by dr ronny

I’ve had a pretty good week and we’re moving house which means I need to clean out the garage. I came across some things I have absolutely no use for and want to get rid of so what better way than to give them away!

The following items are free. No steak knives included.

 

Pedros Professional Strength Degreaser 1L – it’s got about 950mL left. I didn’t like the thickness of it and switched back to the regular Pedros Oranj Peelz Degreaser.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26730

 

Now Declan’s

 

 

Zefal Strapless Toe Clips Small/Medium – brand new

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/zefal-toe-clips/

 

 

STILL FREE!!!!!

 

 

 FSA SLK Carbon Cranks – 170mm, 53/39. Near new condition. No bottom bracket.

 

Now Des’s

 

 

 Token Jockey Wheels – for Shimano. Brand new.

 

Now Wongster’s

 

 

 

 

Deda Dog Fang Chain Guard – 34.9mm

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/deda-dog-fang/

 

 

STILL FREE!!!!!

 

 

 Token 17T Track Sprocket and lockring. Brand new.

 

 

STILL FREE!!!!!

 

 

 

 Assos Chamois Cream – Brand new. never ben used (it’s still got the foil on).

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/assos-chamois-cream/

 

Now Scott’s.

 

 

 1 x yellow plastic Continental Tyre Lever.

http://www.probikekit.com/au/tyres-tubes/bicycle-tyre-tubular-accessories/continental-tyre-levers.html

 

Now Toby’s

 

 

 

 Syntace C2 Aero Clip-On bars

 

Now Jordan’s

 

 

 

 

Airborn Supernova Pocket Pump – I have 2 of these. One is new, the other is a little dented from falling off the bike when I wasn’t using the mounting bracket. Both come with mounting kits which are new as I’ve never used them.

http://www.probikekit.com/au/tools-maintenance/bicycle-pumps/airbone-supernova-pocket-bicycle-pump.html

Toby’s and Pete’s.

 

 

I’m in West Leederville. Please text me on 0407 290 832.

 

by dr ronny

I like Autumn. I find summer too hot. Winter too wet. And in Spring, I’m too slow. But Autumn is just perfect.  And I’d have to say the best thing about Autumn is: accessorising!

Cycling offers a multitude of fashionable accoutrements to adorn oneself with – base layers, vests, jackets, booties, full fingered gloves, mitts, arm warmers, knee warmers, leg warmers and head warmers are just to name a few. So this week’s fashion award would have to go to Sarah Bolton (apparently Jono aka “Michael” Bolton’s sister) who was the only one in the group to not only sport very pro-looking bootie covers but also, a scarf. And not just any scarf, but a blue scarf, that matched  a blue jersey and a blue bike. Add to that black knicks, black bootie covers and black highlights on the bike, makes for one co-ordinated outfit. Now that’s what I’m talking about peeps!

Anyway, back to our ride. We had about 8 or 10 people, including Nicole, who made a more than capable co-leader, having memorised most of the route and riding at the front for most of the ride. As a result, we made good time to Benara Rd (although Nicole seemed quite worried that we she was setting a tempo which was too slow) for our eventual roll through.

The roll through was smooth enough to impress our bumper sticker celebrity co-leader and we made our way uneventfully home, managing to keep together well along the bumps on Guildford Rd and on Plain St. The roadworks on Riverside Drive with an orange light broke up any chance of a real sprint finish but we still rolled in to be the 2nd group to coffee – sweet!

 

by dr ronny

First of all, apologies for not getting round to posting last week’s ride report. We had another good turnout with around 16-20 people this week, some new faces, some old. After getting to the carpark with a puncture and having to change the tire 3 times (the first 2 didn’t work), I finally got the group going – the only problem being that I took them in the wrong direction.

Once we got onto Canning Hwy we made our way onto Great Eastern Hwy and then took my patented scenic second turn onto Belgravia and past Ascot race course. We made our way to Benara Rd and began rolling through.

The roll through was a little uneven, probably no different from last week but with the tail wind, it should have been much smoother. A few people seemed to slow quite a bit when they got to the front and it’s best if they consider skipping a few turns to keep themselves fresh for the run home. Learning to survive is as important a skill as learning to roll through well, probably more so, and the two are mutually dependent.

We made our way through Morley and then onto Guildford where a few of the newer faces from the Development group began to struggle up each small rise. This required a lot of easing up and a short wait by the side of the road due to the lights splitting the group even more.

Everyone made it up Plain St and we were all together by the bottom of the hill to arrive at the Bell Tower a little late, mainly due to my puncture at the beginning of the ride.

by dr ronny

First of all, apologies for the tardiness of this report.

I accompanied the T2 group for my first time on Saturday. There were 8 of us and I learnt a lot of things:

No 1. The pace in T2 is what I consider “social”. Everyone could manage a conversation for the entire ride and some actually did! But for what the group lacked in speed, they made up for with socialability and skill.

No 2. We made our way without incident to Bannister and the roll through began. The roll through would give any group a run for it’s money and put several groups’ recent roll throughs to shame. It was smooth and there was absolutely no braking I could see in the left lane. Riders communicated and it worked like clockwork.

3. As you make your way along Bannister the wind direction changes and we had a cross wind from our right when we got stuck in the middle at some lights. Seeing as the group’s roll through had been so good till then, I told them we would roll through clockwise with the fast lane on the left. I saw a few worried looks as the lights turned green.

4. The first few turns were conservative. People tended to move quite far right when they got to the front. After 3 or 4 turns I could see the group talking and signalling to each other to make the lines tighter and within a minute or two, I saw one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen on the bike – 7 riders rolling through with clockwork precision inside-out. The lines were close and there were no gaps. The pace was even and there was no braking. I was seriously impressed.

It was a good ride back with the tailwind until we lost Bushy off the back. He headed down Albany Hwy and caught up with the rest of the group before the causeway.

So in the end, I’m giving the T2 group 5 stars. What they lack in speed, they make up for with their consistent, socialable riding. They may not be the fastest group, but don’t let that fool you. These are some of the best riders in SPR, bar none.

by dr ronny

So, the Pemberton Classic is on in a few weeks and I’ve decided to go and check it out. Since I’m always keen for some company, I was wondering if anybody else is planning on going or is wanting to go.

To remind you of the fun times to be had, here is Toby’s post from last year’s event and a picture of Kim from 2009 with two backpackers who were trying out to be podium boys.

I was planning on getting some accomodation sorted in the next day or two. Unfortunately, the Old Picture Theatre Holiday Stay where a few of us shacked up in 2009 is all booked out so I’ll have to find somewhere else. Anybody got a spare bed for the friday/saturday nights or know a good place to stay?

PS – just contacted a place which has 3 cottages just out of town, each sleeps up to 5. Costs $170 for 2 people and $20 per extra person with a 3 night minimum so if a few people wanna venture down, it looks like there will be enough beds.

by dr ronny

First of all, thanks to Shaw for coming with us. I was a little apprehensive as there were quite a few new faces in the Transition/Development congregation at our end of the carpark and with the wind, I was expecting gaps to form during the ride which makes being everywhere in the group impossible.

We had a good ride today with about 22 people. The wind was not as bad as expected (a couple of peeps with the luxury of deep carbon rims chose to switch their front wheels for more traditional, shallow rimmed wheels). I was pretty chuffed with the ride. The pace was civil and people stuck together well for the most part. In the end, the ride was as good as it gets with that kind of wind and most importantly, our safety record for the year remains intact.

I’d encourage more T groupers to try to get to the new mid week and Sunday Early Morning Rides. They are good training and a good experience.

I am hoping pete will put in the kit order in the next day or two as I will need a new wind vest pretty soon. I am a bit soft when it comes to the cold. If you haven’t ordered yet, get in quick before it closes.

by dr ronny

a short report from me today:

– we had about 20 riders with a couple of new faces as has been usual since the new year. They took the tips that were given to them well and I suggested they read the ride etiquette section of the blog too.

– the route today was very enjoyable and I have to thank Pete for being more creative than sending us along the Canning Vale Reverse route for the billionth time 😉

– the roll-through along Shelley was an improvement on last week. Some people tended to slow up a bit too much when moving over to the left and others flew past and made a gap of 3-4 bike lengths before they realised that no one had passed them for a minute but everyone got better along the way. Scott probably had the best view of everyone as he was playing shepherd up the back. There seemed to a smoother half to the group which meant that every few minutes, a cycle of gaps forming and calls of “slowing” were made. – we had similar experiences on our way to Bannister, and then on Bannister and Nicholson.

– a few comments about it being bit slow today which is fair enough. For the record though, I’m always happy for people to come to the front and do work for the group is they feel that way 🙂 It’s hard as the roll through basically makes everyone do the same amount of work which means that the group has to go the pace of the slowest rider. In the past, I’ve tried to encourage slower people to miss turns but this doesn’t happen and in the end, the roll through breaks down as gaps form and people slow down with fatigue in both lanes. I think the solution will be a heavier hand on my part. Watch out in the next few weeks. For a refresher, read this Cycling Tips blog post.

– the pace was set on Albany and over the causeway I led out forming a decisive group of six. Scott and I got back on to the other 4 at the lights and I managed to pip Jason to the Royal Perth Hospital sign to get to the coffee shop near first (Ryan was there).

– I will be in Sydney next Saturday so have fun without me!

– PS – I CAN’T WAIT TO GET MY NEW KIT!!!!! (although I was always told that “red and green should never be seen”, which got me thinking that this would be a perfect solution)

by dr ronny

I just got home. It’s 7:05am on Thursday 20th January 2011. I’m oriented to time, place and person. Check.  The Prime Minister is Julia Guillard.

I met the group at Swanbourne this morning at 5:50am to make about 10 riders and joined the back of the group next to Jordan.  As we came up the last little rise on North St heading towards Marine Parade, I let the guys know that there was a car behind us just before we got onto the downhill to the roundabout. We turned left at the roundabout onto Marine Parade. I went single file behind Jordan as a couple of guys towards the front took a few seconds to get to the left. We had eased to a steady pace of about 25kph to let the ute pass as he came up the middle of the road. He  reached the front of the group as we were passing through a pedestrian island. I couldn’t see how much space there was but there didn’t look like there was a lot for the ute and the front riders to squeeze through.  A few words were exchanged (I couldn’t make out what they were) and I was thankful to see that the ute had passed everyone without incident. It was now in front of the group, clear of every single rider.

I looked over my right shoulder to check if there was anybody else behind. When I looked ahead, there was nowhere to go as Jordan and Jamie had come to a near complete stop in front of me. Jordan’s rear wheel was only about 1 meter away and there was no time at all to brake. A split second later, I found myself  looking at the sky flat on my back in the middle of the road.

The car behind us stopped and I was glad I hadn’t gone under it. Several walkers/joggers came up to see if  everyone was ok. People started saying things like “he was a maniac” and telling us they had his rego number.

When I had collected myself, I found out that the driver, once he had passed us, had stopped dead in the middle of the road and got out of his car looking for an altercation. Apparently when he saw the crash, he got back into his car and sped off. That was pretty stupid. At least 3 people got his rego plate and there were about 15 witnesses to the incident. Jordan exchanged details with the car behind us who had witnessed the whole thing.

I started to feel a little sore by this stage. My face began to sting and the right side of my body was starting to ache. I got back on the bike after a couple of minutes and tucked my clear glasses into my jersey. When we got to the other side of the shops, they fell off my jersey and onto the road and I told Jordan to head on with the rest of the guys. It just wasn’t my morning.

I went back and picked up my glasses, put them on and then rode towards home. As I was riding home, the following things began running through my mind: “My right knee hurts…My hip is sore…My face stings….Emma is going to kill me…..I just got passed by a lady on a flat bar commuter with panniers….Oh, I’m going 12.6 kph…..12.9kph…..ouch…..My knee hurts. My hip is sore. My face stings.”

Another half hour of this and I was home. I got more sympathy from Emma than I was expecting and made myself some toast with the bread I had made last night and covered it with an inch of peanut butter. Then I had another one. And another. Hmmmmm……..comfort eating.

In the end, another close call. Too close. I’ll let you guys know how it goes with the police report and the recovery. Ride safe. Go home to your kids and peanut butter toast.

There were a lot of people at the carpark today and I got introduced to Tim who would be riding with us for the first time. When the call for groups came, only 4 people volunteered for T2 (including Shaw who was going to lead the ride) so they ended up joining us to make one big T group. This meant we had about 30 riders, and a lot of new faces, which, I learnt, can be hard to control. Leon and Scott were there to lend their wonderful helping hands too.
Our jaunt along Canning Hwy and North Lake Rd was straight forward and we were looking pretty good. It wasn’t as windy as I thought it would be and we kept together pretty well. I got to talk to Zoey, a new rider from Sydney in Perth for a few months on a fancy Trek. Along South st, a split formed and “ease up” was the call. The lights kepts us apart for a little while before Emma had paced back the last rider.

 
Once we got onto Bannister, Leon dropped back to where I was in the middle of the group and asked if we wanted to roll through. I told him to start it and the first few riders began. The roll through came to a halt and the front of the group disintegrated as confusion ensued. I rode up to a new rider (apparently Shaw’s brother) who was in no-man’s land in the right lane and asked him if he knew what a roll through was. He didn’t seem to hear me although I quite close  and raised my voice quite a bit. I asked for a second and third time and had no meaningful reponse again. I started to try to get him to move out towards the right and let everyone else though as he was disrupting both pace lines. It was at this stage that he pulled out an ipod earpiece from his right ear. I shouted again for him to move out and he once again didn’t seem to understand and kept riding straight ahead.
By this stage, people around us had realised what was going on. Other riders began safely passing to the left and began closing the gaps which had formed. Once a semblance of a roll through formation was made, the group began rolling through. It was a little confusing at the back as some people were just hanging off and not particpating and no one was really sure which wheel they were meant to follow. A couple of times I realised the people behind me weren’t coming through which meant that I had to close the 3 or 4 bike lengths to the person in front of me in the right lane. I’m sure lots of others had the same experience.

In the end, the pace was quite uneven and a smooth roll through couldn’t be created as people tried to close gaps in the right lane and a few calls to ease up were made which needed me to feather the brakes when I was in the left lane. Overall, I give us a 3 out of 10.

The roll through wasn’t any better on Nicholson and once we were on to Albany Hwy, I was glad to see Cervelo Tim and another rider take the front and set an even pace all the way to the causeway.  A few early moves (by Andrew, Mike and ?) occurred on the causeway with the tailwind before we caught a group of about 20 riders ahead. Unfortunately, the small chase group including Scott, Leon and I got caught behind this group and due to the roadworks and workmen, we were unable to pass until we were on Riverside drive.
It was great of everyone to show restraint here and wait behind the slower group even though it meant losing the sprint. By the time we could pass, the leaders had an insurmountable lead and it was Andrew, Mike and someone else (sorry, I’m terrible with names) contesting it with Andrew winning. Cervelo Tim shot past me to claim our second group’s sprint.
When we got to the Bell Tower I mentioned to Shaw’s brother that iPods are not cool on a group ride. It’s in the ride etiquette along with how to roll through. If you haven’t read it, please read it. If you are introducing someone to the group, please get them to read it. It’s not just about etiquette but also about safety. 

 
There have been a few crashes recently, thankfully, all “minor” – Davina on boxing day, on the bike path after one of the weekday group rides and in Main 1 this weekend. Unfortunately, I also see what the “major” ones look like at work. 
 

There are lots of things I love about riding – I love the exercise, I love the post ride coffees and debates about lycra fashion, I love the cool gear and watching the pros on the TV, and I LOVE being able to eat just about anything without looking like I do it. But I also know that it is dangerous. In fact, it’s the most dangerous thing I do everyday. And the consequences of poor riding and risk taking can be the difference between sipping latte at the end of the ride and someone going under a bus. So please be safe.

Today was our first ride for the new year. We had about 20 with Jono volunteering to help out with his Emma riding with us today.  Before we started, I thought I’d make a goal for the group for the coming year….No crashes….simple.  If we can’t be the fastest group, at least we can be the safest!  I then set out the plan for the ride – we would stick together till Reabold with a regroup along West Coast Hwy where we would go single file. This worked out pretty well and everyone came back together safely. I took up the pacemaking along the rough section after Rochdale Rd to Swanbourne into that lovely wind. I wasn’t sure if I was going a little fast or not but everyone seemed to be there when Shu had a puncture. The rest of us pulled over at the servo just after the left hand turn and I left the group in the shade while I checked out how the puncture was going. After doing a lap of the block and returning to the servo, I was told that they were on the other side of the lights. Another quick lap found them hiding in the bus stop, tire change in progress. The tire was on and when we started again, I was certain that the wind had picked up in the 5 minutes we had been held up.

We crossed Stirling Hwy where we lost a drag race at the lights to a guy on a scooter. We stuck together really well in Dalkeith, much better than a month ago and once we turned left at the tennis courts the first move was started by Michael. The group was happy with riding tempo and his lead built up to around 50 meters before 3 or 4 guys came by.

The transition from Jutland Parade to Birdwood Parade saw Jono make his move. He flew by the front half of the group and it was obvious he was going to cross the gap to the half dozen riders up the road. I jumped out o the pack about 30 meters behind him and knew I was never going to get onto his wheel but wanted to see who won the sprint to the bus stop. By this time, I could see Jono hit the front. He led Shu up the short rise and created a small gap of a few meters and it was his from there.

The group came back together along the Avenue and we rode a good steady pace along Matilda Bay and onto Mounts Bay Rd. Sorry for not knowing names, but the black n white kitted Euro styled rider on the Look and the Team Type 1 kitted rider (also known as Andrew) rode an excellent tempo into the wind along Mounts Bay Rd. It wasn’t easy and they had to dig a bit along the last little stretch past the Brewery. Well done guys.

What happened next was a group etiquette no-no. As we got onto the straight past the brewery, a few guys came past, each spread by about 5 bike lengths and went off the front of the group. I got a bit annoyed here because I had told everyone to STAY TOGETER along Mounts Bay into the wind at the beginning of the ride AND while we were waiting for the lights to turn onto Mounts Bay Road.

There wasn’t really a sprint but what had been a pro looking group of 20 riders riding in good formation soon became a straggly bunch of weekend warriors, each trying to merge a lane over to the right, spread out over 100 meters, coming into a busy, two-laned roundabout.  This made us look bad, makes it hard for cars to pass and makes every rider more vulnerable to both the cars behind us and the cars entering the roundabout. Sticking together here is important. If you would like to increase the pace a bit and get your heart rate up, then come to the front when it’s safe and take a turn into the wind for everyone else’s benefit.

Besides that, it was a much better ride. A lot of fun and well done to everyone for sticking together. If we could do it for another 300 meters, I would be a VERY happy camper.