Cyclo York Development Team (pirate and English J)
It be an ominous start as we got up a sparrows fart t’ get t’ York. ‘t rained quite a lot on th’ way but by th’ time we arrived ‘t had stopped, great! Th’ development lasses plus honorary member Mike Round (Debs husband) managed t’ find each other, register an’ get t’ th’ line(good start). On th’ way we noted about three other squadrons includin’ SPR members, good t’ be seein’ they be well represented.
We cruised off of the mark, found our way out of York and started our hike through very pleasant countryside. We passed the Enjo team with a flat, and then again as they had a second. The start was pretty flat and we worked well as a team sticking together nice and tight with some speed adjustments. Carol took the first turn at the front and wisely pulled off before over doing it. New girl Jennie with her broad Scottish accent jumped up front and stayed feeling very healthy, new candidate for transitional group I think. Mikes turn for a flat but he had it under control so we kept motoring, giving Mike a chance to stretch a bit to catch up with us. Very nice till we hit the Beverley turning point and began the climb at 30km mark 5 hills took their toll on our team work. Jennie took the first QOM keeping strong until Ruth took the roll on the last couple of hills. Fruit cake must have kicked in! Our group stayed fairly steady and strong as we passed many riders left behind by their teams. We started stringing out a bit and Mike called a regroup before the final push.
We completed 55km with 483m of climbing with an improved average of 25.2km/hr great progress since the Lancelin ride.
Thanks to great work by the development team girls, Carol, Deb, Gwyn, Ruth, Jennie and the ring in Mike. A great day in a very pleasant location. Look forward to the next one.
Lynda and I ( normally of the transitional group) thought we would “ have a crack” at the 3 dams challenge, we needed a goal ! Probably wasn’t the best idea since we hadn’t actually done a full hills ride. Id only really done the Zig Zag and Lynda had done Canning Mills. Oh well.
We headed off from the Narrows at 6, the sooner the better and managed to jump in with a quick group to Midland. Then the hills began…. Lucky we were very fresh, although quite a few people went around us we got up at a reasonable rate. Why did everyone need to make a comment about the two very large bananas bulging out of my back pocket! Very happy to see Mundaring and get away from that road, it felt pretty safe just didn’t like the trucks. It was also good to see Bernie and Grant waiting for us at the top, it was great to have a bit of support, they stayed with us to the end it definitely helped a lot ( Thanks !)
One banana later and rolled down to the Weir and arrived at about 7:45 which was well before the cut off, yay( yes that what we worry about down this end)!. I think the 5 dams fellows were probably at Wungong by then. Large number of peps at the Dam, we were fed and watered, got our stamp and rolled on. Saw a couple of other SPR riders always nice to see the SPR jersey. Next we learnt the problem with a nice roll downhill is getting back out. Past Gungin and a cruise down to Aldersyde, its funny how quickly the speed is lost going back up ! Another hard slog up through Carmel not too bad though with it being a bit rolling. Crossed paths with the Advanced SPR guys before Karragullen and refuelled there. Flew down Brookton and Croyden and again it began.
Rest stop at Canning Dam a few people being loaded onto the ute ( $130 taxi id rather walk!) quick stop as wanted to get the next section over and done with. Crossed paths with the 5 Damer’s coming into Canning. A lot of puffing and sweat got us back to Albany Hwy.
ONE TO GO… Really warmish along Albany Hwy glad we were finished with the hills. Arrived at 11:40 and again fed and watered at Wungong, loved the fruit cake! Wondered if the 5 Damers had finished yet ! Heard about a MTBer on the 5 Dams route, that had not known about the speed humps on the other side of Wungong, had apparently hit them unaware at 70km and endo’d and damaged himself not sure injuries but ambulance required, ouch!
One hill to go ( what a doozie) tried to get a run up and found the speed humps. Long slog up Wungong pretty sure could have walked up faster, but made it. We all jumped aboard the cycle train and whizzed our way through Armadale. Due to a few war wounds reemerging in our crew after the long ride, the train slowed down on Armidale Road.We were joined by the Cycle Buzz guys near the end. I know its the most direct route but it’s a hell of a road, did not like it AT ALL. Several sections of bad surfaces, debris and it was just long and hot, may have been because we were stuffed and over it ?. I had the GPS but we just never seemed to get to the end. Im telling you the real train station at the end was pretty damn tempting. Finished it off up the freeway rolled into the Narrows around 2.
3 Dams ride
Finished yay! Slow and steady but thankfully uneventful. ( thanks again to my buddies Lynda, Bernie and Grant!) One damn fine effort I think J
Although it was a hard slog this was a very enjoyable ride really glad to have broken the ice and gotten into the hills as it felt a bit inaccessible. We are definitely novices and survived, so I recommend it to others. Anyone who wants to give it a go (at less than race pace) I would love to do it again.
Final tally 164km, 1928m gain elevation, 7000 cal ( noice!), avg heart rate 159bpm!, max speed 65.6km average 23km. Minus 2 kilos ( made up for it with beer not long after J )
Anyway thought id put this in to say if we can do it anyone can, so get amongst it J
Well after a bit of toing & froing the the Tuesday Transition Group ride came about. (originally when it was just Toby and myself throwing the idea about it was going to be ‘Tubby Tuesday’ but since there are other riders besides us it is no longer appropriate). Naming rights for this ride are still up for grabs. It came about after we discussed the weekly routine of us getting dropped off the main group and how hard it would be for newer Novice riders making the transition as well. We threw around the idea of a slower paced ride and after mentioning it to Dr Ronny at the crits on Sunday, it got legs.
After Ronny’s initial post of the ride, there was a bit of misunderstanding about its intentions with a few novice riders feeling pressured to progress. Just to let you know this ride is for anyone who wants a slower paced ride option for Tuesdays, whether its the likes of myself struggling to hang on to the main group or those in the novice looking for a step-up, all are welcome. It’s a steady pace averaging about 26km/hr or the slowest rider and shortcuts are taken to fit the time frame.
Now onto the ride itself. After a very hot, humid night and similar to follow I wasn’t sure how many would turn up, but on arrival under the Narrow’s I found 7 willing participants + Toby and myself. After a quick briefing from Toby & waiting for the main group to head off we hit the road. Mounts Bay road was a nice stretch to get the group sorted and get a feel for where everyone was at. We headed around the back of UWA and thru Dalkeith with the group working well together, taking the rises in there step and generally maintaining the line. There was a few changes of turns at the front and all going smoothly.
We then headed out to Freo along Stirling Hwy which was another good chance to get the group used to holding the wheel in front and maintaining the line in a group. Lynda was the only 1 who really ‘enjoyed’ the rise thru Claremont, but got the chance to learn the benefits of drafting to get back to the group. It was pretty smooth sailing down this way with a light breeze to keep us cool. Over the bridge and into East Freo the group started to feel the light headwind. The first little rise off Canning was fun for a few, who got pulled up by the short sharp rise, plus someone losing a light, lucky for the sweeper (me) it was retrieved. We regrouped on the roll down the other side and continued to Point Walter where we had a bit of a breather and regroup, with dropped lights & water bottle handed back to owners. At this point the Main group swept thru having caught us as we went around them with our shortcut.
From here it was a mostly flat run back to Atomic for coffee, with the group maintaining a good pace and and continuing turns at the front. We did a few sections of PSP along the way With the group doing really well on there single file and communications. We’ll try to avoid the PSPs next time as they get busy at this time of day and really don’t help with group riding skills. Half the group stayed for coffee while others had to head off for work. For those interested you can see the route we took here (disregard my commute to and from the start/finish)
All in all it went well for the 1st time, with a few little things to iron out in terms of skills and the route. But generally the guys worked together well and showed a good level of skills. Hopefully in the future we will see a few other riders joining us and helping to grow the club.
*Just as a note this ride won’t be happening next week due to Toby & myself being away and it also being Australia Day, but will be back the week after.
