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View from the Back End – spring has sprung

A vast improvement in the turnout this morning meant that Nick could spend more time on the back end…..highlights from the spray zone were:

In the Category of “36 tonnes of Attitude” – the winner is ….

……. Pete Mah for his effort to inspire a change of heart from the driver of Road Train 1CBA 784. At least the excuse wasn’t the usual ” I didn’t see you”, more like “you cyclists deserve to die”. A refreshing exchange was had by all.

I was inspired to reinstate a swear jar for the rides, or alternatively we could point score the rides with sprint, hills, and abusive interpretive dance routines. Needless to say Ryan is taking full responsibility for quoting the wrong number plate and having some innocent grandmother of 10 getting frisked by a robust policeman.

Other highlights on the “Great Perth Bike Ride” circuit were numerous –

4 black swan cygnets along Burke Drive, a Royal Spoonbill in the reeds at Melville Waters, a swooping magpie that seemed to have a grudge against Ryan’s white helmet, and 5 dolphins at Canning Bridge.

Lucky to be off the paceline.

bike weight

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lightweight goodness
lightweight goodness

so after our bike weigh-in at the spr breakfast i saw my poor bike slip further and further down the leaderboard.  so much so that it now resides in the bottom third in the rankings.  it was a contentious point at home with me complaining that my bike is too heavy. 

i thought that i was on a winning argument until it was pointed out how many of these lighter bikes are beating my poor old fondriest up the hill on sunday.  based on recent results, only three maybe four fall into that category and therefore i must not need to lighten my bike. 

luckily i purchased my new hubs both before the weigh-in and before the aussie dollar went belly up.  coming in at 190g lighter than a set of dura-ace these little beauties come from jens’ homeland and also come with a weight restriction, so i better not pack on too much weight when baby number two comes along.

Cyclo-Sportif: Pedali a Pickering


Pedali a Pickering is the last team Cyclo-Sportif event for the year.

The course is a 25k loop which is covered 1x for the C distance, 2x for the B distance and 3x for the A

distance.


Entrance fee of $40 covers registration and lunch.

$18 day licence on the day for those needing one.

The last Cyclo-Sportif saw 2 SPR teams… Let’s see if we can get 3this time.

There will hopefully be 2 A teams (fast and not-quite-but-nearly-as-fast) and

at least one B team.

Good fun and a great

atmosphere.

Peter will need to organise teams so e-mail him by Sunday 12th October: southperthrouleurs@hotmail.com

“Evil Brownies” will be provided for all participants 😉

B Team Riders – Request

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i’m looking for a training ride for mid week mornings (perhaps twice a week). 

is there such a thing for the non ‘A’ group riders ie ‘A’ group wannabes… 

if not perhaps we could organise something? i’m thinking a 6.00 or 6.30 start and say 40-60 kms?

if something is already in place  – please let me know (ie post a comment here)- i don’t want to barge in.

cheers,

John

(still suffering new bike psychosis…)

sunday 5th oct – welshpool & mundaring & kalamunda

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ride report by peter.

 

after a wet day on the bike yesterday we were all looking forward to a nice dry ride and to forecast said it would be so.  however, the lack of cloud cover meant that the temperature bottomed out at around 4 degrees over night even thought we were aiming for a top of 20.  This always causes a dilemma for me as i know that it will be cold for the first part of the ride but hot at the end and i hate to overheat.  we had a smaller than usual group at the start this morning and some of our regulars are away which kept the numbers down to about 15 or so.  a couple of new riders came out and we found out later that this was to be jules’ longest ride he had ever done.  the winner of this years menzies-kalgoorlie race, paul was also coming along with us today.

 

the course took us out welshpool road before heading around mundaring weir and through darlington before heading to coffee via kalamunda road.  all up we were looking at over 100kms and over 1300m of climbing.

 

we rolled out and headed to welshpool via orong road for a change.  the trip was pretty much uneventful though i did discuss the idea of mountain points for each of the main climbs with a few of the guys.  basically to make the climb more “fun” a set number of points are available for the first 5 riders to crest the climb.  on today’s ride there were four “categorised” climbs that would yield points.  welshpool rd, two on the way round mundaring and finally kalamunda rd.  each climb would give 10, 7, 5, 3, 1 points for those places.  at the end of the ride, the points will be accumulated and at the end of the month, the climber of the month will be “awarded”.  this “competition” will continue regardless of whatever races are on.  for example, next week i intend to race the northam classic but since the hills ride will still be on, whomever turns up will still accumulate points.

 

so we hit the bottom of welshpool as a group and proceeded to find our own position in the group.  we strung out fairly quickly and tackled the first section at a reasonable pace.  after the first kink in the road ronny and alistar attacked and managed to gap the group a bit.  with still quite a bit of the hill to go, i wasn’t chasing and followed my plan of sticking to mike’s wheel as he ground his way up.  we eventually picked them up about halfway to the servo and spat ronny out the back.  alistar jumped back on the train and the five of us continued to follow mike’s wheel.  just after the servo ryan attacked and brendan and alistar went with him.  i was still on mike and he wasn’t chasing anyone.  i didn’t feel i had the legs to go anyway and thought i would stick to the tried and true mike method.

 

he continued to grind his way up the false flat section and onto the next pinch.  it didn’t seem to slow him much and he continued up at the same pace leaving me fighting for air by myself.  pretty soon he had caught the front three and they continued on.  by about the third pitch in this part of the climb, brendan had been unhitched from the group and i was making ground on him.  i managed to catch him on the second last bit of hill and saw that ryan had also been dropped by mikes relentless pace.  i gauged the distance and realised that i couldn’t make up that much ground before the end so resigned myself to fourth place. 

 

alistar – 10, mike – 7, ryan – 5, peter – 3, brendan – 1.

 

a regroup at the top and slowly the riders all filtered through.  we were waiting a while for declan and ronny had to go looking for him as we were unsure if he had turned off or not, but he finally made it to the regroup point.  we headed off through the picturesque bickley valley and onto mundaring weir road.  lisa, declan and ronny turned off and up to kalamunda as the rest of us headed towards mundaring weir and onto mundaring township for the next regroup.  this stretch contained two climbs that would yield points and i explained to everyone what was going on with the competition.  it definitely revved a few guys up as there were attacks coming almost straight away as alistar and then paul went hard up the first part of the hill and i jumped on.  we hit a good tempo but were reeled in by the first corner by a sizable group.  it seemed that people were going to push that bit harder for some points.

 

the top of the climb was to be at the intersection of asher rd which was just after the crest of the hill.  to get there, the road would step up a number of times and could be quite draining on the legs.  our pace was nicely high and we slowly dropped riders until it was only the same five as the welshpool climb.  just before the camel farm, ryan attacked and no-one reacted.  i jumped around the group and told him that we had a gap.  he wanted to know if that means we should go faster, but i said that if he keeps us away, i wouldn’t contest the points.  we stayed away.

 

ryan – 10, peter – 7, mike – 5, brendan – 3, alistar – 1.

 

steve soon bridged across to us as we continued downhill towards the weir.  we were riding like it was a race and people were taking turns and occasionally rolling through to keep the pace high.  we picked up another group out training in the hills and they hung onto us for a short time before our pace was too high.  we smashed it down into the weir and up the other side.  staying together well on the climb, it wasn’t until the final pitch up to the round-about that ryan attack and brendan and alistar went with him.  ryan was first to the top and did a victory lap of the round-about while mike turned left and continued onto mundaring township.  i mentioned to them that it was first to the roundabout in mundaring town, not mundaring weir, but they never really listen to instructions anyway. 

 

mike now had a sizable gap on us and the chase was on to bring him back.  unfortunately, getting him back on a hill usually takes a big effort that none of us were willing to make.  we took turns setting the pace and still had him in sight as we crested the last climb.  i was on the front and had just looked at my hr monitor to see it peak at 188 bpm when alistar attacked and tried to get away.  ryan and brendan jumped across and this seemed to take some impetus out of his attack and he slowed enough for me to catch back up.  as we got closer to the final roundabout we had made up some ground on mike but it still looked like he would nail it.  i attacked and made an attempt to bridge across.  brendan and ryan jumped on but alistar swore loundly as we screamed past him.  a moments hesitation from me as we caught mike entering the traffic islands around the round-about and brendan and ryan slipped past me before i managed to also get around mike.

 

brendan – 10, ryan – 7, peter – 5, mike – 3, alistar – 1.

 

the rest of the group all filtered in and i made a point to make the sprint line a bit further up the road as racing into an round-about was not ideal.  we continued onto darlington and most of this was generously downhill and even the uphill sections were taken at a moderate pace.  we came up over ridgehill rd past the base of the zig-zag which was celebrating some type of zig-zag family day.  it meant that we had a couple of impatient motorists behind us that wanted to show how tough they were by passing us very close.  nice.

 

we had to wait for jules once we got back to kalamunda road and this should have been a warning sign to us.  new rider, struggling, says he is alright.  we should have asked about food and drink, but we will get to that afterwards as it was discussed in depth at the coffee shop.  we took off and paul and clare turned for home as did doug.  the rest of us were headed into the final climb. 

 

mike was on the front early and pushed his relentless pace to the point were i fell clear of his wheel.  i dropped back a bit and alistar set the pace for a while to try to minimize the losses to mike.  on the first “plateau” ryan sprinted across to mike and i tried to join him.  alistar was left swearing to himself again but soon caught me as i only made it halfway across.  at the next pinch, he dropped me as i had nothing left to chase with.  i went into damage control mode for the rest of the hill, but kept an eye behind me to make sure brendan or steve didn’t zoom past for the points.  no need to worry as brendan said he bonked on the hill and went into hunger flat.  it was soon rectified at the coffee shop.

 

mike – 10, ryan – 7, alistar – 5, peter – 3, brendan – 1.

 

as we refueled the starving bodies, dr melvyn came in quite late with the new guy, jules.  jules looked like death warmed up and we quickly realised that he had totally hit the wall.  we threw food and drink at him and he then went to order dome stuff inside.  it turns out that it was his first hills ride and also the longest one he has ever done.  he went out with the bike force guys on saturday and they mentioned this ride but said it was pretty hard.  he thought he would have a crack anyway.  with no breakfast, no food and just one bottle of water, he hit the wall on ridgehill road and totally died on kalamunda rd.  we had a big discussion on pre-ride nutrition and what to bring on the ride.  i will have to make an effort to ask any new riders about this before we head out again.  after devouring a coke, hot choc, bread roll, a couple of croissants he was right to go.

 

lisa was still at the coffee shop once we got there but after turning off early she did two repeats of kalamunda road before meeting us for coffee.  so at the end of the day she also managed four pretty big climbs.

 

the return trip was pretty uneventful.  i was talking to jules with brendan and steve in front of us.  we got separated at the lights and never made it back onto the group until vic park.  i lead the group home along berwick and brendan and i kept and eye on ryan to watch him do the “i can’t clip in” thing at the second last set of lights.  we were held up at the final set but when they changed, he shot up the right lane and over the hill.  jens and i chased him but i ran out of puff by the time we came down the hill and watched brendan and steve fly past.  ryan managed to hold everyone off till the end.

 

so, 108kms on my speedo by the time i got home and over 1400m of climbing.  no wonder i am tired.  hopefully this puts me in good stead for the northam classic next week which covers 125kms with five times up the hill leading out of northam. 

 

the final wash up of mountain points were as follows –

 

ryan – 29

mike – 25

peter – 18

alistar – 17

brendan – 15

saturday 4th oct – spr breakfast ride

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ride report by peter.

 

which one will i ride today - my garage is finally how i want it
which one will i ride today - my garage is finally how i want it

i woke to the dreaded sound of rain this morning and the sound of cars swishing past.  normally this is not a problem, but this morning was our spr breakfast and a wet ride would mean soggy riders in my house.  the only saving grace was that the rain only lasted briefly and was over by 5:30am.  hopefully the roads would be dry by the time we started.

 

we had close to 40 people rsvp for the breakfast and we usually pick up a few more on the day, so i was expecting a decent turn out.  there are also those that will ride but not stay for breakfast, so our numbers were up over 50 by the time we headed off.  we were playing the amended banister road course this morning as we needed to finish in como rather than the city so the shorter ending meant we would extend the ride down to stock road.  back along south street and up banister before nicholson and albany hwy.  a detour along manning road would bring us to como rather than the causeway.

 

the ride started well enough, we managed to get caught at the lights quite a bit and it split the group as expected.  it was the usual disjointed start but we eventually found our way down canning at a leisurely pace.  the hill preceding the stock road intersection was always going to be interesting even at a leisurely pace it would be too fast for some riders and the group fell apart a bit there.  not real problem though as we regrouped at the red light.

 

along the rolling hills of stock road we maintained an easy pace and there was minimal damage to the group.  i continued to play the sheepdog roll and flitted between the front and back of the group to help it stay together.  once we turned onto south street, the rolling hills became a bit bigger and a few riders like stu and mike fell back to help some of the struggling ones get back on.  as this was a breakfast ride, i wanted the group to arrive as much of a group as possible.  a few friendly lights meant that we hit banister road as a pack.  it was also when the rain started.

 

when we left the car park this morning there was clouds to the north and to the south with showers pouring out of each.  we were dry but heading south.  looks like we caught up to it.

 

a sea of green in the lounge room
a sea of green in the lounge room

the rain wasn’t particularly heavy, but in a big group it doesn’t need to be as the spray from your own tyres, the rider in front and the one in front of that, all seem to be landing on your head.  the road was quite wet so the spray was probably double the actual rainfall.

 

the pace stepped up somewhat and riders began pushing to the front.  no real roll though, but more like a series of continuous attacks that drove the pace higher.  in the wet conditions it made for an interesting experience, but at no time did i feel like it was dangerous.  the aussie crates boys, brendan and steve, were forcing the pace along with the usual suspects like nick and jens.  the absence of ryan meant that there would be no last minute flyer up the side to blow everyone apart, but the pace was starting to take it’s toll.  i eventually made a move as i thought that we were coming to the end of banister road, but i miscalculated as we still had a way to go.  it was dryer at the front, however, until the aussie crates led the pack back around me. 

 

pretty soon we were at the end and from what i could see through rain drenched glasses, the crates boys got there first.  we slowed, or rather were slowed by the lights to allow the majority of the group a chance to rejoin.  a gentle pace along nicholson gave me a chance to drop back and help a few struggling riders. 

 

as we approached the lights at spencer rd i looked up to see a rider on the ground and a few others getting untangled.  the rest of the group were already up the road, so no real chance in getting them back.  it turns out that canadian bill, took off to fast and smacked into the rear wheel of jens.  canada came off second best in the coming together of nations as jens stayed upright, while bill ended up on the deck.  not real damage apart from a big can of humility, which has probably now doubled after everyone gets to read it on the blog. 

 

the group had gone, so mike, stu and myself got this litte group of about seven of us together and headed for home in the rain.  quite uneventful really, except for the dry roads around curtain uni, which showed that it had only rained around the canning vale area. 

 

more green
more green

the soggy group had started filing into the garage by the time i got home, and it was shoes and socks off and water wrung out of armwarmers and gloves before heading in.  lorraine and kate and jody had the place prepared and there was hot food and coffee awaiting.  the toasted ham and cheese sangas were a hit along with the big pot of hot chocolate which was not big enough apparently.  there were massive amounts of food and i am pretty sure that no-one went home wanting.  we had set up tables outside again, in the vain hope that the weather would have been nicer, but it wasn’t to be.  hopefully the next one in three months time will yield better results weatherwise. 

 

the breakfast entry also provided a ticket in the raffle and the two ritchey torqkeys went to doug and ryan.  the pump went to lisa and the conti attack/force tyres went to brendan, well actually his better half jody’s ticket won them, but he has the bike.

 

we then had the bike weigh in as people were dragging there bikes out of the garage.  the biggest surprise was the darren managed to whittle a bit more off his already exceedingly light bike to come in at 5.94kg.  well under the uci legal limit of 6.80kg.  fortunately for him, he doesn’t race so the uci will not be checking anytime soon.  after davina’s superlight specialized (the benefit of being sponsored) there is a massive glut of cervelos, with four r3’s coming within 100 grams of each other.  there may be some weight saving coming up before the next breakfast between these guys to see who can get the upper hand.  with this bulk of lighter bikes grabbing the top positions, my 8.34kg (forgot to reweigh mine) seems rather heavy.  that is till we chucked phil and noel’s 10+kg monsters on the scales.  these guys are carrying the equivalent of 4-5 full drink bottles of extra weight when they ride.   i think i can see a good purchase for that christmas bonus this year boys.  in the meantime, it will only make you stronger.

a couple of intruders in the house - the crates boys, brendan and steve
a couple of intruders in the house - the crates boys, brendan and steve

 

so another successful breakfast (in my opinion anyway) and it gave everyone an opportunity to catch up a bit more.  lorraine (and kate) did another outstanding job on the food and the doggy bags didn’t go un-noticed even though they were stuffed down the font of a few guys vests.  i now have enough evil brownies to last me a week, well a few days at least.  they will probably go straight to my hips.

ride routes 4th & 5th october

as it is the spr spring breakfast this saturday, the ride route will finish at my place in como instead of the usual coffee-shop sprint.  please remember that it is $10 per person and you will get more than enough food and coffee as well as a chance to win some raffle prizes.

the sunday hills ride will tackle most of the major climbs around kalamunda as we will need to burn off all the muffins and those evil brownies that lorraine makes.

saturday 4th oct – spr breakfast ride

sunday 5th oct – welshpool & mundaring & kalamunda

new rider for south perth rouleurs

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chris and anthea had a baby boy on tuesday.

no name as yet, but he weighed in at 4.025kg which is around half the weight of his ridley damocles.  congratulations to you both and chris, we expect to see you back on the bike in a few years time.

junior chris - ready for the hills ride
junior chris - ready for the hills ride

thursday 2nd oct – spr training ride

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Ride report by Nick.

 

The misty rain cleared into heavy downpours so Nick took it easy around the roads to Christchurch, albeit with a quick dash to follow on the wheel of Nick who was responding to a rush of blood by Nick. At Christchurch the group all agreed with Nick, that maybe a change of route was called for, so a mad climb up to Eric Street ensued with Nick taking line honours before resting in the pack with Nick.

 

Port Beach Road saw the first rider stretched out into a fine pencil like moustache under the ongoing pressure of Nick on the front, who then exploded with a degree of skill not seen since Floyd Landis, the easing pace then allowed Nick to take the sprint points.

 

By this stage the heavens had opened up for the twentieth time, and Nick took shelter on the open road, although a slight tailwind with some horizontal rain made life easier to keep the relentless pace up to the last few metres along Burke Drive. Nick looked like he was down for the count but an inspection in the long hall of mirrors saw a recovery, not seen since Floyd Landis.

 

Majestic Point was the next testing point, after a determined effort by Nick to make a break, but thankfully Nick dragged him in to allow Nick to pip him on the last rise. Due to the horrid conditions and uncoordinated teamwork, Nick led the group back to South Perth.