ryan went for the sprint to the maccas at the end of welshpool, so i guess he is a winner then.  my leave pass expired with a phone call along berwick st and i peeled off to get home asap so missed the final sprint action.  my money was still on ryan though.

so the first hills ride for 2009 and ryan picked up all the major points.  lorraine’s crew managed to find judd’s drink bottle and retrieved it for him so it didn’t end up like john’s, ronny’s and bill’s squashed on the road somewhere.  i was glad to get out, but so disappointed in how much form i had lost.  i guess that is the sacrifice we make, but i hope to get out again soon.

saturday 3rd jan + other comments

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general report by peter

 

so what happened in 2008.

well, simon left us for another hive.  the blog started mainly to let everyone know where we would be riding.  we looked into getting a new kit.  we had a falling out with the bike shop.  we reformed into the rouleurs.  we have had three social breakfasts.  racing has become a big part of our group.  we generally get at least 40 riders to a saturday ride.  the ride has changed to cater for the spread of abilities and to nurture the developing riders.  the hill climbing ability of the sunday group has increased dramatically.  we started a mountain points system for the sunday ride.  lorraine stepped up in a big way helping to organise the breakfasts, get prizes for raffles, organise people for races, and generally did it without asking whether she should.

 

so where are we headed in 2009.

we are doing another run of cycle kit to account for more people joining our group.  we are seriously looking into becoming a cycle club.  we have people actually interested in traveling down to a bike race, on a long weekend, to represent spr.  not changing too much because it seems to be working.  promote the racing side to the current riders.

 

what are our goals for 2009.

to get more people interested in cycling.  to give people a well supported pathway to allow them to take that step from social weekend rider to bike racer.  to become a club and support our racers. 

 

questions for 2009.

do we need to change coffee shops?  should we split into two groups for our saturday ride?  does ryan have any fashion sense on the bike?  how will becoming a club change what we do now?  should we look at developing junior riders?  will james ever shave his legs?

 

comments welcome as it is your group too.

 

 

ride report by peter.

i’m going to have to bullet point the ride today due to time restrictions.

  • good turn out with about 40 riders.  some new faces (maybe just to me).  make sure you have a chat with any new guys so they feel welcome.
  • lorraine didn’t make it much past angelo st after some dodgy cluster maintenance.
  • nice cruisy pace out canning and up risely/murdoch.
  • south st smashfest was proudly presented by james and bec (fleet elite) for their efforts to up the pace to beyond my cardio capacity.
  • i realised that i had lost quite a bit of fitness over the last couple of weeks when i couldn’t catch up with the front guys on the rolling hills.
  • group back together for stock rd and marmion.
  • there was a hill so guys just had to go fast.
  • back together for freo.  there was even jokes at the lights about keeping the pace easy up to and thru cott.  i said that it was the plan, but do these guys ever really listen.
  • once we hit about 45km/h along port beach rd, chris and myself went to the front to slow it back down again.  ryan thought we were attacking so went off the front.
  • nice pace thru cott, only to find that there wasn’t much to look at.
  • home thru dalkieth and the pace stepped up as usual.
  • everyone made a move on the hill and i was in no position to see what was going on.  lack of oxygen has that affect on you.
  • regroup at the lights before mounts bay rd and bec asked if i was going to lead her out.  well since i wasn’t going to be sprinting, i thought why not.
  • the pace was on from the start when judd took off in true cancellara style.
  • it strung out straight away and i ended up about 5th from the back with bec on my wheel.  i had to move forward and that meant that i was in the wind the whole way.  i didn’t make to the front as when i got close the pace stepped up and i was pretty buggered.  i apologised to bec and told her she was on her own now.  off she sped as the group started it’s sprint.
  • up ahead, ryan couldn’t quite catch judd who held on till the end.

ride routes 3rd & 4th jan

happy new year.  lets do some riding.  make sure you have a spare tube as there is usually stacks of glass on the road after “bottle-smash eve” celebrations.

on saturday we will take on the rolling hills of south street at speed, but will regroup afterwards to allow a nice leisurely ride past the nice scenery of cottesloe.

sunday will head down south to mt nasura to start the new month of mountain points. 

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 09 (risley & south st)

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 10 (carradine & peet & observatory)

sunday mountain points classification

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well the year has drawn to a close but the monthly mountain classification points will still be ongoing in 2009.  since its inception in october, there has been three different winners with the december jersey being decided at the last sunday ride.  have a look at the points classification page to see the monthly winners.

saturday 17th december – shelley

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ride report by peter

(i’ll admit i spent way too long on this and it got a bit loose towards the end.  just as long as mr bonner doesn’t try to correct me and give me a mark towards my year 12.)

 

THE RIDER FROM SPR

 

there was movement at the jetty, for the word had passed around

that the colt from cannondale would be away,

gone south to see the season, he was not here for the sprint,

so all the bikes had gathered to the fray.

all the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far

had mustered from their homesteads overnight,

for the rouleurs love hard riding where the wild sprinters play,

and the bikes stripped down to make them extra light.

 

there was brendan back from kalgoorlie, home for the christmas day,

hard as nails who cannot ride it slow,

few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up

and he would ride wherever bike and man could go.

and jerry of the city beach came down to lend a hand,

no better rider ever held the reins,

for never bike could throw him while riding on the road,

he is handy in the hills or on the plains.

 

chris was up from hilton way, he’d made the weary trip,

the old steed out, despite the sunny day.

and james, although his pocket size, is handy in a sprint,

dressed all in black to show that he’s not gay.

christophe, who hails from distant lands, where riding is not flat,

was primed to give the group a red hot go.

hamish, from another pack, was basking in the sun,

when he’s in front it never will be slow.

 

the summer sun had bought the crowds and fillies out to play,

eight fronted up today to taste some pain.

lorriane was training hard and fast to show she’s at the top,

the girls from fleet elite were proved again.

to start the ride there were about, forty riders on their mounts,

we headed south to booragoon with ease.

once we hit the shelley shores the pace went up a notch,

with riders off the front each time to tease.

 

dressed in yellow ‘twas plain to see, i followed an attack,

there was a bang, my faithful steed went lame.

i thought that she had thrown a shoe so dangerous at this speed,

not so, but a mechanical just the same.

the sprint now over, the pack regrouped,

the next one called us on.

once we hit bannister road the pace it was quite high,

the fast boys to the front, their muscles called upon.

 

the cruise towards yon cannington was easy on the legs,

it gave us time to chat.

for after the excess of christmas day,

it stops us all from getting fat.

christophe, he did the bolt once the lights were green,

we let him get ahead.

some did make way to chase him down,

we cruised along instead.

 

it seems we gave the man from france, way to much room to move,

it looked like he had finally got away.

no matter what we threw at him or who was on the front,

the gap was there and he would make us pay.

the ride was done, the bikes all parked,

we rested weary legs.

the coffee’s came, short black, latte,

who ordered breakfast eggs?

saturday 20th december – christmas breakfast

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breakfast report/annual report by peter.

sorry jerry
sorry jerry

well our third group breakfast and this one was to be combined with our christmas ride, which is always the last saturday before christmas day.  we would usually do a slower circuit around the city and then have a longer than usual coffee at the belltower.  this year, however, we were doing a proper spr, lorraine catered breakfast.  legendary stuff.  now the first breakfast was in winter time and you kind of expect there to be rain.  the next one was in spring, so you may get a shower. but for me to wake to the sound of rain dripping along the downpipe in the middle of december was just typical.  we have a guaranteed drought breaker if we just scheduled in more spr breakfasts.  if wasn’t too bad though and the road was hardly wet. 

unlike the other breakfasts, this one was to be held at jerry’s house in city beach.  as son #2 was actually due the day before the breakfast, it was always going to be a stretch to think that a horde of sweaty cyclists could descend on our house.  as previously reported, #2 had arrived and kate timed her discharge from mercy hospital in time for attendance to the breakfast.  i however, would be on son #1 duties and would not be actually riding with the group.  it didn’t stop me from riding though.

so with half a santa suit (hat, beard & jacket) and ben on the mountain bike, we set off to the usually starting point.  as more a more people turned up, it was good to see that most had gone to the effort of decorating themselves or their bike.  there was tinsel everywhere.  i set the group on it’s way and headed off on a more direct route to city beach.  for a change it was good to hear the toot of a car horn as lots of people honked and waved to ben and i as we came up past kings park and along hay street.  we usually get a bit of attention with the seat on the front of the bike, but the santa suit must have turned us from target of aggression to spectacle of delight.  it may be our new kit for next year.  a full santa suit.  imagine 50 santa’s sprinting along mounts bay road on a saturday morning.  or even full elvis sequin suits.  that would be cool.

ok, its a better view than at my place.
ok, its a better view than at my place.

anyway, all was fine until we skirted around bold hill and it started to rain again.  i stopped and popped a rain jacket on ben to keep him relatively dry, but by the time i got to jerry’s a bedraggled and waterlogged santa was i.

lorraine had everything under control and she had a few extra helpers on board as well.  i thank those ladies for their time and effort and i especially thank them as it has meant that it was something extra that i didn’t have to worry about.  the food was being laid out and lorraine had outdone herself once again.  there was all kind of delicacy ready to be sampled and it was just waiting for the horde to descend.  i just stayed out of the way as best i could, and tried to stop ben destroying jerry’s house.

the waterlogged crew finally arrived and filled the house with christmas cheer.  socks were quickly escorted to the quick wash cycle and tumble dry as we had discussed, oh too late after the last breakfast.  who would have thought we would have needed it in summer.

after all had gorged themselves on the wonderful spread, lorraine brought out a cake for bec who decided to celebrate her birthday with us today.  i took the opportunity to keep the group together and present some gifts for each person in the group.  instead of a raffle this time, i managed to scrape together enough funds from various sources (pbk and google mainly) to get everyone a south perth rouleurs hat.  if you had ordered any kit (jersey at the minimum), then you would receive a hat.  i do have some extras though, so if you want to buy any for you kids, supporters, etc, then let me know.  lorriane was also given a well deserved gift for her tireless (get it, it was tyres) efforts within the group and jerry’s wife tanya received some flowers for allowing us to destroy her house.

the presentations didn’t finish there, as unbeknownst to me, jerry and lorraine had some surprises as well.  jerry made a few presentations for some of the more memorable moments of the year.  mark schneider received some bandaids for sampling the most tarmac this year, melvyn a spare tube for obvious reasons, ryan some bike wash for having the dirtiest bike and mark decastro some gu for being a wheel sucker.  lorriane also received a giro sprinters jersey for her outstanding effort last sunday where she took out the “b” grade women’s race at the joondalup classic.

protected rider???
protected rider???

but the fun didn’t stop there and it was my turn to be surprised as a special order had been placed with cannibal and a yellow spr jersey had been made up with my name on the back.  now i am not sure whether this denotes, team leader, protected rider, or just makes it easier for me to be targeted, but i certainly appreciate it, and the effort in getting something made.  the presents didn’t stop there, as i also received a plaque which read –

“in recognition of your outstanding contribution and commitment to the south perth rouleurs”. this will have to go “straight in the pool room” with my two masters medals this year.  in recognition of the family sacrifices that have been made in keeping the group together, kate and ben also received some gifts.

it seems strange writing this from two different perspectives.  one as the receiver of a gift but also as part of the group that has given it, i feel compelled to try to explain the reasons behind it.  i really appreciate the efforts that people have made in regards to the group and supporting the group dynamic.  it hasn’t even been a full year and already we have a very strong core of cyclists that can only be referred to as regulars if not stalwarts of spr.  the turn out for the joondalup classic was nothing short of outstanding and when mark conveyed his story about the surprise from some other riders on how many or us there were, i can say it made me smile.  just getting the name out there has been an important thing to me and getting people to recognise who we are and more importantly, what type of group we are. 

i can remember the apprehension i felt the first saturday that we met at coode street and the fear that i would be the only person to turn up.  the saturday rides this year have been growing and i appreciate the effort that people show towards helping other riders or even working together when the ride gets too fast for them.  i also appreciate the restraint that some of the fast boys have shown in keeping the ride together until the designated sprint sections. 

the sunday ride has been a great success with the numbers regularly sitting around the 15-20 mark even though everybody knows it is going to be a hard day.  the supportiveness of the group has allowed this ride to grow as well and we are often getting new riders coming out to play. 

lately a couple of people have commented on the group dynamic and what it means to them.  the word “community” has been used but even more so the word “family” was also thrown around.  the plaque recognises my efforts in guiding the group, but i do it all for you guys cause you are my cycling family and i wish to see that feeling continue. 

even before spr existed, one sunday coffee stop i was commenting on how we would eventually be moving back to victoria to be closer to family.  dr carl straight away said “but we are your family”.  it is for this reason i have worked to keep this group together and it is the reason that the group works so well together. 

so have a great christmas and new years and i hope to see you out on the bike soon.