Tag Archives: patterson

sunday 26th oct – patterson & canns & urch

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ride report by peter.

 

daylight savings.  it almost caught me out this morning.  well actually last night.  i was still up blogging and suddenly realised that 10:30 was actually 11:30 and i had to be up in just over 6 hours.  i like my sleep and feel ripped off losing it just so some politician can go for a walk along the beach after work, in 40 degree heat, with 40km/h winds sand blasting your legs.  nice.  especially since the shops shut at 6.

 

anyway, i am assuming that the lack of clock winding vigilance was the reason that our numbers were down a bit today.  a couple of text messages confirmed it a bit later that the clock was to blame.  you will probably hear me bitch a bit more about daylight savings as the summer rolls towards autumn and it gets dark in the morning again.

 

so about 12 or so riders turned up to fresh conditions this morning and we headed out albany hwy.  there were five categorised climbs mapped out this morning and it would have to be one of the most difficult routes that make up the sunday ride suite.  we would start by peeling off brookton hwy to tackle the infamous f_ckenberg, before stomping up canns rd.  a descent down soldiers rd before heading up peet and urch.  a transition to the observatory climb and finish up mundaring weir rd with a coffee at paris-brest. 

 

the fresh start was beginning to give way to a very nice day.  little wind and seemingly not a cloud in the sky. less than half the group had actually ridden the f_ckenberg before and i was talking it up.  “somewhere from steep to very steep”, “you won’t be able to start if you stop”, “hope you have a 27 tooth cog on there”, all those types of things.  alistar was gunning for more mountain points as he was the only one close enough to challenge ryan for the october overall.  the points reset next week so it was a bit of a battle for these two.  alistar had definitely not ridden this climb and came past asking what it was like.  i said that he will see when he rounds the corner.  he headed up the road a bit and ryan tagged along to make sure he didn’t get too far ahead.  i said to judd (i think) to listen to alistar reaction as we come around the corner.  “holy f_ck” was what i am sure he said.  judd had not ridden the climb either and was now dreading what he would see. 

 

pete & stan. waiting on top of the world
pete & stan. waiting on top of the world

alistar attacked the hill with gusto and managed to gap ryan from the start.  i know that this climb will really wear you down and the only way to approach it is to get in your easiest gear, stand and find a rhythm you can maintain.  on the bottom half, jens came around me when he surged a bit with stu.  it didn’t last long and i came back past and put in a few hard pedal strokes to get ahead of both of them.  there was no way that i was going to catch ryan and al, but i now wanted to keep ahead of the others to stay in the points.  up ahead, ryan almost caught alistar near the top but conceded valuable points as alistar was first to the blackwood road intersection and the unofficial and invisible kom line.  i had to put in a bit of an effort once the gradient slackened to stay ahead of stu with heiko/jens taking the fifth spot.

alistar – 10, ryan – 7, peter – 5, stu – 3, heiko – 1.

 

the regroup was a quick affair as the smaller group was quite well matched and it didn’t take long for everyone to reach the top.  we were soon headed down to canns rd for the next climb.  i had to give instructions to everyone on the fly as we hadn’t really stopped in one spot for the regroup and we had already started the next climb.  this was a categorised climb and i had to tell everyone where the finish line was. 

 

the first small rise in the hill (as it undulates as it climbs) was soon upon us and the group was relatively together.  alistar asked if the top of the rise ahead was the end of the climb.  we were only just really starting the climb and i think he was ready to sprint.  i told them all that there was quite a way to go and everyone was just looking to see who would make a move.  it was me.

 

i took off to see who would chase and only alistar and jens came with me.  i looked back to see stu and ryan happily riding tempo up the hill not worrying about challenging for this one.  i assumed that ryan had done the maths and realised that his initial 22 point buffer over alistar meant that he was fairly safe even if he came in mid points every climb.  as the road rolled and pinched again we took turns at the front until we paced it up a bit too much for jens and he dropped off the back.  the road starts to flatten out before the finish and i had to point it out to alistar to be fair about where we would be sprinting too.  i made him lead out but at the end he pushed me too hard and i had to let him go to stop myself from actually spewing.  it took me a few minutes of riding around to cool down before my spew-meter was not in the red.  these mountain points are making for an interesting ride.  jens held onto third with ryan and stu following close behind.

alistar – 10, peter – 7, heiko – 5, ryan – 3, stu – 1.

 

the always fun descent down soldiers rd was interrupted at the bottom when a couple of guys said that someone had a flat or someone had to stop to fix something.  it turns out that judd’s “behind the back” triathlete drink bottle holders were coming loose and he didn’t want to drop a bottle in the path of another rider.  a couple of minutes to fix and he met us at the bottom. 

 

the next climb was the start of peet but then swung left onto urch for a change.  the road was arguably as steep but had a slight reprieve in the middle before it hit you with the final ascent.  john had jumped across the road before we got stopped by traffic so had a good head start on the climb.  i took it as a tempo and was waiting to see who would try to go early on the lower steeper slopes.  ryan and alistar took off but not at a blistering speed so i could easily hang onto the back of their train.  stu was hanging off the back with me as we al pulled away from the rest of the group.  john was caught and dispatched with little fanfare as the hill was now dictating what we were to use our breath for.  by the time we reach the urch intersection, the rest of the group was a fair way behind. 

 

true to form, both ryan and alistar didn’t actually listen to instructions (it is probably on their school report from about grade three) and were about to turn right to follow peet as we would normally do.  ryan said that he didn’t hear me say that we were not going to stop at the school.  i also didn’t not say a lot of things, but i did say that we were to turn left into urch.  we rolled down the slight hill before hitting the next climb proper.  again i was asked how far to the top and the answer was “a fair way off yet” as the climb kicks up twice and can be quite brutal.  i got to the front and started setting the pace.  once i thought that we were in a good rhythm i would put in five or six really hard pedal strokes before returning to the same pace.  i was just testing the others to see who would come with me, or attack me.  i managed about four small attacks like that before i finally dislodged stu and alistar.  ryan and i kept going as we were very close to cresting the top of the climb and it flattens out for a bit before the intersection finish.  we swapped off turns to keep away from al who had dropped stu in his pursuit of us.  as we approached the finish, ryan sprinted off to make sure he maximised points and i was left with second.  the points for fifth came down to stan and jens fighting it out along the flat with jens coming out on top.

ryan – 10, peter – 7, alistar – 5, stu – 3, heiko – 1.

refuel after the climb up urch
refuel after the climb up urch

 

we headed towards the end of the kahuna climb and across to canning rd.  i got to have a chat with a new guy out with us today.  his name is hugh and he is a rowing cox out to do some cross-training.  he did pretty well in the hills too so it was good to see him come along.  he wasn’t the only hills “virgin” but the others were familiar faces from the saturday ride.  the couple of bonus climbs as we headed towards the pickering brook intersection are not categorised in out competition as they generally do not split the field up enough.  it now seems that without the points, no one is going to try to smash the rest of the field and so no-one took off where they usually do.  i thought that i would make use of the nice smooth road and put it in my third biggest gear and just ground out the climb.  in order to keep a cadence of above 40, i had to get the bike moving at a decent pace and was soon at the front of the field and led them over the next two hills and onto pickering brook. 

 

we did a quick head count and with no-one opting for an early out (i didn’t offer it either) we all headed towards the base of the observatory.  ryan and i talked tactics on the way down past the pickering brook school and decided to not attack and see if we could get to the top as a group sprint.  the climb started and we set a very even pace.  the group stayed together and there were even a few nervous joke thrown around as the rest of the group didn’t know whether we were going to go hard or not.  alistar finally made his move and ryan, stu and myself had to go with him.  jens hang in there for a while but soon was off the back. 

 

as alistar had initiated the move with an attack, we were content to let him set the pace for as long as possible.  he indicated the top of the main climb and asked if that was the top.  not suite as there is a plateau before a final kick to the finish.  we crested the top and he pulled over a bit to let someone else work.  we slowly moved past, bu no-one was in a hurry to do a turn.  i jumped on the indecision and attacked even though it was way too early.  ryan and stu managed to come along and then past but alistar was spent from his initial attack.  we stayed in that order to the top, with jens taking fifth again.

ryan – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, alistar – 3, heiko – 1.

 

one more climb to tackle before a well deserved coffee stop.  the descent down the steeper side of the observatory is always fun and the rolling hills through bickley are a nice warm up before the main climb.  i had to make sure that i did not lose too much time on the rolling hills as when mundaring weir rd starts there is not much time to catch back up.  we hit the climb together the usual foursome plus judd and jens and started to set the pace.  i slotted my way (pushed in front of judd) into fourth wheel behind ryan with stu setting tempo for the majority of the way.  jens and judd fell my the wayside of the constant stu pace setting and pretty soon we were at the plateau of the climb.  i noticed that ryan had left it in his big ring for the climbs so far so we obviously were not putting him in any distress.  alistar wanted to step it up a bit so went to the front and too over the pace.  i thought that this was not the best idea, as ryan will jump all over him when it comes to the final climb.  in race situation i have adapted a technique where by i will be at the front but not actually put in much effort if nobody is willing to come around me. 

 

alistar was going quite hard and by the time we reached the final pinch stu and ryam started to come around him.  i tried to stay on ryan’s wheel but he was going for the win and i didn’t have the legs to go with him.  the kom line came up fast and i held off stu to take second, although, both ryan and stu claimed that they didn’t even see the kom line which they must have ridden over at least 100 time in the last couple of years.

ryan – 10, peter – 7, stu – 5, alistar – 3, heiko – 1.

 

coffee was ordered and croissants devoured with pretty much everyone staying for coffee.  1 socialisation mountain point for all that attended.

final points for the day.

ryan – 41, alistar/peter – 32, stu – 20, heiko – 10, stan/john/hugh/daryl/paul/kim/judd – 1.

 

the ride home was fast and furious for the first part.  an unofficial sprint point to the tonkin hwy intersection meant that whatever buffer you could gain by descending like a demon was what everyone else had to try to make up once the road flattened out.  even before we had left lesmurdie rd, the pace was on and people were trying to all get ahead before that small rise that breaks up the descent.  the field was spread by the time we hit welshpool rd proper and i was with judd and alistar.  judd jumped to the front and cut a nice hole in the air for me to follow.  alistar was on my wheel until he must have thought that it was too slow and pulled out.  it feels “slow” when you are in the draft and you have to touch the brakes a bit to wash some speed off, but once out in the clean air, that extra wind resistance pushes you back.  he didn’t make any more ground so slotted back in behind me.  we worked together with a couple of others that had joined us as the road flattened out but we didn’t make up the ground on the front runners and ryan, stan and john made it to the end first.

 

the next sprint point to the maccas at the end of welshpool road was uneventful for me.  ryan shot up the road early and a string of other riders took off in hot pursuit.  i was content to watch from afar.  the final run to the berwick st maccas was a bit more eventful.  ryan had a very small gap left after john peeled off his wheel to go home.  he managed to get through the lights at kent st while the rest of us had to wait.  when the lights changed, alistar took off up the road after ryan who had already disappeared.  i was left on the front and stan asked if i was chasing.  i said that i was hoping that the lights at george st would slow him down.  they didn’t but we all got stuck when they turned red.  as we took off on green, we looked up the road to see alistar waiting up ahead.  he started going before we got to him but jens used the momentum off the hill and a bit of a draft from a passing car to get ahead of al to claim second.

 

so the final wash-up of the mountain points will be on the web soon, but it was clear that ryan ran away with the inaugural title.  the points reset each month and next sunday will see the start of the november competition.  all up i would say that it was one of the best hills rides i have done in ages.  the points competition has really invigorated the climbs with attacks and tactics starting to come to the fore.  if anyone has any ideas on how we can involve the rest of the group during the ride, i would love to hear it.

sunday 6th july – patterson & peet & observatory

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ride report by peter.

well a freezing start to the morning and i was fully expecting that i would be the only idiot to toe the line. i was really surprised to find close to 20 riders all rugged up and ready to roll by the time i turned up there. the official temp for perth city was 0.9 deg at 7:30 which would have to be the coldest start we have had for a long time. i was wondering what the temp would be somewhere like antarctica and should we really be complaining. the davis base on the frozen continent reached -15.7 at 9:00am. it sounds cold and we should probably not complain, but i was sure i could have easily snapped my fingers off if i hit them against the handlebars. either that or my bars would break.

anyway, we had a good group with a couple of newbies and special guests so i knew it would be an interesting ride. josie (team flexpoint) was back on break from racing in europe and had brought her boyfriend, cj (slipstream-chipotle) along for the ride. we also had jordan who is a young “a” grade rider from perth and a couple of the top younger female cyclists in perth in mel and bella. to round it out, we had a bunch of our usual cast to balance the entire group’s ability back to average.

the course today would be a brutal one in any weather, but the freezing temps made it even more difficult. we would travel down towards armadale before turning up brookton hwy for a short spell to lead us to the foot of our first climb. patterson rd is a short-ish climb that would make for a good finish in a one-day classic in belgium. i have renamed this hill and i will explain why later. after that heart starter, we then travel up canns rd before taking a quick decent down soldiers rd which takes us back to brookton hwy. across the road to peet but we don’t climb right to the top instead turn up urch and meet up at the top of the kahuna climb. travel the usual way back to pickering brook, before heading up around the observatory and then up mundaring weir rd to kalamunda. so with five main climbs plus some bonus’ it will be a loooong but productive day.

so we were about to roll out and carlo had to duck off for a quick pee but we eventually set off to try to get warm. it was interesting, as we past through suburbia, how the temperature changed as we ran through dips and hollows. i had opted out of leg warmers but had double gloves and booty covers on as well as a wind proof jacket. my legs were not too bad but by the time we got down to kelmscott, i couldn’t feel my fingers or toes properly. it actually made it hard to change gears as i couldn’t feel which lever i was touching.

just before kelmscott we had to slow the pace right down. carlo needed another pee. instead of stopping to watch him, we just dropped the pace right down to allow him time to chase back on.

we did a short stint on brookton hwy before turning off behind the big orange shed to encounter the hell that is patterson rd, mt nasura. usually we head up over carawatha, but this gives a slight variation and a much harder climb. the whole climb is probably just over 500 metres, but kicks up so sharply that if you stall the bike, you will have trouble getting started again. rob and jordan were at the front as the road turned and some people got their first glimpse of the hill. it is instantly into the easiest gear you have and just grind it out till you hit the top. i was struggling from the start and the one hour ride to get to this point had not really warmed me up much. it may have had something to do with the cold morning…

anyway, i was past by a number of riders but was grateful that when cj past by he commented on the steepness of the hill. it was good to know that even a pro can find our climbs hard. well probably not hard, but challenging. it was hard for me and i watched jordan, cj and ryan fight it out for line honors as they crested the hill and rode out of sight. my arms were hurting from pulling up on the bars so much but i managed to grind it out and reach the top. after finding a patch of sunlight to try to thaw, we regrouped and headed to the next bit of fun. as for the name, this hill will now be known as the f_ckinberg.

canns rd was our next climb and we all started it together in a nice pack. from the front, rob and myself began to up the pace until we split the pack in two. jordan eventually came around and began to step up the pace further. i’m not sure what it was but i started to feel a tightness in my left quad when i need to apply more power. whether it was the cold, a cramp or whether i had damaged it on that first climb when my muscles were not entirely warm, was hard to tell. it hurt so i had to back off. a number of riders came past me as we continued up the hill, but i wasn’t too concerned as i was more worried about my leg. by the time i reached to top at a easier pace, the pain had subsided and i put it down to a cold cramp.

regroup. headed off down churchman brook rd which becomes the wonderful decent of soldiers rd. the road was nice and the decent was fast but not without its issues. the main one was what could only be described as an ice-cream headache. the wind-chill across the skull combined with the fact that the sun had not quite reached that part of the valley, meant a very cold decent.

a quick regroup to make sure everyone made it back to brookton hwy and we were off up peet rd. rob and ben made a quick start and headed up the road in front of everyone else. we started to step it up and i came around jordan to chase down the other two. as we came past, jordan stepped it up again and pulled a gap. i had nothing to go with him but rob came around with cj to chase him down. ben and i rode tempo to finish off the peet rd section before turning onto urch. ryan was not feeling 100% today and was hanging a bit behind us on the climb. as the road stepped up again on urch, my left quad problem came back to visit. i had to back off and this allowed ben to come past, followed by carlo and ryan not long after. meanwhile, rob was giving jordan a run for his money and it was good to see rob climbing so well.

i managed to hold it together till the end and was grateful for the rest while regrouping. mel turned up on a soft rear tire so we spent a bit longer watching her change it… with a bit of help from cj.

the rolling hills between here and pickering brook posed no real problems and no-one was really on the attack as we had two main climbs to go. as we hit the base of the other patterson rd and began the climb to the observatory, carlo shot off the front and took a large gap over the rest of us. no-one chased and we held together and took a nice tempo which broke it down into a select group of about eight. eventually cj and jordan held the front and paced us along the hill. as it wore on, you could see carlo start to look behind himself and was obviously slowing down. on the last pinch of the climb, the pace stepped up again and i had to unhitch. i left the boys reel in carlo and fight it out for line honors which went to ryan.

another fast decent and we were on our final climb of the day. michael and emma had turned off after the observatory as emma was on shift and they needed to get home. the pace was on and it was way too much for me and i very quickly fell off the back. a group of about 5 or 6 headed off up the road and i was caught by ben who also set a pace higher than i could manage. setting myself a tempo, i ground out the rest of the climb to make the final regroup for coffee. according to ryan, he managed to take them on
the final pinch for line honors.

an extended coffee stop and luckily the day had started to warm up so it wasn’t too bad sitting outside. cj asked if i was drunk when i came up with this route as even he thought it was particularly brutal. i said that i set it when i was a lot fitter than i am now. anyway, we left jordan, cj and josie as they were going to do extra km’s and it was beginning to get late. it was good to catch up with them as they are not in the country as much anymore and it is always good to have some of our boys pushed a bit harder by better riders.

so we had a good decent on welshpool rd as the practically windless day caused no problems. bella pushed hard to chase down some of the guys but no landspeed records were broken. the return to town was relatively uneventful with the required sprint up to macdonalds in vic park being to main event. ryan again, i believe. heading towards the final sprint to macdonalds in south perth i jumped on the front to set the pace along berwick rd. as we crested the final hill, bec and sam pushed around me but had ryan tucked neatly in behind so he had an easy final push for the line.

so, around 105km by the time i got home and over 1300m of climbing. a good day but i am a bit disappointed in my current level of fitness and will have to do a lot more work to get back in form.

UPDATE
a bit of video from going up peet rd. jordan is the rider in shot for most of it and cj is the orange and blue rider a bit further back. i would like to say that i kicked both their arses going up the hill, but the video does not go long enough to see me fall off the back and ride the rest of the hill on my own.

sunday 20th jan – patterson & canns & urch

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well today was going to be the hardest set of hills that we have planned. of course i could devise a total bastard of a course, but i do want some people to come back again. we had 18 starters this morning, as i actually remembered to count before we left. none of the usual climbers had turned up so i was a bit unsure how the ride would go. there were a couple of new boys along for the ride, so i thought i would wait to see how things developed.

the course today would take us down towards armadale and to the start of the brookton hwy. a quick turn before the big orange building (hardware or hire place) and we would take the first climb up patterson. down and then up canns rd before a really good decent along soldiers rd to pop out halfway up brookton hwy. cross over up peet and then urch which takes us to the top of the kahuna from a couple of weeks ago. the usual ride back towards kalamunda before the final climb up mundaring wier rd. all in all a pretty tough ride due to the severity of the climbs. it also meant that it would be fairly long as any ride we do down towards armadale will be around the +90km.

so we headed off along berwick and onto albany hwy. the predicted easterly winds were getting an early start and making it hard going, especailly once we got to gosnells and there was not as much cover alongside the road. a nice moderate pace was set, and people took turns on the front all the way to brookton hwy. it is about 25km to the first climb, so at a nice pace it gives you a good oppurtunity to have a chat. once onto brookton hwy we lost our first two as dr paul and dr ian decided they had nothing to prove and would ride straight up brookton then along to the coffee shop.

the wind was ripping off the hillside quite well which made the little section of brookton difficult. as we hadn’t even started the climb yet, i was starting to get a bit worried. we turned off and onto some suburban back roads which lead to the climb. now patterson is an absolute bitch of a climb. it would be less than a km, but i would say it averages about 15% with some steep pinches in the middle. it is so steep, but still has houses on either side of the road. i really can’t understand how half these people mow their lawn as even pushing one of them would be a challenge. i would recommend the flame thrower method of gardening.

anyway, the climb started and doesn’t rise that sharply. there is a left hand bend just after and you look up the road at at least another 500m of sharp climb, before it backs off a bit. i was at the front with one of the new guys. he had that whippet look about him, so i thought i would see how he goes. as ryan, stu & mike were not with us today, i was looking for someone to push me. this, however, is not the type of hill were you want to totally blow up as if you stop, it is really hard to get going again.

the new guy, turns out to be greg, who ryan had invited along. so even though ryan wasn’t there, he still sent someone to hurt me. well as the climb went skyward there was a loud ping/crunch from back in the main pack as nick had dropped his chain at the most inappropriate moment. as the climb progressed i started to fade and greg got a bit of a break. i just tried to maintain and keep ahead of the rest, but josie eventually caught and past me. i had a strange feeling. my inside elbows were feeling sore as i was pulling up so hard on the bars that my arms were fatiguing. i kept pushing as best i could and hit the top about 25m from josie and greg. jerry came in not far after me as he has been climbing well lately.

the remaining 12 riders followed in dribs and drabs as you would expect with a hill of this steepness. everyone agreed that it is a bitch of a climb but i think it was a good warm up. at least everything afterwards would seem easier.

a very short quick decent and we turned onto canns rd. this is a very moderate climb with only a few slight pinches that interrupt your rythmn. it is a good climb to really test your cardio endurance as you can hold a good pace and try to out run the others.

as the climb started and the pack started to spread out a bit i hear this car horn and look around. this white magna is trying to come around and has got impatient. he floors it to get around the guys then flys up past us missing me by about half a metre. there was nothing coming the other way so he didn’t need to do that. just another arse hole really. it did piss me off a bit so i actually chased to see if he turned off anywhere. all i ended up doing was gap greg, josie and darren, and left me on my own. i just ploughed on ahead not pushing too hard but enough to keep the gap.

we regrouped at churchman’s brook rd and continued on. the decent down soldiers rd is great for a mid ride reprieve. the top section is a bit rough but it soon turns to hotmix and widens out significantly. there is one tight-ish corner on the top rough section and scott got caught out there about a year ago. it is all left handers then a tight right hander by which time you build up quite a bit of speed. scott went in a bit hot and his front wheel folded underneath him. quite a lot of gravel rash and a taxi ride home for him that day. i didn’t want to go through that again.

so i lead the decent so that i could ease things up on the offending corner. but i guess as i have riden this way a lot, i have gotten used to the road a bit, so we stretched it out through the corners. once we hit the hotmix, it is all on. they have fixed a number of the bumps and you can easily get to 70 km/h just rolling. there are only a couple of corners where you may need to brush a bit of speed off, but over all the best part of the ride.

we lost a couple more as a mate of shao didn’t have quite a good decent on a full tri bike, so took it easy. they both had time commitments so we left them as they were going straight up brookton hwy.

we crossed over onto peet rd and began the next climb. unlike the other week, we were now doing the bottom half of peet rd then truning onto urch and continui
ng to climb. the bottom section is quite steep. it probably averages about 10% and you can really feel it. greg set a good pace so i decided to just hold his wheel to see how he went. we dropped the others and quite quickley put a big gap into them. by the time we reached urch, we could not see them further down the road.

slight reprieve at the start of urch as it headed back down slightly. the climb on the other side kicks up quite sharply, then flattens then up again and again. greg and i hit the climb and started to up the pace. once it got to the stage that we were standing on the climb, i deceided to see how far i could push him. i kept standing and pushed towards the top of the first pinch and managed to put a significant gap into him. i didn’t quite push into the red zone, but my heart rate was defientely in the 180’s and i was panting like a dog. i managed to keep the gap to the end and sat up when it flattened out before joining onto canning mills rd.

we regrouped on canning mills rd and we were lucky to have anyone with us as the rest of the pack got a bit confused on peet and wasn’t sure wether they had to turn onto urch. another pleasant surprise has been the waiting time at the top of climbs seemed to catch me out. i would be talking to someone and look up to see that everyone was ready to go. so off we went.

the trip across the top to the pickering brook intersection was relatively uneventful, with just a couple of small climbs to further weaken the climbing legs. another regroup and we lost another as josie turned off early as she didn’t need to do quite as many km’s today.

as we headed down past the carmel sanitarium school, the best sphincter tightening experieince happened to greg. on the little decent, where you can quite easily get to 70 km/h, he was hit with a slight cross wind and the whole bike started the speed wobbles. it’s not something you want to happen to you and if you have never had it before, it scares the crap out of you. he managed to get it under control, but i would say at the expense of a clean pair of knicks. i waited for him to make sure he was ok, and we made our way through bickley valley.

i deceided that i was now too far away from the front of the pack to push the pace on the final climb up mundaring weir rd. instead i waited for the back markers to make sure that they were ok. as we hit the bottom of the climb i put the power down and was going to see how many of the group i could catch before the top. heart rate well above 180, panting for oxygen, and legs screaming at me i managed to pass almost everyone on the lower slope and had jerry in sight by the time we hit the “flatter” section. he looked back at this point and saw me, but i was still a fair way back. whacking it into the big ring i pushed hard to gain as much ground as i could before the gradient increased again. by the time we were on the last pinch i had him well and truely within spitting distance. i was a bit afraid that i would max out trying to reach him, but dug deep regardless and pushed it into the 190’s and almost to the point of no return. however, i caught and past him about 10 m from the kom line on the road. he said he didn’t even hear me coming.

i was pretty much spend. it must look funny to the others at the coffee shop as we often look like crap when we arrive. sweat dripping everywhere, looks of pain or just that blank stare when the light has gone out inside.

dr paul and dr ian were waiting at coffee shop already so we pulled up a table and ordered. service was exceptional today and the coffee’s came out quick. probably trying to get rid of us before the brunch crowd gets in.

anyway, dr paul recounts their road wanker experience they encountered on the way to the coffee shop. on a very quiet back rd (near where greg had the wobbles), a guy in a car comes up beside paul and ian and starts abusing them for riding two abreast and making it hard for cars to get around. he is doing this while driving on the wrong side of the road. dr paul said that he was very polite, but he is also very sarcastic so i’m guessing he just told him where to go. people just hate us cause they can.

coffes’s down and back on the bike. another car deceides to try to take jerry out, by waiting till the last minute before pulling out of a side street. he had all the time in the world, but waited till it became dangerous. nice cruise down welshpool rd, but the wind was a bit funny and only got to 78 km/h or so. slowed down at the bottom so that simon could catch my wheel, then time trialed it to the lights at tonkin hwy. a last regoup and john told us that he had the wobbles on the decent. he had them really bad last year during a cyclo-sportif race so got rid of the giant to buy a pinerallo. he is a tall, solid guy, so unless he goes full custom, i don’t think it will make any difference. he managed to get the wobbles under control though, so no damage.

the last slog up welshpool was a pleasure with the tailwind and a couple of guys had a bit of at go to see how far they could get. as usual, dr melvyn was one of the main antagonisors. the final sprint to the coffee shop and i thought i would wait to see who would have a go. jerry decided to lead out early, but chistophe and myself managed to get on his wheel. right towards the end, christophe came around me so jerry started his sprint, i had the perfect lead out with these two side by side so managed to come past in the next lane.

as the remainder of the pack came into the car park, there was a noise like a bike skidding on gravel. we look around the corner, and dr marc had slid the bike out about 3m from the very end of the ride. no real damage besides a bit of skin, bar tape and pride.