so friday we left perth at around 2pm and arrived before dark . spent saturday looking around the area with the family and in the afternoon it was the crits.
i watched our spr team warm up and go thru their various preparation routines and checked out the course. bit of a tough course by the looks of it with some steep sections and a very tight corner at the end of a downhill run. anyway i’ll leave the crit details to those that raced it.
next day it was the road race. i lined up with brett l and kimbo in cat C along with 30 or so others. we had one aim- stick with the group. i knew from my last fiasco at joondalup that once you get dropped it’s pretty much good-night. ryan’s advice was to not do any chasing. i thought no danger of me doing that…
the course is a figure 8 with one of the eight’s circles about 3 times as big as the other. the smaller circle had the steepest climb but nothing compared to a sunday ride in length. still, in a race, it hurts.
the bigger circle took us on undulating back country roads for half, then a main highway for the rest. in terms of variety this little 33km figure 8 course had it all. our race was 2 laps.
ok so what happened? well i started out in the 1st 3rd of the bunch and stayed there much of the 1st bigger circle. brett did some generous towing for some part of the fast section. i’m sure he paid for it come the next steep part. i then found myself 2nd just prior to the steep little hill.
turning the corner to start the steep section
quarter way up the climb there was a break. at this point the fit boys took off and left me in about 10 place. this is one of those moments you play back in your mind thinking ‘why did i not htfu and hold the wheel?’
well i think lack of some vicky king park specials and no fast hard rides for the last 10 days left me nicely rested, but a bit under cooked. anyway about 6 or 7 of us were left in a chase group behind the leading group of 6.
we continued on our merry way and worked together on the faster sections to try and make ground. to no avail as the 1st 6 guys seemed way too far ahead and not even in sight.
on the second lap we were hit by some heavy showers with lightning. bit scary but we were on rubber tyres so i guess we were safe enough. at this point we lost some of our group over the undulating sections with visibility (as well as moral) much reduced.
it cleared by the time we hit the fast section for the last time that although we were not racing for a place, the three of us that were left wanted to cross the line first.
the 2 lost me on the steep hill again (dam it) but not by too much (about 400m). i fought my guts out to get back on and i was encouraged to see i was making ground. in the meantime i think they had thought they’d lost me. it was not until they turned to go down the last hill toward the finish that they spotted me and quickly tried to up the pace.
i had about 200 m to catch up before the finish which was now about 1 km away. this is where all those races down welshpool rd against gerry and mark came in handy. i felt right at home smashing it down hill and caught them as we reach the last home straight which is a 3 degree climb.
we all looked at each other to see who was going to ‘draw’ first… then the stronger of the other 2 took off but i pounced quickly taking a wide sweep to avoid any hanger-ons, pumped my legs for all they were worth past him to take out 8th place.
only my 8 yr old son managed to snap my finish...
we all shook hands and the it felt great to actually finish an individual race.
in summary joondalup memories are now laid to rest and i think cat ‘c’ is my natural place to be (for now).
i just need to anticipate/learn some of the likely sections teams will make a break on – and if you can work as a team you have a huge advantage as i witnessed 1st hand.
Having had a couple of weeks off the bike due to a minor but annoying injury was looking forward to a Sunday ride. Wasn’t sure what the turnout would be with the long weekend and a few of the regulars hills riders flying the SPR colours at the “away” fixture in Pemberton, but about 15 riders rolled up at what is now sunrise at 7am. Pete had set us a slightly shorter ride with 4 points climbs scheduled with the usual finish in Kalamunda. Mike B who had requested a “moderate” course joined along mill point road so I knew that we would have to work hard on the climbs to stay in sight of his back wheel at his “moderate” climbing pace.
We headed out on great eastern highway into a bit of a breeze. The roads seemed nice and quiet today, and we managed to avoid any abuse, car attacks or punctures which makes for a much better day for all. I think everyone took turns at the front on the way out, with some smooth changes and the group moving up through the middle when the front riders peel off as dictated by group ride rules! (http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=6731&status=True&catname=Latest%20News). This feels a lot safer than having the inside rider try to get across to the right and let the group pass on the left.
The first climb was up coulston road along the southern edge of greenmount to get everyones legs warmed up. Some of the boys headed off for a shorter ride around this point I think. Hunter set the pace early up here and I managed to sit in for most of the windy bits thanks for that! We kept the pace up and towards the end and I was expecting mike or jerry to shoot past but we managed to hold them off to the T junction. Points as follows:
ben – 10, hunter – 7, mike – 5, jerry – 3, dr mark – 1
Next climb up toward glen forrest drive started pretty sharply, with pete advising that we would probably get split up from the start. Bill led out near the start but we were soon overtaken by mike b whose wheel I managed to hold for approx 5 seconds before being dropped off. He makes it look too easy! Peter seemed to have warmed up his holiday legs and put in a good chase toward the intersection with the points ending up being:
mike – 10, ben – 7, jerry – 5, peter – 3, bill – 1
The regroup time was pretty short with everyone seeming to get stronger every week. Mark led all the way through to the Mundaring roundabout in time trial position, and for the rest of the day it seemed like he had too much energy to spare. A short pause to check all were on and mark was off again. From here to mundaring weir is probably one of my favourite rides – plenty of speed with gentle rolling hills but overall downhill through some pretty nice scenery, a right at the roundabout and down to the weir. The call went out to keep together from here up the next climb out of the valley and from what I saw this seemed to work well with the bunch staying close. Somewhere near the top pete made the move to encourage us up the final stretch to asher road with bill setting the pace initially. I seemed to have missed where asher road was but thankfully peter was paying attention and it ended being:
ben – 10, jerry – 7, hunter – 5, bill – 3, mark – 1
we headed straight on without stopping toward Kalamunda with hunter and I sitting behind gerard into the climb. Gerard set a good pace from the start of the climb, and I was hoping we would be able to hold the others off to the top. For some reason this bit seems short on some days and to go on forever on others. Today it seemed long… (much like this report is getting!) As I expected mike b came past just before the half way point, having gained any ground that we had made on the downhill. He must have been taking it easy today as I managed to get past again. Gerard looked strong at the end to take final points:
jerry – 10, ben – 7, mike – 5, hunter – 3, mark – 1
I don’t know about everyone else but I had lost a fair bit of fluid by coffee – the humidity meant that there was not much evaporative cooling going on. 11 of us squeezed around a couple of tables perched on the stairs to take the bonus point. The service was pretty quick today, we saw how many surgeons it took to change a mountain bike tyre, and got the rest of the details on petes new baum. A nice run down welshpool, with pete stashing his breadstick in case required to beat off any bogans in 4x4s. Mark D now loaded up on stimulants from paris brest got down on the bars again and towed us back up to the shepperton road intersection at a good pace just in time to catch some boy band music at a disturbing volume from someone’s astra at the lights.
All in all a great ride with perfect weather really. Hope the pemberton crew were successful and hope to hear all about the weekend soon.
after 2 weeks off the bike, and number 1 son giving me a cold in that time, i was always going to struggle on a group ride. we had flown home on monday and i managed to slip a few rides in during the week but they were nowhere near the pace that i used to ride at. a constant push was fine, but any surges tended to hurt and i didn’t have the capacity for them.
the other big change over the 2 weeks is how damn dark it is again. it is time for me to complain once again about how daylight savings sucks. i know how i am voting come referendum time. the street lights were on as i was riding to the start of a 7am ride.
anyway, as i approached the start point i did a quick head count and only saw about 35 riders. within this was a severe lack of girls (i.e. none) and with some of our regulars down south for the race at pemberton there didn’t seem any point in splitting the group. a few new faces on the ride today too and it is good to see more people wanting to come out riding with us.
so the route without the split would take us along good old south st and onto banister rd. the aim was to make it as easy as possible until we got to banister then give it some stick. i lead out with jack and i managed to get all the way to the hill before stock rd before i had to drop off the front. a quick scurry to the back to see who was struggling and we managed to get everyone onto stock rd. the last climb between leach and south managed to unhinge a few riders but most jumped back on once we were on south st.
as expected, the rolling hills along south played havoc with the back markers but mike and myself managed to pull a few of them back to the group. the occasional stop light certainly helped us as well. doug decided to join us along south after thinking that he missed us on canning hwy. we had a delayed start due to a flat tyre so he thought we had already passed by so rode up to south st and caught us coming the other way.
once we hit banister the pace was on from the start. the field lined-out almost straight away and i was content to just sit in and hold a wheel as best i could. a few of the barista boys were in attendance today and were mixing it up at the front along with the usual suspects from the rouleurs. it got a little messy towards the end as people were surging around the sides as traffic was in the other lane. we need to keep that in check and at least look before you stray too close to the centreline.
once we hit nicholson rd, the call went up to ease the pace back. jack and a couple of others were already up the road with ryan chasing them, and so we just let them go. maybe we should have split the group today, but we would have ended up with two small groups.
anyway, the pace varied a bit along nicholson but most people managed to get back on. gregor slinked to the back to look for his mate who he invited out for the first time, only to find that he was off the back on banister. the indecision of whether to wait for a mate, or hang with the group. once we told him some regulars were back there with him and should know the way home, he decided to ditch his mate for the protection of the peloton.
the pace seemed to steadily increase along albany hwy and the group started shedding riders early. we were supposed to wait for the shep rd intersection and this is another reason why we will probably split the group every saturday. the first set of lights and the group was halved as some managed to get through on the amber while the rest of us contemplated the chase. as usual the long delay at the lights meant that any chance we had of catching was going to be up to how many sets of lights they caught and we didn’t. it didn’t really play into our hands too well and our group was split again before we reached riverside drive. with only 4 of us left, there was no sprint, just survival to the end.
the highlight of the final sprint came from brett who decided to be sneaky and slip through the t-intersection lights at victoria st. unfortunately he was spotted by and unmarked police car who flashed his lights and pulled him over. after a very stern talking too, and a threat of a $400 fine plus 8 demerit points (double this weekend) he was let off with a warning. probably a good reminder about rolling through red lights for the group. it happens sometimes, but you know we will wait, so just do the right thing and stop. in brett’s case, all he had to do was head onto the bike path and he would have ended up at the coffee shop.
ok. my first ride back after two weeks away (with a cold) so i will be very underdone. we are splitting the group again this week as i think that it has been working well and some of the general comments favour this format. i have been remapping most of the routes and have started to add a part b to them. in every case the fast group will take the “b” route as it will contain more kilometres.
this week we will do the good old canning vale route which runs up bannister road. the fast boys will go past that and take a different route, so have a good look at the map for i am not sure which group i will be riding with on saturday. in other words, don’t get lost. especially the fast group as the route is a new one.
sunday will take the group for a nice circuit around darlington and mundaring weir. if you have been wanting to do a hills ride but have been reluctant to come out, this one will be a good one as you can’t really get that lost and the regroups allow for a fair spread of abilities.
monday being a public holiday will see a nice and easy recovery ride around the river. i haven’t mapped it yet, but hopefully will get it done before monday as there has been some confusion the last couple of public holiday rides.
i didn’t think i was up to a ride this morning, having had a somewhat less than ideal few days in the run up to sunday.
i started feeling sick on thursday, and spent friday, in bed with a fever. things got worse from there on, as kids got sick and surprised us with technicolour yawns all night.
on saturday i was well enough to try my hand at being a lumberjack after hiring a chainsaw. i don’t know why having a chainsaw in your hand brings out some kind of weird streak in guys; sort of like a cross between jack nicholson in the shining, and big arnold in conan the barbarian. anyway, my back yard is much neater, and my pavement looks like a 1950’s south west timber mill.
i didn’t set the alarm on saturday night, hoping that i could lie in and maybe take a short ride around the river on my own. as luck would have it i awoke at exactly the time my alarm would have gone off, and that was it. i knew i had to ride.
i got to the start 5 minutes late, to find a group of about 10 chatting away – a couple of newer faces again, which is always encouraging.dr paul announced that he was in for a shorter route today, to which i replied that i had similar intentions. without the likes of brendan, ryan, and peter, the rest were like dominoes, and that was the decision made. all it took was the words helena valley, zigzag & coffee” and we’d all just become “blouses” in the blink of an eye. but here’s the thing – we had a legitimate excuse that came to us when we were sipping lattes in paris brest. there was racing on at technology park in bently, and the short route would allow us to have coffee, ride back, and watch the racing. all of a sudden we were no longer blouses, but rather loyal club supporters, who, with careful planning and a strong commitment to their fellow cyclists, were able to squeeze in a reasonable training ride plus go and support their mates. how organised is that!!!
so we ambled out to the zigzag taking turns in front in pairs, as good responsible riders do, and regrouped at the bottom of the zigzag. we all felt bad saying that the next regroup would be at the coffee shop, but not bad enough to change our minds.
in fairness to ourselves, we pushed a fair pace up the hill, until about 2/3 of the way up when hunter went to the front and let rip. shao and julian went with him, and i tried, but gave up after a short while. i think paul (d.i.d.) was close by most of the way up. hunter saw another group waiting at the top of the zigzag proper, and stopped with them. when i rode on past, he realised the error and took off again, easily passing me. i chased them all the way from there, but never got closer, so the order at the top was: hunter, shao, julien, mark, paul
coffee was great (is it ever not?) and it felt a bit strange being there so early. i am (only a little) embarrassed to say that we’d clocked a total of thirtysomething km by the time we got there (slightly more for those of us who have a bit of a ride in). it was still almost chilly when we left kalamunda, for a brisk ride back. the residual energy in the group was evidence by the fact that we never had to wait for anyone at the school at the bottom of welshpool. dr greg took honours at the bottom of the hill this time, after a tactical break over lesmurdie hill.
paul, dir greg and myself missed the turnoff at berwick to go and watch the racing in bently. what a great venue , for both riders and spectators; the best i’ve seen in perth so far. sloping grass banks overlooking the finish, complete with shade, and easy access for all. (note to self: do the bently crit next year, but make sure you enter an appropriate grade; c sounds good)
we met james who’d just finished the c-grade race, where he had the misfortune to crash on the finish line (not before taking out 7th place) right in front of his wife. i have to envy the sympathy he received for this. in the past, when returning home bloodied and battered, i have been crapped on for taking unnecessary chances, damaging expensive clothes, bleeding on the patio, etc, etc.
the b-graders had just started when we arrived, and we saw chris and judd (sounds like a footballer?) hurtling around with the pack. then someone put the hammer down, and we saw judd hurtling around, while we consoled chris on the sidelines.
judd did lots of work up front and was unlucky to get swamped on the last lap and miss out on the sprint.
it was great to see that more spr comrades had shown up to support the riders – jonathan, lenny, stu g and michael b, who tells me his ticker is well on its way back to race form. brendon was our single hope in the a-grade; and he was only treating the ride as a training run for next week at pemberton. he looked comfortable all the way, rode a very sensible race, and even went with a couple of the breaks (just to show he could). he ended up comfortably in the pack, and in top form for next week.
i left just after the girls started, and it was amazing to see so many familiar faces riding; lorraine, bec, lisa, renae, nicole, anna, josie, other bec etc. josie looked like she had things under control when i last looked.
quote of the day goes to chris, at the start of the girls race: “i hope the girls last longer than i did” . there were several clever retorts, but none that can be repeated here.
well done to those who raced, and good luck to the brave ones heading to pemberton next week. cya.
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We have had a couple of withdrawals for the Pemberton Classic this weekend so there are one or possibly two beds available.
If there is anyone tempted to come down for a great weekend of socilaising and riding let me know ASAP.
I think it would be fair to say I have had a somewhat crappy week and my efforts at Renae’s Race were well in keeping with it!
After Ryan’s spin class on Weds night at South Perth a couple of us headed to the pub for a quick drink. I get back to the car to find it had been broken into!!!
Amazingly my bike was still there… something for which I am still eternally grateful. However ALL my bags had been stolen. All my cycling gear including shoes, running gear, several sets of clothes, toiletries, makeup, cash, my groceries…the list goes on!!! It has added up to an amazingly large sum.
Note to other riders: even if your house and contents insurance covers items stolen from your car there may be a cap on sporting goods… in my case only $3000. Not even a deposit on a new R3 these days!!!
I still had a bike and managed to have shoes and cleats organised by Friday was nothing short of miraculous. However, bad sleep, going hard on Saturday’s ride, working until midnight on Saturday night and waking up with a touch of gastro on Sunday was hardly going to the best build up to any race!
I rocked up too late to see James’ spectacular finish… thanks for the photo though! Probably more of James’ arse than I need to see on a regular basis. Then I look at who’s racing in women’s… Emma Pooley, Josie Tomic, Sarah Kent, Sally Robbins, Melissa Hoskins…. Shit!!!
I struggled from the word go and got dropped after about 4 laps. After about 15 min I had just been lapped by the bunch and decided I was going to call it a day. As I came round the tightest corner I saw a rider lying on the verge…. LISA!!!!
I must have just missed seeing her go down. She had been on the outside of the bunch as they went wide on the corner. She got pushed into the curb and flipped up and onto the verge. I jumped off the bike to help (nothing to lose at this stage). She wasn’t moving at all and I think may have been out for a few seconds. She was very shaken up and had knocked her head badly as she came down. Her Bell helmet is history with 2 huge cracks in it!
Kept her still and waited for her to be checked out by the first aid officer. Eventually we got her into a car and back to the start/finish. She was very upset and dizzy and had to lie down. She looked up at me blankly and had the worst blonde moment of her life… “What happened?… How did I get here?” She had completed lost the previous 10-15 min… a sure sign that her brain had well and truly been rattled!
Alex (hubby) took her to SCGH and had her checked out. They kept her in for observation for a few hours but then let her go home on the proviso that she rested. Even though they confirmed it was a nasty concussion there was apparently no objection to her racing at Pemberton next weekend! She even managed to persuade Alex to take her into TBE on the way home and buy a new helmet… What a girl!!!
Bec Halliday had had the worst luck! She was in a great position in a breakaway and got a puncture just a couple laps from the finish… she was fuming!!!!
On a positive note though, it was wonderful to see so many SPR supporters on the side lines too to cheer us all on! Thanks guys.
So… I am choosing to reflect on what I should be grateful for this week… Still having a bike that I love, still have my friends and team mates in one piece (although some are a little beaten up) and still loving cycling whether I am crap or not.
I’ll start but hopefully other’s can add/revise /delete as they see fit.
SPR racer’s included; Lisa, Lorraine, Bec W, Nicole, Brendan, Judd, James and myself.
As far as SPR was concerned the action began with James in the C grade race, I had tried to nominate for C grade but the organisers bumped me up to B grade. More on that later. James rode smartly within the front third of the field of 18-20 and did all he needed to be there for the finish. I caught the finish and with Lisette on the sidelines for the first time James had someone other than us pillocks to impress. In the sprint for the line it looked like a couple of guys duked it out for the win. James looked to be heading for a good finish and then decided to add to the excitement by tangling with another rider and crashing rather spectacularly after crossing the line. James is recovering with a few days at home grovelling to Lisette pondering a replacement bike (or parts) and possibly reassesing the need to shave his legs.
I missed most of the C Grade action due to having to warm-up so perhaps someone can fill in any other exciting details, much appreciated.
With no training in two weeks, unless you count a ride to work and 40 minutes on the trainer the day before, I knew I was in for pain. Happily i think I lasted half the race duration. Judd rode very well keeping himself in the first half dozen riders and not expending too much effort chasing breakways. Cyclemania were very active and with 5 or 6 riders were expected to be, with most moves being covered the race came down to a bunch sprint. With one of the cyclemania guys
away solo we encouraged Judd to go for it as he crossed the finish line for the penultimate time, perhaps stupidly he took our advice. Unfortunately he was swammped coming out of the final turn and finished safely in the bunch. Good ride Judd, sorry I was absolutely no good to you.
Brendan was next up for the A grade race and was really only looking for a workout ahead of next weekends double header at Pemberton. Brendan was all on his lonesome for this race and must have had a rush of blood early on as he ended up in a small break. The A grade race was a bit of a cracker with the usual aggresive team tactics and a number of other breakaway attempts. The final and succesful break was instigated by Eddy Hollands who was slowly joined over a number of laps by several others with this group finishing up with 8 or so riders. Eddy then proceeded to win the sprint from his breakaway companions.
Next up the ladies race. Plan B had almost all of their big guns (Davina is off enjoying Kiwi weather and hospitality) and were in my mind, undoubtedly the favourites, until of course I was made aware the Emma Pooley was out for some fun. Yes, this Emma Pooley. The SPR girls were thrilled to be racing against such a quality field, actually I think they might have been just a little intimidated. Proceedings began with a couple of parade laps in memory of Renae Baker before getting down to business. Unfortunately for a few of our girls the pace got pretty hot pretty quick lead Lorraine, Bec and Nicole to form their own race within a race. Lisa was hanging towards the back of the bunch and looked to be reasonably comfortable. Lorraine was the first to crack and after a rough week (with thieves stealing her unmentionables, amongst other valuables) took a break around the back of the circuit. I think Bec and Nicole hung in for the finish albeit a couple of laps down, good work ladies. I was a little distracted when the shout went up about a crash and Lisa was no longer with the bunch. After such a strong effort it was a dissappointing end to the day for Lisa. Punted out to the kerb, around the difficult top turn, Lisa introduced her helmet to the road/pavement with some force. After a trip to hospital for observation Lisa was released Sunday evening, we’ll see if there are any long term effects like purchasing a Cervelo soon enough.
Anyway, back to the racing. Surprisingly the Plan B girls were active in everything and eventually Josie got away for the break of the day. Working with Sarah Fraser, and with the remaining Plan B girls covering everything else, they pulled away from the chasing bunch(s). Josie kicked with a couple to go and went on for a solo win, nice work!
Anyhow, thanks to the otgher Rouleurs who turned up to support the racing contingent. I trust the jumbo point scorer on the Sunday ride made the most of it you have one more week and then Stu and Brendan will be back to claim what is rightfully theirs.
Well arriving at Coode Street today I was rather tired from being at work all week and our neighbours partying most of the night and neighbours having domestics at 2 in the morning but none the less looking forward to a hit out on the road rather than the wind trainer at work all week.
It was great to see a huge turn out yet again and goes to show we as a group/club are doing what cyclists seem to enjoy with bunch riding and great camaraderie
After I gave a short spiel about our route today etc we headed off into a light headwind along Mill point Road and onto Shepparton Road, I figured it was going to be one of those days as after the night I had we managed to get a Red light for the first 2 traffic lights and that set the tone for the day.
The ride out Shep to Welshpool Road was pretty uneventful just trying to keep everyone grouped together and steadily rolling along, again with more red lights we finally managed to get out to our Hale Road turnoff where we kept a steady but not fast pace up until one of the Hwy’s where the lights split the group but eventually back together we hit Kalamunda Road turnoff where the groups were meant to split, I roved the pack and reminded everyone to make a choice and the Road Runners (rabbits) or being the Coyotes (chasers)
The groups split fairly smoothly but as we headed straight for ridge Road Hill one of the other group will have to add to the Blog there spiel from here on as that would be the last we saw of them till the Coffee shop but getting ahead of myself…. We were abit disorganised and a few people put the hammer down straight away and headed to the left/right combo before headed over the bump call ridge Road, adding in cars trying to get past we were strung out single file with me trying to keep as many of us together and calling for re group at the roundabout on the other side of the hill. A few were happy to ride there pace and some rode it hard but we all managed to ride over without too many problems, once skirting down the other side we hit the roundabout and I rallied the troops to regroup.
Someone had some bike issues but told the group to go on and he checked his bike and caught up without any probs with some help of course. Ryan, Gerry, Nick and a couple of others obviously didn’t feel like waiting for the main peloton so rode of in the distance while we slowed for the regroup. Once regrouped we made our way towards Guildford and I managed to have everybody rolling turns fairly smoothly after a few smashing turns at the start everyone was at a comfortable speed and rode as a group really well which was great to see. We were averaging 40kmhr without too many issues until we hit Guildford Road for our tail wind home with a faint hope of reeling in those rabbits err road runners
It was pretty obvious after the first few traffic lights today was not going to be our day as all the way in to East Perth I am positive we hit at least 80% of red lights, when we had the chance the group rolled over really well, albeit those chances were few and far between. We finally managed to get to our turn off to head to East Perth down to riverside drive and yet again we got split by a red light but re grouped at the base of the East Perth Hill and headed off to riverside Drive with yet again another 2 red lights and you wouldn’t believe it another one right before our sprint ends at the speed sign just before the coffee shop turn..
So needless to say we came in approx 5 minutes behind those pesky road runners with Ryan’s lil group not quite reaching them either.
So as the outside area was full we took over the inside area and had the whole lot to ourselves to enjoy coffee, drinks and muffins had and quite a few good laughs.
After I headed home to rest up for tomorrow’s race at Technology Park.
Hope to see a few there racing and cheering for club SPR, Thanks for the ride peoples it was great not having any accidents or incidents to report on.
my bike has never fitted me. in the early years i don’t think i really noticed it too much. but then again, i wasn’t really riding that much either. the old repco traveler that i first got back in the mid 80’s was measured up by standing over the top tube to see what my inseam clearance was. yep, she’ll be right. even my next bike a repco superlite was not sized up too much different. i can not remember any measurements of my body and a match to a particular frame size. the fact is that it wasn’t a real bike shop either. it was a toy shop that sold bikes, but growing up that is all we had. chrome-moly steel and superlight it wasn’t.
a peugot ventoux frame was a second hand purchase from a mate and we were a similar height so i guessed it would be ok. however, after reminiscing with him after catching up after 15 years on the weekend, it is clear that we aren’t the same body type and never have been. it was a frame upgrade for me and served me well for many years.
starting to work in the mining industry and actually earning money meant that my next upgrade would be better. i visited tbe in belmont after flying down from paraburdoo, and saw phil (now at riders choice). i was put on a “fit bike type thing” and worked out that i needed a 56cm frame. as i had already chosen the frame type, the “fit” was more about seeing what size off the rack frame i needed.
i started doing triathlons and was trying to make my road bike into a triathlon bike by changing posts and stems. after a lot of complaining i was given permission to get a specific triathlon bike. i was looking at a number of brands, but was interested in making sure i was getting the right size bike for me. i went to see budgie in bassendean and he took many a measure from many bits of my body. he then did a few secret calculations and came up with a few choices of frames. luckily he suggested a frame that i had been looking at and i went with that one. as with most new triathlon specific new bikes, they came in small, medium and large frame sizes. if i was going to buy one without a sizing, i would have probably have bought a large as i am around six foot tall. however, budgie said that i am all legs with a short torso. in fact he said that for my leg length, i should be around 6 foot 8. he therefore put me on a medium frame to make sure i could reach the bars without being overstretched. we had the front jacked up to the max with lots of spacer and a short stem that was almost vertical. it looked a bit funny, but was really comfortable and i could smash out lots of power on it.
i was allowed to upgrade my road bike and as it was just before the birth of number 1 son, i thought that it may be my last bike for quite a while. i opted for an Italian carbon that was more about style and name than fit. as i thought that i was happy on the cannondale, i just got the same size frame (didn’t really check the other crucial measurements like seat tube angle though). i set it up and thought that i was comfortable riding it. however, as i stared doing more kms i found that i was not feeling that comfortable and felt stretched out. after doing the bike fit for the tribike, i thought that i knew what i needed and started experimenting with different components and setups. i changed the stem length a number of times and went from a 120mm to a 105mm to a 90mm. during that time i also turned them upside down effectively shortening it again and bringing it up. i also slid my seat forward on the rails to bring me closer to the bars. all this because it felt like i was trying to hold two bricks out at arms length. well that is what i looked like when i was “relaxed” on the bike. i debated going to see a bike fit expert in perth but was waiting to see if the adjustments i made would help. i bought some short reach bars which have now pulled my levers back in about 15mm. i thought that i would now be able to rotate my stem back over so it was not facing upwards. not so as now i would hit my knees on my bars when i was up out of the saddle. so in the end i am now running a saddle pushed far forward as possible, with a 90mm angled up stem and a short reach handle bar. i opted not to get a zero offset seatpost as i thought that this would put me even further forward of the bottom bracket and thought that i would decrease power when seated climbing. the net result was that i was marginally more comfortable, but was now riding a bike that was not that balanced.
options
carbon neutral.
after my discovery of the upturned stem, i thought that maybe what i need was a longer had tube to get my controls higher and therefore closer to me without getting in the way of my knees. as the cycling world has finally come full circle and discovered that we don’t just come in small, medium and large, some companies had started doing special frames that may cater for freaks like me. the cervelo rs and the look optimo are two frames that offer a longer head tube to bring the front up. i started toying with the idea of getting one of them. i knew that i really wanted/needed a custom frame, but costs are always a prohibiting factor. there are cheaper custom alternatives around, but i was not going back to and aluminum frame after riding carbon. i figured that i may be able to get a last years rs cheap over the net if i looked hard enough and that would fit into my budget (allowance) for bike upgrades. i could then just transfer my parts over and sell my fondriest frame. i mentioned this plan to my financial advisor (wife) and she was not really impressed. so, you are going to spend a couple of thousand on a new frame and there is no guarantee that it will even fit you properly. hmm, not very convincing. she knew that my master plan involved getting a custom framed bike and i even tried to convince the chiro to tell her that i needed one or my current bike would do me damage. that wasn’t very convincing either. i wasn’t really getting anywhere and with the arrival of the new baby was having trouble justifying any spend on the bike at all. i was hoping that the baby bonus would allow me a bit of cash spare to do some upgrades this year, but that was vetoed in order to put new aircons in the bedrooms. things were looking pretty grim for the bike this year.
then for some unknown reason, we were discussing finances and the offer of a custom framed bike was bought up and approved.
factory visit
welded perfection
you do not ask questions, you just run with it. a few quick arrangements and i had extended my leave (2 ½ months off is cool) and we had flights booked to head home to victoria. of course we were really heading back to visit the family and to show off the new baby, but there would be a visit to the baum factory in geelong while we were there.
first call and i talked to james and organised a time to visit. pretty quick phone call and didn’t really discuss much of what i needed or what the process was. i had a talk to dr paul about his visit and what he went through to fit the bike. how long it would take and how long from fit to delivery would be. it seemed that the biggest issue would be just what colour to get.
a second phone call to confirm the time and i got to speak to darren baum himself. we had a quick chat and i talked to him about what i had issues with and what i was after. not a problem, just need to bring my shoes and let him know what pedals i used.
fit day arrived and i got a phone call to say that it had been double booked and whether i could drop in a bit later. i was on holidays and we were only staying 45mins away, so no real problem. i found my way to the factory and it turned out to be just a big shed in a light industrial area. the only give away was the name “baum” in big letters on the front door, but if you didn’t know what it was, it was just another factory. i entered to find a guy on a fit bike spinning away with a big fan in front of him. i thought that it would be a “measure the body and how does this feel” type fit, not a session on the ergo. this was our double booking and i was ushered through to the next room and introduced to darren. we sat down for a talk so that he could get an idea of how much riding i did and what type of rider i was. we had a bit of a tour of the factory floor and david took me around as darren had to deal with some manufacturers that they distribute. after my frame has been sized, a list of tubes would be put into a box and they would then work their way around the different stations. i got to have a look at some bottom brackets and drop outs before they are on a bike, as well as a whole bunch of nice titanium tubes. for my frame, the tubes would be cut and mitered to form a snug fit at all junctions. the tubes would then be also milled down in certain areas to reduce weight. as i am not a heavy rider, the tubing can take the reduction in strength quite easily. the tubes would then be placed into a jig to be held together whilst they are being welded. the usual cleaning, brushing and painting would then take place. all up the whole workshop was not that huge but as they only pump out about 100 frames a year it wasn’t really a production line.
“fit bike”
what size frame would you like?
i caught back up with darren and he began setting up the “fit bike” for me. everything was taken into account such as crank length, saddle type, handlebar width and reach and levers brand. now i just thought that these parameters would just be more numbers in the calculation, but no, darren actually pulls out a flite saddle, checks the bar width, changes the adjustable cranks, puts the shimano pedals on and adds some sram brake hoods. i said that i was going to put the new dura-ace on but apparently the sram are the same size hoods. it also gives me some options to go with red if i want to (or afford).
no measurements were taken from my body at all.
he set the frame up to a fairly standard size that he thought would suit my body and got me onto the bike to start riding. the stem was 120mm and i felt stretched out to the max. he watched me for a few moments and then commented – “there is something not right here”. he called in jarred who was doing the previous fit and they both watched me ride for a moment. “your femurs are too long” was the assessment. hmmm, i’m not sure i can fix that one. so the frame was adjusted a number of times mostly up and back. a lot of the time it was a combination of what i felt and what i looked like on the bike. the earlier comment about holding two bricks in front of me came from darren, but it totally makes sense. apparently when riding in the hoods, i just don’t seem to relax. he said that he could constantly see tension in my triceps as i am holding up my body. a number of adjustments were made until it looked pretty much right. he then called jarred back in again and they had a talk about what else to try. a few minor adjustments were made to see how i would react to them. fairly minor adjustments in one direction and i could feel extra tension in my lower back so we knew which way not to go. a few more adjustments and we were pretty much their. the funny thing was that when it was put in a big gear and the power was on, my body position looked fine whether i was on the hoods or in the drops. however, the same position didn’t quite feel right when just cruising. maybe i just shouldn’t ride easy.
i was running out of time and had to head home as i had already missed two phone calls asking where i was. i made a date to come back the next morning and finish off the process. i was unsure just what was left to do, but i felt that i was pretty comfortable on that setup.
design
made for me
the next day i was shown the process from “fit bike” to frame design. a special measuring jig was placed on the “fit bike” and the angles and lengths taken from it. there is then a special “bike cad” program that takes all the measurements and converts them into a bike design. my overall size was the equivalent to a 58cm seat tube and a 55cm top tube which equated to a 185mm head tube. to compensate for my long femurs, the seat and head tube angles were laid back to around 71.5 degrees. this meant that my knees were not so far in front of the pedals and i may be able to put a bit more power down. the cad program also allowed for the right sizes and angles of the components like stems etc. and then gave overall measurements for the bike fit. i had requested that the geometry be traditional with the top tube parallel with the ground. however, when designed like that, the longer head and seat tube, meant that the back of the bike looked way too big and the gap between the back wheel and the seat tube junction was massive. darren had taken some artistic licence with the design and as he looks at bike designs all the time, he knew what looked good. so we ended up with a semi-sloping design and he added the reynolds forks as they are a bit longer so make the head tube look a bit smaller. all up these cosmetic changes didn’t worry me as the most important thing was that the bike was sized for me to begin with. if it looked stupid, who cares as long as i can ride effectively. however, darren made sure it looked good.
the height of the bottom bracket was also lowered a bit (few millimeters) and i asked how that will effect the handling of the bike. as i said i don’t like doing crits, it wouldn’t really be a problem, although 5mm will not make that much difference to the cornering. my main concern was that i would get a bike that was balanced. the chain stays were a bit longer to compensate for the relaxed geometry and still maintain a balanced bike. the stem was left at 110mm and the length of the top tube allowed me to reach this easily. darren said that he generally designed for at least a 110mm stem as shorter one affected the balance of the front end. i certainly notice it on the current bike when i am out of the saddle as you feel like your arms are locked by your sides.
a few other options were discussed and carbon seat stays were something we could go for. i asked what it would actually do for the bike and the result would be a little more comfortable as it would take out the high frequency vibrations. the suggestion was that the titanium rear is a more classic look and would retain it’s classic characteristics. as there would be no change in performance, i decided to go classic. a carbon post will hopefully do the trick for the vibrations through my bum.
what flavour?
colour was the next choice and apparently this can cause a whole lot of problems as it is such a personal choice. there are a number of standard choices for the frame of your choice and then there is number of upgrades for extra dollars. for the cubano, i had a choice of ½ colour or ¾ colour with decal logos. any of the fancy paneled paint jobs or multiple colours would cost extra as would painted logos. i was shown a number of frames that they had in the workshop and they also have a bunch of tubes all painted up in the standard colours. i had downloaded a bunch of photos from the baum flicker album that showed a number of paint schemes that they have previously done. nothing was really catching my attention and i was still liking the pearl white that dr paul had on his corretto. i thought about a really understated logo on the frame and asked about the pinstripe version or a silver logo on the white background. darren suggested that it is important to balance the frame with the colour of the logos and if you drop them it looks a bit lost. i said that i wanted to have understated logos and he showed me what it looks like via a photoshop program. he was right, it looked washed out and lost. i went with pearl white with black logos. same as dr paul. maybe we can say that it is the new spr team colours.
so, the frame dimensions all calculated, and colours chosen (can be changed before the build) so i dropped a deposit on it to put it in the system. i am looking at a late may delivery and i said that my birthday is on the 25th and it would be a nice present (so they wrote down the date). i have to work out what groupset to put on the frame now, but have a few months to find the cheapest prices. the dr paul special wheels are going onto the new bike as are the new short reach bars and current saddle. unfortunately i will be just impatiently waiting till may before i can ride the new steed.
