Report by Julian 

A new route was planned today so I had made notes on how to get out to Brigadoon for the climb-fest.  En-route to the rendezvous (that’s the limit of French for the day), I realised I hadn’t noted the course back to Kalamunda and was relieved to see Peter and his trusty Garmin, which had all the details entered.  I think there were about 25 people today, and plans for a shorter ride up the zigzag were being made before we set off.  

Gt Eastern Hwy was quiet today and the traffic was well behaved.  The pace was reasonable apart from Alistair’s turn on the front, when low 30’s suddenly became high 30’s.  Even accounting for the tail wind it was a bit quick and we yelled to the front to ease him back.  We bade farewell to the short-cutters at Queens Rd and continued on to Guildford and then Midland.  A few locals in Midland gave us some encouraging cheering (Emu Export at 7.30 in the morning will do that) and before long we were over Gt Northern Hwy and into the small rises round Jane Brook.  

On the first rise Alistair took off and crested the hill.  He then slowed down and found me in the pack to ensure I noted the points for the first climb.  Alas I informed him that said first climb was still 15 km away but his efforts in the bonus climb were noted.  We continued on for a few more kms before Davina decided to stretch her legs and put in some hard yards.  Mark DC followed here out and soon the two of them were long gone.  The rest of us got through the few kms before the climb and as we passed the ‘No Through Road’ sign indicating the start, the front runners were back in sight. 

On the climb, Dan, Alistair and I approached the tiring Davina and then went past.  Mark DC was up ahead and looking out of reach.  Mike B and Chris T overtook me as I shook off Dan The view up the valley from Bells Rapids was worth the climb and by the time we hit the roundabout Mark DC had come in first.  However, there was an edict from President Peter that Mark would be disqualified as he broke away on the flat before the climb started.  Rule is Rules and therefore the final classification from climb 1 was as follows: 

KOM 1: 1.  Mike B;  2, Chris T;  3. Julian;  4.  Chris A;  5. Peter 

The one noticeable thing about the re-group point was the distinct lack of trees/shrubs for shielding when relieving oneself.  Therefore the re-group time was slightly longer as those that had to travel a bit further.  The next two climbs were explained by Peter – in summary ~3 km down and then up again until we hit the next roundabout, re-group, then turn around and do it in reverse.  Going down the first hill I clocked mid 70s so the climb back wasn’t going to be easy.  The sun was quite hot on the road and there a few big efforts on both climbs.  Mike B managed to just pip Chris A on the first climb and going back, Chris T held out me to the line.  Russell and Melvyn waited at the line having discovered the shortcut after the second climb.  

KOM 2: 1.  Mike B;  2, Chris A;  3. Julian;  4.  Chris T;  5. Peter 

KOM 3: 1.  Chris T;  2, Julian;  3. Jerry;  4.  Brodie;  5. Dan

The three climbs in quick succession had taken a bit out of everyone and a few of us were running low on water.  The descent was very fast for me and I managed to hit 90 km/h.  Once on the flat a few splinter groups formed and Heiko and I rode together talking about the ways of the world.  We held an easy pace before all coming together again at Jane Brook to look for water taps.  Unfortunately there were none around so we skirted around Greenmount (saying farewell to Russell on the way) and finally found a disused service station that still had connected water.  Everyone took on water and it was noted that Brett and a couple of others were missing.  It turned out someone had a puncture (sorry I didn’t get names at coffee) and a couple of others waited behind to assist.  

After the water stop we were soon on Ridge Hill Road for the second of the bonus climbs.  Alistair took it a bit easier this time and there was only a short re-group when we reached Kalamunda Road.  There were a few tired bodies at this stage and a lot of effort was summoned for the final climb.  Alistair, Chris T, Chris A and I soon split from the group and about half way up Mike B made his trademark move from the back.  Chris T and I responded but after about 100 m I’d had enough so settled back in to my rhythm.  Up ahead it was a pretty close ride and I think (but can’t confirm) Mike B just got it.  

KOM 4: 1.  Mike B;  2, Chris T;  3. Julian;  4.  Chris A;  5. Jerry 

We headed off for coffee and managed to get a few tables in the shade.  There was a sense of achievement in the group as the new ride was conquered and in trying conditions – this will not be a summer ride.  I did a quick tally of points and found that the overall November winner was Chris A, who finished 1 point in front of me.  Luckily for Mark DC, his disqualification on the first hill did not cost him the title although he would have come 2^nd if it had counted. 

Back down Welshpool Rd we went and the final stages were fast without blowing too many people away.  I turned off at George Street and finished with 107 km under my belt so was pretty happy with that.  I won’t be available next weekend and the Joondalup race is on so if anyone does go out, can they keep a track of proceedings.

Well I decided to do my first 40km solo TT in over 2 years and debut my new skinsuit and sperm (aero) helmet.
Having done only a handfull of Atta events I had no doubt it would all be smooth on raceday so got the bike sorted the night prior with all the required goods.

Once out there sign on was a breeze, grabbed my transponder and numbers and went back to set the bike on the wind trainer for my warm up. The weather had allready decided to warm up but that meant the flys were obsolutly everywhere, talked about getting annoyed trying to warm up! I tried to stay friendly to them hoping they would help carry me along at somepoint on the hilly TT course.

Once warmup done and race wheels in, last nervous wee done 🙂 Jody took some pics and I headed up to the start. The bike was all fine all gears working and me not actualy feeling too bad considering the 100km done the day prior.

Goal was simple, have a negative split and get as close to 40 kmphr ave as possible on what I thought was undulating course. Well I knew teh first 10km but wasnt sure about the next before heading to the turnaround but I was off. I quickly settled in to my comfortable heartrate. Passing back through where the cars where Jody took a snap (later to find out it was of a tree, teach me to drag her out too early on a sunday morning:)) After a few kms the hills start and I was pretty motivated for a 40 ave so was finding myself smashing the 54 X 11 down the hills at upwards of 55-60 and not finding the uphills too bad I pushed hard over and by 10 or so kms had allready picked up quite a few people and looking at my speedo the average was 42 kms. I did think maybe I should back off a smidge but felt strong so pushed on. Once at the turn around Frans and the guys gave heaps of encouragement and we were back into it but looking at my speedo I had turned at 30mins 40secs with a 39.9 kms ave, the last 10kms were a little hillier than I thought but was still happy to be within a sniff of 40!

Once back up to speed the legs were starting to get heavy on teh climbs and I found my ave falling back closer to 38 but still tried to climb as smoothly as possible as I knew thats where the time was going to be made up to get me back to 40 ave.

I started to come good again and was wishing I brought another gel with me but kept on sipping away. Remembering the big hill with 3km to go was going to hurt I pushed as hard as I dared but managed to get my ave back up near 39.5 but then as I started on teh climb I found myself going back through the gears rather to quickly with the top not seeming to want to come any quicker. I pushed hard and with the heartrate climbing into the mid 190’s I knew that was as fast I could go.

I finally got over it and caught my breath as much as I could but still finding the heartrate at 190 I pushed as hard as I could for the remaining kms. As I approached the finish line I snuck at look at the Garmin and saw my Heart rate at 197 and ave at 38.6 and a time of 1.02.

On warming down I was pretty hapy happy with my effort but was feeling very smashed. I got back to the ute to find Jody sound asleep 🙂 haha talk about me at my max for the last hour and her at her minimum hehe. Caught up with the girls and some of the other folk i knew and saw Anna K had beaten the course record and then saw Bec had smashed it by 2 mins so teh girls are firing! Nicole was happy with a great hitout so all in all a good day debuting the skinsuit and new helmet.. Now to find out how to knock off a few minutes for the next one 🙂 Knowing that my PB from 3 years ago is 57min all be it on a flat course Im keen to do better next time.

Oh and chuck/Pete your info is right the sperm helmet is nosiy but thats the price of looking fast hey ??:)
Oh and the negative split didnt happen but hey you get that 🙂
Actual Garmin stats were 1.02.40 time, 38.66 ave, ave H/R 181 and max H/R 199.Max speed 63.97 and 1446 cal used.

by dr ronny

Today was my third week in a row with the novice group. After letting the main group go, we were left with the Malvern Star people and we all put our names down to win an Oppy bike. The guys and gal there also mentioned that Phil Anderson would be at the carpark tomorrow morning to help with the promotion and took a photo of us!

In addition to a couple of new faces today (Lucas and Emma), we decided we would also tackle the Majestic hill, that is, if only we could find it. When we eventually did find it, Jacqui (or is it Jackie?), went round myself and Tracey to reach the top in front of me with new Lucas just behind.
After a little street searching, Carol found Kintail Rd and we off in the right direction again. We made our way leisurely to the Shelley section where the paced went up a little and our roll through began. I was very pleased with our effort last week and was keen to see how we went into the strong easterly wind.

Understandably, the roll through was a little less fluid but Lucas and Emma picked up on it pretty quick, Carol was a little off and a few gaps began to form so I held back with her and we let the others go. They seemed to do a good job as they disappeared slowly up the road till we regrouped. There was a small chat about rookie marks (you know, those bits of chain grease on your calf) and how to avoid them and we decided to try to make the roll through smoother by slowing down the speed of the right hand riders overtaking those on the left on the way back.
Stubbornly, the wind still felt like it wasn’t quite behind us on our way back but the roll through was a lot smoother and there was only the occasional small momentary gap for the whole time. Our two new riders looked like they were doing it easy so I began to tell them how we would split up a little going up a small rise after a left hand turn (apparently, it’s called Bull Creek Rd) and then regroup. Of course, I did this not realising how far we were from it and every time the road started to curve left, I thought it was it, only to find out it wasn’t. When we eventually did find it, I looked back to see just Tracey, Lucas and Jacqui/Jackie within reach. Lucas asked “Is this it?” and almost before I could say “yes” he was out of the saddle sprinting past Jacqui/Jackie.
It was an uneventful ride back and it was nice to have a small chat to “the other Emma”. We were last to coffee but we will be faster next week now that we know were to go around Applecross.
It’ll be the breakfast ride the week after next so we’ll also have to talk about a route that will lead us to Jerry’s place. If only we could recruit someone with a Garmin…..

Ride report  by daniel

Having got a little wet during the week, it was good to be back into dryer weather as the weekend dawned. Although, when we started riding it was a little cooler than I would have liked. Oh well. Anyway, it was a relatively good turnout for the Saturday morning ride. I think we probably had several people doing the State Criterium Championship’s but looking around we would have plenty of company on the road. Pete was out early but had left the lycra at home for a change – seems like handing out water bottles and the like is such hard work the he needed to take a rest from riding in preparation! Hard for some.

Pete was up to giving us the pep-talk before we started: Canning Vale reverse, remember that there are some hills early, try to keep the group working together. The usual, but many of us need to be reminded.

So we started, and I think that we managed to hold everyone together in the main. Heading west on Canning Highway we did split the group several times coming over the freeway due to lights – but no real hassle – after a brief pause to gather everyone, we were off again, and holding a nice even inclusive pace. I was close to the front when we hit the hill leading up to Stock Road, but I think we managed to keep everyone resembling one group; I’m open to being corrected here as I was towards the front at this point 🙂

Either way, the lights along Stock Road kept showing red, and this helped us to regroup, and kept us together all along Stock Road and in the initial run down South Street. It was at this point that things got a little interesting. As we approached North Lake Road, I recall Ryan discussing with Jerry when we were splitting and exactly when it was that it would be OK to “go fast”. Or words to that effect. In any case, immediately after this there was a sudden acceleration down the hill towards Gilbertson Road. Now I don’t always have the legs to stay with some of these surges, but neither can I resist giving it a real good go. It seems like I was not the only one, so we were off!

As it turned out, this turn of speed did not last long as we took a few more lulls at lights as we crossed back over the freeway. However you rate it though, by the time what was the fast group had reached Bannister Road, I think it is safe to say that what started as a single group was definitely split into several pieces.

From this point this pace was kept relatively high but not insanely so – again due to lights and even a reasonable wait a roundabout. It seemed like we shared the work in the main, although I do recall Ryan hitting the front several extra times to make sure we kept pushing reasonably hard. So we headed back into town along Spencer Road  and then Albany Highway, picking up several riders who had taken the main group route (I think) and so managed to get out in front of us. We continued in pretty much the same way all the way back, with the lights playing true to form and stopping us as we picked up speed down Shepperton and onto the Causeway.

I can’t tell you who won the sprint as I got held back by the lights on Riverside Drive – except to say that it was not me.

Back in the coffee shop we met Pete to collect waterbottles and trisuites. It was good to see a few new faces on the ride. It was also good to see a few regular faces, the likes of Lisa and Anna, rejoining us after their efforts in the Tour de Perth (well done!). Not to mention that we got to meet Josh’s family, along with the regular appearance of Pete’s boys. Very cool.

See you all next time.

Report by Julian 

Back for a Sunday ride – my first in 4 weeks – and I was keen to see how much climbing form had deserted me in the time.  Thanks to Peter and Mark DC for writing up the last few weeks rides in my absence.  Mark was relieved to see me at the start as it meant there was no pressure on him to get the ride reports out this week.  There were just on 20 of us ready for the 5 climb ride via Canning Dam, but the Elite Group of Paul, Greg, Christophe, Declan, Simon et al. already had a short cut sorted before leaving.  With the easterly blowing there were relatively short turns on the front today (some shorter than others!) and after a trek down Albany Highway the Elite group turned off to take on the Kahnua.  The 10 of us remaining headed further out and were soon turning in Carawatha Rd for the first ascent.  The climb was nice to me today as I took an early lead and made a steady pace to the top without any attacks from behind.  Chris kept up his recent form to take 2^nd and was followed by Brodie, Mark and Peter.  Mike, Lisa, Tim, Marc S and Phil, (not in that order) followed behind and the re-group was only long enough to allow emptying of a couple of bladders. 

The quick descent was rapidly followed by the rough climb of Carradine Rd.  Peter made an early attack and was followed by Tim.  Chris, Mark and I followed behind and about 2/3s of the way up I decided to bridge the gap and left the others to fight out 4^th and 5^th.  I went past Peter and Tim and Peter hung on my wheel and was annoyingly close as the finish approached.  About 150 m from the finish Peter made his move up the inside and I was cooked.  Again the re-group was shortish and was only extended by Peter’s motivational talk to Lisa about continuing the ride.  Happily the 10 of us stayed together for the next climb, the long but no too steep climb up Albany Highway to Canning Dam turn off. 

As we started up Albany Highway we remained together but as the pace quickened, one by one the riders started to drop off.  About 1.5 km from the finish, Mark DC, Brodie, Tim, Phil and myself were left.  Phil was unsure of the finish and made an attack but was hung out to dry.  Tim also tried to go but was wheeled in by Mark DC and Brodie who fought it out to the line.  I caught Brodie about 200 m out and up ahead Mark outlasted Brodie for the points.  Phil hung on for 5^th. 

The sun was out and wind had dropped as we made our way to Canning Dam, then down to Araluen.  Mark DC set a fair clip down the hill and Peter and Lisa brought up the rear.  We regrouped at the bridge and began the 4^th climb up to Karragullen.  After the initial climb, Peter came to the front and said there were 5 of us together and he was about to change that.  With a smile on his face he attacked and the 5 became 3 pretty quickly.  Enjoying the moment I made an attack and this resulted in Tim dropping off.  On the last rise before the left hand turn I attacked again but soon realised I was at my limit and dropped the pace, allowing Peter to get back on my wheel.  We stayed like this until the last climb to the finish when I got away from Peter to take the points.  The battle for 3^rd and 4^th was very hotly contested with Chris and Time sprinting for the line.  I had some concerns they wouldn’t pull up before Brookton Highway but both managed to slow in time.  Time took 3^rd by less than a half wheel and Mark DC took 5^th.  We gathered at the service station to allow for food and drinks to be taken on – Jelly snakes have never tasted so good. 

By this stage there were a few tired bodies and the sun quite strong.  Mark DC and I chatted up the front about recent rides – a couple of weeks ago we’d raced each other of Kwinana Freeway after work not knowing until we broke off who the other was and we happy with the pace set.  We also talked about the last climb and our season ambitions of a sub 8 time for Mark and a sub 7.50 for me but decided that today would not be the day, given the temperature and four climbs already done.  Everyone else did their turns up front and before long we were heading down into Bickley Valley for the final ascent. 

The climb started OK with Mark DC deciding to go straight to the front.  I got passed Mark on the first steeper part and stayed in front maintaining a fair pace.  I looked behind at one stage to see three others hanging on – revealed later as Mack DC, Peter and Brodie.  I kept my head down and by the time we hit the flatter section only Mark and Brodie remained.  I kept the lead and upped the pace to see who would drop.  The others two held on and I figured I try one last attack to get them off.  By this stage I thought my speedo hadn’t dropped below 26 km/h so figured it was going to be a good time so kept attacking and hoped for the points.  Alas on the final rise Brodie and Mark came around and I couldn’t hold them off – with Brodie taking the points just.  As we passed the sign I looked down in disbelief at my time.  The scream of delight from Mark in front confirmed that my stopwatch wasn’t broken.  Mark and Brodie stopped the clock at 7.45 and I did a 7.46 – a 10 sec PB for me and 25 sec PB for Mark.  Needless to say we were both pretty happy.  Peter and Tim came in 4^th and 5^th.  Unfortunately I had to be home early for my son’s cricket so couldn’t celebrate at coffee.  I suffered a few leg cramps going along Lesmurdie Road but kept the pain away by staring at my stopwatch. 

As a footnote, the points table has been fully updated and the final ride for the month next weekend should be interesting.  Five riders are within 10 points of each other at the top so the KOM is wide open.  Let’s hope we get a good turnout as it goes down to the wire.  Also, Peter and I have discussed the hill climb times and this will be updated with recent performances included.