i have decided to start blogging again. they are never going to release my other pages, as i have had to put in a request three times now and it is still blocked.
i also miss the act of blogging, and i guess there are a few people out there that miss the content no matter how puerile.
so, starting this weekend i will be happily blogging away.
so this sunday we have the state road championships in roleystone and six of our regulars will be attending. as we are all old farts, all of us will be contesting the masters divisions over 114km. it is also my birthday on sunday, so my present will be to do a long race potentially in the rain. woo-hoo. for this reason i have kept the sunday ride away from brookton hwy as it may get congested.
saturday 24th may
tv stations
Sth Perth Saturday Ride 06 (TV Stations)
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sunday 25th may
welshpool & observatory & kalamunda
Sth Perth Sunday Ride 06 (Welshpool & Observatory & Kalamunda Rd)
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ride routes 17th & 18th may
finally got one of my blogs back up and running, so this will do for now.
i will only be posting the ride details here and not writing up any blogs until i get my other sites up and running. i don’t want to do anything that may cause this one to go down again.
new start location for those that don’t realise, look at the previous post.
we have a race on sunday down at dardanup so i won’t be leading the sunday ride.
i’m sure there are capable hands available to lead.
saturday 17th may
hale rd
Sth Perth Saturday Ride 03 (Hale Rd)
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sunday 18th may
greenmount & parkerville & mundaring weir
Sth Perth Sunday Ride 04 (Greenmount & Parkerville & Mundaring Weir)
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ride routes 10th & 11th may
due to the events of the past week i have moved the start location to the coode st jetty.
there is a car-park and cafe nearby and is still in south perth.
if you care to join me i will be there at 7am.
South Perth Starting Location
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saturday 10th may
freo and cott
Sth Perth Saturday Ride 01 (Freo & Cott)
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sunday 11th may
gooseberry and kalamunda and bickley
Sth Perth Sunday Ride 08 (Gooseberry & Kalamunda & Bickley)
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sunday 4th may – lowry memorial, collie
collie. it is actually a lot further than i thought it would be. luckily i didn’t go to albany the previous week as it is even further.
so, five of us had signed up for the race. joining me was ryan and stu as regulars, but this time jerry and michael were making the start. the morning looked nice as i drove down, but it was surprisingly cold when i arrived at collie. i was told that that was normal. i drove up some big hills to get to collie so was a bit worried what lay in store for this race. others that had raced previously, said that there were no real climbs and nothing that would smash the group up.
i had given my bike a clean on saturday ready for today’s event. it had new tyres and pedals on courtesy of probikekit (with their low, low prices and prompt delivery) but i hadn’t had a chance to really test them out. the tyres had that new sheen on them that i was a bit worried about, and the cleats needed to be adjusted before the race. i have moved away from the look keo pedals that i usually ride with as i seem to be losing the little pins from the sides that keep the things together. i looked at a couple of other bikes the other week at coffee and saw a similar thing. so this time i have gone with the dura-ace pedals for a change. they are so similar now that i was not expecting any real difference.
the start list showed 25 riders total in our b grade race. we had 1/5 of the field, so could actually do something if we got organised. big if really. by the time we rolled out, the crispness had disappeared from the air and it was almost ideal riding conditions. very little breeze and the sun to warm up our backs. the circuit was a 5 corner, 21km, 4 lap event for us totally 84km. with a smaller group than the last few races, i didn’t know whether this would be better or worse. i.e. would they let a break go early, or would it stay together till midway through the race.
so we headed off and almost instantly no-one really wanted to do any work on the front. no real roll throughs and it was only luck (or unlucky) if you got to the front at all. a guys went to the front about ¼ of a lap out and just kept going. he didn’t look like a big threat, by himself, so he was let go. by the time the second corner came around, he had about 100m on the group but i guess we just thought that he would get tired and come back eventually.
at about the 10km point, the ecu boy from the wandi race jumped up the road. i thought that it was a bit early and didn’t even notice who he was when the move happened. the coffee boy was right on his tail and also went. ryan was chatting to the coffee boy and was boxed in when the move happened. he had to fight his way out and a glenn parker guy also got away.
i was boxed in on the left and couldn’t get out, but was also unsure if i wanted to go this early. i should have forced my way out, but instead waited a bit. the group kind of started to chase and started to line out a bit. it forced the group to the right side of the lane so i sneaked up the left and tried to bridge across. i had left my run way too late as there were now five guys up the road all working together to stay away. i probably made it about halfway across to them, before i saw that the group was closing the gap. i sat up and waited which allowed me time to get my breath back before the group shot past.
i sat at the back for a while trying to recover and seeing what would happen next. i noticed that stu was on the front working but since we had ryan in the break i questioned the reasoning. after a while it was clear that there were only a few guys willing to work at the front, so i moved forward to give them a hand.
it turned into a very frustrating experience. we would start rolling through and after about five or six guys, the line would stop as the rest of the group would just be sitting in. occasionally, this red head guy from joondalup cycles, would get to the front, notice that there was no-one behind him and pull back into the group. wouldn’t even sit on the front. i got sick of it and decided to make it a hard training ride and would go to the front whenever there was a gap. this meant that sometimes i was there by myself with no-one coming over to give me a hand, until someone like stu came from the back to roll through.
i should have just sat on like the rest, but it just frustrated me that no-one was willing to even roll through just to share the load not necessarily chase.
by the end of the first lap, i think that the break was still in sight, but it was hard to tell as there were other races on the road. we chased for most of lap two, but again there were not many that wanted to help. by this time jerry mentioned that michael may have fallen off the back. I looked back and could only see other groups of riders so wasn’t sure. a quick scan of our group and I couldn’t see his jersey at all. well, no time to wait. later he said that he just didn’t have the legs to go with a surge so fell off the back and had to finish the lap by himself.
by the end of the second lap, the break was so far away that no-one cared anymore. two of the break had been spat out the back and had reintegrated with our pack. this left ecu and coffee boy up the road with ryan (or pool boy). this was a similar situation to the race at wandi.
lap three should have been a total cruise, but still people refused to come through and do any time at the front. i ended up doing a lot of turns at the front and would even roll through and sit there at cruise speed for ages as no-one else would. interesting thing is when you want someone to do a turn, you wait for a hill, as the guys just can’t hold back and need to push hard up the hill. i would just let myself slip back through the pack and have a rest, before making my way to the front again just in time to relive some other poor sap who was left on the front.
during this time we came past the women’s race and there was a bit of interaction when we slowed a bit and they got caught in between. the same thing happened with the c grade race, except a couple, of guys were on a breakaway and managed to get really well tangled in amongst us. we would drop them on every hill, then they would barrel back through our group down the left hand side. as we came into town we expected that the end of our third lap would be the end of the c grade race, so gave the two guys a bit more space so that they could do their sprint. it turned out that they also had one more lap to do as they started later than us.
as we headed into lap four, we put in an effort to make sure we dropped the c grade guys for good.
the final lap was a bit of a weird one as people started to make some moves. i looked up the road at one point and there were a few who had headed off the front. i went wide to make sure that no-one was on my wheel and bridged across to them. however, by the time i got there, the impetus had left the break and they had just left one guy on the front to suffer. i just jumped on the back and waited as the group rushed past us.
as we made the last turn to home, the final real climb allowed the group to split a bit with three guys getting away. i wanted to be part of it so did the same move again and thought that i had broken clear. about half way across, i noticed that the rest of the group had also sprinted to get on and we beared down on the break.
stu and i sat at the front as we headed back into town, and i knew that i had done way too much work on the front to do anything really productive in a sprint. as the road went up slightly before the final run into town, some of the guys came around me as i eased off the pace. unfortunately this left stu on the front and no-one was willing to come around. he would move left and the group would snake with him. it didn’t matter what he did, everyone was keen to stay out of the wind so that they could go for the sprint.
i came up the left hand side and made it to the front by yelling at people to get out of my way. it would have been 1 km from the line when i decided to lif the pace so put in a big effort to try to string it out a bit. everyone came with but by the time i faded, no-one wanted to come around. there was almost a crash as guys tried to not be at the front. as we hit the rail crossing and the small rise to the finish, someone started the sprint. everyone went with and i just let myself roll to the line.
as there were only three guys left in the break, the sprint was for fourth which paid out. not sure who got it, but brendan came second in the sprint for fifth overall. in the final break, ryan was taken to the cleaners again by the coffee boy and had to settle for second again. however, it was a very good effort since he had done the half ironman ride the previous day.
jerry and stu finished with the group and jerry had quite a good day considering it was his first bike race ever. i could stay for presentations as the long drive back to perth meant that i would only just be getting home at five and had already spent the whole day away from the family.
so, another second for ryan, but a good day overall with some lessons learned. mainly know your competition and watch them when they make a move; don’t rely on the group to chase as most guys just want to sit in; don’t do all the work on the front if you can help it.
we have planned to skip the race at york this weekend as it is mothers day but will be sending a contingent to dardanup the following weekend. hopefully we can help ryan to move up a spot to first.
what’s going on
for some reason, blogger has shut down my other page.
i am trying to get it restored but some of the forums say that it may take up to three weeks.
in the meantime, i will be posting everything here.
sunday 4th may – kahuna & peet & observatory
ride report by mark
ten of us gathered on another perfect riding day. it was fresh, but not cold; still ok for just arm warmers, and short gloves.
still plenty of chatter about pete and the web site, with general support for what pete is doing, and dismay at people trying to stifle a free market economy.
we headed off down berwick & albany hwy at a sensible pace, with everyone taking turns in front, and the traffic light gods smiling on us.
it was my first sunday ride with the group in about 5 weeks, after another bout of travelling, the hills challenge race and fairbridge music festival (a must for any acoustic music fan).
the web site said we’d be doing cohunu, with peet rd, and observatory thrown in for good measure. mmmm …
when we got to the hill, cade put the hammer down from the start. i chased for about a km, during which time mike b came flying past me. i realised soon i was going nowhere, so carried on with the heart rate at a steady 175 – 180. i saw mike pass cade, who seemed to throw in the towel at that stage, but then gave a big burst at the end to stay well ahead of me. we regrouped at the top, and the sensible riders went straight from there to the coffee shop, while the rest of us turned right onto canning mills rd.
the next part through rolystone and down urch rd was fun, till we got to pete rd, and cade decided to make a break again. i stayed with him for longer this time, till mike b came past us both, as if we were looking for parking. cade chased, and the two road together along raeburn rd, staying a consistent 50m ahead of me (very frustrating – if i’d had a mobile number i would have called and asked them to slow down for 10 sec), till the last little hill before brookton highway, where they sprinted it out – i think mike b took it, but i’m not sure.
i led with a bit of a burst of speed after the karragullen servo turnoff, and we took turns, keeping a pretty good pace until we reached the t-junction at pickering brook rd. at that point we were supposed to turn right and do the observatory loop, but we wimped out and went left. mike b being the honourable fellow he is, turned right and went off to start his real training, unhampered by the rest of us.
at the glenisla right turn, dr nic & cade and one more went straight on to the coffee shop claiming they had time constraints. that left only rob, tod and myself to do the climb up mundaring weir rd. i pushed a head a little at the start, and stayed there to the top. it was just what i needed for a come-back ride; had i pushed to hard to chase the likes of ryan, stuart or pete, i would just have regretted it today.
after the mandatory h&c croissant and long black, we cruised back home, with a fast descent down welshpool, during which rob we stuck together at 82km/h. no major sprints along orrong or welshpool; too few & too tired.
i got home with 105km on the clock, and a warm fuzzy feeling in my legs that i’d missed for the last month. thanks for a good ride guys.
saturday 3rd may – riseley & south
quite chilly again this morning, but i knew it would warm up so i didn’t add to many extra clothes to the mix. an extra pair of over-gloves to keep the wind chill down and the booty covers and i was away. a very small turn out this morning and i wasn’t really sure why. the weather was one thing, but it was forecast to be nice. the busso half ironman was on, but i didn’t think we had that many hardcore triathletes in the mix. so just to be paranoid, i put it down to the current e-mail war that was going on. if you haven’t been involved, don’t worry, it will all go away very soon, but it involved my new probikekit ad banner and supporting local bike shops. apparently a conflict of interest.
so we rolled out this morning with about 20 people, and headed down canning hwy. the route would take us past garden city, and murdoch before hitting south st and down to freo. the usual way home via dalkieth was the plan. it was a very subdued group as we headed south. the banter was still about the e-mail war as there were a lot of people getting there opinions out there. we took it easy up riseley st and across leach onto murdoch dr. south st was the aim and i would give the group their head of steam once we hit it.
this stretch of south st contained a number of rolling hills to test the legs, but can also be let down by the number of traffic lights that you really have to luck to get a clean run. the group started to stretch out a bit as some of the boys hit the front and began to up the pace. i intended to sit on the back all day today to rest my legs for the race tomorrow, but went to the front with the primary aim of getting a bit of video footage as the group came around me. i ended up doing a bit of a turn and was surprised how tight my quads felt. not a particularly good sign.
once some of the others like nick, steve and rod came to the front, i wasn’t playing anymore and just cruised along in the group. a couple of the boys got a bit of a gap and the group began to splinter as people tried to chase. luckily the lights at north lake rd found us all back together before the boys did it all over again.
we regrouped on stock rd and the lights meant that the group was all back together. i dropped to the back and had a chat with a new guy that had turned up. apparently, he had damaged some bit of his hip or something playing footy and wanted to keep active so was out playing with us. good to see, and i hope you come back out with us, dan.
we turned down marmion for the run down to freo and between here and along stirling hey, the group was remarkably contained and basically stayed together till the turn towards dalkeith. as always, the pace was going to step up.
i left it up to the guys to work out who would be doing the work as i was still under the impression o would be saving my legs for tomorrow. as usual the pace was on, but not at an unattainable rate, probably due to ryan not being here. as the field stepped up i allowed myself to drift to the back where i found dan, hanging off the end of the group. i gave him my wheel and attempted to draft him back to the group. the combination of increased pace, me not wanting to overstress my legs and the small undulations meant that we were off the back till we hit the intersection that takes us onto hackett dve. back on the group i noticed that it wasn’t all our riders as another group had got through the intersection and was heading up the road. i guessed that the lights on mounts bay would slow them down as i don’t think we have ever got through them without having to stop. i will be caught out one day and let someone go and they will sneak through.
so we lined up on mounts bay ready for the sprint. there weren’t many willing workers, so i found my way to the front. i wasn’t pushing hard and was primarily there because i find it hard to write the blog from the back of the pack. chrostophe took off early and no-one chased. he got a bit of a gap before steve also headed off. i did not intend to lift the pace so if there was going to be a chase, it would be someone else. a couple of guys came around, but then dr melvyn decided that they escapee’s needed to be caught and made his move. he yelled at us to hop on as he came past and i jumped on his wheel. he made a good pace and got us up to overtake both riders before running out of puff. by this tiem we were at the brewery and bruce jumped from the pack with jerry hot on his wheel. from what i could see, bruce almost buggered it up but had a second kick to keep jerry at bay and into his ‘eternal second’ place.
so, a small group for coffee, served with true german efficiency (the waitress is german, and she is very efficient. service has been really good since she arrived). lots of discussion about the state of our group and what we will be doing in the future, so expect some changes soon.
racing down in collie tomorrow and i will be joined by ryan, jerry, michael and stu. ryan did the half ironman bike leg today as part of a team, so it will be interesting to see how he goes tomorrow. he has come second in the last two races he competed in, but will have to see what he has left for tomorrow. hopefully we can achieve something for the team.
ride routes 3rd & 4th may
thought about not bothering this weekend. not bothering posting the route. not bothering turning up to lead the group. not bothering to organise the cycle kit. but a few e-mails of support have made me feel better, so here is the routes for the weekend.
sunday you are on your own again as five of us are heading down south to collie for the tom lowry memorial race. ryan has decided to ride the busso half in a team on the saturday and then back it up with the race on sunday. oh to be young again (he still doesn’t qualify for a masters licence like the rest of us in the race team)
saturday 3rd may
risley and south st
Sth Perth Saturday Ride 09 (Risley & South St)
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sunday 4th may
kahuna & peet & patterson
Sth Perth Sunday Ride 03 (Kahuna & Peet & Patterson)
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sunday 27th april – carradine & peet
a sunday without a race for us made a change. well there was a race on but i wasn’t keen to drive down to albany for it and neither were the other guys. we had a team meeting yesterday to work out which races we were going to target over the coming weeks so will be traveling to collie next sunday for a few laps.
anyway, there was only a very small turn out when i arrived this morning. i had checked the rain radar before i left and it didn’t look pretty especially down in bunbury. only minimal showers expected where we were riding, but i guess it was enough to keep the fans away. i was surprised, however, to see lennie and a few of mickey’s saturday morning group waiting in the carpark. i was a bit confused and enquired as to whether i had the right day or was it actually saturday. long weekends confuse me. about five of them were heading down to mandurah with the intent of coming home via the train. good to see a few more people backing up with a sunday ride as well.
as i was chatting to them, the rest of the guys turned up. it was definitely “the guys” too as no girls were keen to play. about twenty headed out today into the dull grey morning, luckily it wasn’t that cold…. yet.
the route would take us down to mt nasura near armidale and up our favorite couple of climbs at carawatha and carridine. it was then intended that we jump across to albany hwy and up to canning dam before joining up with brookton hwy near karagulen and the usual way back to coffee in kalamunda.
we picked up todd and doug along the way as they intercepted our group thanks directions from the blog map (got to remember not to make changes on the fly). the trip down albany hwy was fairly uneventful with a bit of rain to freshen things up a bit and a flat for doug after a non-call on a pothole. we sheltered under a shop awning in kelmscott while doug and simon changed the tube.
as we past brooketon hwy, shao turned off, opting for an easy ride. he has just come back from doing the port mac ironman, so he has nothing to prove. sub twelve hour too is a pretty solid effort. anyway, we continued up the incline to the start of our main climb, but the group started to fragment a bit with cade and robbie speeding on ahead. unfortunately for them, without someone to yell at them to turn left, they continued down the road for a bit before realising we had turned off.
ryan went to the front straight away and i jumped on his wheel. he didn’t hit it hard, but enough to give us a fair gap to the rest of the pack. as we turned onto the steeper section, he went again, but this time i just wanted to find my rhythm as this climb is way too steep for me. ryan’s “attack” didn’t last too long either and he settled into the climb. about halfway to the top stu came past me but ryan had already reached the peak. as the road started to settle down, i looked back and saw cade and robbie closing fast, so i added a bit of effort to make sure they also didn’t come past.
a short regroup to make sure the climb hadn’t killed anyone and we were off again. doug hadn’t stopped and was already on the climb by the time we turned up carradine. cade and robbie began to chase so i sprinted around to make sure that i didn’t miss the break. doug was hauled in and overtaken quickly and the three of us started working together to keep away. the easterly winds affect the early part of this climb and cade was initially taking the full brunt of them. i looked back to see if ryan was going to come across, but he seemed content to not contest this one.
i made a bit of a move to see if we could shake cade after his turn and robbie jumped on my wheel. it was a nasty move, but i’m sure it has been done to me before. commendably, he fought back and managed to get back on our wheels. we kept the pace on towards the top and cade made a move when the road steepened up a bit. robbie dropped back a bit and we took advantage to try to get away. swapping off turns we made it to the end where i thought that i would sprint for line honors. i started a bit early and was sure that cade would just come over the top, but he was just as buggered and had dropped back a bit.
once everyone else had arrived and regrouped, we decided that we would change the course after seeing the dark clouds moving in from the south. the trip around canning dam doesn’t really leave many options and if we got caught in a downpour, or the predicted thunderstorms, we would get… well… wet. anyway, we were going to head down soldiers rd and climb peet rd into roleystone. the roads were better and the climbs harder. it would just drop about eight kms off our total for the day.
the decent was not too bad as the roads were not wet, just damp. ryan complained that he could not get past me as i was moving all over the road. damn right. it is a nice fast road in the dry. with a bit of moisture around, i was keen to use as much grip and road as necessary. we regrouped again to make sure it was a safe decent and headed up peet rd.
a little bit of traffic, well a lot for 9:15 sunday morning in roleystone meant that we started the climb in staggered formation. however, i made sure i was close enough to ryan and cade so is didn’t have to chase too much from the start. the climb started with traffic trying to get past as we picked up slower riders meaning we had to do little sprints to get around without getting run over. normally this is fine, but this climb has some nice 10% sections that make it very testing. once we found some clean air, a group containing ryan, cade, myself and the two young lads matt and robbie found a rhythm and began to stretch it out from the rest. stu was caught behind, and was still fighting his way up the hill to try to join up. probably a form of karma from the other week when he had a fifty metre headstart on the same climb.
i’m not sure who it was, but either cade or ryan upped the pace and young matt was off the back with robbie. however, with his high cadence, bouncy style, robbie managed to spring his way back to join us by the time we reached the urch rd intersection.
as we made our way up the next section, stu put in a big effort and bridged across to get right on my wheel. unfortunately, that was the exact time that ryan launched again and cade and i had to fight hard to stay on his wheel. stu must have been spent from the previous effort and dropped back with robbie while we surged on ahead.
the three of us took turns to keep the pace up as we approached the roleystone highschool final climb. this is where the tour de perth stage one and two finished and will be the finish line in a few weeks when we contest the state road championships. i came to the front for the final stretch to make sure that ryan got a good lead out for the line. cade was on my wheel and came around as soon as the climb started but had nothing for ryan who powered past. stu had been working with robbie and managed to gain a bit of ground back and sprinted up the hill to pass me about halfway up. i made sure robbie didn’t do the same.
a regroup at the high school before a quick dash to the karagulen servo for any toilet stops/refreshments. we headed towards pickering brook and doug got on the front to power it along once the road headed down. i was on the front with him but decided to save my legs for later and headed down the back. the small climb up towards the gun club is always an attack point, but i was content to sit at the back and watch the proceedings. when the move went, and it was predictably ryan, i noticed the excellent road conditions. it has been a few weeks since i had ridden this particular stretch of road and it was now a very sweet hot mix surface. there was no way i could let that past without a bit of speed, so set off to chase down as many as i could. by the time we hit the pickering brook intersection, ryan was still well in front, but i had managed to claw my way back to the main chase group.
at the regroup, cade, doug, robbie and darren decided to head home when we turned down towards bickley valley. this still left a good core group of riders “keen” for one last climb up to coffee. as we wound out way along the undulating road, i wasn’t concentrating on where ryan and stu were in relation to me. by the time we hit the start of the mundaring weir rd climb, they had a considerable advantage.
i was so far off the back that there was only one rider behind me when the road headed upwards. i decided that i would try to catch them on the hill. knowing ryan and stu’s abilities, this was a close to impossible task, but i thought that it would be good training for me. i powered up the first part of the climb and quickly past the main pack. about this time reality set in and my legs started to rebel. i eased off a bit but still kept forging ahead. there were a couple of others on the road that weren’t from our group that acted as rabbits for me to chase to maintain my momentum. however, it wasn’t till just before the road flattened and straightened out that i finally saw stu up ahead. he must have been chasing as by the time i hit the false flat section he had streaked ahead, but there was still no sign of ryan. i just kept the power on as long as i could and made it too the top.
as the guys filtered in to the coffee shop we had lost one more. stu is never content with the climbs we do and so headed out for another time up mundaring weir rd. i was happy to have a break. even better was the fact that they now have brought back the chocolate muffins that they stopped making about six months ago. it went down a treat with the hot chocolate. also got a few more guys to sign up for the cycle kit which we will get ordered next week. hopefully in a few weeks time there will be around fifty or so riders getting around in their new south perth cycle kit.
the wind was favorable on the way home and the decent wasn’t as scary as it has been as there were minimal cross winds. i even felt “comfortable” crusing down the main section at close to 80km/hr. i did manage to grab stu’s slipstream which gave me an extra few km/hr to crack 84.
the mandatory sprint along welshpool rd was not instigated by dr melvyn as we had him working at the front instead. i took off after we started to get the group rolling through and ryan chased me down and spat me out the back… again. the final sprint into south perth and we had to stop at the lights. more team tactics as i told ryan that i would practice leading him out and went to the front. when the lights changed, simon and rob both jumped to try to get an advantage, but i chased them down and was past both before the road swept down towards maccas. i still had some energy so i kept the lead out going for another block or so before giving ryan the signal to go. stu had already started to come around, but ryan had the more explosive sprint and took it to the line.
so, even though there was a little rain early on, it turned into an exceptional day. not too hot, not too cold. just right for riding.
saturday 26th april – benara rd
saturday morning rolled around once again and about thirty or so riders were keen to play. the course was picked to take advantage of the easterly wind, which didn’t seem to be blowing too hard at south perth. a nice easy pace out to guilford before a hard session on benara rd, a further cruise and regroup down to whatley crescent where we would go hard all the way into town. that was the plan anyway.
up great eastern hwy and out to ascot was a pleasant pace allowing us to hold a conversation and generally catch-up with the group. once we hit guilford rd the easterly wind was a lot more evident. after we past under the tonkin hwy i tried to get the group to roll through to make it easier for everyone. however, it actually had the opposite effect, as some of the more experienced guys thought that we were doing it to try to up the pace and started pushing harder. the group started to splinter and some guys couldn’t pull through for a turn. luckily we hit the lights at bassendean station and had a chance to regroup. unfortunately for john b, the stop meant that he almost ended up on the ground as he touched wheels with the guy in front and ended up riding his bike like a bucking bull trying to stay upright.
so we moved along, and gave up on the roll through and just let a couple of the stronger boys do the work. just before the bridge that separates bassendean from guilford, a couple of big slow moving trucks past us. the road was going from double to single lanes and the trucks were trying to get past before the bridge. unfortunately, chris decided to jump on the back of one and get a draft, but didn’t see the next one coming. he didn’t get run over, but the next thing we know, half the pack is now chasing to try to catch a draft. this basically spread the group along a couple of hundred metres making it difficult for traffic to get around.
it continued this way up west swan road and the nice and easy pace soon became a hard slog as riders battled the cross winds. i was stuck towards the back and was cursing the front guys for splitting the group up. i couldn’t get around to get to the front as there was a stream of traffic tryig to get around the little pockets of riders. i managed to jump up a driveway and get onto the bike path that ran alongside. it was pretty wide and in good condition so i managed to clip along at a fair pace. reaching the front pack i jumped off the curb and raced to the head of the field just as they were turning onto benara rd. our designated go hard point. as most of the group had already gone hard, i gave the guys my best gordon ramsey impersonation and a number of expletives about spltting the group up. i then made them all go easy pace to allow the rest of the pack time to catch up before we turned the pace up again.
after we past the first roundabout, i let them have their head of steam and the attacks happened soon after. nick, chris and ryan all sped off the front at some stage along benara rd and soon the pack was stretched out again. i was practicing my domestique duties and just chased down everything but didn’t attack my self. we came across dr paul and dr ian who had managed a very good short cut and were easily halfway down benara by the time we caught them. we did manage to catch most of the lights, but still thinned the group out by the time we reached the end. it is a nice long stretch but can be ruined if we don’t get a good run on the lights.
a easy pace down through morely and onto bayswater for the final run home along whatley crescent. this road contains a number of rolling hills and only a few traffic lights so you can get a good run in if you are lucky. i had discussed team tactics with chris earlier on in the week and we had decided that we would attack and wait for the others to chase. when the attack was caught, we would send another rider off the front to force them to chase again. hopefully, chris had talked to ryan, so he wouldn’t chase me down.
anyway, i went early and hard. bruce wasn’t far off my wheel so managed to jump across with me. he did one turn then turned off on garrett rd to head home early. i was on my own again as the road climbed up the next hill. a quick look over my shoulder and i saw that the group was closing fast. however, as i powered down the other side i managed to widen the gap again giving myself a nice buffer. not long after, i hit a set of red traffic lights and was brought to a standstill. my gap meant that i at least had a little time to grab a drink and get my breath back before the group descended on me.
as the lights changed, chris sped off with ryan close behind. i set off with the others but it seemed that no-one was really keen to chase. only a few had set off after them but no-one was really making much ground. i had recovered sufficiently and thought that i could give it another go and try to bridge across to them. if the rest of the pack came with me, then i would ease off, but no-one else jumped. jerry was off the front and i came around him too fast for him to get on so left him in noman’s land. by the time i hit east parade i had caught chris and ryan so tucked in behind to get a rest. a few turns between us and we still had a good gap by the time we cross the graham farmer freeway.
unfortunately the next set of lights put a stop to our shenanigans as the group caught us. dr melvyn sped past as the lights changed and charged through east perth to the hill next to the police station. the group splintered on the hill as normal but we managed to reel dr melvyn in or should i say that the hill forced him to slow down. we caught every single light between there and riverside drive which meant that the group was pretty much together for the final sprint. i had chris on my wheel and i was hoping that ryan and jerry would line up as well. we needed practice at the leadout train and this is a nice long stretch of double lane road.
nick jumped first at the light change and started to speed down the road. it was a long stretch, so i wasn’t too worried as even if i didn’t catch him, the next guy may do it. i didn’t accelerate hard as i wanted to make sure the chris stayed on my wheel. we pushed the pace and caught nick easily. james dropped in behind chris’ wheel with jerry just behind. ryan had to fight for position and come around a few bikes but was behind chris by the time i dropped them off. chris didn’t have much left after a few days off the bike due to a cold, but ryan still sped off dragging jerry along. the rest of the field was quite a way behind by then and everyone was pretty buggered after so chasing so many time today.
christophe commented on jerry being in his usual position of behind ryan’s wheel. he renamed him poulidor a french rider who always seemed to come second to the greats in the 60’s and 70’s.
so a good ride, and I felt strong which was good after a very poor showing on our thursday training ride where the guys had to wait for me a couple of times. hopefully a good sign for tomorrow’s hills ride.