New Year Ride Routes

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Well the New Year is almost upon us and it looks like being a hot and windy start to 2010, with strong easterlies  forecast for both days.  To finish with a tail wind we’ll tackle Benara Road on Saturday, and hope that everyone can stay on two wheels this week.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 08 (benara rd)

On Sunday, with 38°C forecast, the chosen route will pass by the Merchant a couple of times to give riders the option of  pulling the pin early.  Remember to stock up on food and water and to slip, slop and slap.

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 06 (welshpool & observatory & kalamunda rd)

Also, for my sins I have to drop off some visiting family members at the airport at 5 am on New Years Day.  If anyone is keen for a ride leaving at 6.30 tomorrow morning from the carpark let me know.  No route is planned as yet – I’ll wait and see if anyone is interested.

Cheers,

Julian

"N" Group Ride – Monday Public Holiday

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Monday morning was going to be hot and the “conspirators” had agreed after the post Christmas Saturday ride that in an effort to beat the heat, the “N” group would leave Coode St carpark at 6.30 for the longer ride around the river and back to Atomic in Mends St.   At 6.35 when Gwyn & I arrived there were only couple of the girls plus Mike & Debbie, but by the time we had discussed the morning “easterly” and which way to go, the numbers were up to 14 including myself and couple of the other guys “ex” the main group joining in with the “N” group regulars. 

Heading off towards the Narrows at around 6.45am, we upped and over the bridge to re-group and pair up ready to head east along Mounts Bay Rd. Sitting on 30 with the tail wind, and Mike keeping the rear end in check, we rode as a solid pack “real cyclists” past the Brewery into Nedlands.  Turning left to follow the river alongside UWA, the pack went
through the “Steve”s” roundabout to tackle the first “lump” ahead as the The Avenue rose up into Dalkeith; this pushed a few of the heart rates up with the group spread out a little and three “old amigos” came past and took us on the hill.   

Re-grouping at the top we picked back up to a steady pace around 25-28, overtook the 3 amigos, and cruised up to
Stirling Hwy were we sat seemingly for ages waiting for the lights to change – too much carbon and not enough steel on the bikes I reckon to trigger the vehicle detectors in the road. 
Under the underpass, then left and up the next rise past Scotch College heart rates getting nicely elevated again, before stopping at the top for a quick strategy chat on tackling Curtin Ave in single file and the red lights on Eric and Jarrad St.  As luck would have it, both lights held green and let us straight through sitting on 27-30 with the
easterly helping us along.   Down through Leighton”s and the group looking very professional and business like – shame about the utes parked and blocking the bike lane heading south (no doubt the same d**kheads who like to hurl abuse at cyclists legitimately using the “their” road).  We even managed to overtake a couple of “targets” before taking a sneaky back street shortcut into Tydeman Rd.   
Little traffic around so we decided at the last minute not duck into east Freo, but head back via the Stirling Bridge, Canning Hwy and our third little casino pa natet lump up into Preston Point Rd.  More elevated heart rates with Tracy, Michelle and a couple of others storming up the hill and gapping the rest with a 50 metre lead out.  Up and over Point Walter and
then for a re-group to organise the roll through; after  pairing up ok, the inner line got a bit too enthusiastic and made it hard for the outer line pushing into the easterly to overtake, ending up with the group stretching out and separating somewhat.  A bit more practise around the longer section of Shelley and we”ll get there.    Waved and shouted
“pleasantries” at the Main group as they headed by in the opposite direction and had another crack at rolling through along Melville Beach Rd – bit better this time, and then again for the third time along the short section from South Perth Y.C to Canning Bridge.    Re-grouped by the Bridge and as we had only covered around 40 klms by
then, checked if anyone was game for quick deviation via Shelley – but the 60/40 split in favour of coffees at the Atomic  won through.  Funny that !   
So far we had run a safe and generally tight group ride – possibly a bit slow for some of the “guns” but a couple of the newcomers really appreciated Mike sweeping up at the back end of the pack and offering encouragement in times of need.  Heading north on the freeway bike path with a bit of a tail wind, Gwyn, Patrick & Tracy romped ahead.   As the main group turned off into the jet ski carpark, the large red & white pole in the middle of the bike path jumped up out of the red bitumen and assaulted one of our number (who wished to remain nameless) . . . . That sickening sound of screech crunch and thud behind can only mean one collective thing – pain embarrassment and expensive bike damage.  Thanks to the hospitality of the jet skiers and the ministrations of Michelle and a couple of the others, the recipient of the assault was laid out in the skiers tent in a bit of shock, whilst Mike checked the bike over.  With doses of TLC the patient recovered enough to re-mount and we all finished off the last klm of the ride back to Atomic (very carefully).  Just goes to show that after riding in the sun for an hour or two, it”s so easy for a bit of lapsed concentration to lead something ugly.  Fortunately damage to bike and body appeared to be minimal although someone will be sporting a few bruises and feel a little sore for the next few days.  Apart from the pole assault, thanks to Mike and the other “escorts” we had a safe ride, the group generally worked well together and gained a bit more confidence on some of the traditionally busy “cycling” roads.

5 Dams Ride – Wednesday 30th Dec

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Apologies for the late notice, but for those you who have a few hours to kill on Wednesday and want a good workout, there is a hill ride organised Wednesday morning to do the 5 Dams. This is the same route that Cyclosportif are doing in March.

Details:
When: Wednesday 30th december
Where: Bell Tower, 530am
Route: north to south
-out towards Gooseberry Hill Road
-Mundaring Weir (#1)
-Pickering Brook
-Churchmans Brook (#2)
-Wungong Dam (#3)
-Canning Dam (#4)
-Serpentine Dam (#5)
Total Distance ~230km

Sunday Hills ride – Sunday, December 27

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Report by Heiko

Julian nominated me on Saturday to lead the group out. I never looked more often at the ride routes page than on that Saturday evening! Make sure you know the route well, Peter said.
When I arrived at the car park that morning there were already about 20 people there. Brad explained the route to Lisa and Davina so even if I wasn’t too sure about the route he would hopefully help me out. A few Cyclemania guys were with us as well this morning. A quick head count came to 28 riders this morning who wanted to tackle Ridgehill Road as a bonus climb, Kalamunda Road, the Observatory from the shallow side and Lawnbrook Road up to the coffee shop.
I was a bit nervous that the group wouldn’t go the right way towards the hills as there were a few new guys as well who haven’t been out with us before. Luckily all was fine and peachy and no one got lost on our way out of the city. Ridgehill Road was first on the ride as a warm up and I tried to attack right from the start. Unfortunately whilst I was going flat out the young Cyclemania lads overtook sending me right back into the bunch.

After the re-group just before Kalamunda Road and some refreshments we headed off towards Kalamunda with the fast boys attacking pretty early and taking off out of my sight. All I could do there on top was writing down the KOM points (Kalamunda Road): Karl, Adrian, Nick, (who came in 4th here), Michael B.
To get to Pickering Brook we took the unusual decent down Mundaring Weir Road this time. The rolling hills through Aldersyde and Glenisla Road are actually worse from this side than they are from the side we usually used to ride them. We re-grouped just before Canning Road. Johnny and I were riding at the front towards the base of the climb to the Observatory. The Cyclemania guys and Michael B. took off and everyone else didn’t really seem to make any progress on them.

Observatory points: Karl, Sam, Adrian, Michael B., Nick

Down the observatory we went trying to take as much speed with us as we possibly could. It’s great to come down the Observatory as you ride down this really steep last bit of the decent and you think you can take that momentum up Lawnbrook. Just as you finish that thought though you almost come to a certain stop and need to put on the smallest gear there is (well, I had to, I think…). Luckily the climb flattens out towards the top which gives the opportunity to catch up a few which might have gone to early…

Lawnbrook KOM point: Karl, Sam, Adrian, Nick, Matthew
We should have had a tail wind on the way back in, but as it usually happens during a ride the wind direction changes, so that you ride out with a head wind and ride back in with one as well!
Thanks for the ride guys! And thanks to Brad and the rest who kept us on the right track and re-grouped at the right spots.

Ride report – (Behind the) Fast Group

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After the Christmas feast on Christmas Day the ride hold Ridgehill Road for us to tackle. I wasn’t feeling too bad, although the turkey and the Christmas pudding with Brandy sauce (well, more Brandy than sauce) should pay its tribute. Soon after the split we were heading along at a nice peace rolling through. As we turned on to Gooseberry Hill Road one of the other riders already asked me who put a hill into the Saturday ride. I ensured him that we aren’t taking on Gooseberry today and that Ridgehill Road is a lot nicer.

As the hill, or should I say big bump appeared ahead of us I thought I give it a try and see how much turkey and Brandy sauce the other guys had on the 25th. After maybe 300 or 400 metres I regretted that decision as most of the fast guys overtook me leaving me with more metres to “climb” somewhere in no-man’s-land. Catching my breath back on the top, Matthew (I think his name was Matthew, please correct me if it wasn’t) and I tried to chase the other boys down.

Initially with 3 people we started to chase down the others. We were catching up a few people on our way towards Hazelmere sitting around 40 km/h. I was just back at the front, as we were doing turns, when I heard the noise which you don’t want to hear on a bike ride. Lindsay had swerved into Mark D’s back wheel. He came off the bike almost immediately leaving Mark with two bikes. Lindsay’s handlebars had locked the back wheel and you can’t really ride with a blocked back wheel and another bike attached to your own. Luckily there were no cars around and neither Lindsay nor Mark had serious injuries, just a few scrapes. The bikes however had taken some damage. One front and one back wheel had considerable buckles in them. We sorted some issues with the brakes and rolled back to Perth with an easy pace. The rest of the ride wasn’t that eventful, but I guess we had enough excitement for that day and ride…

Heiko

Main Group Ride Report – Saturday December 26

Report by Julian 

The morning was postcard picture perfect and given the fact there was almost no wind, I was regretting my initial choice of Ridgehill Rd.  A trip to Cottesloe would have been a much better way to ride off the Christmas lunch but the route had been set.  A large group of ~50 bade farewell to the novices, once a flat tyre was sorted out, and were soon winging our way towards Hale Rd.  Apart from the obligatory break up at the first couple of lights we stayed together well and even managed to get most of the group through the Welshpool Road/Leach Highway intersection without stopping. 

Once we were on to Hale Road I shouted out instruction for the fast and main groups to split.  With no Russell or Neville this morning I organised the main group with some help from Chris and the split after Tonkin Highway went very smoothly.  The hot shots set off up the road and the 14 of us remaining in the main group settled into a steady pace.  I went from front to back to front making sure everyone was OK and although the rolling rises on Hale Road slowed a couple of riders, by the time we turned into Kalamunda Rd we were all together. 

We rolled through along Kalamunda Road and kept a steady pace in the high 30’s.  Everyone was doing their turn without complaint and the pace was still strong by the time we hit Guildford.  We went single file until across the river, then picked it up again for the flat section towards Bayswater.  We rolled through again with a couple hanging on the back wheels to make sure they weren’t dropped. 

The lights were reasonably kind to us and we only broke up as we neared East Perth.  Shun sat back and pulled the last of the riders though and once we freeway intersection I looked around and was pleased to see everyone together again.  I also noted that the first batch of the fast group were bearing down and ensured we stayed left to allow a smooth pass.  There was some integration of the groups at this stage as some of us couldn’t help to push a little harder up Plain St.  Down the other side a few got through lights whilst others were held up.  

The final sprint was a non event for me as I made sure everyone in the main group came through OK and at the Bell Tower we were well and truly ready for a drink and refreshments.  Given that it was a public holiday Saturday and there were plenty of people in town you’d expect the coffee shop to be open, but Perth being Perth this should not have been taken for granted.  We made an executive decision to head back over the Narrows to Atomic whilst I tried to explain the complete farcical nature of WA trading laws to John and Emily from Canberra, who have riding with us for the last couple of weeks.  I then headed off home to keep a promise to my kids of a trip to the beach.  I did hear that the fast group ride was eventful and Heiko will provide an update on this.

The Festive Season Rides

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As chosen by Julian

In a fit of madness last week Peter asked if I could pick the rides for this weekend.  Whilst I immediately thought of Gooseberry Hill for Saturday and a 6 climb ride for Sunday, a look at the weather for the weekend suggests I should proceed with care. 

Saturday will see us do the old favourite Ridge Hill Road and we’ll decide on the day if numbers will permit a split of the fast and main groups.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 10 (ridge hill rd) 

Sunday will see us go up Kalamunda Rd,  initially, then head for the Observatory and finish on Lawnbrook.  There are plenty of short cut options on this should it get above the forecast 33°C.

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 13 (kalamunda & observatory)

Monday is a public holiday and its around the river for the recovery ride, with  Johnny volunteering to lead this.  It’s forecast to be 40°C on Monday, so please brings lots of water.  Would there be any interest in starting it earlier??

south perth rouleurs public holiday ride

 Finally, if anyone wants to choose the rides for the first weekend of 2010, please let me know. 

Short Report – Sunday December 20

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Report by Julian 

There were 27 of us for the Sunday ride this week – a good turn out given the hot conditions expected.  Several new faces were present and had found out about us from the web-site.  It was also good to see the Subi bike force lads back again after a long absence.  The route involved us attacking the Kahuna from both directions, with the Roleystone Hill School and usual Mundaring Weir Road ascents to round out the climbing for the morning.

Luckily the easterly wind was pretty mild so the Manning Road/Albany Highway leg of the trip out.  Heiko and led out for the first bit then retreated to the back to see what was happening down there.  Alistair and Chris took over , followed by several other pairs who shared the work around.  Peter went to front just before we turned off Albany Highway to make sure everyone knew where to turn and before long the road started going up.  The group was in a playful mood this morning and once the initial attacks sorted themselves out I found myself in 6th wheel with the 5 in front getting away.  I settled into my rhythm and soon began the pick off some of the front group including Johnny, Damir and new Matt.  Behind me I noted Stu putting in a big effort as well.  Near the top Steve H had the measure of Chris and went on to take the points.  I caught Chris about 400 m from the top and came in second.  The rest of the group followed in and there was some serious sweating going on and our water bottles were already low.  We discussed refill places along the rest of the route and decided to take on water at Roleystone SHS.  I believe the short group kept going along Mills Road, towards Kalamunda, whilst the rest of us had Urch Rd/ Peet Rd to contend with.   

KOM 1 – 1.  Steve  2. Julian,  3. Chris,  4.  Stu,  5. Matt A 

Gregor and Johnny both had rapid descents but were soon caught by the group as we climbed up to Peet Rd.  Once at the turn Steve went around me and was followed by Peter.  They soon got away from Chris and I with Matt trying to keep up behind.  As the hill flattened out, Steve broke away from Peter and Chris and I bridged the gap.  The three of us stayed together through the roundabout and on to the final hill.  I expected to be out-sprinted by Peter and was surprised by him not attacking – it turned out going early with Steve had took its toll.  At 300 m out I took of and sprinted away from Chris to get second but was really feeling it at the end.  Judging by the looks on others as they finished, I wasn’t the only one suffering.  The re-group was quite log here today as we went into the school to hang out around the drink fountains.   

KOM 2 – 1.  Steve  2. Julian,  3. Chris,  4.  Stu,  5. Peter

Heading back down Brookton Highways provided a bit of relief from the climbs.  Some were quicker than others but we did a quick head count at the bottom to ensure everyone was still on.  Once the climb started disaster struck me as I dropped my chain and couldn’t get it back on without stopping.  Once fixed up, Alistair made sure I was OK and the two of us made the climb without any pressure for points.  We picked up a couple of stragglers on the way and only stopped at the top enough to get the points details. 

KOM 3 – 1.  Steve  2. Chris,  3. Matt A,  4.  Stu,  5. Matthew 

We made our way back onto Canning Mills Rd and re-grouped at Pickering Brook general store to take on more water.  The temperature was 33°C by this stage and we were all looking forward to the merchant.  My aim now was to go hard on the final hill to make up for the 3rd climb and also to get a seat on the couch.  On the final climb, I made an early break and Damir and Stu followed.  We were also joined by another guy who wanted to push as well.  Damir dropped off just over half way up leaving Stu and I to battle it out.  I tried to pass him just before the last rise but an extra effort from Stu prevented this and he went on to the line.  I managed a 7.56, not bad in the conditions and waited long enough to record the points, then headed to the Merchant. 

KOM 4 – 1.  Stu  2. Julian,  3. Matthew,  4.  Chris,  5. Steve 

A couple of others were already there, having forgone the longer stop at Pickering Brook but there was a feet spot on the couch so I settled in.  A fair bit of sweat was absorbed by the chairs today as we all re-hydrated after a long ride.  The trip back home was just as oppressive and Welshpool Rd was very hot.  Chris took it easy down the hill owing to a brake malfunction near the end of the end of the last climb so we waited at the school for him.  Heiko went for sprint glory at the first McDonalds and I think Gregor and Heiko battled it out at the end.  I was just glad for it to be finished and plunged immediately into the pool when I got home.  Thanks to everyone who came out today and I look forward to seeing everyone’s Christmas bike bling next weekend.

MFCC Criterium – C Grade

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By Toby

Today I fronted up for the MFCC C grade crit down in Yangebup. Dave (@madrapper for those on twitter) has been dueling it out in the crits for the last few weeks and I thought it would be good to join him. Unfortunately Dave was unwell this week and didn’t make the start line. Michael arrived typically late with Mino playing mechanic for the day.
Mike and I had a quick chat about tactics and I offered to lead him out for the sprint if we were both in good shape. I’ve seen Mike belting around the velodrome a few times recently and I felt confident he could have a crack if I could get him up there.
Mike had changed his front clincher for the occasion, but hadn’t adjusted his brake shoes. Unfortunately we realized this too late to be able to change it. He decided just to try and use the rear to get through 30 minutes of racing. More about this decision later.

It was already pushing 30 degrees when we set off. The pace was quite steady and we did the first lap or two in the mid 30’s. It wasn’t long before the pace got up around the 40km/hr mark.

The race was dominated by two clubs. The NDCC and a bunch of guys in blue/black kit – I think they were the Cyclo Vito guys or something. They had good numbers at the Joondalup classic too.
Anyway, as I was saying those two groups had control of the show. I rode about 4th wheel for most of the race. We endured successive attack after attack from each club – one after another. The young NDCC guys would put a guy up the road, and then the Vito boys would drag them back or vice versa.
A small group of 4 got off the front for a few laps. Unfortunately because there was a rider from NDCC and Vito in the break nobody wanted to chase. I put in an effort with the young ECU guy in the pack and we pulled them back relatively easily.

With about 3 laps to go the pace back off a bit as people started to get themselves organized for a sprint. Mike came up out of the pack and met me in the front of the pack. We had a quick chat and I told him I was going to rest on his wheel for a lap, and then move up for the lead out. The Vito boys were onto us though – I heard them talking about “that guy in the Confidis gear” (Mike) not doing anything up the front and that they thought he was going for the sprint. Damn.

As we rounded the corner into the home straight to get 2 laps to go I started moving up for Mike when disaster stuck. Mike flatted – probably from the brakes running on his tyre. Time for a new plan.
New plan – pick a wheel and hang on.

The plan worked pretty well. As we came down the back straight there was 3 NDCC boys and 3 Vito boys and myself all lining up for the sprint. One of the young NDCC boys hit the final corner in front and put his head down and went for it. I stuck on the wheel of the biggest Vito guy hoping he would roll over the others. As we drew down on the finish line I could tell I had the wrong wheel as we weren’t closing the gap on the NDCC rider. I decided to go for it so I pushed out the sprint as hard as I could. I managed to draw up alongside a couple of riders and with a huge throw at the line got my wheel over in 3rd place.

It was a pretty close finish for 2nd to 6th place so I didn’t know what I got until the presentations. Very happy to get a place! A huge improvement from my two DNF’s so far this year – and my first placing in about a decade.
It was a pretty good event, with the normal A grade domination from Carlito and Cam Meyer. The road surface is dead flat and very smooth. I would recommend anyone who wants to try a crit to give it a go. It would be awesome to see some more SPR jerseys out there as today I was the only one. It a different feeling compared to the Joondi classic when there seemed like dozens of us in each grade.

There was a crash in the last corner and one of the Vito boys went down.  I’m not sure who he was but he did have a SPR drink bottle.  I think the poor guy did his collar bone too.

Some stats for those who are interested:

Time: 32:13 – includes warm down lap.
Distance: 20.0 km
Average Speed: 38.5
Max Speed: 73.3km/hr (zing!)
Average HR: 177
Max HR: 192 (99%)

The website for the South Perth Cycle Club