Tag Archives: observatory

sunday 30th mar – tour de perth recon

hey, how about that. the sun was out when we arrived for the ride this morning. it makes a change and you can all breath a sigh of relief that you won’t have to listen to my bitching about it for at least another eight months. well it looks like only one person didn’t wind their clocks back as young mat who works with simon was there very early. i turned up at 6:30 as even though i had reset my clock, my body clock still got me up early. the pic is of mat’s bike. notice the front chain ring. this is what you have to do if you are racing in under 17’s and are gear restricted. it would sure make descending down welshpool a wonderful experience.

we had close to thirty riders making an appearance this morning, which is a good turn out for a sunday. probably because everyone woke up with plenty of time to spare they decided to make the effort. or more than likely, the course today allowed for a very easy day if you wanted. with the tour de perth race next weekend, the route was a recon of the sunday stage which would take in multiple laps of the observatory circuit. we would ride up welshpool rd before doing three laps of the circuit followed by a final climb up mundaring weir rd to the coffee shop.

well the sun was out, but so was the wind which reduced the temperature a bit. we rolled out along great eastern hwy before turning onto orrong rd. we don’t usually head out this way, so it makes a change and doesn’t really change the ride much. the wind really picked up as we got closer to the hills as it was screaming own from the escarpment. luckily i was neatly tucked away at the back of the group and not really concerned. it did, however, play havoc with the group as the gusts caused a concertina effect of riders slowing down the line.
as we approached the base of the climb, i had already decided that i would take it easy and let others dictate the pace. unfortunately the pace slowed too much and riders were spreading across the road in front of me. as the wind was still making things tough on the climb, no-one really wanted to do the work and set the pace. i jumped around the group and went to the front to try to get it moving. setting a pace that wasn’t too high, but was actually hurting a bit into the wind, i started the climb. i knew that mike b would soon come around me but i wasn’t too sure who else would be there today. mike did come around, but playing team tactics, didn’t attack the group but rather jumped on the front to set the tempo. we swaped off turns between the two of us all the way to the top of the first section where it flattens out after the servo. i finally managed a quick look over my shoulder to see who was still with us and was really surprised to see that we had a group of about ten riders hanging on to our wheels.

the next step in the climb and the group was still together and did not look like it was about to break up. i thought that we should do something about it and came around mike on the last climb telling him that i was going to see who we could drop. all i managed to do was put myself into a world of hurt. mike and josie came past and i found that i could not stick on their wheels. i had managed to gap the others but now i was being left behind. the final climb comes after a short descent and the chasing group put in a big effort and had the momentum to blow past me just before we crested the hill.

a regroup at the top of welshpool rd and we were on our way to pickering brook. the wind was right in our faces again and i was sure i didn’t want to be totally buggered by the time i hit the climb. mike and i peeled off from the front just after mr dickhead gave us some abuse from his big 4wd. davina joined us at this time as she had missed the start so drove up to pickering brook to continue the climbs.

about this time, mark came around for what i thought was going to be a turn at the front, but he kept going and gapped the field a bit. josie jumped out of the pack and took off after him, catching him before too long. everyone decided to let them go as there was the wind and the impending climb to contend with. they managed to get quite a large gap by the time we headed into pickering brook, and i started to get worried that josie would take advantage of such a large gap and we would not catch her before the top. sorry, mark, i was less worried about you.

anyway, i started to chase them down as the road headed down before it turned up patterson rd. i looked back and saw that no-one had began to chase. head down, bum kind of up, i continued to chase and got about half way across by the time the climb started. mike had also started leading the chase from the main pack and they were strung out and had also made up ground. once the climb started, josie took off from mark leaving him to fend for himself on the hill. i got myself into a tempo and began gaining ground on the two of them. by about halfway up the first section, i looked back to see mike leading a group of about four or so riders. they were gaining ground quickly so i eased up to take advantage of the express train. mike even said “hop on board” as he came past. i jumped on the back as we just caught mark, but still had josie up the road.

the pace increased somewhat and we managed to drop the others until it was just mike and myself. i came around for a turn at the front and mike slipped back a bit, but only for a better run up as he attacked hard and bridged across to josie in no time. she jumped straight on his wheel and managed to stay with him till the top. i was in damaged control and tried to set an even tempo and stay away from the chasing pack. i barely managed that but made it to the top anyway.

a regroup at the top and we were not alone as there were many riders out doing the circuit this morning. i made a bit mistake giving people the option to call it a day after one circuit. more than half of the group decided that they were great big blouse wearing pussies and wimped out. strangely enough the four girls in our group decided to do more laps. hardcore.

anyway, eleven of us continued around for another lap and it was much more controlled this time around. this lap we just set an even tempo to the top without trying to smash each other. after the regroup point almost everyone else decided to call it a day. after the quick descent there was only four of us left, mike, stu , davina and myself to head around for a final lap. again there were no attacks and we set a nice tempo to get to the top. no need to regroup as we were all together and headed down the fast descent. at the turn off towards kalamunda, davina continued around for another lap or so as she had missed the first climb up welshpool rd. mike stu and myself headed towards mundaring weir rd.

as the climb started and with the wind on our backs, the pace was quite brisk. my poor little legs didn’t want to play anymore and i had to let mike and stu go. i maintained a nice pace to the top, but was a long, long way from the others once i arrived.

the second group were still at the coffee shop when i arrived, but mike and stu headed straight off home. a prolonged stop, as they had forgotten to serve a couple of drinks, but a few bonus coffee’s on the house made up for it.

the descent was fast with the wind behind us, but not without it’s moments as a ute and trailer carrying three quad bikes decided to do a u-turn at the crystal brook intersection. we were already doing over 60km/hr and i guess he totally underestimated our speed. josie, john and myself had to slow down and change lanes to get around him. once we were all at the bottom we had an absolute arm chair ride home at over 40km/hr with dr marc and todd doing all the work back along welshpool rd. with people peeling off all the way home, there was no sprint and only three of us actually made it back to the shop.

all in all a good ride and a good recon of part of the tour de perth course which i am hoping to race next weekend.

sunday 23rd mar – carradine & peet & observatory

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UPDATED with video

well a beautiful moonlit morning greeted us as we rolled to the start. no daylight to speak of so everyone had lights flashing all over the place when they arrived. as the clock struck the hour, we were held up by young robbie who was changing a tube and changing a tube and changing a tube. he finally got it sorted out and we were about 15 min behind schedule, but at least the sun had come up by then. it also gave a few late comers a chance to start with us, rather than rolling back to bed like they had hoped. however, as we rolled out, he said that it had started going down again, so he decided not to tempt fate and call it a day. there are just some days that the bike tells you it’s had enough.

so we rolled out along berwick rd into a brisk headwind. we had about 19 riders once poor robbie had headed home. as i stopped to check that robbie was ok, i ended up at the back of the group for the duration of the ride. it was quite pleasant really as the wind did seem to be quite annoying for the guys at the front.

as we came through kenwick and approaching maddington, mr dickhead came past us in a large 4wd. this time he stayed in his own lane but instead of hurling abuse, decided that it was better to hurl a full can of diet coke at the group. luckily it wasn’t his wanking arm as it didn’t hit anyone directly, but a few copped some of the spray as the can opened up. maybe he thought that we were thirsty, or maybe he was just another inbred dick, that compensates for his own inadequacies by bullying others that seem vulnerable to attack. unfortunately the video camera wasn’t running at the time so i couldn’t get a look at his number plate.

as we past brookton hwy, dr paul, dr ian and lorraine peeled off for an easier day. the rest of us continued past the armadale hospital and ready for the first bonus climb up carawatha. ryan had previously complained that his legs did not feel well today and was hoping that we had already left when he turned up late. this would be the real test to see if he was foxing or not. the road turned upwards and everybody got into their rhythm. ryan still had it in the big ring and i commented that i would like to see him try that for the second half of the hill. the road turned and grade increased a lot.

ryan did drop it down to the small chain ring and set a nice pace up the hill. i had to come around darren and brendon to make sure i stayed on his wheel, but the bugger unhitched me before we got to the top. stu and mike b stayed out of this one as it was only a bonus. a quick regroup and off to the first main climb of the day up carradine.

as carradine is not a particularly steep climb, it means that little things like drafting can make a big difference. however, the road condition is bordering on crap so it really drags the bike back making it hard to keep a good line. the group started the climb well and i was waiting for someone to make a move. everyone seemed content to sit in as the wind was still in our face, but the road had not yet turned to crap. i decided that i was not going to get any better like this so chucked it up a few gears and sprinted off.

a quick look back and i saw that no-one wanted to play with me. fine, i will just have to work on my own. so i did for quite a few painful minutes while the group sorted out what it was going to do. eventually i saw that it had started to break up and a smaller group was stretching out to catch me. i was hoping that they would not just blow by me as my legs were starting to hurt by this time.

it turned out to be mike b, stu, ryan and darren that had gone off the front and i managed to latch on behind and catch my breath a bit. as we continued up the hill we started to up the pace a bit more to try to increase the gap to the rest of the pack. we began swapping off turns, but i didn’t do that much as i was starting to struggle by this point. on the last little kick towards the end the pace got too much for darren and he slipped off the back. he continued on to the end where stu and ryan had a little sprint for bragging rights. mike and i were content to let them use up the excess energy for the last 50 metres.

darren didn’t lose too much ground by the end and he is climbing very well at the moment. brendon and james came though next a couple of minutes later followed by the rest in dribs and drabs. we then continued on to the tasty descent down soldiers rd. we encountered a slight headwind as the descent started, but once we found the protection of the trees and the smooth roads, it allowed us to open it right up to a 70km/hr descent. a car and a couple of motorbikes coming the other way made it a bit tricky, but nothing too difficult. well at least not as difficult as actually having to pedal.

another regroup back at brookton hwy and we were ready to face peet rd. a couple of km’s at close to 10% is always going to be fun. throw in a couple of good climbing whippets and you knew that the pace was going to be high.

as we did our little right left to cross brookton hwy, i noticed that stu had taken a short cut and managed to get straight across to the start of peet via a path. the cheeky sod had grabbed a 50m head start before we even turned a pedal in anger. he said later that he felt a bit guilty so didn’t go too hard, but when he saw mike chasing him, he didn’t want to make it too easy.

i was a little boxed in when ryan came past to try to bridge to mike. once i managed to break free, i sprinted up to ryan who was really feeling it in the legs today. we were stuck in noman’s land as he hadn’t managed to bridge to mike, but we had a big gap over the chasing guys behind. we started to work together, but it was really a survival tactic rather than trying to catch mike and stu. i watched up the road as mike caught stu and spat him out the back as he continued up the hill. ryan and i managed to gain back a bit of ground once we came down the other side of the hill and started towards roleystone high school, which was the next regroup point. the road is not flat along this stretch either, but allowed the advantage from drafting more than the steeper side of the hill so we were still gaining. the final stretch before the last steep pinch to the finish and i told ryan that i would bury myself to lead him the hill where he could try to catch stu. mike by this time was so far ahead that it wouldn’t have surprised me if he had been home, had a shower, some lunch and came back out to finish the ride with us.

i dug deep and got him to the base of the hill before dying a horrible, horrible death. he took off in typical ryan style, but was soon running on empty and couldn’t quite bridge the gap. i slowly, carefully made my way to the top trying not to leave a lung or two behind.

we cruised up to karagullen after regrouping only to find that the servo was still closed. that made the refueling a bit hard so we continued on towards pickering brook. a fairly moderate pace was set as we were on the uphill section, but it soon amped up as we headed down. strung out and doing over fifty I decided to attack on the downhill to see how far I could get, as the uphill attacks were not making much of an impression today. i managed to gap the group by about fifty metres or so and held them off for a short time. just before
the road started to head upwards the group came past me and i slotted into the first gap i could find.

the hill spread the field across the road as riders found their rhythm and pace. mike b shot forward so i jumped around the group to get on board. the usual suspects of stu and ryan also came across. when mike kicked again, i found that i had no legs for it and had to let them go. about this time, michael happened to be coming the other way as he had a late start to the morning. he quickly turned around and joined the fun. not my fun though, he started to wait for me but i told him to chase the others down as my legs were shot. i slowed my pace down and waited for james to catch up so i could get a draft behind him. soon we were joined by brendon and i think dr marc as well. we didn’t make up much ground on the others but didn’t let them get too far ahead.

a regroup at the intersection and i checked to see if anyone wanted a shortcut straight to the coffee shop. no takers, which is always promising as we still had two climbs to go. as i mentioned previously, everyone seemed to be climbing so much better and it is still noticeable with the shorter waits at regroup points.

so we headed off into what was hopefully the final headwind but unfortunately chris and myself ended up at the front. we could have dropped back, i suppose, but it didn’t really seem fair, so we just kept an even pace to the base of the climb up the observatory. i said to chris that we should just keep a nice even pace up the climb and wait to see who puts in the attacks. his reply was that was always his plan anyway.

the hill slowed our progress down dramatically and the group bunched up behind us. eventually james came around and so i told him to attack to see how far he gets. off he went and managed to get a nice gap on the field. no one reacted immediately but the usual suspects started increasing the pace and the group started to splinter. a moderate size group had formed at the front led by stu who set a quite good pace. i was considering an attack, but as we reached the point that i attacked a few weeks back, the feedback from my legs said “no go captain”. i just tried to hang in as best i could. a couple of pace changes and we had past james’ earlier escape and managed to drop it down to the final for from the initial climb up carradine. working together to increase the distance, we almost made it to the top before my legs gave out and i fell off the back.

one last climb to go before coffee and everyone was starting to feel it. a welcome descent down the steeper side of the observatory before the road kicked up and kicked up hard. i wanted to make sure that mike didn’t get a large lead before the climb started like last time we were here, so made a move on the descent to get in front of him. it didn’t really matter though, as he just took off as soon as the climb started.

i tried to chase, but by now the last couple of days of towing my young lad in the bike trailer were catching up with me, and my legs rebelled. stu was also feeling bad, but managed to put an effort in to try to restrict the gap that was forming. i was content to sit on ryans wheel with michael and get a “free” ride to the regroup point on canning rd.

darren and mike took off home at this point while the rest of us headed to the coffee shop for a well deserved break. we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was not busy and we could get a table or four and a quick order. it must have been the easter break or the chilly wind that was keeping the customers away. we arrived late, after ten, and this is usually the busiest time.

hot cross buns were the order of the day and once we were fed and watered we were on our way. the blowy conditions made the descent interesting, but i still cracked 83 km/hr on welshpool. i am learning to be more relaxed on the bike on the descent but it is hard to convince your body to comply when all it wants to do is hang on tight.

a nice tailwind followed us home and the boys wanted to take advantage by going flat out from the word go. the group was down to single file and i didn’t really want to play so dropped back. dr nic was struggling so i got infront of her to try to close the gap to the main group. we were already doing over fifty and not really making a dent in the distance, and probably losing more ground. by the time we hit the lights at the roe hwy i had left dr nic but was still a way behind. i caught up to chris and still worked to bridge the gap, but then saw ryan start his sprint so figured that i might as well give up now.

we waited to regroup while ryan and james took off as it was late after such a long ride. this would make the final sprint along berwick interesting as the field had been thinned considerably. we were briefly held up at the final lights and when they changed, dr nic shot off like she was chasing down a car full of egg throwing hoons. i quickly took off and caught her on the slight rise, but thought that i should continue to see how far i could get before being totally swamped. i kept the pressure on down the other side and when i finally had a look behind, there was quite a bit of fresh air between me and the next rider. everyone else was too spend chasing ryan down on welshpool rd earlier.

so, no crashes, and no flats during the ride so in all a good day. i will trawl through the video footage from today to find something nice to post, but it may be tomorrow before that happens, so check back later.

UPDATE
after having a quick look at all the action from sunday, i have added a video that i think everyone would like to see.
one of the brutal climbs that we did up peet rd had ryan in obvious distress. so much so that he couldn’t stay on my wheel when i came past for a turn.

it’s not something that we see very often, so i thought that i should post it so we can all remember. thanks ryan.

sunday 24th feb – canning mills & peet & observatory

well sunday arrived and as i said yesterday, if my form is as crap as saturday then it will be a really short blog. luckily it was semi-ok for the first two climbs then crap for the second two, so don’t expect a good read once we get to the observatory.

the course would take us down to roleystone and up canning mills rd, down urch and back up peet to roleystone high school. past karragullen and head over the observatory and back up lawnbrook to the coffee shop.

21 starters this morning and one extra picked up along berwick st. the morning was cool but not too bad as the predicted 33 degrees meant that as soon as the sun was up the temperature would follow. a fairly strong, cool easterly made things interesting as we headed out along albany hwy.

a very uneventful ride out to the hills as no-one no dropped glasses or chains like yesterday. dr paul and dr greg turned off early and decided to tackle the kahuna instead. we continued on to canning mills rd which would take us to the same point anyway. this climb has been used a number of times as the state hill climb championships. it is a very constant grade of close to 9% for just over 2.5 kms before it flattens off to a 2% for about a km.

as the road pointed up michael rocketed off the front to try to get as much advantage as possible. mike upped the pace to follow him and young robbie went too. michael put a bit much into his early attack and mike overtook him with robbie in tow. i put in as much effort as i thought i could without blowing up, which goes against everything i have written previously. after yesterday, though, i was a bit wary of my form in the hills.

i managed to pick up michael but was not having much luck keeping mike and robbie in sight. stu set his tempo and came past me too but i managed to keep within 30 or so metres of him. looking back down the road there was a nice pack forming with michael, jerry and brendon from yesterday, who was discovering hills after a few years at kalgoorlie. my recovery was certainly better than yesterday and i managed to keep my heart within the 180 bpm’s without getting into oxygen debt. as the road flattened stu put the power down a bit and managed to extend over me, but didn’t really get any closer to mike and robbie. i was happy just to keep going to the top where we regrouped at the turn to chevin rd.

i asked robbie whether he let the old man win as mike must be closer to 50 than 40 and robbie has just turned 16. he said that he didn’t know where we were stopping so just stayed with him to the end. not good for us as it meant that he must have had quite a bit more in reserve. anyway, it wasn’t going to be a concern to me today as i was happy just to be close to the front on the climbs. the remainder of the pack scrambled their way up the climb before we headed onto part of the state road championship course.

a quick, very quick descent on urch rd before climbing up onto peet rd lay ahead. michael and i decided to push the descent to try to get a big break on mike and robbie before the climb started. it is steep, fast descent and i hit 82 km/hr at the bottom. mark was even faster and came past both michael and myself to start the climb first. mark used to be the one that would hurt us on the climbs but a number of overseas work trips have played havoc with his training and is also struggle to find form. michael and i started pushing to get a gap, but by the time we turned onto peet rd, the others were only 20 metres behind.

i pushed as hard as i dared and managed to drop michael but robbie came up to me quite easily. he wanted to know where the next regroup point was so he could see if he could give it to mike on the climb. he left me behind and mike came past as well to join him. i set a tempo and managed to get stuck in no-mans land between them and a group with michael, jerry and stu.

as we approached the final pinch up to roleystone high school, i was caught by the chase group and jumped on stu’s wheel. he put in a nice effort up to the “finish-line” of the state road championships and i was not anywhere near holding his wheel. robbie had out gunned mike on the line too. we regrouped as everyone made their way up and headed to karragullen for a refuel or pit-stop. simon managed to use the right toilet this time.

from karragullen to pickering brook is undulating with one short “bonus” climb towards the end. we tend to set a nice pace as most of it is downhill but someone always goes on the climb to see what will happen. it is usually me and i usually get past quickly. this time i thought i would wait to see and mike decided to take off. i jumped on his wheel and managed to keep up as it is not that steep. however, the previous efforts were taking their toll and i couldn’t hold his wheel. i signaled for the others to come around and let about five of them head off into the distance while i picked up the pieces.

at the pickering brook intersection, we regrouped and lorraine decided to take a short-cut straight to the coffee shop. it was her first time out to the hills with us and she did well as we tackled some very steep climbs. stu and i led the pack as we headed to the start of the climb on the easy side of the observatory. the wind was strong enough to make it difficult and i noticed that my thighs were starting to cramp. bugger. another side-effect of being on holidays. as i was not in a routine i was a bit hit and miss with my supplements and so missed quite a bit of magnesium. i had this problem earlier and the supplements certainly helped the situation, but now it was starting again.

as the hill started i pulled over to the edge to let everyone else past and managed to stick with a small group to get to the top. i thought that maybe i could conserve enough energy to get a good run at the last climb which was coming up soon. i’m pretty sure i saw robbie and mike take off from the others towards the end of the climb though. another regroup and we headed into the nice fast descent down the steep side of the observatory. i noticed robbie really struggling to keep up on the descent and was still in his small chanring. being 16 he is still gear restricted so is not allowed to push big gears yet. it makes it hard when you need that extra bit of speed.

as soon as we hit the other side, mike took off hard and michael and i tried to match him. not today. i quickly went into damage control mode and just tried to set a rhythm that i could handle. robbie took off after mike and stu came past me too. well actually almost everyone came past me. about half way up i was caught by a small group and i managed to sit on for a while. camille put a big effort in and i tried to stay on her wheel. when i got up out of the saddle my thighs began to cramp so i just had to sit back down and let her go. simon chased her down but it was the last i saw of them. as the gradient leveled out a bit todd flashed past me happy to inflict some payback pain in me. i managed to jump on dr marc’s wheel and received a nice draft to the regroup point.

coffee awaited us although we lost stu, mike and camille as they headed home early. we hit the coffee shop to find the table all ready for us with water and all. lorraine had managed to set it all up while she waited for us to arrive. it certainly made for a pleasant surprise and i thank her for that. i think that the coffee
shop might finally understand that if they get us served quickly we will leave quickly. service was quite good overall.

the trip home was fairly uneventful although the boys tried to light it up a few times on welshpool rd. my legs were too shattered to chase so i hung on to the back markers with muscle memory the only thing keeping my legs turning. we managed to drop riders off along the way as people found their own way home. the final sprint was approaching and the pack was down to about ten riders. the boys were a bit hesitant as no-one wanted to lead out. my legs were gone so i decided to lead out as there was no way i could sprint. coming into the final stretch, michael and jerry both came around and it looked like a dead heat but michael conceded that jerry just got him on the imaginary line. we don’t actually know where the line is, but we just sprint till people give in.
well i have to send a search party out to find my form, but hopefully i can get it together sooner rather than later.

sunday 10th feb – carradine & peet & observatory

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around twenty three or so riders rolled up to the start today ready for another hot morning in the hills. mostly the usual suspects, but a couple of new faces as well. it was forecast to be 32 degrees today with strong easterly winds, so no matter where we went it was going to be hard. as i am going over east for a couple of weeks and will miss next weeks rides, i decided that we would do a long one no matter what the weather. this usually means heading down towards armadale.

cade, mike and stu were part of the group this morning, so if it was not one it would be the other, or even all of them that would be setting the pace. the course gave a lot of opportunities to deal some pain on the hills as we had four main climbs plus a couple of bonus climbs as well. the course went down albany hwy and then up carrawatha, carradine, down soldiers rd, up peet, across brookton hwy, over to pickering brook, up the observatory, then up lawnbrook to kalamunda. quite a long ride all up, but with a couple of very nice descents in between some of the climbs.

we picked up another couple as we rolled out through vic park but disaster stuck for dr nic before we even turned off berwick rd. as we approached the lights at hill view crescent, they changed so someone grabbed a handful of brakes. darren braked and swerved to avoid, but this meant that dr nic clipped his wheel. trying to keep upright she swerved left and then fell but not before pinning shao and his bike to the curb. a little blood on the knee and some damaged pride more than anything. she was ok but was probably angry more than anything and the adrenaline helped her do a big turn at the front.

cross winds played havoc on the way down to the first climb, but even before then we had lost a couple. dr greg had to be home by 9 so didn’t make it very far before turning back. dr paul turned up brookton hwy to have an easier climb and we never saw him again.

the first climb is carawatha which is a very short bonus climb. it starts off moderate for about 300m, then flattens slightly for 300m, then there is a kink so you can’t see the last 300m until you start it. the last section is about 15% and is quite brutal. being a bonus climb, and being way too steep for me, i tend to try to get into a rhythm and just get to the top without blowing up. cade, stu, ben, darren and a new guy bill all broke away on the bottom section and had gapped the rest by 20 or so metres. when the top section of the climbs started, darren dropped off and mike came flying past me and easily bridged to the remaining four. i was in my easiest gear which is a 23 tooth and was still reaching for something else. mike managed to come past the remaining boys and gap them before the top by about 10 or so metres. not sure exactly as i was still on the climb.

a regroup at the top (well some of us did) and we had a quick descent to the foot of the first main climb. carradine isn’t that steep but is about 3 kms long and has some really rough roads. combined with the head wind, this made for a testing climb. my legs were feeling quite tired today as i ended up riding on friday which is usually my rest day. the 24 hr torrential rain we had on thursday forced me to change my usual routine. this meant that i would be riding three hard days straight as friday was a hard time trial around the river before work. so, that was my excuse.

the climbs started well and i was content to sit in and see who would make a move. it wasn’t long before cade came around the pack and straight to the front to up the pace. i managed to jump on his wheel and let him break the wind for me. the increase in pace dropped the rest of the pack except mike who jumped across to my wheel. the three of us swapped turns with me doing the least work as i was having trouble even holding the wheel. my quads seemed like they were full of lead and my left calf was tight. these issues seemed to over-ride my cardio as i found that i wasn’t pushing maximum bpm as the legs started to fail first. probably just over training.

we continued to the top and with no-one forcing a break, we all finished together. the rest of the pack came through in ones and twos, but we had managed to create quite a gap. after a regroup we moved onto the first fun descent of the day. soldiers rd starts off rough, but has a nice smooth, wide, twisty, protected section at the bottom. there used to be a few sections where they had done road works and not fixed it too well, but these were now re-fixed. after negotiating the rougher section with its tight corner that claimed a fair bit of scott’s skin a year ago, i managed to accelerate around a few guys and get on michael’s wheel with a bit of clear road around me. hitting 78 km/h in the middle of the ride is great after going up the hills so much slower, but i was pushing my limits a bit on some of the corners.

the road has a small rise where i told michael i would wait for the others to make sure that they all got down ok. some of the others were already waiting there so they all headed to brookton hwy where we usually regroup before the climb up into roleystone. lindy and todd brought up the rear and i rode the rest of the way with them. when we hit brookton hwy, there was only michael waiting. everyone else had gone on ahead. i wasn’t particularly happy as this ride is based on the fact that we wait and regroup to make sure everyone makes it in one piece.

so michael and i started the climb with todd and lindy in tow. we didn’t set a blistering pace as i really couldn’t be bothered as i was still pissed off that there wasn’t a regroup. we managed to pass quite a number of the other riders who were well and truly strung out by the hills 10% average grade. once we got to roleystone high school i stopped and waited as the guys that had gone ahead were circling around not sure where to go next. everyone who passed by i just told to regroup at the karragullen, while michael and i waited for the back of the pack.

at the gull servo everyone had a refuel or toilet stop due to the excessive fluid consumption. lindy was surprised when she went to the toilets to find simon coming out of the women’s. it doesn’t surprise us much. on top of using the facilities, he committed the worst crime seemingly possible and left the toilet seat up. come on simon, if you are going to live like a women, at least know the rules. i hope the trans-gender surgery goes well…..just joking.

we headed along canning rd to the next regroup at pickering brook. this stretch is undulating but starts off quite nicely before the last couple of bonus climbs. we stayed together well until we hit the base of the climb and it started to bunch up. i wasn’t really meaning to start anything, but kept it in the big gear and powered up the climb until i had to change down. i was happy to cruise then but cade came past so i jumped on his wheel. mike bridged across and we worked together up towards the intersection. i dropped off just before the end and was quickly picked up by the chasing pack.

at this regroup point, there is always the option for an early exit as you can easily go straight to the coffee shop from here. it may be a reflection of the increase in the groups ability, but everyone was still keen to continue as planned, even though there was two more climbs to go.

we cruised to the bottom of the observatory and hit it as a group. as usual the pack spread as people found their pace and began to climb. cade and mike were at the front and had began to pull away from the main pack. i
was boxed in and had to wait till the group thinned out a bit before accelerating around and catching up. once i hit the front, the four of us, as stu had also jumped ahead, began to put some distance on the others. cade and mike set the pace well with mike still in the big ring for the majority of the climb. my legs were starting to feel a bit better as the preceding climbs must have “warmed” them up a bit. i knew that the climb levels out a bit after the main stretch and thought that if i can get ahead, i may have a chance of keeping away till the top.

i put it in a higher gear and accelerated hard around the others. i kept it up for as long as my legs would allow before finding a more manageable pace. i sneaked a glance back hoping like hell that there wasn’t anyone on my wheel and saw that no-one had chased me down. i tried to keep the pace on to stay away, but further checks saw that someone was gaining on me fast. i wasn’t sure who it was but right at the end, about 100 m from the end of the climb i was past by bill the mate of shao’s that had come along for the first time. bugger, i thought i had it.

the remaining bunch made their way up for another regroup before the second nice downhill of the day. climbing up the easy side of the observatory meant that we would get to descent the steep side. a few slight cross winds made it a bit more exciting, but we all made it down safely before heading straight into the final climb up lawnbrook rd.

mike had a 25 m gap as soon as the climb started and then he took off like a rocket. i tried to bridge across to him, but didn’t come close and had to find my own rhythm. as the climb progressed, he managed to put even more distance into me and a quick look back saw stu quickly catching me. he managed to catch and pass me but i stayed on his wheel. on the next pitch i managed to drop him but he caught back up near the top. neither of us got any closer to mike. once it leveled out we swapped off turns to try to reel mike back in but he still had about 150m once we hit the intersection of canning rd.

at this point it was a easy cruise to the coffee shop rather than it being the final climb. mike, stu, cade, shao and bill continued on and left us to some french style decadence. we were a bit late to coffee today, as a trip to armadale usually adds quite a bit of time to the ride, but service was quite good. they have even cottoned on to the fact that we now want to take the food with us to the table rather than wait for it to be brought out later.

it was a fairly uneventful descent, but a pleasurable one with favorable winds not causing too much disturbance. once we hit the bottom we had a visit from mr dickhead in a hotted up blue ford wank-mobile, who decided that even though he could easily change lanes as there were no other cars around, he wanted to come within a ruler length of the riders at speed. it’s time like these that i wish my bike mounted camera was working. i gave him the finger and he did likewise, but not much else i could do. i hope he wraps it around a tree some time.

jerry and i set the pace all the way back along welshpool rd, but were waiting for someone to make a move as the winds were very favorable. it wasn’t till the last bit that carl came around so i immediately jumped on his wheel and sat on to see how long he would last. as he started to fade, mark jumped and sprinted away in the distance. i didn’t really have the legs for it by this stage.

the final sprint and i ended up on second wheel behind russell. he is a big lanky guy, so i had a good position out of the wind. however, he ended up doing too much work and faded after the slight hill but is still didn’t want to go yet. jerry kicked out and took michael with him. i tried to go but couldn’t find enough to get past both of them, so michael easily came off jerry’s wheel for the finish.

a quick weight check once i got home found me under 70 kg for the first time in a while. not in the good way, however, as it meant that i had sweated out two litres of fluids that had to be replaced.

as i am away next week, i have requested that someone else write up the rides afterwards. i will still post the routes on thursday, but someone else will be running the group.

so stay safe, and watch out for mr dickhead.

sunday 3rd feb – welshpool & observatory & kalamunda

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well another hot day was forecast, so i thought that we would stay close to the coffee shop as possible. the temp only dipped to 25 deg overnight so this generally meant that a crap night was probably had as well.

the course would take us up welshpool rd, over the observatory, up mundaring weir rd to kalamunda, back down the zig-zag and up kalamunda rd. it was a bit of a criss-cross on the map as we rode the same patch of road twice and also came within 100m of the coffee shop before riding back down the hill.
just over 20 riders showed up this morning, with the heat probably scaring most away. a couple of regulars were racing crits and ryan was sunning himself in thailand so i was interested to see who would bring the pain on today. it was therefore good when young mitch turned up (pictured). he is only about 18 or 19 and is in some wais program or something, so can pretty much ride a bike well. he has been out with us before and i have seen him crack ryan on a climb. so, it should be a good day.
as we rolled out we picked up alistar on berwick rd. al is a fly-in fly-out engineer, so doesn’t come out with us very often. however, when he does, he usually does a good job of hurting us. stuart was also back after a week watching the tour down under and doing a few serious rides while over in adelaide. all in all it should make for an interesting ride.
the trip out was fairly uneventful. we picked up russell and doug along welshpool rd just to swell the ranks a bit. the main thing was the hot wind that was blowing directly into our faces all the way out. i sat at the back the whole way out as the pack got split early on and so i dropped back to ensure everyone was still on. this meant that i would be starting the climb behind the eight-ball. however, mitch, al and stu were all back with me too.
as the climb started, the pace at the front began to slow, so i started to come around. michael and ben s were on the front, but i wanted to try to thin the head of the pack out a bit. michael did stay at the front for long as he had decided to do the entire climb in the 53 x 19. just cause he can. i pushed the pace up the first section with al, ben, stu and greg in tow while mitch was still finding his way to the front. i was trying to set a hard pace while at the same time waiting to see who would be coming around. by the time we hit the main part of the climb, mitch had taken up the pace making and was making it difficult for all. a little way up the steeper section he accelerated again and i just did what i could to hold his wheel. we managed to gap the others, but not for long as stu bridged across quickly.

i didn’t fair too well out of mitch’s acceleration and began to drop off his wheel. by the time we past the servo, mitch had 50m on me and 20 on stu. once they hit the flat section, they both sat up and i managed to catch them. i told them we need to keep going to stay away from the others as this was all part of the game. the next step up in the hill i managed to hold on for a while, but mitch stepped up the pace again, and i fell off the back. i knew i couldn’t catch them, so did what i could to try to stay away from the rest of the pack. repeatedly trying to stay on mitch’s wheel meant that i didn’t have much left, but managed to keep away from al to the top of the last pinch.
we regrouped at the top and headed onto the next climb. as we came past carmel and the sanitarium “factory” the group started to split a bit on the decent. I managed to come around the outside but on the uphill section I hit a rock or gum-nut with my front wheel while I was standing. it scared the crap out of me as it really twisted the handle bars in my hands. well it would have been interesting to get on tape as the video was running at the time.
we hit that little decent before the climb and I made sure I was already in the little ring as I know how steep this climbs starts out. russell turned off at this point so added to the others (dr paul, dr greg and dr ian) that we had lost on the first climb. I managed to get to the front and set the pace for a while. after the first pinch it is not a particularly hard climb, but long with dead roads that sap your strength. mitch eventually came around me and I managed to hold his wheel for a while. this also meant that we had gapped the field in the process. unfortunately my legs were not up to his standard and I fell off and ended up in no-mans land. by the time we got to the intersection, mitch had about 100m on me but also rode past the turn by about 20m. this meant that I “caught” him for the last pinch. stu had found his second wind and managed to bridge across as well.
a regroup at the top and we were on our way for a leisurely decent. not so leisurely for some as darren got cut off at the bottom of the hill and ended up leaving the road. I waited behind to make sure that he and the others were ok. the main group had kept on riding and we ended up getting scattered along pickering brook rd. as the main group was well and truly gone by the time I hit the climb, I decided to have a bit of a rest and just take it easy to the top. about halfway up the first part of the climb, todd caught up and past me. he wanted to know whether I got that on tape as he said it didn’t happen very often. at the very end, we picked up al who had tried to match it with mitch and was now feeling the aftermath.
we regrouped at the top and i asked who wanted to go straight to the coffee shop as it was only 100m away. we had a couple of takers, but as the majority were going to continue, peer pressure forced most of them to continue. i think if i had said that we would just go to coffee, there would not have been any complaints. i knew that we had to do more and we had lots of time up our sleeve. so down the zig-zag to the base of kalamunda rd.
when we turned onto kalamunda rd, the wind was coming quite strongly off the hillside and channeling straight into our face. this forced the group to split into little groups and i got caught in the middle one. i looked up the road and stu and al were in the front one, so i had to catch up as i didn’t want to give them 50m head start before the hill. i think that mitch was with me so we both came across.
as the hill picked up, i managed to come to the front and up the pace to thin out the pack again. my legs were starting to feel it but i kept pushing until only mitch and al were left. mitch then came around me and started pushing a bit harder. it was good to hear that his breathing was labored and i wasn’t making it too easy for him. al also came around and i managed to sit on for a bit. towards the top mitch then hit the turbo and spat me out the back. al lasted a further 10m before getting dropped as well. we just had to make do and maintained till we got to the top. it is a windy climb, so it was hard to judge how far ahead of the others we were, but we could still see mitch when we hit the top. neither al nor mitch were staying for coffee, so i was first in. well not exactly. christophe had ejected before the last climb and was happily relaxing with a coffee when we showed up.
water was the order of the day as i had sweated profusely throughout the ride. coke was also on the cards to get a sugar and caffeine kick to get me home.
the decent was good with the tailwind helping michael to get to 87 km/h and me to about 80ish. when we were all back together, we happily cruised along welshpool rd at about 40 without really needing to push to hard. as christophe and i led the pack along i was waiting for the attack to come and wasn’t disappointed. “mr excitement” aka dr melvyn took off around the pack to try to shake it up a bit. after weeks of trying the same move, he deceided to leave it a bit longer so he would have more of a chance. in the end we only had to sprint for about 100m before having to slow down for the lights.
the final sprint along berwick and christophe hit out early at the lights and got a bit of a break. i chased him down bringing jerry and greg with me. jerry came around me to take second wheel as we hit the downhill. i waited till we were back on the flat before launching. i came around both, but also saw a shadow on my right as greg was trying to come off my wheel. i had to sustain the sprint a bit longer than usual to keep him at bay, but also had another secret weapon. as it was hot, really hot, i was still sweating a lot. this managed to come flying off in the sprint and splatter all over greg as he tried to stay on my wheel. quite disgusting really, so next time he might want to be in front of me. rolled home and found the air-con had thankfully been left on. a quick weight check and i had lost 2 kg through sweating so it was an afternoon of drinking, drinking and more drinking.

sunday 6th jan – kahuna & peet & patterson

well another glorious summer morning awaited us today. with an expected top of 34 deg the morning ride was going to be not too hot, not too cold but just right. and lucky too, as today we were going up the longest, steep climb that we know off close to perth. there are longer climbs and there are steeper climbs but this is the “best” of both worlds.
perth really lacks serious mountains. we have hills. so to make up for the patheticness of our climbs, i usually plan a route that has multiple climbs (see below). today we had four main climbs that would give us about 1,000m of vertical ascent in total.
but i am getting ahead of myself. had the normal turn out today. about 15 riders and mostly the regulars. a couple of newbies rocked up but decided against it as they needed to be back by 10am. maybe next time. severe lack or estrogen today as our regular girls are over east competing in the bay cycle classic. 7 o’clock came and we still had people turning up. i guess the benefit of posting the route beforehand is that people know where we have gone. we had to wait, however, for dr melvyn. he was running a bit late and had phoned ahead to say he was still coming. no hurry, so we waited for him and then took off.
as we said that we had to wait for him, we told him that he had to do all the work on the front for the next 20km. for some reason he took us seriously and sat on the front until carousel shopping centre when i told him we were joking. he looked very relieved as he peeled off the front.
the thing that make this sunday ride enjoyable is that we generally don’t race to the hills. there is no rolling through and people just do a bit of time at the front then drop to the back. this allows the rest of us to have a pleasant conversation on the way out, as you know once we hit the hills there is no time for talking.
bit windy heading out to the base of the hills and just before we started the climb, the wind coming down from the escarpment was so strong it felt like we were going backwards.
our climbing etiquette is pretty much as follows; go as hard as you can and try to hurt as many people as you can but make sure you wait at the top of the hill for everyone to catch up. we can then all ride together to the start of the next hill.
so the kahuna (named for two reasons 1. the cohunu koala park is located half way up 2. as it is a big climb, it is the big kahuna) is just under 4km long at an average of just over 7%. nothing compared to climbs in europe but the best we have here. so the climb started well. our groups strong man, ryan set a nice pace early on keeping his bike in a relatively hard gear. the pack splintered as expected and everyone generally went there own pace.
i have decided that going my own pace will not help me improve, so i try to go ryan’s pace for as long as i can then blow up spectacularly. he eventually dropped me and i was caught by stewart. now stew is an ex triathlete and ex marathon runner so he is like a whippet on the bike. he is currently trying to get some form back after an injury, but used to completely spank us on the hills. i tried to stay with him as long as possible but eventually cracked again. i eased my way up the rest of the steeper section before tying again to catch them once i regained composure and the gradient reduced. no luck and they were +50m ahead of me once they hit the top.
i then rolled back down a bit to get a couple of shots of the boys in full flight coming up the last of the climb.
our next climb took us to part of the state road championship course in roleystone. this is an absolute bitch of a course as it is very hilly and contains not flat sections at all. we were going to one of the descents then the main climb, up past the finish line and along to karragullen petrol station for a regroup.
the decent was short but nice and fast and ryan kicked it in once he hit the other side. michael w put in a big effort and they both gaped me, but michael realised that the hill was a little longer that he remembered so popped early as i crawled my way back up to ryans wheel.
the good thing is that ryan has no memory for the places that we have ridden previously so is continually asking how long the climbs are so he can gauge his effort. this at least meant that he wasn’t going full tilt and allowed me to stay with him to the top. heading towards the road course finish line, michael and stewart caught back up and the four of us pushed it the rest of the way to the servo.
karragullen is more of a locality than a town, with the primary feature being the servo. as such it is a popular meeting & refuelling spot. while we were there, at least five ute/4wd’s turned up towing trail and quad bikes. then about ten or so touring motobikes pulled in. with us there was three distinct groups. the young-ish redneck trail bike guys, the middle age crisis 1000cc touring bike guys/girls and us. the approaching middle age but still trying to hang onto our youth through fitness and looking “spectacular” in lycra.
as we were eating, drinking, toilet stopping etc, half the guys decided to get a head start and took off to the next regroup spot. once we got on the road, we started to chase and spat a couple of guys out the back of our group. unfortunately, jerard dropped his chain so i waited for him so he wasn’t left on his own. we worked together the rest of the way but couldn’t catch back up. at the regroup spot, the others had been caught, but had decided to take advantage and take off again to get a head start up to the observatory.
the observatory is pretty much the highest point around perth. there are two roads up it. the hard way and the easy way. we choose the easy way today as we had already climbed the kahuna. not long into the climb we could already spot our escapee’s up ahead. a concerted effort to blow myself up meant that we caught them before the top, but i had to let ryan and stew go ahead as my legs would not work any more.
for some reas
on i have developed into pushing a harder gear than i usually do and this may have a little (or a lot) to do with why i my quads are cramping so often. anyway, i decided to try to spin more on this hill and really concentrate on turning the full circle on the pedal rotation. it hurt and it is something i need to work on. i am thinking of having a crack at some velodrome training to help me out.
we regrouped at the top and this left only one more climb before the coffee shop. stew went on ahead as he was going to do extra kms rather than coffee. everyone else was pretty keen for a coffee.
the decent down from the observatory is one of the best parts of the ride. down on the drops in an aero tuck, rolling at +60km/h is a joy that makes the climbs worthwhile.
i managed to keep with ryan for the last climb right up till the end when he sprinted for the line. no legs left by then but happy with the efforts so far. my new years resolution has been to try to smash it as much as possible as i’m not getting any younger so my fitness is not going to maintain by just keeping the staus quo.
every sunday ride, regardless of the route, will always stop at kalamunda for coffee. i used to hate stopping, but have since seen the social benefits of coffee far out way the break during a ride. anyway, there are limited places open on a sunday and we tend to go to the paris-brest coffee shop. it sounds european and the wait staff are all female so generally we are happy there. service can be erratic sometimes depending on how busy they get, but today was pretty good, so no complaints. orders range from coffee’s to gatorade through to rich cakes, tarts and whatever dr melvyn had. still not sure, but it was about a foot long and filled with cheese and other things that may sit heavy when riding home. luckily this was not a problem.
refuelled, bottles filled and bellys filled-ish, we start the final drag up canning rd to lesmurdie rd. this is the only pain in the arse part of the ride as it is not a hard hill, but feels terrible after the legs sitting stagnant for 1/2 hour. once we hit lesmurdie rd though it is practically all down hill. welshpool rd hill can be fun if the cross winds aren’t howling through the cutting, and today was generally ok. not favourable for any land speed records as i only managed 75ish km/h and the faster boys only just cracked 80km/h. i few of the guys have hit 90km/h coming down there, but i tend to crap my pants at those speeds.
one last regroup at the bottom of the hill to make sure everyone got down safely and then we can all ride back to the shop together. as always, there is a couple of break-aways as we are on nice double lane roads, we have a bit of room to play with. dr melvyn featured again as he attacks and we always chase him even though we know he won’t get far.
one last kick coming back along berwick st just before the shop to make sure that we have totally shot our legs, then a bit of a catch up in the shade, to make sure we all know how good we are.
although, nobody noticed who was missing. dr melvyn had got a flat about 400m from the shop and had to walk his bike the last little bit.
a good ride all round. not a lot of waiting at hill tops so we made good time. didn’t leave anyone behind, which is another thing we try not to do.

one last social commentary.
summer time + bunnings hardware store + sunday morning = lots of hot looking chicks. it somehow makes all the pain worthwhile.

Sth Perth Sunday Ride 03 (Kahuna &amp Peet &amp Patterson)
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