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sunday 25th may – state road championships

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the road state champs at roleystone had a few changes this year. for one thing they were in may as opposed to august last year, and this year they did not have a support race. instead you had to enter to what was on your licence. in my case this was the masters 2/3 race as it was my birthday today and i turned the ripe “old” age of 36, making me well qualified for the category.

so this was to be my birthday present to myself. a 114km race, in potentially crappy weather, along undulating roads, with a bunch of guys that would try to hurt me and the worse uphill finish that i know of. sounds like a wonderful day…. for a masochist.

six of us had registered for the day. this was not without a lot of badgering, abuse and guilt trips from me. initially, when the registrations closed, i was the only one from our team entered. after they extended it by a few days, we ended up with mike, stu and mark entered. however, those three are all in the masters 4/5 category so it meant that i was still riding on my own. luckily, bruce and jerry had last minute entries to provide some company for me in my division.

so the day rolled around and i found my way to roleystone high school. i made a point of getting there early as i knew that parking would be a premium as this was a similar course as we did for the tour de perth. registration was fairly painless, but they couldn’t tell me what order we would be starting which seemed a little disorganized for a state title. i had time to catch up with a few people before i got ready, but is still hadn’t spotted any of my team-mates. as mentioned on saturday, mike had decided not to ride due to medical reasons. this still left another four guys that i was keeping my eyes out for.

as the start time rapidly approached, i finally caught up with bruce, so at least i had one team-mate to ride with. we later found out that jerry had to operate on some guys doodle instead. they joys of being a urologist. stu and mark rushed to get registered but we at least had two more in the other masters division. ryan was not racing today as he would have had to ride with the open men. it probably would have been good for him to see what the next level up was like to play with. i was glad that i was that little bit older.

the start list had out division at around 16 riders, so i expected that a break my get away, based on the previous few races that i had contested. it seems to be that in the smaller groups, there isn’t that incentive to chase. however, we would have to wait to see what happens. this was a state title after all.

a few non starters put our field at just under 15 riders for the roll out. the open men had a five minute head start on us and the masters 4/5 men would be leaving after. the last race at dardanup had a field that would not even roll through just to share the load. i was wondering if that’s what would happen again.

we headed out along brookton hwy where the road would undulate for an expected 55km before we would retrace out steps and head back to roleystone. the guys didn’t roll through, but everyone seemed content to do a bit of a turn at the front before peeling off and dropping back. this at least meant that the pace would not be as pedestrian as the last race, but not too hard that we would all be struggling early.

i was trying to take note of the terrain as we headed out past karagulen as i thought that it would be important as we headed back towards the finish. my game plan was to sit in the pack, do the appropriate amount of work on the front, and keep the group together as long as possible. after an aborted attempt to get in the break at dardanup, i found that i didn’t have the legs to keep a break going. i needed the numbers around me to get me to the end of a 100km plus race. therefore, i would chase down breaks in preference to trying to create them.

about 10 or so kms into the race a guy in budget forklift kit (budget-boy) got a flat and had to drop back to the support van. i didn’t take any spares as i thought that if i flatted, i probably would be able to get back on anyway. luckily this guy got a good draft from the support ute and made it back into the pack, though, not without serious effort.

about 20km into the race the first attack went out. i really couldn’t believe that this guy was serious as he tried to go out by himself. the group reacted well and quickly pulled him back. for such a small group there was not much team tactics and besides bruce and myself, the only other guys in the same kit were three elite cycles guys. those guys did play the team game a bit and would not chase if they had a team-mate who attacked. it was a bit strange though, as everyone jumped to get on the break, the two other elite guys would end up behind the pack and would have to chase to get on anyway.

all the way out to the turn around little attacks would head up the road. the main antagonists were bikeforce-boy, csc-guy, glennparker-boy and multiplex-dude. these guys would all try repeatedly to break away on almost every hill and small rise. however, they would only try to go by themselves. if they had worked together, they might have got away with it. at one stage, one of the four headed up the road. i turned to one of the elite guys and said, “lets leave the bugger out there”. he agreed and we didn’t chase but left him to suffer about 50 metres in front of us. he eventually got bored and came back to the group.

at the turn the group was all together, but three guys tried to go hard out of the u-turn to try to get away. everyone had to go hard but we all caught back up before the next hill. about then, glennparker-boy attacked and got a little way ahead. no-one really panicked and we left him out for a bit. it seemed the thing to do now and we would often leave them ahead to burn themselves out a bit. bruce was starting to suffer a bit as his new young baby has contributed to his lack of training/sleeping/fitness. he had done some work earlier to bring back some breaks and was now paying for it. however, he was about 25 kms further along than he thought he would get.

a further attack on a hill and bruce said farewell and dropped off the back with one of the elite guys. i managed to get back on the group but was also feeling it as my quads were starting to cramp whenever i got out of the saddle. bugger, i thought. i could now see myself getting dropped on one of the attacks if i couldn’t go hard at the appropriate time. i fell into damage control and sat at the back of the group and tried to get as much fluids into me as possible. i usually run quite dehydrated during rides but this was one of the side effects if i ran too dry. any climbs from now on, i needed to stay seated to keep the cramps at bay.

the attacks kept coming and at one stage we managed to drop a couple more guys. they managed to get back on but everyone was starting to feel it a bit. i had managed to drink most of my powerade and half my water and was feeling better in the legs. as we came towards karagulen servo the hills may have shaken a few more guys off the back. i wasn’t really concentrating on anyone else by then as i was trying to just stay in touch. as we came up the hill past the servo and headed towards the turn off, i saw the csc-guy and another rider have a quick chat and then the other guy went to the front. so, there seemed to be some collusion in the group that i didn’t know about. it didn’t seem to matter as multiplex-dude took off and put a few more into distress.

by the time we hit the turn onto chevin road, i was counting the amount of riders left in the group. wow, i thought. i have made it into the last eight riders. i was quite happy at that stage, but was still worried about the last couple of k’s and how they would pan out. the open men had already entered the circuit and it started to become interesting as we now had one or two of them dispers
ed amongst us.

i took the hill on chevin well, didn’t cramp and stayed with the others. i started to consider my options for the finish. at the tour de perth, i was just happy to be in the group at the end of the day, so didn’t really even sprint. today, with a few more races under my belt, i felt that i should actually do something. still not sure what that was going to be.

we turned off peet rd and on to the final couple of k’s up to the finish. i changed to the small ring to make sure i wasn’t over stressing my quads as the last bit was almost all up hill. i was sitting on the back and suddenly realized that there was a gap to the front. i sprinted around csc-guy and another rider as they had no more to give. you could actually see the finish from here and i was surprised that you couldn’t find anything else. all those previous attacks took their toll in the end. i looked around and realized that i was in the final six.

through the round-about and heading towards that last damn climb and i was waiting for someone to make a move. glennparker-boy was on the front and the others were all hanging off him waiting…waiting…waiting. the climb started and still no-one made a move. the group was actually sitting in the middle of the road, so there was room on both sides for the sprint.

at 200 to go, i decided that i better do something and started to sprint. i saw the multiplex guy start his sprint from the right just as i started mine a bit further back on the left. just as we were about to come past the from guys everyone reacted. the glennparker-boy stood up and crunch, his bike didn’t want to play and something went wrong at the worst possible time.

i didn’t care by then as i had committed myself and gave it all i had. 200 metres doesn’t seem like much, but the road just didn’t seem to want to stop and i was running out of legs. both quads had started cramping again, but i didn’t care by then and pressed on. i felt a rider come past me at speed and thought, bugger, i stuffed it up. i sat down but kept pushing letting out a bit of a scream as my thighs rebelled on me. the line was coming and so were other riders. i kept pushing and through the bike to the line, not sure whether i made it or not. i was not looking at the other rider and i swear there were black spots in front of my eyes as the blood was sent to the legs.

i knew i didn’t win, but did i hold on to second or not??? i rolled up the road a bit to get my heart-rate back down to something resembling normal. normal for finishing a bike race anyway. i headed back to the finish line to try to find anyone i knew that may have seen the sprint. mel’s mum amanda thought she saw me take second and clare also confirmed it for me. i now had to check with the judges. two had me second and one had me third. majority rules and i held onto second but not by much.

the guy that came third was bikeforce-boy who did quite a few attacks during the race, while the guy that won had the same strategy as me. conserve energy and wait to see what happens at the end. the discussions on e-mail during the week between the race team had been about training hard and racing smart. was i smart going when i did??? maybe, maybe not. i may have started a bit early as i ran out of puff before the end, but if i had waited a bit longer, would i also have to negotiate the other riders to try to get to the front. it didn’t matter, i was happy with a silver medal at the state level, even if it is for the old man division.

the masters 4/5 men were coming in after us and we had mark and stu in the group. when we saw them at the turn-around, they had a bigger group that seemed to be working well together. it also came down to a sprint and stu managed to hang in for a very respectable 4th not far off getting third. mark also finished in the pack which was a great effort considering how much time he has been spending off shore on oil rigs instead of the bike.

so a good day for us and it is only a matter of time before one of us can crack a first place. no money for 2nd but a nice medal instead, so i am off to kalgoorlie this week for a crack at the menzies race.

i got home after the race and was wearing my medal. my wife asked whether everyone got one (like a participation medal). yea of little faith in my ability on the bike. i had to set her straight and she was very surprised. not enough to let me buy a new bike though.

sunday 25th may – welshpool & observatory & kalamunda

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ride report by roba crisp but not cold this morning as it had been raining most of the night and some the heat was being kept in. with it raining throughout the night though, it was a struggle to overcome the pillow demons and get out the door. wasn’t helped when i arived down at the meeting point at 7am and there wasn’t anyone else there! pete had said that 6 of the usual crew were racing, but i thought there might still be a couple to go up into the hills with. as it is not my usual ride (family commitments and all) i had no idea of the route anyway so started to think about going back to bed (not really – i would have gone for ride…!). eventually a few others turned up and then ryan rolled in at about 10 past 7 (i think was hoping that he might have been able to chase us down again as he did last saturday and prove to us all the true awsome power he possesses… – so such luck gadget!). he then says, “does anyone know the route?” and we all look dumbly at each other. darren pipes up and says “i “think” i do, but i’m not…..” “good” we say – “you’re it!”

8 of us head out and roll along berwick street picking up one more along the way. darren and me are on the front through to welshpool road and then decide to take a break at the back for while before we get to the first climb of the morning. coming up to the lights at roe highway, some kid on a trail bike comes out of a side street on the right hand side of welshpool rd and crosses the dirt medium strip at a great rate of knots. he lands on our side of the road, wobbles about a bit (he is not a good rider), slips and slides around in front of us as he kicks the crap out of the throttle and heads off towards the lights. by the time he hits the intersection the 2nd set of lights are very red and the cars start to pull out from the left hand off ramp lights, as is their right given they have a green light and all. does trail bike dude care. nope. he gives it everything the bike has and swerves around the first car coming out and misses the bonnet by about a bee’s male appendage. not clever – dumb – will die.

he heads on, shaking our heads and discussing all the variations that little episode may have looked like if he wasn’t so damn lucky! we get to the first climb and start working our way up. ryan drops to the back as is his usual way. i lead off the front with a couple of the other guys holding on for a while. the group stretched out about 1/2 way up when ryan flies past me – do i break rythym and try and hold his wheel?? not likely (even if i wanted too!). we get to the top and start rolling around the intersection waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. greg apparently decided that the hills for him wasn’t actually on for him today so pulled off. after the re-group we headed on up and around towards the observatory. john was commenting to ryan how with the way the weather was this morning it was like riding through belgium. wet roads but a beautiful mist and glistening trees it was really quite superb. had us “pining for the fiords..!”. the next climb up to the observatory was good…john lead with me on his wheel. ryan flew past…again.

after the re-group at the top we headed off down to the hill again to go and find mundairing road climb. now that was fun!! darren calls out “10 minutes of pain”….”15 for me” we hear from the back”. i lead off the front with john on my wheel, starting to hurt a bit but still able to keep a good rhythm going while remaining seated in a reasonably high gear. ryan flew past….again. we get to the top at kalamunda and i’m already thinking about the coffee shop. “right” says darren. “we head across to the zig zag, down there andback up to kalamunda for coffee.” “what???” my legs scream. another climb before coffee?? but we’re already up here!! why don’t we just go there now…??” must be my soft saturday ride mind talking to me – sunday ride much harder!

the zig zag is lots of fun – although you do have to pedal. the gravel all over the wet road on the hairpin turns are interesting. at the bottom ryan comments that his biggest fear is hitting a kangaroo at speed…certainly not unheard of! anyway, after the re-group we head across to kalamunda road with my mind wondering just where i was going to get the motivation for this climb – i’d been off the front every other climb so we couldn’t lose face now, could we. after the 1st 3rd i was dead set going to stop. this hurt. ryan flew past….again. where’s that friggin coffee shop….why did we come down….why did i get up this morning….is there a bus….?? john held my wheel all the way up…i could hear the heavy breathing and clunking of gears as he searched for something lower than granny gear….finally though we get to the top and head round to the coffee shop. quick service and a welcome break.

when we get back on the bikes and start out across to canning road, ben pulls up along side of me and comments that he’s feeling it now – 1/2 and hour off the bike and the legs do not appreciate being reintroduced to the pedalling motion. the ride along canning road was fast, but those rolling hills really hurt after the coffee break. arrived at welshpool road – woo hooo…! 73kms an hour and john and me actually overtook ryan….then ryan flew past….again. it’s a lot of fun down there and you certainly get a few looks from car drivers when you overtake them on the inside lane!

regroup at the school (some dodgy looking characters sitting in a car outside the school that ryan said someone should tell them that school kids aren’t here on a sunday — thanks for that mate!!). heading along welshpool road at a reasonable pace with ryan on the front doing the work. i pulled out from his wheel thinking i’d go to the front and do some work but as soon as the wind hit my chest i knew i didn’t have the legs for it so pulled back in, much to ryan’s displeasure who i think was looking forward to a rest by then. at the lights i suggested that we roll through and each have a turn doing some of the work. it would appear though that we neglected to set the ground rules so it took about 3kms to work it out by which time we had about 1km left of rolling through (which was good when it worked) and then hit shepparton road. the learner driver at the front of the lights stalled three times and made us all wait 2 sets of lights before she (well, we ‘think’ she, but then we couldn’t be sure….) finally got going. we headed back along shepparton road and the usual disintegration of the group took place til it was just me, ryan and john left at canning hwy. john headed off right and ryan and me finished off with the cruise back along mill point road.

all in all a good morning out. my legs know i rode today

saturday 24th may – tv stations

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well back to blogging again. it has been a while and it will probably take me a while to get back into the grove. however, what i would like to do is get a few more people involved and give them access to blog at will. all this means is that you have to register as a user on blogger and then i can authourise you to blog on this page. i will still post the ride routes and my view on the rides, but this will allow other opinions and views on the world of cycling. so, register yourself and drop me an e-mail to let me know. i want to set the blog up as a south perth ride site rather than my site.

so, after months of bitching about the dark early mornings due to day light savings, i can now bitch about it being dark as we are only a week away from winter. well, it was dark this morning, and i had to strap the lights on to get to the start. the threat of rain kept a few away, but we still had about 30 or so turn up. the tv stations was the route and it would take us north to nollamura and back down wannaroo rd before taking a diversion around kings park and the karrakata cemetery.

it was an easy roll out down mill point road and we got the opportunity to wave to the old bikeforce group as they headed the opposite direction. or more importantly, see who was still riding with them. their choice. we rolled quite easily all the way up great eastern and across ascot to the north side of the river. the group stayed together well until the end of grand prom, where we did a quick left/right turn to get onto dianella dr. this is a slight hill that takes us up to yirragan dr which contains some nice fast sections before hitting waneroo rd.

well the pace went on as soon as the front boys realized that everyone made it through the lights unscathed. i let myself drift towards the back of the group as i was racing on sunday and didn’t need to put too much into my legs. lisa was hanging on at the back so i fell back to help her up the hill. mike b was also at the back so we formed a protective draft around her to help her back to the group. meanwhile, a number of attacks had gone off the front along yirragan dr, with the usual suspects trying to shake it up. unfortunately the “hamstring injury” that ryan has, did not stop him from going hard off the front and forcing everyone to chase.

mike and i looked after lisa until we got to the regroup point on wanneroo rd where the group had found a nice bus-stop to park in. an easy cruise down onto charles st and across to thomas rd to take us around the back of kings park. mike then told me that he would not be racing on sunday as his previous medical condition had started acting up again, and that was the reason he was hanging at the back of the pack. hope he gets it sorted out, as he is a demon on the hills when he is in form.

about half-way down past kings park, we turned off to head around the back of the hospitals and cemetery to lengthen the ride a bit. this also allowed us to come home the usual way through dalkeith where the boys could give it another go. unfortunately, just as we came through the claremont shops, it started to rain. we had been pretty lucky up till then, but maybe pushed it a bit staying out so long. didn’t change the ride much as we were already on the home straight.

the usual attacks happened around the back of dalkeith, but i stayed out of it again, content to get towed along. by the time we “regrouped” at mounts bay rd, the rain had stopped, but the roads were now sufficiently wet enough to make it uncomfortable.

as we headed towards the coffee-shop, everyone was trying to get into the right hand file to get ready for the sprint. i got sick of getting a face full of water from the bike in front, so started to time-trial ahead of the group. i wasn’t going hard, but managed to gap them a bit and force them to chase. i let them catch me before they wound up for the sprint and got back into the right hand file. as we past the old swan brewery and the pace started to pick up, i checked my back and jumped across into the right hand lane.

this has two main benefits.
1. it cuts the corner.
2. it is harder for the guys in front to get on your wheel.

i started the sprint and got a good jump on the guys. so much for saving my legs for sunday’s race. i saw that ryan had also started his sprint, but he was a few bike lengths behind me, so i was hoping i had enough to keep him off. unfortuntately he took me before the line, but i managed to hold on to second. a sign for sunday maybe.

no coffee stop for me today as i had a mountain of things to organize for both my birthday and the state championships, the next day.

however, i heard the news later that lorraine had a bingle less than 50m after leaving the coffee shop and had broken her wrist. hope you get well soon and back on the bike. in the meantime, it will have to be on the home trainer like stuart o’grady and brad mcgee, so you are in good company.

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.

sunday 4th may – kahuna & peet & observatory

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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.

sunday 27th april – carradine & peet

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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

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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.

sunday 20th april – b grade trophy race

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sunday and another race day. this would be the third weekend in a row for me and i was beginning to get the feel for what racing was all about. it was an early start as i met davina at canning bridge for a warm-up ride down to wandi. it was less than 30km but we wanted to get there with time to spare so allowed an hour which meant a pretty cruisey pace. it was freakin’ cold again and i had rugged up with big gloves, vest, jacket and booties on. anything extra that i didn’t need i figured i could chuck in someone’s car during the race.

there were plenty of triathletes on the bike path as the half ironman was only a couple of weeks away. from groups to individuals they were all making their way down to the end of the freeway bike path as it is a pretty popular run with very few stops. justin also past by on his way down to the race, but was doing quite a bit faster than we intended to.

the roads were a bit damp and the clouds on the horizon showed that it wouldn’t be a dry morning. a few sprinkles early on weren’t a real concern and actually after the rain event that we raced in during the tour de perth, anything short of a thunderstorm would be manageable. bruce, chris and ryan were already down at the start by the time we arrived and stu turned up not long after. a quick registration and we headed out for a loop of the circuit to get an idea of what we were up against. it was a nice square taking about 8km to get around. the corners weren’t too bad and the undulations were not steep enough to really make a difference. the only real concern was the roundabout on the back straight and the huge traffic island that separated the two lanes as the road swept round towards the finishing straight.

so, about 60 riders pitched up at the line. this was the “b” grade trophy race and as such, the “a” grade riders were riding the support race. we also had four girls sprinkled in amongst our field. it would be a nine lap race and we were sure that it would probably stay together till the end. the point was made by the race officials about having your race number under your vest and it not being able to be seen. i was pretty sure that it would not warm up that much and got the other guys to re-pin it on to my vest.

it had sprinkled with rain again before the start and the roads were wet enough in places to cause some spray off the back wheels. it made me wonder about the state of some of the corners we had to take and at what speed the pack would want to take them.

the first lap was a pretty standard fare with guys testing their legs on the “climbs” but not really getting away. the corners were not too bad but there were a few patches where the road was a bit potholed and you had to be careful each lap. the roundabout, as expected, caused a bit of concern early on as people tried to get through about three wide. this took us a couple of laps to sort out and by the end was a lot more controlled.

just after the roundabout was a small rise and almost every lap, someone would put the hammer down to try to stretch the group out. i spend the first few laps towards the back, getting used to the pack and when it would make surges. i watched davina a bit during this time and noted how she anticipated the surges in the pack and got up before the people around her moved so that a gap wouldn’t form. i was learning.

i would say that there were about four or so punctures within the first lap and a half. the wet roads make it so much easier for bits of crap to work their way into the rubber. also, i suspect that some of these guys had the good going out rubber on the bike with a bit less protection from punctures. there was a spares ute but none of us had any wheels in the back. if we punctured, too bad. stu has had a run of bad luck with one last race at gnangara and then again on saturday as we were lining up for the sprint on mounts bay rd.

ryan had begun to stalk a cyclemania rider and was now up near the front. this guy had won a couple of stages of the tour de perth support race and stu had told ryan that if there was going to be a move, then this guy would be in it. after spending the last race chasing down the break, rayn was keen to use that energy to get in it instead. anyway, the coffee boy from cyclemania (mattiaccio – cause it sounds like a coffee) was near the front so ryan was sticking close.

attacks were going at almost every one of the main rises in the road, but none really got very far. it was pretty much the same each lap until lap six. i think it must have been the rise after the roundabout, ryan and two others got away off the front. the coffee boy had dropped back and ryan had went when some others attacked. they had a bit of a gap and when we turned up the next rise, a couple of others tried to bridge across. i was near chris at the time and asked him if that was ryan up the road. he guessed that it was, so it made it easier for the rest of us. i thought about getting to the front and trying to control the speed to let them stay away, but there was a few teams up there already and i didn’t know how long i could actually stay up front. so in typical team p0rn0 tactics, ryan, you are on your own.

by the end of the lap, only one of the chases had bridged across to the break and it turned out to be the coffee boy, forming a fairly strong group of four. with three laps to go, we were unsure whether it would all come back together or not. it seemed like a long time to be off the front.

on the second corner of lap seven, something didn’t feel right. i bounced my front wheel a couple of times to check the pressure and it felt a little down, but not too bad. oh well, must have just been the road surface tricking me. on turn three the bike heavily understeered and i almost clipped the traffic island. a few more bounces and it confirmed my fears. the front tyre was going down fast. damn.

i pulled over and waved the spares ute along as i had nothing in it anyway. nothing i could do except change the tube and roll back to the start line. even if i had a spare, the pace was picking up a bit and i doubted that i could have got back on.

i got to the line before the group finished lap eight and watched ryan go past and get the bell. his little posse of four still had a decent gap, but the pack was not that far behind and it didn’t look hopeful. the “a” grade support race had already finished and they were all lining up to watch the sprint finish, so there were a few spectators around.

coming into the final straight, the break was still ahead and had started the sprint. ryan was in too hard a gear and could not go with the coffee boy who took line honors over ryan with the other two from the break following behind. not long after, the main field came barreling down the road. they were spread across both lanes and were throwing bikes everywhere, looking every bit as dangerous as a “b” grade race. our boys managed to finish in the group but kept out of trouble at the end.

it turns out that it was similar to last week where everyone was trying to get position early and was taking up the whole road even before the sprint started. position, position, position. it is so important and i am still learning where i should be. i find it hard in such a big group too as there is a lot of ground to make up if you are hanging at the back.

so, ryan got a second place and a trophy to collect dust. i wasn’t happy with getting a flat as i was feeling quite good up till that point. after hearing from the other guys what the finish was like, i think that it might be better to put it all on the line and take off before all the carnage happens fro the final sprint. if you can stay away, all good, but the sprint itself seems pretty full on to be caught up in. it was good to get some more race k’s into my legs and the ride back home would be a good warm-down.

no races for us over the anzac weekend, although ryan was talking about doing the stan gurney memorial crit at midland on the friday. i will take the opportunity to do a long hills ride to work on my issues i had during the tour de perth.

thanks to the melville fremantle cycle club for the video and picture

sunday 20th april – welshpool & observatory & kalamunda rd

ride report by darrenrolling into the carpark i was a little earlier than usual but a few has arrived already. i was hopeful that we going to get a few more than last week? unfortunately, racing, the cold weather, and/or lack of commitment ( i can only assume) meant that there would only be about 9 of us today. huddled and shivering rob sat on the step, head in hands, looking like he did last week, was this déjà vu, another big night? turns out he was under the weather, well under. when john arrived we had a brief conversation about how cold it was, he said it was only 8c or 9c. felt about 2c, turns out you were closer to the mark and we are all woosies for being so rugged up.

with no one to lead the way we stood around in the cold until 7:05am or so. this weeks route was reasonably familiar so ‘someone will know the way’ i thought – so up welshpool rd we went. melvyn and i took the group out, camille turned off before we hit welshpool road, probably because most of the usual suspects were not there, luckily young matt and his micro front chain rings were there to keep us honest.

it was an uneventful ride to the foothills. we picked up a few passengers whose cyclosportif team piked on them. it still felt baltic as the sun was well hidden behind the scarp. the pace slowed as we started to climb, so it was up to me to get things rolling. young matt was not far behind. as we hit the straight exposed section i could feel the heart rate increasing, and hit the front derailleur changer to get an easier gear. oh no, stuck in the big ring. fiddling with gears i eventually locked everything up and had to step off, reset and started all over. matt sped off to the summit.

as we rode past the petrol station we ran into doug who had tried and meet us on welshpool rd but turned around at the grain terminal as he thought he missed us, not realising that we were late. at the top, there was daylight between matt and the rest of us. a quick chat at the top and off to the observatory we went.

the group held it together until the start of the observatory climb, i went with matt off the front and we were joined by todd. matt decided he would play cat and mouse with us, clearly overestimating our climbing and acceleration abilities. so todd and i played wile-e-coyote to matts road-runner. matt would slow up, wait for us to pass and sprint past as quickly as possible (beep beep) until he has put 100m or so into the gap and then waited up again. so todd and i endured this humiliation until the top of the climb. we were shortly followed by rob and john, with the others not too far behind.

a bit of procrastination we headed off down walnut descent, with doug, melvyn and rob trying to keep pace with matt. i stayed at the back, a bit nervous that the new bike may get the speed wobbles. as we headed over the top of aldersyde rd i had made up a bit of ground on the lead group as we turned into mundaring weir rd.

feeling good i set a good pace and headed past rob and john, surprisingly matt stayed with them. head down, i found good rhythm and after a little while looked back to see quite a gap had opened. maybe i was half a chance to get to the roundabout first? ……..not likely! matt made the gap in about a minute and despite staying with him for a while and trying to dig deep on the flat section near the top, matt dug deeper and sped off to the top to finish several hundred metres in front. rob also recalled that he was surprised that matt stayed with them for so long, only to take off like a rocket (beep beep) and bridge the gap. soon we were joined by john, closely followed by rob (coughing all the way).

once we were together again we all headed off to the zig zag, only to cop a sprinkle of rain and some wet roads. where did this rain come from?. most of the group descended at a fast but sensible rate, but the freshly washed roads did raise the stress levels a tad. at the bottom, matt took off home. the scenic views down zig zag showed us that there was more rain on the way so we sat around discussing whether we should make a run for home to avoid the weather or go to the coffee shop and face certain drenching on the way home. i wanted to go straight home, robs vote was via bushmead road (surely there is a coffee shop in midland) but the deciding vote went to todd, lindy and mike who were resolute that they needed another climb. doug headed home via forrestfield.

melvyn led the way back to kalamunda rd. rob suggested that goosberry hill rd could be a good option (joking), but was the first to hit the climb back to the coffee shop, and waved todd and i through. todd took the lead most of the way up while i tried to decide if i had any energy left, sort of, maybe, not sure. i stayed with him on the steep sections and when it levelled out on a nice flattish section, the big ring and plenty of beats per minute saw me pass and open a gap. so… first time to be first to coffee shop but i have no illusions about where my form is. john, rob and todd were not that far behind.

just enough time to re-arrange some tables and my double shot mini-bowl arrived, that was fast! some water, some more cyclists, a hot chocolate here and a flat white there, all served in rapid time. melvyn and mike ordered what would only be described as lunch (which they inhaled). we sat around discussing the finer points of interval training, sally robbins’ rowing efforts, shimano shoes and all facets of personal lubrication (for triathlon, get your minds out of the gutter).

instead of asking the group who would write the blog for today i asked melvyn (as he has previous credits and regularly comments on articles) if he or i should contribute this week. his well considered response “you should write the blog, because (long pause)…… you should write the blog” nuff said, so here it is.

heading back john led the way and when the group hit the downhill on lesmurdie rd they all seem to step up the pace. rob made the mistake of taking my wheel and we dropped to the back, so rob went around to catch the leaders. melvyn and i were last to welshpool rd at which point he took off to get to the bottom fast. i was the slowest descended on the day, but didn’t get speed wobbles even at 70kmph, so the new bike is looking ok so far.

a time trial effort brought lindy and i back to the field but it was clear that john had won the honours of being first to the bottom. at the tonkin hwy lights we encountered our first boy-racer/bogan/redneck who zipped past at a rapid rate with inches to spare.

melvyn and john dragged the group back up welshpool rd into the cold westerly wind. i went for the bonus points at the grain terminal. mike reacted but i managed to hang on despite dying on the hill before the leach hwy lights. being too exhausted to contest the macdonalds sprint, i watched john take off with absolutely no one chasing, john was also surprised when he looked back, so slowed down. melvyn peddled slightly faster than everyone else and managed to pass john on the line.

on the way back to the shop i got dropped at a set lights so i dont know how many made it back. props to rob for winning last weeks final sprint effort against stan and myself despite both of us turning off along berwick a few hundred metres before, but well done this week for some strong efforts with a chest cold and paving our way in mucus. good lu
ck to lindy in the 1/2 ironman in a few weeks, hope those 19hr training weeks pay off.

in summary: cold start, nice middle, bit of rain, windy end. seems that the climb up kalamunda rd and coffee rest, meant that we missed the rain and did not get wet! nice!