Tag Archives: sth lake

saturday 11 sept – main 1 no main 2 ride

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so after a week off the bike travelling (following 2 weeks off sick) i decided to head off with main 1 today.  carol is away on holidays so shaw was taking the development group.  however, they had 12 turn up today so mark left the transitional group with ruth to give shaw a hand.  i said that i was taking main 1, but as it kicked off julian was guiding the group along, so i left it with him.

i drifted to the back to talk to yas about getting some wheels built as he had done such a good job on my current pair, and this is when the trouble started.  as we took off at the lights to get onto canning, yas, sato and i were left behind.  worse than that, our bikes didn’t trip the sensor so we had to wait for two cycles of the lights before we could head off again.  by then main 2 had ambled up behind us.  sato and i took off and looked back to see yas give us a wave showing that he was staying with main 2.  we time trial along and managed to get main 1 back in sight, before the lights stopped us in our tracks.  as we sat there waiting and panting from the effort, main 2 just cruised up behind us.  the lights changed and we chased again.  got caught at the next set and main 2 cruised up again.  lights changed and we were off again.  at the next set of lights, i gave up and went to sulk at the back of main 2.

i told russell that i would look after the guys at the back and left the group under his guidance.  we made our way to north lake road and i stayed back to help scott on some of the rollers as we headed south.  about half way along we picked up a couple of stragglers from main 1.  it turns out that is was julian and another guy who had slowed down to try to help sato and myself back onto the group.  they then got split out of the main group and were left to fend for themselves.  probably another good reason for the three groups doing the same course.  you don’t have to worry quite so much when people get split out.

so anyway, the cruise towards sth lake and around the back of jandakot was quite pleasant as i remembered the last time i did this route with the fast group.  cross winds, split groups, fighting to stay in contact and being blinded by sweat on a cold morning.  yeah, good times.

so we kept the group together and made it to warton which is the only tricky bit where we needed to go single file.  they are in the process of widening it though, so it should be all good soon.  once we got onto nicholson proper russell started a  roll through to get the average up.  at the lights i asked jenelle how she was going as she has been out with glandular fever for a while.  main 2 seemed the best place as even i didn’t manage to keep up with main 1.

we continued to roll through pretty much all the way back into town.  there was a couple of small splits at the back of the pack, but we managed to bring it all back together before we crossed the causeway.  the sprint started  on riverside drive and i wound it up from the back of the pack.  the first thing that goes on me when i get sick is my endurance.  i can still punch out some good numbers, but just can’t hold it.  today i hit 190bpm on the sprint and still didn’t manage to catch doug who was off the front all the way to the end.

so an interesting ride for me.  i think it has been a while since i have ridden with main 2 (if ever???) so it was good to see how it all goes.  i was very impressed by the way that russell controlled the group and looked after it as well as tested it out by pushing the speed up for the second half.  it is good to know that each group is getting looked after.

saturday 7th aug – fast group sth lake

ride report

the ride began as normal.  ryan ringing up kimbo to say that he was going to be late and asking which way we were headed.  he then proceeded to ask all types of other stupid questions in order to stall us as long as possible so that he could get there before we departed.  it didn’t work.

the fast group was light on again today with the majority of people opting for main 1 instead.  could have something to do with the 200km challenge tomorrow, or maybe just the weather.  the novice group has not fielded a rider for the past three weeks.  i am putting it down to the cold mornings, but at least it is not wet.

so we headed off towards north lake road and jonno and i set the pace all the way to the turn off.  well actually, jonno was setting the pace and i was about half a wheel behind him trying to keep up.  by the time we rolled off and took the very short trip to the back of the pack, we found that ryan had already joined us.  not sure how or when but his claim of starting 10min later than us and catching up by the time we hit north lake road was interesting.  mainly because it took us approx 15min to cover the 8km to get to the turn off.  in that, because of the traffic lights etc, we averaged only 31kph.  for ryan to cover the same distance in 5min, he would have to average 86kph over the 8km.  the only time i can see him doing that is when mel calls him up mid-ride to tell him that the baby is coming NOW!!!

so the others in the group were jerry, nick, scott, ben and vaughan who was on a full suspension mountain bike with knobbly tyres.  that was going to interesting to watch.  we generally cruised down north lake road until we passed south st and then began to roll through.  this picked the pace up considerably and started to show the haves and the have nots.  the pace got too high for some and pretty soon it was down to single file only.  ben diesel, ryan, jerry, scott and jonno were setting a cracking pace with vaughan, nick and myself hanging on to the coat tails.

sensing most of the group didn’t know the route well, i refused to call out directions until the turns were almost on top of us so that the pace would slacken off in a moment of hesitation.  we swung across berrigan drive and pretty much stayed together but once onto jandakot rd, the small undulations split nick, scott and myself from the others.  a bit of scrambling on our end and we managed to stay in touch to the intersection with warton rd.  from here to nicholson and the pace continued to hover around the mid to high 40’s until we just came past livingston shopping centre and jerry got a flat.  there was lots of glass on the roads we took so it was really only a matter of time. 

it wasn’t a formula one wheel change and at one stage we were wondering if he was rebuilding the wheel from scratch but soon were under way again.  well we pretty much continued where we had left off and the pace was up again.  there were some legs deadened by the rest and nick and i were well off the back, but saved by traffic at the roundabout.  from the kink in nicholson all the way back to vic park, it was high pace punctuated by traffic lights.  pretty much the perfect interval training (although not the best the day before a 200km ride).  i think we lost nick somewhere along here and it was only the skin of my teeth that was holding me to the group.

the last stretch along shep road and scott got on the front for a bit.  when we got caught in traffic i told him that there seems to be an unwritten rule in the last few k’s.  similar to the tour de france where if you crash in the last three km’s, our rule seems to be, if you are on the front in the last few km’s, don’t expect anyone to help you.  everyone starts to worry about saving their legs for the sprint, so no-one wants to set the pace.

just before the causeway, vaughan (who was still with us and coping better than me) showed us why a mountain bike was versatile by jumping a kerb to get in the other lane while we had to stop at a red light.  however, by the time he hit the intersection he was running a red anyway.  naughty.  the group chased him down and then jonno went off the front early.  there seemed to be a bit of hesitation so i got on the front and started to chase him down.  i managed to catch him just as riverside drive straightened out, but he was strong and he still stayed on the front and even surged again.  i was spent so flicked the elbow and everyone came around.  i didn’t see the final sprint, as i ambled down the road in full recovery mode.

no coffee stop for me as we had to go shopping for the masses that were to need feeding at the halfway point of the 200km challenge.  probably not the best lead up to a long ride, but i am sure that it will do me good…hopefully…in the long run…once i can walk again.

saturday 17th jan – canning vale + sth lake

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ride report by peter.

 

what was i thinking?  after only nine kms of a nice and gentle pace we split up and did the remaining 42kms at pace.  a high pace.  the lack of this type of riding lately has meant that i was suffering and only barely holding onto the back of the group.  but maybe i should jump back about an hour and a half to when riding a bike was pleasant.

a nice turnout today with probably over 50 riders.  i had already posted the fact the we would split the group in two and had mapped out the routes that each would follow.  a few of the guys had stepped up to say that they would lead the main group which was great as i knew that they would be left in capable hands.  we also had a “sweeper” group where dr’s paul and wally were going to do the same course and pick up anyone that got dropped.  each ride started and finished on the same sections of road, but it was going to be a race to see if the fast boys could cover the extra 5 or 6 kms before the main group finished.

we headed out coode st and onto canning hwy.  as we made that turn a car decided to try to squeeze in amongst 50 cyclists and wondered why we just didn’t get out of the way for him.  apparently there was some words, but i was too far away to see or hear what was going on.  we made our way down towards freo but it wasn’t long before north lake road appeared on the horizon.  i rode from the back to the front trying to let as many people as i could know that this is where the group would split.  i was hoping that we would get the lights as this would have made it so much easier, but unfortunately we didn’t and there was a little bit of confusion.

the groups finally sorted themselves out and we headed south while the main group continued down to their turn at stock road.  i looked around our group to see who we had.  a few faces that i though would struggle, but i guess we would find out as we went along.  i think that we probably had about 20 riders with us and we set a very mundane pace for the first stretch to leach hwy.  i was sure that after south st the pace would pick up and it certainly did.  the group organised it’s own roll through and the pace picked up almost instantly.  we stayed together well through the rolling hills around the back of adventure world.  however, i do think we may have dropped dr carl somewhere around there.

we turned onto berrigan drive and into the wind, so for some reason the pace went up.  i had to stay near the front so i could bark out directions between gasps for breath.  the roll through was still going strong, but more and more people were sitting it out and just holding on for dear life.  we turned onto jandakot rd and almost directly into the wind.  little gaps were starting to appear and you had to sprint around to close the gap.  i was behind davina when someone started falling back fast.  she sprinted around and chased for a bit to make the junction, but i was a bit slow and a bit weak so got left out in the wind.  there were about three or four of us that were off the back and we worked together to try to get back on the train.  the combination of wind and rolling hills made it difficult as you would almost make it back on when the road would pitch up just that bit too much and you didn’t have the legs to close that final gap. 

we got back on but there was not much of jandakot rd left to enjoy as we quickly came to the end.  for that section of road (5.6km) we averaged 40kph with a max of 50kph and i had an average heart rate of 177bpm with a max of 185bpm.  it doesn’t seem a long way, but it seemed to take forever, and hurt like a bitch.

we turned left and headed towards nicholson rd.  the road was a lot rougher but i knew that it was in great condition a bit further up where the housing estates started.  we continued to roll through but it was hard as there were patches of very bad road with potholes and dodgy repairs.  we almost made it through to the end when there was that hiss noise that you just hate to hear.  we rolled a bit further to find a safe spot to get off the road and surveyed the damage.  jack from fleet cycles had hit the pothole hard and popped the tyre.  we decided to wait for him to fix it and it allowed a few of the other guys to catch-up.  dr carl passed us and continued on his way.  after a five minute repair job, jack realised that his tyre was actually split and would have to limp the bike home.  we saddled up and continued on our way.

the stretch from ranford road back to albany hwy was at a high pace and again we started to shed riders.  by the time we turned left at albany hwy, we were down to just 11 riders.  that stretch of road (11.2km) was taken at an average of 44kph with a max of 53kph.  i averaged 174bpm and maxed at 182bpm.  i also think that by this point i had lost about a litre and a half of sweat.

the trip down albany hwy and onto shepperton rd was very uneventful for me.  mainly because i was hurting that much that i couldn’t participate in the roll through and was only barely holding onto the back wheel.  john turned off at vic park for an early exit which left just 10 riders from the original 20 or so.

we came onto riverside drive and lined up for the final sprint.  as the moved started to go, so did my legs and i just did what i could to get to the end.  the main group was well established by the time we rolled in, but if we hadn’t got the flat tyre, i think we may have given them a run for their money.  i didn’t have a coffee, but stopped for a little bit to talk to lorraine and some others about becoming a club and what we need to organise.  our ad-hoc agm is scheduled for next saturday after the ride at the coffee shop.  i have received some nominations already, but if you think that someone would do a good job at running a club (and it is more than just racing), then put their name forward.  if you think you want to help out whether it is formally on the committee or just in general, i would also like to hear from you.

 

change we can believe in
change we can believe in

i have also heard that there are some concerns from the more recreational cyclists amongst us that we will become a more race focused group.  as far as the saturday and sunday rides are concerned, there will be no changes.  the group may continue to split like it recently has and the riders that want a good race type training session may opt for the fast group, but this is really just trying to cater for all the needs of the group.  from all reports (and i will wait for the blog) the main group performed really well today and kept a brisk pace without losing any riders. 

the only change that forming a club may bring is the extra security of insurance if you with to take it up.  if not, you can still join the club as a social member of the club and can therefore be included in club activities.  at the end of the day it is about promoting cycling and racing is just one facet of the cycling that we partake in. 

i hope that you all think that this is a move in the right direction since i will be relying on your support to make it successful.  as a group we already do more social activities than the majority of the formal clubs in perth and have a great culture that binds us together.  the formality of becoming a club should give us more stability as well as open up some other doors for us in regards to coaching, skills development and grants. 

we have come a long way in less than one year and i hope that this move will mean that the south perth rouleurs continues to be a group that people want to be associated with.  change we can believe in…

saturday 9th august – sth lake

ride report by peter

so a good turn out this morning with over thirty riders ready to go. i was running a bit late so turned up to find a sea of green awaiting departure instructions. it is good to see and makes me feel good about this group. there are still quite a few riders without out new kit as we have picked up a few more since we did the initial order. hopefully we can get them all kitted out at the end of the year.

anyway, it was a crisp morning and even though the official temp said around 8 degrees, the wind made it feel much colder. when you were standing still (like at the lights) it hardly felt like any wind at all. however, once you were moving, it felt like it was a headwind. the official website said that it was 13 km/h easterlies, but gusting to above 30km/h. we must have had the gusts all morning.

with the cooler mornings i used to just put a wind jacket on. with the new kit i now don’t want to cover it up and have started experimenting. this morning i had on two jerseys and it worked a treat. brendan rocked up in his aussie crates sponsored kit and they provided him with a fully sponsored wind jacket too. it might be something that we look at in the next order.

the course today was one that we experimented with about a month and a half ago. it went down canning rd and onto nth lake rd all the way to berrigan drive. last time we crossed the freeway on armadale rd and it was very busy and not a very wide road. after that we would head home via nicholson rd and albany hwy.

i introduced heiko, our german vacation student, to the rest of the group and talked him up so everyone thinks he is a young jens voigt.

the roll out was pleasant enough. nice easy pace all the way down canning hwy. i was playing sheep-dog again and would roam from the front to the back occasionally to bark and sniff butts and nip at heels or whatever it is that sheep dogs do. we turned down nth lake rd and kept a very easy pace. i managed to find myself on the front again so that we could turn at the right spot. this time we were turning early onto berrigan drive and it was a corner that could creep up on you.

as we turned to cross over the freeway, the wind was fair howling into our faces. when we stopped at a set of lights, it seemed to be hardly a breeze at all. a very confusing and strength sapping day. we turned again and i began to doubt we were on the right road. the map had said turn right onto mason rd but the street sign said we had just turned onto jandakot rd. i had checked the satellite view earlier and i knew that we turned at the roundabout next to the shops and we seemed to be heading the right way. it was going to be a wait and see.

a bunch of guys all did turns on the front to ease the load in the wind, and pretty soon we came to the end of the road and turned onto warton rd. we were on the right road after all, just google maps had named it wrong.

the wind had not abated and we were now coping it as a head cross, which makes it harder to hide from. a few kilometres more and we turned onto nicholson, but the road hadn’t become double lane yet. this meant that we had to stay close to the edge and couldn’t hide offset from the rider in front to avoid the wind. i dropped back to find a number of riders struggling to hold on and a few of us drafted them back to the group.

we managed to catch up just as the group was about to be released by the traffic lights near livingston marketplace (home of livingston optical, for all your optical needs). this marked the start of the sprint section and i was trying to keep the group together before that point.

as the fast boys took off, nick came back through the group sporting a flat rear tyre. carl had commented to me earlier that both nick and himself had forgotten to bring any spares today. fate was teaching nick a lesson. i started slowing down but was in two minds as the group was racing up the road. they were too far gone to pull back now, but i needed to make sure that the didn’t take the wrong turn. luckily i saw chris dropping back to help him, so i pushed on ahead.

i was now stuck in no-mans land. the main group was up the road and around me riders were struggling to fight into the wind. i helped bec get back onto carls wheel and moved on up the road. there was a small group of about 3 or 4 riders off the back of the main group and i managed to bridge across to them. i came around the front to do a turn and pretty soon it was only rod and myself left from that group. we swapped off turns a few times, but could not make any ground on the main bunch.

we picked up a few more riders as we came closer to the finishing roundabout, but then the front guys anti-navigational skills saved us again. not sure who was leading, but nicholson road actually turns to the left at the roundabout and the guys kept going straight. the rest of us turned the corner and we could see them looking back to see which way we were going, before back-tracking themselves.

once they caught up to us, i had to really settle the group down to make sure some of the back-markers managed to rejoin the group. the field was spread pretty thin due to the wind and i know we lost quite a few. unfortunate route selection on my behalf today and we would have been better off doing benara rd instead. oh, well. whatever doesn’t kill you will make you… weak as a baby crying for your mamma. and later hopefully make you stronger.

as we cruised along the remainder of nicholson road, we didn’t actually see that many more riders coming up the road. not sure what happened, but sorry if you didn’t make it back on. we kept the pace to a minimum and i though about stopping, but by then we were on albany hwy going past the carousel shopping centre where there were cars everywhere and not much room for us to pull over. we pushed on ahead, but i made sure the pace wasn’t too high.

when we hit the albany hwy shep rd intersection it was all on to the end. dr melvyn made one of his trademark attacks from too far out and a bunch of people made their intentions clear, by taking off as well. the next set of traffic lights paid heed to their early move.

i was content to sit in a while and wait for the last hill before launching, so that if i made it, i could recover on the descent. a further surge went and everyone was moving around a lot, trying to be near the front. as we had swung around, we now had a tailwind into the finish and the guys were not as reluctant to be on the front.

just as we crossed an intersection where the lights were changing, i attacked and managed to get a bit of a gap. ben had sat on my wheel and was holding fast as we approached the next set of lights. everyone may have eased up a bit thinking that the lights would hold me up, but luckily they changed quickly so i took off again. i managed to get over the last hill in front, but now had ryan and brendon baring down on me. i recovered on the descent, but they kept pushing on and started pulling away. the traffic lights meant that we were soon back together as one group, although some of the guys slid up the side of the cars which is a no, no.

as we crossed the causeway, it seemed that brendan was doing most of the work and no-one was coming around to help. ryan had resumed his position a little way back to avoid the wind and get ready for the sprint while jerry assumed his normal position on ryan’s wheel. as we turned onto riverside drive, john took off like a shot. “too early” i cried out to the group as there is still over 2 kms to go before the finish. some of the guys didn’t listen and headed up the road only to be overtaken with
john less than halfway down the drive. ryan eventually went and took jerry with him. i tried to latch on, but the earlier effort had sapped me and my quads didn’t like what i was doing to them. i had to let them go and roll into the coffee shop a broken rider.

ryan took out line honours, with jerry bridesmaid again. i wasn’t stopping for coffee, so am unsure how the backmarkers faired on the way home. heiko, held his own well today and showed some glimpses of jens voigt with some strong riding. i think he will do ok.

i was off to take the young lad out on the bike and managed to make it up mounts street with him on board, but was a quivering mess by the time i reached the top. next week the collie-donnybrook race is on the saturday, so i will miss the morning ride, but will try to give you a good course with a tailwind the whole way around.

saturday 21st june – sth lake

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ride report by peter

today is the winter solstice, which, for those that remember some of the things they taught us at primary school, it the shortest day of the year. it was also probably the coldest start we have had as well. at 7:00 it was officially 3.4 deg in perth city. by 7:30 it was 3.3 deg but luckily an hour and a half later when we hit the coffee shop it was 12.6 deg. almost summer. hopefully, as the days get longer the less you will hear me whinge about the lack of daylight until daylight savings kicks in again.

so, due to the cold start and the short day, i was expecting a less than impressive turn out. to my surprise we had close to forty roll in all kitted up in whatever winter gear they could find. we were doing a new route today and it would be a learning experience. i will apologise now for the stretch along armadale rd as it was a bit busy and will be excised from the route in future. we intended to head down canning hwy and onto north lake rd till it hit armadale rd. we would then return via nicholson rd and albany hwy. as we had never used this route before, i was unsure about which spots to let the boys loose, so i picked a familiar spot were this route and the banister rd route combine. at least people should know where they were headed by then.

the majority of the ride was pretty sedate as it was a reconnaissance. north lake rd had a couple of rolling hills that tested the back markers a bit, but all in all the roads were good all the way down to beeliar drive. i was splitting my time between making sure the guys on the front knew where they were going to making sure some of our weaker riders were keeping up at the back. i felt like a bit of a sheep dog, roaming the edge of the flock, trying to keep it in check. ryan was also doing an admirable job helping lisa along when the going got tough. michael had one of our first mechanicals, with a flat tyre, but he waved me on when i was going to stop.

we turned onto armadale rd and lost our nice clear double lane. suddenly we were in a 90 zone of single lane traffic that was in a hurry to go do stuff and things. we battled on but i was hanging out for the left turn that would take us away from all of it. nick commented after we turned that we should have been single file as he saw a number of cars pass very, very close to the outside rider. it doesn’t matter now as the route will be changed.

swinging onto nicholson rd we were soon into nicer quieter roads that skirted suburbia. as we past livingston marketplace, where sharon has her optical shop, i was chatting to ryan about places to make the fast stretch, and this seemed ideal. nice smooth roads and double lane. next time we will know better. as this road came to an end, dr melvyn had our second mechanical with a suspected flat tyre.

as nicholson turned left and continued over roe hwy, it was on for a few km’s before we connected back with albany hwy. a few of the guys took advantage of the fact that ryan was on the back and took off hard to try to keep away. i was somewhere in the middle and struggling to hold pace let alone bridge across. rob came around to help, which was good for a while, but then i was fading fast and couldn’t hold his wheel. ryan came flying past about then and bridged across to the leaders but didn’t go past them as he was content at that. i managed to limp in, and with the benefit of a set of traffic lights, i kept in contact.

we slowed the pace down at albany hwy to allow the group to reform as we had spread out quite a bit by then. the next fast section was only just down the road and would take us back into town and to a well deserved coffee stop.

as albany hwy merged into shepperton rd, the pace was on again. the rolling hills make this last stretch interesting as do the traffic lights, as both can potentially allow a rider to get away for a solo bid. this time, however, the lights allowed the group to reform a couple of times as we all got caught. james took off after one set, but i was content to play the spoiler today and just pull back any breaks that went. everyone was itching to go, but no-one wanted to commit until ryan jumped at the base of a small rolling hill. as i was on the front, i managed to semi-stick with him. i was there, but not exactly on his wheel, but far enough from the rest of the group to say that it was a breakaway. unfortunately, when my body said enough, this left me in no-mans land and was pick up by the rest of the riders as we came down the hill into the causeway.

this is where is started to get messy.

a couple of the boys began to slide along side the cars at the lights like motorbikes do when you are stuck in traffic. this is fine for them, but on the bicycle, they are going to have to negotiate around us again, which puts us in a potentially unsafe situation. about three riders crept around while the rest of us waited behind the line of cars. this gave those guys a decent advantage when the lights changed and we were struggling to catch them.

ryan bolted out of our group and easily bridged across to them. chris hit the front of our group and tried to bring them back all by himself. knowing that i had no top end speed for a sprint, i rolled around to the front to try to time trial the group up to the leaders. it didn’t last long and by the time we had crossed the causeway, i was spent and peeled off to the side.

no idea how the ride finished, though i can make a good guess, as i limped in minutes afterwards. not a good sign for a big hills ride tomorrow.

no coffee stop for me as it is bens 2nd birthday today and we were having a party. i did manage to catch up with lorraine, who was there with her wrist still in a cast, to talk about a potential bike kit launch breakfast. i will keep you informed as it comes closer.

i am running a tour tipping comp again this year and will have that up and running soon too. same format as last year, where you must pick a new rider everyday, but not the same rider between rest days. confused??? don’t worry, i will post the rules on a separate blog soon.