Tag Archives: sunday

My Attack on SPR Sunday Hills ride (Gooseberry Hill)

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It’s been a while since I done one of these so lets see how it goes. Alarm went off at 5:45 and as opposed to yesterday it wasn’t raining cats and dog. So this meant was time to roll. By the time I got to the end of the street their was enough water on the road to make my brakes slip. Thankfully I still stopped. Bit of a head wind this morning and I was being blown around like a rag doll. Headwind was easier to deal with than the fences put up for the HBF run for a reason. “Cycle Path closed 8:30 – 10:30am 23/5/2010”. According to my time it wasn’t even close to 7am. More of a rant about this later. Was the first to arrive at Coode St and as it got closer to 7am I was starting to think I might be the only one here to ride today. Thankfully as is the SPR way everyone waits until 6:58am to start showing there faces and by about 7:05am I think we must have had close to 20 riders. Noticeably missing all the #spr twitter gossip bunch. I’m sure they would be tweeting there excuses later.

Peter announced the routes and added my suggestion for the main group of also doing Gooseberry Hill Rd. Its a Sunday ride one climb up Kalamunda was not going to be enough. After a show of hands I thought there would be a decent main group today. More on this later. We rolled out with Peter and Stuart I believe heading towards Burswood. Sitting on a comfortable 27 – 32km/h and a nice tailwind was looking like an easy start to the day. Stuart who had already had three flats in the Saturday ride (That’s what happens when you ride in crazy weather) felt his rear was going down and after taking a glance it looked like he could do with some more air. The group pulled over just near TBE Belmont for a quick tyre change but as things seemed to take longer than expected we were told to ride on. Taking the opportunity of the tail wind I rolled off and found myself on the front and not being gobbled up by the faster riders. At one point we took off from the lights and starting pushing over 40km/h (love tailwind) when we were told to back off. Bugger tailwind abuse it :). After the turn off Great Eastern Highway time to pull off and let these stronger riders do the work into the headwind for the ride down to Helena Valley. Just as we crossed the train line Darryl dropped his water bottle and thought he might have just blown a tyre. The group pulled over again and waited to see what was wrong. No flat it seems and we were soon rolling again. Another rider who sorry didn’t get your name was telling me he would come do Gooseberry Hill with me as he also thought today’s route was a bit short. Road was still wet and plenty of sand being picked up. It’s great to add weight to a heavy bike when you know your soon going to be climbing up hill.

Right at the round about and into the warm-up climb Ridge Hill Rd. Picked my gear and pounded away. Gotta get me a Garmin so I know how well I’m doing on these hills. Then again I will probably just be disappointed. Reached the top and wasn’t the last. Regroup was at the bottom of zig zags. Peter announced the whole group would detour slightly from the planned route so he could wave of those that were going to do the climb with me. Of we rolled and the whole group sitting on around 50km/h for the down hill and a nice spray coming off the road. On the approach to Gooseberry Hill Rd only saw one other rider turn left at the round about. With a quick good luck from Peter it was a flick of the finger and get the hell out of my big gear. Quickly realised it was only myself and Peter (another Peter) doing the climb. He was quickly around 50m in front of me and seemed to be doing well. I was jumping between gears trying to find my rhythm. I think I left it down the bottom. As we arrived at the crest before the second half of the climb I had caught back or Peter had backed off and I told him that was the easy part its the kicker at the end that kills you.

Rounding the corner and taking a quick look at the view it was down to the 3rd gear and up off the saddle for the next few hundred meters. Glace at the speed a few times it was between 12 – 15km/h which is little less than some of the other climbs but this was steeper. The rain from the past 24hrs had left enough branches and sticks to avoid but was no running water so that was good. Past the point I had to stop on my last attempt and thought I’m doing well. About 200m from the round about I thought for a second ok tallest gear. Ah wait sucker you already picked it keep going. Felt robbed I thought I had one more left but this was it. Was questioning why I chose to do this so this was it last 200m go for it. I got to the roundabout closed my eyes and prayed no car was going to make me stop because I was coming through. Into the round about no cars 30m and left turn then stop. I got to the top made the turn and stopped about 5m from the corner, head collapse over the handle bars. Happy I had finally ticked this one of the list and was thinking never have I felt so spent like I do right now. Just after me Peter pulled in front happy to have also reached the top. I think it was at least 2 minutes before either had enough air to say a word.

However after just a few minutes rest we started rolling down the road towards the Zig Zags. The easy roll helped to get the air back and quickly felt good again. Was a bit of a cross wind on the Zig Zag today and didn’t pick up the speed thought we would. I allowed plenty of time to slow down for the corners as the roads were wet and so were our brakes. Bottom of Zig Zags and back to where we were with the rest of the group not long before. Easy ride through to Kalamunda Rd. Soon it was the climb up Kalamunda. Second time for me and I was unsure. Legs felt ok but its the start of this climb that has the sting. Peter lead the entire length of Kalamunda Rd. Was a comfortable pace and nothing to gain by pushing each other. Greeted by three walkers managed to say good morning as we crossed paths. I think they thought cyclists on this road was a strange site. They should go for a walk more often on a Sunday morning.

Arrived at the Cafe expecting to see a few bikes lined up but there wasn’t. Only person I noticed was Darryl. All the rest had gone to suffer Peters route. Was a little surprised but thought oh well. Meant there was no line to get my chocolate muffin for a change. Like last week they had a new girl on the till and I must have said chocolate muffin 4 times and she kept entering Hot Chocolate, Mocha blah blah. Eventually the boss lady pressed the right button.

Having explained our climb to Darryl and finishing muffins, coffees etc back on the road. Because of the wet decided to take Canning Rd to Pommeroy Rd and Welshpool down the hill. Darryl and I were swapping turns on the front. Short turns each seemed to be working well. On the decent down Welshpool Rd was sitting right behind Darryl and I think I rolled past him However I don’t have the weight to carry me down and the headwind capped the top speed at 66.8 km/h Again Darryl was doing the work on the front and I kindly sat on his wheel. Didn’t have the legs yet. We got a rhythm going and shared the workload again until just after Roe Hwy when Peters rear tyre got sliced and he decided to call it a day. A phone call to his misses would see him finish his ride here. Least it was at a bus stop. Darryl and I continued on sitting above 30km/h. I took my care crossing the train line at Welshpool not wanting to repeat a previous blowout here. For a change we stuck to Albany Hwy and cruised through the Cafe strip. Haven’t been through this area myself for quite a while. Having arrived at the Causeway bid Darryl fairwell and decided I would take a route through East Perth home because of the HBF Run for a reason event being on. Last week had my avg speed destroyed by dogs on the million paws walk. This week I was stuck in traffic because of the chaos caused by this event. From what I could tell they owed the causeway which had an african band playing on henderson island. Runners on both sides of the road and cars not knowing where to go. Noticing that the runners seemed to be heading the same way I was I ditched the traffic and jumped into their lane. Best move because they couldn’t keep up :).

However caught at the lights for at least five minutes waiting for a green arrow. (This would be the pattern for all the other lights.) green light clip in go. Stop. Green Go. Climb the hill in East Perth Stop. Go, over the hill down the other side Red Light stop. GRRR was like this until I eventually got through and onto the East Perth cycle path and had a nice tailwind helping me sit on 36 – 37km/h all the way home. Distance of 86.5 kms and was only 10:30am. Good ride and look forward to Tuesday morning.

By Nathan Rzepecki

sunday 4th april – advanced ride – f_ckenberg et al

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ride report by peter.

funny thing about riding.  when you are fit and healthy you love it.  when it is calm and sunny you love it.  however, when you are lying in bed and it is still dark outside because of the cloud cover, and the wind is strong enough to make that whistling noise, and you can still hear the rain dripping off the roof from the previous shower….well, that’s when it becomes less appealing.  it showed in the numbers today as we started with only 21 riders.  well down on the 60 – 70 that we have recently had on a sunday ride.  being a looong weekend as well would have dropped out a few, but i think that the first real wet weekend in such a long time may have tested some people resolve.

as such, we only had one rider for the transitional group.  he resigned himself to doing the intermediate group ride so i hope that he made it ok.  the groups would split at brookton hwy with the intermediate group heading straight up while the advanced group would crisscross from mt nasura back to roleystone.

the wind was up but not too bad as we headed down albany hwy.  there was only a light shower, but we probably got wetter from the road spray on the way down.  as we turned onto brookton hwy, sam decided that the hills were not for her today and turned back.  the groups made the split at the hardware store and we were left with only 9 riders to tackle the climbs today.  when i had mentioned at the start that we were doing the f_ckenberg today, there were moans of despair from the group.  however, some people hadn’t done it before so it was going to be a new experience.  i was riding next to daniel when we turned to see the first view of the climb.  “ahh crap” i think was his assessment.  “wait till we turn the next corner” i replied as it only gets better.

this was also going to be a good test of my knee problems.  after the aborted attempt of hill climbing last week, i was ready to see how it held up today.  the f_ckenberg max’s out at about 21% so if anything was going to have cartilage snapping the tendons flying, it would be this.  there were a few niggles, but it turns out that fitness was what i needed the most.  after an early break by dean and daniel, mike b scampered up the hill to take line honors.  i managed to overcome an early deficit to claw back to a solitary point on the climb.

f_ckenberg – mike b, dean, rob, daniel, pete

rob and phil are both looking at lining up for the half ironman in a months time so even though they are not regulars in the hills, they certainly have some km’s in the legs to help them along.  also with us we had mike t, juni and mark h.  the smaller numbers made the regroups quicker so we were soon on our way to the next climb up canns rd.

the pace wasn’t on initially and we rode as a group for a while.  i probably instigated this as i knew that i don’t have the km’s in the legs lately, and was looking for a reprieve.  as the climb got a bit steeper, dean shot off the front with daniel on his wheel.  we all upped the pace a bit but were not really gaining back much of the gap they made.  mike b took off in pursuit and we pretty much had to let him go.  he bridged across easily and set the pace at the front.  this shed daniel off the back and he was dangling in no-man’s land.  the pace had increased enough now to split our group apart and i tried to ride tempo to get as close as possible to the leaders.  i managed to catch daniel about halfway up the climb and thought that he stayed on my wheel.  after a while i looked back to see him probably the same distance back that i was from the leaders.  he came closer a few times, but i managed to hold him off while mike rode away from dean.  daniel was looking back at the end to make sure that a fast finishing rob, didn’t pounce on him before the line.

canns – mike b, dean, pete, daniel, rob

as the road was a little damp out here, i warned the others about the decent down soldiers rd.  i didn’t really want to be scraping anyone off the road at this stage, so most people took it tentatively for the first part.  knowing the route has many advantages, so i wound it up a bit and past everyone before the smooth section of the road.  i wasn’t going crazy, but was taking the corners at a fair pace, just making sure i didn’t lean too much on the wet patches.  at one of the tighter sections, my eye strayed to the side of the road where there was a soaking kangaroo standing in someone’s driveway.  hard on the anchors to wash some speed off just in case he jumped my way and a bit of noise to try to keep him off the road did the trick.  however, the always seem to be in pairs so just around the corner, his mate jumps out in front of me and decides that it would cross the road.  throwing out a few more anchors and a bit of swerving meant that i didn’t find myself wearing a roo skin jacket today.  however, he did try to jump up a pretty steep slope, so i thought that he may play some havoc with the riders behind me.

with my speed all gone and the hill mostly behind us, i cruised along the flattish section with rob, until the call came from the back that dean had gotten a flat tyre.  we turned back around to offer no assistance and just watch him change it.  conversation turned to the tour of flanders tonight and how steep and cobbled some of the climbs were.  strangely enough we had parked right next to someone’s driveway that would have easily have been over 20% and was rough enough to be classed as cobbles.  no-one wanted to attempt to climb up it.

over to the next climb and suddenly we were heading up peet road.  we were not going to the top and would turn onto urch rd to give us a slight reprieve.  i was starting to run short on legs on this one so was sitting a fair way back at 6th wheel.  there were three behind me but a fair way back so i just rode the majority by myself.  didn’t see any of the shenanigans at the front my again mike came up trumps.

urch – mike b, dean, rob, daniel, phil

we transitioned across to canning road and onto pickering brook.  a slight mechanical for phil who dropped his chain on the inside meant we stopped to make sure he was ok.  once we hit pickering brook, the consensus was to skip the observatory climb and just do the final one up weir rd.  my legs were pretty shot by now so it was going to be a slow one for me.  i started near the front and watched as everyone flew past until i was last on the road.  by about halfway i picked up juni, and drafted him to the top. about 10 1/2 minutes for my effort so almost 3 min slower than my best.

weir – mike b, dean, phil, mark h, daniel

everyone stayed for coffee even mike b as he said that it was his birthday today.  i had to check the club membership list to see just how old he was.  it is older than me, but he is not the oldest rider in the club.

all fed and watered we were off home.  the decent was hampered by the wind and it was a low 70’s kind of day.  we were in survival mode all the way home but the group stayed together until the end.  all up a pretty good ride and the minor inconvenience of a light shower early on did not dampen the spirits for the whole ride.

Transitional Ride Report – Sunday 28/3/2010

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Peter sent the Transitional group off five minutes ahead of the advanced group today. Scott and Dr Ronny lead the group out of Coode Street and down Great Eastern Hwy. The group got split at the lights in Ascot. However we backed of and the Int riders quickly caught back on.

Right off Great Eastern Hwy and onto West Pde. Scott and Dr Ronny pulled off and Stephen and I took over the lead for the next few kms. Peter came up front to remind himself where it was we were going. Was fine with me if he fell of because of sand and crap from Mondays storm we knew too slow down on the round abouts 🙂

Pace was still sitting on a comfortable 29 ~ 30km/h. After crossing the bridge over Roe Hwy we turned right into Midland Rd as the intermediate group kept on going straight. This was the roughest road we been down and if you were carrying a supa shake it would have been well shaken by the end of it. The call came constantly on this stretch to slow down so we did. However when the pace has been dropped back to 22km/h or less and then we got another call to slow up again seriously it was a bit of a joke.

Left turn onto Kalamunda Rd and the short 800m or so until the climb began. This is a climb I had been looking forward to for a while now. Since I lived in Kalamunda for 23 years and never actually ridden up this road I have travelled a million times I kinda knew what to expect. We had two new young riders with us today that will give young Jamie a run for his money. Jared and Jordan I think their names were. Sorry Don’t have a name to your face yet but one of them seriously ran up the hill no worries and had the cheek to look back wondering why no one was with him, Stephen gave it a good effort but slowed at about the half way point.

Now for my recount. Had no plans of racing up this hill set my own pace and worry about getting myself to the top. Thanks to Scott for staying back and sort out who wasn’t going to attempt the climb. Once I start these climbs sorry but I have no intention of stopping unless your hurt or I get a mechanical. So approached the first part of the climb which is the steepest section. Ivan who had past me just before stopped for a breather and I went on past. Stephen had caught me and went past also. So I had a goal. Rope them back in. Managed to get over the first climb and a short rest before the second. I was gaining on Stephen a few hundred meters before Davies Cres and went on past telling him good job on the first section. I knew I wasn’t going to catch the young rider in front especially when he kept slowing and looking back not sure where to go. I wish I knew where he was getting his energy. While sitting I was in my tallest gear and then standing jumped between 2nd and 3rd. At the top of the hill I pulled over in the car bays to wait for the others. My mum was there to get a photo and even though I waved she still didn’t see me until I stopped right in front of her. Knew that would be the case but finally got a photo so will send that thru for that bike weight page when I get it. Over the next 5 or 10 minutes the rest of the group who made the climb rolled in. I took a group photo with Scotts camera. He may attach to the post later. Once we were all here we heading around the corner to the coffee shop.

After about an hour at the coffee shop we were back on the road and following the map to South Perth. I kept gaping the group on Canning Road but was only doing around 25km/h. After bunching up again we made the right turn onto Lesmurdie Rd and picked up the pace on the downhill to around 60km/h. A short climb after the private school and downhill to Welshpool Rd.

We zoomed down Welshpool Rd this week. I touched on 72.5km/h according to my computer but had no gears left after passing 68km/h. After a short regroup up the road Scott and I lead the group back to South Perth. Overall today was a great ride and one we will redo again in a couple weeks. Discussing with Peter we made send the Transitional on a long ride one week and a Hills ride the next and switch it.

By Nathan Rzepecki

Advanced Group Ride Report – Sunday 7/3/10

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Dot Points by Julian

. Strong easterly made for a hard first climb
. Chris T, Jerard, Chris A, Heiko and Brodie took the points.
. Special mention for the brave (or foolish!) soul who led out on Lesmurdie Rd and did all the work only to get swamped in the last 200 m and come in 6th
. Group split after first climb due to punctures, the intermediate group going a different way and Lennie’s inability to read maps
. Observatory climb – Chris T, Johnny, Heiko, Chris A, Julian
. Camelberg climb made difficult by the fact that only one of us had done it before
. Dispute over finish line – I wanted to call it at the farm (as I was in front in the time) but was over-ruled by Brodie sprinting past
. Camelberg points – Chris A, Johnny, Julian, Jerard, Heiko
. A few big pbs on the climb – Brodie and Jerard’s 7.35 not as impressive as Damir’s 7.34 and Chris T’s 7.32
. Chris A, Damir, Brodie, Jerard, Julian in that order
. Gooseberry Hill only done by ~10 elite riders – Chris A, Johnny, Brodie, Heiko and Julian took the points
. Short coffee stop this week before a hot ride home
. Hopefully a more timely and more enthusiastic report next week!

Sunday Transitional Ride – 7/3/2010

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Another large turn out for the Sunday morning rides today.  I would guess close to 70 people over all three groups. As has become common over the past few weeks everyone as a group travelled the first 18km as one group. Apart from one of the advanced group rubbing my wheel and going down while we took off from a set of lights there was no real dramas on the transition from South Perth to the base of the hills. One carload of hoons did mouth of the group of us catching up after the hold-up from the down rider. However the car was stopped at a red light and one of the advance group members served her opinion right back to them.

Crystal Brook road is where the Transitional riders pulled right and parted ways with the intermediate and advanced group.  Jamie Was keen today and kept going on with the others.  Like to hear how you went Jamie. Now our group had shrunk to about nine the workload picked up for the trip up Crystal Brook Road.  Once we Turned right onto Kelvin Road Steve and I quickly picked up the pace towards 40km/h before being told to slow down as we had dropped a few. Tailwind people make use of it was my thought. Anyways after everyone was back on Steve and I controlled the pace at around 32/35 km/h all the way down Kelvin Road crossing Albany Hwy onto Olga Rd veering left at the roundabout onto Burslem Dr. Once we crossed Fremantle Rd and were onto Warton Rd I decided to pull left and let a few others the chance of leading for a bit.  Sorry Steve I should have probably mentioned it but I wasn’t sure those following wanted to take the lead.  Happily Darryl did move up and I drifted back. Steve soon joined me at the back for a break also. For the time being Stint at the front was done. Sitting at the back and watching the others the group was working well sticking together. Calling, signalling and generally sharing of the lead. Because of the lights, roadworks and things I didn’t think starting a roll through along here was a wise move.  I think it turned out to be the right call.

We eventually reached Jandakot Rd and picked up small tailwind again.  This is where I called for the roll through to begin. Today the roll through worked really well.  People were calling last wheel.  Calling clear so riders pulled in front. Things worked really well. It wasn’t planned but Shaw seemed to be in the fast lane at the base of every small climb along this stretch. Ronny you will have to come on a Sunday ride and work out why the roll through flows much better. My thought is it may be the size of the group. Maybe when its a large Saturday group it gets split into two for the roll through. I know it should probably work the same with any number but yeah. Anyways.  It seemed to take no time and we were approaching the round about for the left turn onto Berrigan Dr.

Turning onto here Doug and I were on the front again.  I suggested we hold the roll through for now.  We have a number of lights to contend with along this stretch and he agreed.  However was the perfect day for this stretch as we again picked up the tail wind. Nice speed of around 30km/h.

Right onto North Lake road and Shaw joined me at the front to help lead this stretch as Doug dropped back to help sweep. I think it was the climb past Adventure World or maybe the next one. Doesn’t matter where but I do want to make mention. As some know Shaw likes to hurt himself. Either that or he likes to play with a heart attack. One of these climbs he dropped back to a very high gear and must have been peddling at least 3 /1 with me and keeping pace. Our speeds were almost deadly equal but he was working mighty hard to match it on his behalf. Was a massive effort and deserved a remark in this write up for sure. Great work mate.  We held the lead for a number more climbs along this section of the ride until Darryl and David stepped forward to take over. There were one set of lights where the lights went orange and then very quickly red. Technically we ran a red light but being on the front the safe option was not to stop so all but two of us made it through the lights and pulled over at a bus stop to wait for the two that could stop to catch up. I think this is was Darryl and David who did stop then took over the lead on the re-join.

From here nothing exciting to report. continued onto Canning Highway and followed the normal Tuesday route. However Once we turned into Fraser Rd I yelled out no cheating we were not taking the Kintail Rd short cut today and the other sweeper helped make sure of that.  Sorry I can’t remember how to say your name never mind spell it buddy. Please add it to the comments. Doug led us through this section which I know from the City of Perth Great bike ride but haven’t done it for the a couple of years so he refreshed our memory. Should call it Masserati central as I counted two of them within a minute of each other. Nice houses round that pocket. After a very quick regroup at the Raffles and Tracy reminding us how much she wanted coffee it was the home stretch to Coode St. David the dingleberry missed the bridge crossing and was doing all the work for some random rider sitting on his wheel down the freeway.  He did realise and I dropped back to meet him as he came over another bridge. After we turned into South Tce the group dropped like flies as people pulled of for home.  Once we reached Coode St only four of us remained. It would have been five but David dropped his chain and the lights of Mill Point Road and Coode St. That was the last we saw of him. The average speed of the ride was around 28km/h I think. Not our fastest but overall this was a great ride today. Overall we stuck together well and kept as a group well.

Peter I think next week would be good to up the difficulty and chuck a couple hills into the ride. Will do a number of us a real benefit.

By Nathan Rzepecki

Transition Ride Report Sunday 31st January

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By Nathan Rzepecki

After a short discussion at Saturdays mornings transitional ride it was decided a group of us were interested in going on another Sunday morning ride. It wasn’t posted on the site that this was going to happen because from my short experience it seems people know this to be a every second week type of event. However I think some of the transitional riders want to keep this going on a weekly basis. Also in line with the Saturday rides and the advanced group starting time we also decided to meet for 7am not 6:30.

Before arriving we did not have a route planned. Tracy was keen to do a hills ride but today had chickened out of doing it. (wasn’t all that keen myself for that one today) After throwing up a couple of suggestions we agreed on doing a similar route to last Sundays ride. South Perth to Fremantle and back.  However because of the Triathlon we altered the return route.

Anyways down to the report. Having let the advanced group head off couple minutes before us we headed down Dougkas Ave towards Mill Point Road and Canning Hwy. Remembering the first section of the route from the week before it was trouble free. Negotiating the narrow path up over the bridge over Great Eastern Highway a breeze. Once on Rutland Ave we greeted a well known friend called headwind so we doubled up and took turns in sharing the lead. Having only five riders this meant there was some constant switching but this worked well.

Apart from a car exiting a driveway in Laithlane trouble free run down to the crossing of Welshpool Road with an easier crossing of the U turn crossing than last week. On our merry way down Railway Pde it was obvious by this point the pace was quicker than last week averaging around 27km/h. Right turn over the train line onto Wharf St and up to the lights at Albany Hwy. This following section was the only section of the route none of us were completely sure on.  But as we travelled through we all called out and travelled the exact route from the previous week no trouble. Pace was steady through until we reached Riverton Dr North.  A familiar route to anyone who has been on the Saturday morning novice ride. From here right through until the turn on the small incline on Null Creek Rd we practised our Roll Through. I think it still needs some work but eventually we will get it right. Was an improvement on Saturday though. I for one need to learn to back off enough after pulling in front.

One mention here will go to Shaw. Who clearly made the announcement no sprint up Majestic (Why is it called this when its named Bull Creek Rd????).  However not feeling like it I hung back and watched him sit right behind David and surprise surprise  he stands up and starts to sprint. Tracey also decided she wanted to have a go but was too late. So much for sticking together.

From here it was the short trip to Mount Henry Bridge where we made the left turn to follow the Freeway cycle path up to Farrington Rd. Thumbs up to the 4WD that actually stopped and let us get onto the road at the round about before we even arrived. We doubled up down here with myself and Shaw leading. Tackling the hill onto the approach to the lights at North Lake road I did break too big a gap on the climb which was a bad move on my behalf. The red light did allow us to regroup before the turn onto North Lake Road. Was a short roll until the left turn onto Winterfold Rd and this time I dropped into a high gear and stayed with the group as Tracy jumped me and lead us up the hill. At the top of the hill and following last weeks experience I said all can go for glory on the down hill towards Carrington St.  Following my lead I did and when I stopped at the light the rest of the group was right behind.

A quick right turn into Clontarf Road and over the crest we could finally see water which meant we were close to Fremantle. Keeping close together this time our entry into Fremantle and managing the traffic was much better than last weeks broken pack,

After our stop at the cafe for coffee, red bull and a short rest it was back on the road for the return trip. Doubling up we navigated through Fremantle keeping well together. Crossing Stirling Hwy we turned left into Preston Point Rd and followed mostly the route I know to be the City of Perth Great bike Ride route. Here we split into single line and pushed through the head wind again navigating our way round to Point Walter Reserve where I watched one golfer take a not so Tiger Woods swing. I don’t know where he was aiming but I know I ducked as I heard the ball bouncing off a number of trees.

Down the winding hill and onto Burke Dr the wind met us again. Doubling up I took the lead with Dave again however our pace was dropping and I pulled off to the back. At this point I was wearing tired after not really eating much for the last day my energy levels were on their way down. From this point sorry to say I sat at the back and got into a cruise mode knowing I still had a good 30kms before home. Instead of taking Canning Hwy Shaw lead us on a path along the river.  Our pace was back to around 27km/h again here. This brought us out onto Melville Beach Rd. After the Turn onto Dee Rd it was a left onto Fraiser Rd the right onto Kintail Rd for the 3km journey too canning bridge. Following the cycle path down the length of the Freeway the pace was picked up to between 30 ~ 35km/h for the majority of the stretch. Each (other then myself) taking a turn at the lead. David doing well for a good stretch until we passed under the narrows.  From here it was a smooth ride about 27 ~ 30 km/h back to South Perth.

Was only a small group this week and the distance was roughly 66 – 67kms. Our average speed for the round trip was just over 26km/h according to my trip computer. We do plan to continue this next week. I’m sure Shaw and I will be in it. No Route planned at this stage. Peter may have one for us to tackle.

Route map here. Just exclude my travel to and from South Perth.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/australia/we/bayswater/353126490660947495

sunday january 24 (part 2)

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ride report by peter.

while julian and a few others turned left to head back towards kalamunda, the rest of us headed to the right to tackle the “easy” side of the observatory.  with still a decent size group and a narrow road to start with it was going to be interesting to see what would happen.

young adrian shot up the road as soon as the hill started and managed to get a good gap.  with quite a lot of hill to go and him not figuring in the points earlier in the day, the main players let him go with the aim to drag him back later.  i hadn’t figured in the points in the previous two climbs and was lucky to actually be still going. 

a gap formed once the hill climbers made there way to the front and after a moments hesitation, i decided to jump across to them.  by the time i reached them, i was well into the 180+ bpm and knew that i would not be holding it for too long.  i sat on the back as long as i could before having to drop off and let my heart recover.  a couple of other smaller groups passed me with some words of encouragement but my bpm was still too high.  “recovering” to around 165bpm, i made my next effort and pushed past the last group that had overtaken me.  this time i maxed out at about 190bpm and was seriously buggered.  most of them came past me again.

you can’t get any better if you don’t push your limits.  if i just sat at a nice even pace at a nice even heart rate, then my body would adapt to that and never be able to get any faster.  like those guys that you see commuting every day.  they just do the same pace and the same distance so even though they have a large km count for the week, they aren’t strong and can’t surge.

meanwhile, a long way up the road at the front of the group, there was a tussle for the line with the following result.

kom 3. 1 – mike, 2 – chris, 3 – stu, 4 – nick, 5 – jarrad.

with one more climb to go, the day was beginning to heat up.  this last climb is always a bit of a bastard as it kicks up almost straight away at close to 15%.  after such a nice downhill you loose all your momentum straight away and are down in your lowest gear.  my legs were pretty much stuffed by now so i couldn’t even work on pushing my heart rate up.  just survive to the end as best i could.  as i wasn’t there and got the final results at the coffee shop, there may be a bit of contention for line honours.  i am just going off what i was told and chris claimed that he beat mike to the traffic sign.  please leave any challenges in the comments.

kom 4. 1 – chris, 2 – mike, 3 – nick, 4 – stu, 5 – brother jules.

well we took over the coffee shop and they were excellent in their efficient service.  probably just trying to get rid of us, but it is good not to have to wait to long.  one gripe from me was the fact that they have changed suppliers and have moved from coke to pepsi.  it just doesn’t seem right to me, but i endured it for the caffine and sugar hit.

i nice trip home and i managed to keep to the front on descent where we didn’t really clock much faster than 80km/hr.  i kind of lost it in the legs on the flat and got caught at the lights.  the temperature was a good 5 deg hotter off the hill and you could really feel it now.  a good quick run home though and better for it at the end of the day.

australia day public holiday ride on tuesday, but don’t forget that the start location has changed due to road closures.  the corner of coode and angelo st is where we will meet, with parking near the senior citizens centre behind the bank.

sunday 13th dec – welsh, obs, camel, goose

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ride report by peter.

 

a hot, hot, hot day predicted so i came up with a new route that would allow us to stay close to kalamunda.  this would allow  some easy shortcuts if the temperature got too much and they needed to head straight to the coffee shop.  there was one new climb around the camel farm, but the rest were just other hills cobbled together.  there were a couple of up and back climbs so all up there would be maximum elevation gained for minimal distance.  hopefully that also meant minimal time.

there would have been about 20 or so at the carpark, but it was clear that the doctors were plotting an early breakaway as to escape the mid-day heat.  we headed out along welshpool rd and picked up mike and the “abdominal brothers”.  once we hit the climb proper, the pecking order soon sorted itself out.  jonny was on the front and setting the pace early on until i came past dragging the rest.  i managed to keep pushing on till about halfway up the first half before mike came past to set the pace.  he didn’t attack and held a nice pace to lesmurdie rd. 

a break had formed and there were about 6 or 7 of us all together.  as the climb turned to rolling hills, some others started coming around mike to push the pace a bit higher on the shorter climbs.  chris took the first turn at the front and then shao had a crack.  as we passed the girls school, heiko did a stint but in hindsight was too early and too long.  i was just biding my time waiting for the last climb and i noticed brodie sitting at the back of the pack not doing much.  we turned the final corner and started the last pinch to the top.  once the end was in sight, i attacked the group and tried to make a break.  brodie was straight onto it and chris jumped on his wheel.  i looked back to see the train that i was towing, and then promptly ran out of puff.  chris took advantage and attacked straight away and brodie sat neatly on his wheel.  i had blown about 100 metres too early and watched as brodie came around for the points.  mike scooped me up before the end and shao trailed not far behind me.

1st – brodie, 2nd – chris, 3rd – mike, 4th – peter, 5th – shao.

 

a regroup at the servo and it was a matter of sitting in the shade and filling up the drink bottles.  i had frozen half of my bottle overnight and it was back to liquid already.  we had a couple more climbs before the next servo so i recommended that everyone fill up now. 

we continued on to lawnbrook which would take us straight to the observatory climb.  a nice descent proceeded it and alistair and davina took advantage and managed to gap the field a bit.  the road kicks up straight away and the 15% gradient means that you go from 70km/hr to close to zero in a short amount of time.  the correct gear selection is crucial and i left it in the small ring for the descent to get and advantage on the climb.

we caught the leaders and started the climb in earnest.  jonny was at the front setting the pace but there was a fair crowd forming up behind.  i wanted to thin the numbers a bit so made a few small attacks then settled back to the same pace.  heiko came with me each time, but the smart guys were just sitting behind mike’s wheel getting a nice tow back to me each time.  the attacks managed to shake a few riders and the group had been reduced to about 6 or so.  i was caught off guard when mike attacked and i actually pulled a mono when i went to follow his wheel.  chris jumped on mine but i found that i couldn’t hold it for very long.  i waved chris through and sat up to catch my breath.  we had gapped the rest of the group so i was stuck in no-mans land again.

as i started the final push up to the observatory, heiko and jonny caught me so i sat in for a while.  up ahead i could see mike and chris battle it out for line honours as the gate approached quickly.  i went to make a move and started my uphill sprint.  however, jens was not having any of it and we were soon sprinting up the hill towards the finish.  i ran out of puff before him and sat up as my heart rate was in the “spew-zone”.  jonny came in for fifth.

1st – chris, 2nd – mike, 3rd – heiko, 4th – peter, 5th – jonny.

 

we waited a while for simon and dr carl as someone said that they had a mechanical.  we decided to head back down the hill as we were going back down the same way and would pass them.  they must have already turned off for coffee as we didn’t see them at all. 

the next climb was going to be kind of new.  we would turn right after bickley valley and head towards mundaring weir.  towards the top of the first climb we would turn off at fern road to loop around and finish where the camel farm road joined back onto mundaring weir rd.  as we hit the weir rd, a couple of riders turned left instead of right as old habits die hard so they squandered their advantage over the smaller climbs. 

we settled into a rhythm and the bottom half of the climb wasn’t too bad as the majority of the group stayed together.  the road steepens up before we turned and that is where things started to string out a bit.  the camel farm loop did not really contain big climbs, but rather a bunch of smaller ones where you could gain an advantage with some well timed attacks. 

on one of the longer climbs, mike did attack and chris tried to go with him.  i set my own pace to the top and brodie and brother jules were on my tail.  on the descent we managed to catch chris who had slowed after an altercation with a 4wd trying to take up the whole road.  we sped past the camel farm but then they all attacked on the last stretch and i had nothing by then.

1st – mike, 2nd – chris, 3rd – brodie, 4th – jules, 5th – peter.

 

sitting in the shade while waiting to regroup, we bemoaned the lack of water taps in the area.  next time i may need to make the finish point the camel farm itself as there are some facilities there.  we headed back towards kalamunda and down the winding descent before starting the fourth climb.  i started my clock just to see what time we would do and set myself into a nice tempo.  i was dragging the rest of the field till about halfway up when mike came around with chris and brodie in tow.  i jumped on board with heiko and we managed to sit in till the flatish section.  i looked back to see that we had dropped the others and that this would be the final selection.  heiko went to the front and set the pace on the false flat and we were happy to sit in.  once the hill started again i am sure i made it to the front and thought that i could keep pushing on.  mike came past with davina on his tail.  she had managed to bridge across along the false flat and was now challenging mike for the line honours.  unsure of the finish, she pulled up a bit early and mike managed to take the points.  brodie and chris rolled me before the line so i picked up fifth.  my time was only 8:18 which was only 12 sec quicker then when i did the same course on wednesday by myself, so nothing to celebrate.

1st – mike, 2nd – davina, 3rd – brodie, 4th – chris, 5th – peter.

 

a regroup at the servo and an opportunity to fill the bottles again.  it was definitely hot in the sun, but overall it didn’t seem too bad when riding.  a number of riders headed straight for the coffee shop but about 8 of us sped down kalamunda road to the bottom.  i was not really feeling it at the start of the climb and let the main group of chris, jonny, davina, alistair and heiko get away.  once we hit the little plateau i knew that i needed to make an effort as the next two sections were going to hurt.  on the first pinch chris and jonny broke away and i managed to pick up alistair.  heiko and davina were making there way up and i came past just before the final turn where you can see the finish line.  unfortunately that was pretty much all i had and they both came back past me before the end.  i actually contemplated getting off the bike and walking at one stage, but thought that would look pretty bad.  i slowly made my way to the finish.

1st – chris, 2nd – jonny, 3rd – davina, 4th – heiko, 5th – peter.

 

from there it was to the coffee shop and with only 5 staying for a brew the rest teamed up with the early group to ride home together.  brother dan showed us his awesome handing skills when he came a cropper after getting tangled with the chairs.  as jules said, as long as his wheels are ok.  there was some reluctance to make a move as it was getting hotter and hotter but we finally headed home.  that wasn’t till after brodie’s failed attempts to chat up a local girl who was sitting at the next table.  he had all the moves down and we were astounded that she couldn’t resist his sweaty charms.

the ride home was terrible.  once we came off the hills it was hot.  hot and stuffy and dry.  the water in the bottles was pretty damn hot by now and everyone was suffering.  we rolled through to spread the load but it seemed to take forever.  i walked through the door at 11:30 and was glad to reach the air-con.

sunday 1st nov – darlington and mundaring

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ride report by peter.

 

kids change everything.  and they don’t even have to be your own ones.  today i was sure that brendan, mike and ryan were not going to be at the sunday ride.  when i arrived, i found that steve and julian were also absent.  great, i thought, i should be able to get some points today.  however, lurking in the group were a couple of young bucks in matching cyclemania kit.  recently promoted to under 19 (which means that they are probably 17) sam and adrian had been out with us quite a few time before.  actually it was quite a few months ago and what a difference those months have made.  but i am jumping ahead again.

the weather report said a  minimum of 10, but with a strengthening easterly wind blowing, the apparent temperature was more like 6.  it was going to be a brisk start, but the expected top was 24 so i was sure that it would warm up soon.  i made it to the start probably a fraction over the allotted time and found the group standing in a line all facing the sun.  o.k.  at least i wasn’t the only one that was cold.

a quick briefing and we were off with lisa and myself leading the way.  the idea was to do a turn early on before we reached helena valley road where we knew that it would be all exposed and would be smashing the group.  just after burswood, there was a call for a mechanical as christophe’s crank had decided to make moves to depart from the rest of the bike.  simon was on hand and with some tools from brett, we were soon on our way.  however, during the stop, lisa made note that brother julian was sporting some nice newly de-haired legs.  lisa does seem to notice these things, and i have seen her “checking out the talent” so to speak.  as we got going, i asked julian about it and he said that he got his sister to wax them for him.  he said that it was so painful and she stuffed up a couple of areas making it hurt even more.  the things we do to look beautiful.

we made our way out to bushmead road which becomes helena valley rd with only a slight detour when the group failed to negotiate a roundabout properly.  the wind certainly was stronger the closer we got to the hills and jarrad did a fine job pushing into it for the majority.  at the turn towards darlington, the trio of simon, christophe and melvyn continued on towards ridgehill rd and bade us farewell.

the first climb up coulston is not particularly steep but does start and finish with a pinch.  the first bit hits you at around 13% before evening out to a more settled 3 or 4%.  once through the steep section i looked back to see who was in the group and found the majority still attached.  i made a little attack to see who was playing and most bridged across and then alistar counter-attacked.  i jumped on the back and the group seemed content for now.  sitting at the back on the wheel of sam and adrian, i noticed that they were getting a bit frisky so i thought i better be attentive.  sure enough, sam jumps up and attacks and adrian is straight on his wheel.  i jump on the back and we gap the rest of the field straight away.  unfortunately for me, maintaining an attack like this is still just out of reach for me and i soon hit redline and blew up quite spectacularly.  by the time we reached the final pinch, and i could see the sign for the approaching intersection, the rest of the group were all over me.  bloody kids.  so much for easy points today.

1st – sam, 2nd – jerry, 3rd – adrian, 4th – chris, 5th – brother julian.

brother julian said that he just flew up that last bit due to his new aerodynamic legs.

 

a short regroup and we were on our way again.  there was a short but quick decent along glen rd before it kicks up again at a max of 17%.  we then turn left into ryecroft and follow it to the end.  it steps up a few times, but not really steep.  just enough to make it really hurt after a while.

sam and adrian took off on the decent and i didn’t want to give them too much leeway.  i was kind of caught in no-man’s land until the uphill hit and heiko smashed past in the big ring.  a few crunchy gear changes and he was back to spinning the granny gear.  the sharp pinch had also slowed the kids and i managed to leap frog heiko and bridge across to them.  adrian then attacked leaving me with sam on my wheel.  i just plugged on the best i could and about halfway along the climb, alistar managed to catch up with us.  sam grabbed his wheel and i slotted in behind.  we sat this way for a short time and i looked back to see a number of other riders closing in as the gradient diminished.  sam took this as a cue and attacked leaving alistar and myself behind.  alistar tried to up his pace but just managed to drop me as i was hitting my limit chasing the kids.  we were nearing the top and i just had to watch as the groups picked me up and spat me out the back as i was not able to even hold a wheel now.  i was really at the point of feeling like i wanted to spew.  that is two days in a row and i don’t think i have pushed myself that hard for a while.

1st – adrian, 2nd – sam, 3rd – alistar, 4th – chris, 5th – brother julian.

 

 

we headed towards mundaring township and since it wasn’t a “categorised” climb, i was not in the mood to push it.  i had burnt a lot of matches early on the first two climbs trying to play with the kids and those that took the “slow and steady” approach had reeled me in each time.  there were a number of people that stretched out the group but i was content to just hold a wheel and tap out a rhythm.  we regrouped at mundaring to make sure everyone knew where we were stopping next.  for us the climb ends at asher rd as this is the highest point before it drops down into the final climb to kalamunda.  adrian asked if the finish point was at the top of the hill and basically it was so i said yes.  this would cause a little confusion, but the rest of us knew where to go.  i stressed a number of times that the fiish was at asher rd.

we started our decent and the kids shot off the front but no-one was in the mood to chase.  i was a bit worried about giving them too much room leading into the climbs, but they didn’t look like they were actually making a move, more like just dicking around.  we caught them as the road hit the last little bit of climb and the group swamped around.  mark started pushing the pace and soon there was a little group of four off the front.  i was caught up in the next group but now wasn’t sure how well my legs were coping.  through the roundabout and sweeping corners we dropped down into the bottom of the weir before the gradient slowed our progress.  the front bunch hadn’t capitalised on their escape and so they were only 50 metres up the road once we started to climb. 

i came around our group and started to bridge across the to the front.  my legs started to feel it as the road steepened up and my pace dropped off.  chris came past and i jumped on his wheel and forced myself to stay there.  after a few more minutes of climbing i was starting to lose the deadening effects of decent and my climbing felt smoother.  we had picked up mark and damir and there was just sam and adrian in front of us now.  i came around chris and started to slowly make ground on the kids.  chris has dropped off by now and so i was on my own but seriously wanting to catch them.  towards the top of the climb i managed to finally bridge across to the wheel of sam.  i wasn’t going anywhere so sat on for the rest of the climb.  as we crested the top, adrian threw both arms in the air to signify a win.  unfortunately i had to tell him that there was a long way to go.  and there was no asher rd where we were.

looking back there were a few riders catching up so sam suggested that we roll through.  after about three or four times when i was just finishing a turn sam attacked and sped up the road.  adrian sat on my wheel for a moment to see what i was going to do before joining his teammate and leaving me behind.  bloody kids.  i had been setup and spat out.  they basically had me played from the start.  i kept a nice tempo and tried not to lose too much time to them but knew that i would not be catching them before the end.

after a while i looked back to see a group moving up behind me.  i eased up the pace to allow them to catch me so i could at least catch a draft.  jarrad was leading jerry and brother julian so i sat neatly behind to recoup for as long as possible.  after the main climb out of the weir there are two more main steps in the hill before we reach the finish.  between each one is either a flat or minor downhill section.  as we made our way up the first step, jerry attacked and dragged julian with him.  i dug deep to stay on the wheel, but after so long at the front, jarrad was left behind.  it turns out that jerry, like adrian, was also sprinting for the line that didn’t exist and once we reached a carpark full of mountain bikers, he sat up and realised his mistake.

we came to the last climb and the road swings left just after the hill starts so you can’t actually see the finish line.  it also flattens towards the top to effectively the finish is over the horizon as you are climbing it.  i told the guys that the finish was just at the top of the climb and so jerry attacked as soon as the road started to push upwards.  i couldn’t hold that wheel at that pace so didn’t try, but knew that the hill was a lot longer than that.  julian went with him, but soon both of them were sitting up and sucking in air.  i kept a strong pace and dragged myself back to them before the halfway point of the hill.  instead of just sitting in i just kept going past at that pace hoping like hell that they had spent all their energy on the attack.  i was a little worried about julian as he had just gone with the attacks rather than instigating them, so may have had energy in reserve.  up ahead i could see a couple of riders and saw that the kids had split up.  i kept my pace on but was starting to fade towards the top.  i knew that i wouldn’t catch second place, but was more concentrating on keeping the wolves at bay.  finishing the climb in no-man’s land at least got me some points as a redemption for the earlier ones where i blew.

1st – sam, 2nd – adrian, 3rd – peter, 4th – jerry, 5th – brother julian.

 

the thing that stood out to me before we started out again was when i finished the climb and looked back down the road.  usually there are a number of smaller groups spread out over vast distances.  this time, however, the majority of the field were all on the final climb by the time i finished.  this was a great sign on the level of climbing fitness the group has developed, especially after three climbs over 6 kms.

with one more decent and climb before coffee, i reiterated the timed portion of the final hill climb.  we hadn’t really done much on this for a while, but i was feeling fitter than i had for a long time, so thought i better give it a crack. 

the group sped down the hill and a couple of splits appeared.  nothing major, but the kids had enough of a break at the bottom to make it hard for me before we actually started.  mark and i started our clocks at the same time and then put in a big effort to bridge up to the leaders.  damir, oliver and jarrad pushed on with the kids and i managed to bridge across before we were too far into the climb.  unfortunately this effort killed my legs and i didn’t last long and slipped off the front group.  i continued to tap out a rhythm trying not to lose too much ground but was caught before the flat section by a little train being towed by brother dan.  up the road, the kids and damir had dropped oliver and jarrad but they were still working well to keep ahead. 

brother dan put in a big effort along the flat section and soon we had jarrad and oliver in sight.  it looked like damir had also been dropped by the kids and was clawing his way up the last bit of the climb.  i sensed an opportunity and chucked it up a couple of gears and came around the brothers and mark.  no-one reacted so i just kept the pace on to try to pick up the next position.  my legs were not feeling too bad so i powered along and came past oliver and jarrad just as the road hit that last pinch.  mindful of just how steep that bit is, i dropped it back to the small ring and sped past a dying damir who had put in such a great effort keeping with the kids for so long.  i looked back to make sure that oliver didn’t take me out with a late surge, but i managed to keep third place all the way to the line.  my time was not a pb for me, but 8:08 i was pretty happy with as it is only 16 sec slower than my best.

1st – sam, 2nd – adrian, 3rd – peter, 4th – oliver, 5th – jarrad.

 

some other times were –

sam 7:30, adrian 7:45, mark 8:14, dan 8:20, heiko 8:50, chris 8:29, paul 9:10.

 

the merchant didn’t really have room for us, but we managed to get some seats and make enough noise that people made more room for us.  it is the downside to the place, but better quick service than all sitting together.  had a good quick break and managed to have a chat with sharon (from livingston specsavers on the back of your jersey) who used to be such a regular on our rides.  the big baby bump in front of her now would make riding almost impossible unless on one of those cool upright chopper style bikes.  the kids left us with damir to find more hills and we made our way back into town.

the easterly wind was going to make the decent down welshpool road a fast one and jarrad managed to crack the 90 km/hr mark so he was happy.  some of the guys had to actually pass a car as they were going so fast.  apparently it surprised the crap out of the driver as they flashed past.  i managed a good lead out for paul as we hit the end of welshpool road, but the group was quite subdued as everyone was content to sit in the tailwind.

the highlight would be the final sprint along berwick towards the maccas.  jarrad and brother julian were off the front a good 30 metres on me when i saw jules suddenly lurch to the left and almost collect both the kerb and the large tree in the nature strip.  i could then smell the burning rubber so i knew that there had been a touch of wheels.  i decided to sit up then as did jules for some reason.  better wash those knicks out tonight as i am sure that it was a brown trousers moment for him.  probably just a good time to remind everyone that this is the reason we don’t have an official register of sprint points.  it just gets a bit too dangerous when just the slightest lapse in concentration at the end of a long ride can almost bring you unstuck.

apart from that it was a pretty good ride and i enjoyed the fact that sam and adrian made it very hard for me as it is good to be pushed.  with the golden spokes next week, most of the racing guys and girls will be away, but there is bound to be someone that wants to crank out a hills ride.

Ride Report for Sunday October 18

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Report by Julian

After 37°C the day before, it was pleasant to wake up to cooler weather on Sunday. However, the buzzing power lines all the way to the car park indicated high humidity and another energy sapping day. I’ll happily admit that I was thinking of shortcuts even before we started and was tempted to go with the doctors, who set off for a short trip up Welshpool Rd, even before Peter arrived. Once Peter turned up, the instructions were instructed, the f-ckenberg virgins were identified and we were off.

The group was very chatty down Manning Rd and Albany Highway. This probably had something to do with the howling westerly behind us and we comfortably sat on 36 km/h during this time. We were slowed in Gosnells by Lisa attending to flat tyre. This also gave Mike Bonner the chance to catch the group and even by his impeccable standards for being late, this morning was impressive. Somehow during the change Peter and I found ourselves doing a second stint on the front as we headed on to Brookton Highway and then the aptly named Hill St at the start of the f-ckenberg. Onto the hill proper the brothers Dan and Jules attacked and were followed by Joe, Ryan, Alistair, Oliver and Mike. Still not feeling too flash, I was content to sat back and enjoy the carnage as the front boys hit the 21% section and as some started going backwards I made up a few places and ended up with a point. Ryan won the day, from Mike, Oliver and Alistair. Raphael was the second to last up on his first time and all he could utter at the top was the first syllable of the climb. Still at least he made it and full marks for doing so. We had one casualty about 2/3’s up with one rider turning back. I didn’t catch his name but he rejoined us later on after finding an easier climb up the scarp.

Climb 1 – 1. Ryan, 2. Mike B, 3. Oliver, 4. Medium Alistair,, 5. Julian

We were no sooner off again when the second climb began. On the early section everyone took it a bit easy until a small group got away – containing Ryan, Mike, Joe and Rob (a rider we picked up in Gosnells). My climbing legs were returning so I made an attack on Oliver and Brother Julian in the second group and got onto the last wheel in the front group. The more we climbed the better I felt and heading towards the finish I made a move to the front. Inevitably, Ryan shot past near the line with Mike, Joe and Rob following me in.

Climb 2 – 1. Ryan, 2.Julian, 3. Mike B, 4. Joe, 5. Rob

The regroup here was reasonably short and we were soon heading up Churchman Brook Rd for the descent down Soldiers Rd. Unfortunately for Matthew, a call to nature after the climb and a breakdown in the buddy system meant that he got left behind when we started again. However, he was able to join up with Mike B, who had a flat on Soldiers Rd and the two of them made their way back to Kalamunda together, as Mike had given instruction to the group to keep going. Of course we were all disappointed that Mike was out of the next few climbs but managed to put that behind us as were headed towards Urch Rd. This particular climb seems to get lost in the fear of f-ckenberg whenever we do this ride. In my opinion it is a tough climb and today I asked Pete to keep an eye on the gradient of the hill. Coming out of the valley it hits 16% and further up is another section at 15% and sure enough the downhill heroes who got the head start were soon being reeled in. Chris had a good start to the hill but dropped off about half way up. Ryan and Rob were battling it out on the front and Oliver and I were locked together behind them. Towards the top I finally dropped Oliver but didn’t have the legs to get to the front. Jarrad put in a big effort to pick up the final point and was looking a lot better than two weeks ago at Pinjarra. The smile on his face as he realised he’d bagged a point was a highlight of the ride.

Climb 3 – 1. Ryan, 2.Rob, 3. Julian, 4. Oliver, 5. Jarrad

Rob bade us farewell at the top and headed down the back side of the Kahuna. Chris was having a bit of back wheel trouble but soon had that sorted out and we were off again towards Pickering Brook. I stayed at the back of the group during this stage and helped get Phil through his first Sunday ride for quite a while. We regrouped at the Pickering Brook turnoff on the left had side of the road and it was clear that everyone was thinking about the short cut to coffee. Peter said we’d head the Merchant and I asked if anyone wanted to do the full ride and head up to the Observatory. Heiko volunteered to go with me, then Dan and Jules sensed some cheap points and also volunteered, followed by Oliver and a couple of others and suddenly the whole group was with us. I felt very proud of everyone at this stage – staying together and finishing off what we started – very character building stuff!

There was a Master’s Race on in Pickering Brook and John and Joe made a sprint for the finish line. The marshal there held up a 9 laps to go sign but this was dutifully ignored as were turned into Patterson Rd. The group started to stretch out on the incline and as I passed Lisa I’m sure I heard words to the effect of doubting my parentage being muttered after I said she’d thank me later for making her come this way. Towards the top of the climb a group of 6 were still together. Joe went early and couldn’t hold on leaving Ryan to get away. Jarrad now had the taste of points and collected 3rd after I caught him on the last rise. Brother Jules and Oliver rounded out the placings.

Climb 4 – 1. Ryan, 2.Julian, 3. Jarrad, 4.Brother Jules, 5. Oliver

There were a few tired bodies at the end of this climb (but wasn’t everyone glad they did it?) and as Peter set instructions for coffee at the Merchant (for the second time!) we were all fairly keen on getting there. Going through Bickley Valley Brother Jules asked if he could sit behind me during the final climb. I was happy to help out but this caused some confusion with Ryan who thought we were ganging up on him during the climb. Joe and Peter set the early pace on the hill as I kept Brothers Jules and Dan on my back wheel. Coming up to the flat bit the others had dropped off leaving Ryan and the Julians in front. Ryan was unaware of my pacing and made a move just before the last climb. Honour-bound to Brother Jules I stayed back and pushed him through the last stretch and came through in about 8.35. Not sure if it was a PB for him, but certainly a respectable time after a 5 climbs in the conditions. Oliver and Peter followed and soon the group descended on the Merchant.

Climb 5 – 1. Ryan, 2.Julian, 3. Brother Jules, 4. Oliver, 5. Peter

We managed to jag the outside couch and took up most of the area. My hot chocolate and croissant arrived, barely 30 seconds after sitting down. Lisa took to the couch and would probably have been happy to stay there all day. Conversation was very lively with a real sense of achievement amongst the group. However, come 10.30am we were off for the final fling as we dragged ourselves away and headed towards Lesmurdie and Welshpool Roads.

It was an average descent today with top speeds in the mid 70s. The sprint to Tonkin Highway was fairly low key with everyone keen to avoid the head wind. John’s bike had developed a chain/gearing problem but he managed to hold on until he turned off in East Vic Park. A few others took shortcuts home and the rest of us rode back to the car park via the bike path. It was nice not to get abused by any car drivers and also not to be laden with layers of clothing, except for Lisa, whose arm warmers became obsolete after the first couple of kms and ended up as handle bar fashion accessories.