Tag Archives: sunday

sunday 27th sept – greenmount, parkerville, mundaring weir

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ride report by peter.

 

it has been a long time since i have had to write up a sunday hills ride report.  massive credit to julian who has taken this job upon himself which takes an extra burden off me.  however, an early morning text told me that he would not be making it today, so i thought that i better take note of what went on during the ride.

i would say that we had in excess of 20 riders at the start this morning.  a few had other plans and the doctors went off to do their thing early.  we headed out great eastern and made it as far as the mcdonalds near the airport before josh (i think) had a flat.  a quick change in the carpark also meant that there was a chance for a toilet and drink stop.  i was hankering for an angus burger, but it was before 10:30.  we took a nice convoluted path through midvale/bellevue area to end up back on great eastern hwy and at the base of the climb.  unsure of how i would be climbing today, i was happy to follow any leads and see how the day progressed.

this climb starts off fairly lightly before hitting a more consistent grade which then continues pretty much to where we turn off at the entrance to john forrest national park (jfnp).  there was a decent group that set the pace and i held on for as long as i could.  there were no surges or anything, but i just didn’t really have the legs to go with them.  with about 10 riders in front of me there was no point in trying to catch up as i would blow all my reserves to bridge, then get spat out again.  i noticed a couple of riders had gone off the front of the group and this may have broken things up a bit. 

looking back i found myself pretty much halfway between the two main groups.  i decided to just to set my own pace and try to stay away from any chasers.  i didn’t make up much ground on the guys in front and bruce was starting to gain on me from behind.  i upped the effort slightly over the last couple of hundred metres to make sure he didn’t catch me.

the riders that broke away from the front group were mike b and matty u with mike taking off towards the end to drop matt.

the top five places for greenmount went to –

mike b, matt u, steve h, jerry g, anna k.

we waited for all the riders to make their way up before jerry and mel took off with brodie’s dad who came out with us today.  they needed a quicker day so were heading up gooseberry instead.  we continued on through the rough roads of jfnp towards our next climb.  this road is really crap and i can remember riding the old full aluminium cannondale along it and getting the crap shaken out of me.  davina went off the front to stretch her legs but came back into the fold after a few minutes.  john managed to set the pace well and full credit to him for just plugging away for the majority of that section of road.  we eventually made it to the foot of the oxley climb and started the next climb.

this is a fairly short climb, especially compared to greenmount but it has a section of close to 13% just to make sure that you are concentrating.  we had just passed that section and heading around the corner when i looked around to see who was there.  i realised that i was in the front group and suddenly felt good about climbing again.  it was hurting but sustainable so i though that i may be able to hang in for a while.  that is just the moment that mr bonner attacked with such ferocity that it forced an expletive from my lips.  i had nothing and just watched matty and steve jump on mikes wheel and disappear up the road.  medium alistar and jules were still in front of me and stepped up the pace a bit, but not enough to catch the front three.  credit to jules as he is climbing quite well.  maybe an indication that he should pack that footy thing in and concentrate on riding.

that was pretty much the way it finished too.

oxley – mike b, matty u, big-ring hedley, jules j and medium alistar.

a quick regroup and we headed to parkerville shop for a quick break.  at first there were only a couple of riders heading in but soon half the group followed and grabbed some refreshments.  the road to stoneville is really nice. smooth road and very little traffic.  so much better than how we used to negotiate part of great eastern hwy again.  however the bit from stoneville to mundaring is a bit tighter and with a bit more traffic.  we needed to go single file and even then the traffic was reluctant to come past.  we came out of it unscathed and had a quick regroup in mundaring to endure the group was all together.

our next regroup point was going to be a long way away and there was a nice decent plus a number of steps in the climb before we actually finished.

the group took off quite fast and revelled in the smooth downhill section.  there is a small kick up before the remainder of the decent towards the weir and i attacked as the group slowed to start the climb.  i almost made it to the top, but just ran out of puff before the crest.  this allowed medium alistar to come up alongside and we worked together for a bit.  the gap wasn’t enough and and soon we were joined by the majority of the group all bombing down the hill.  as we weaved our way around the roundabout and twisty roads to the base of the weir, matty and steve moved to the front to try to get a jump on bonner before the climb started.  it is a long climb with a number of smaller climbs after the main drag out of the weir.  in between there are a few flat or slightly downhill sections to give you a break, but also can allow the leaders to get further away. 

the first section is pretty steep and really takes a lot out of you.  there were a number of riders up the road in front of me and new that i couldn’t catch them on the climb.  i set my own pace and picked up a few riders on the way.  by the time i reached the top, i had kind of resigned myself to not catching those up the road.  there was a group coming up behind me and i jumped on behind davina, lisa and a couple of others.  they seemed willing to chase so i joined in to help out.  we managed to pick up a few others on the way and soon we had a decent size group.  i asked some of the others how many more riders were up the road and was surprised when i heard that it was only 2.  bonner and matty.  looking around there was still quite a few points up for grabs and i wondered how well i could go when it came down to the last climb.  as we approached it, shao said that he would give me a leadout for the final climb.  before it started, i noticed that the group was not actually working too well and they were leaving one guy on the front for a long time.  this usually meant that everyone was getting tired and didn’t want to work anymore.

shao took off just after the hill started and i jumped on his wheel.  he put in a great effort and we managed gap the rest of them quite quickly.  i looked back a couple of times, but we had committed now so had to give it my all.  shao eventually slowed so i came around and continued to keep the pressure on.  i left it in the big ring and tried to push for as long as i could to keep away.  i was constantly looking over my shoulder but it seemed that no-one wanted to chase.  my heart rate was close to 190bpm for the rest of the climb but i could see matty in the distance so tried to keep the effort up.  looked back enough to know that i would not be caught so backed off enough so the i would not blow up.  the next two positions were not contested as the group just crossed the line in dribs and drabs.

asher rd – mike b, matty u, pete m, track brett, steve h.

the final climb of the day was almost upon us and there was just a nice decent to negotiate first.  i was leading the group out when davina and young ben came flying past.  i stepped up to join them but ben sat up after a while.  d and i worked together to take up most of the decent, but i ran out of legs about halfway and had to sit up as well.  the group came down in little packs and a few riders got in front of me before the start of the final climb. 

not thinking that i had the legs for a surge and attack, i decided to do one big se effort and left it in the 53×14 for a seated climb.  it was a slow climb but the main group didn’t actually get that far away from me.  in hindsight i probably could have picked up some points, but when i saw mike and matty take off from the start, i thought that i how the climb would go.

mundaring – mike b, matty u, anna k, track brett, ben w.

coffee was a bit slow, but the merchant had no room for us today.  the nice weather has it’s downside as more people want to come out and do brunch.  there was only a few that stayed for coffee and even less that ordered it.  even so, it certainly delayed things for us and the guys had to scull so we could get away in time.

the ride home was interesting.  the decent down welshpool was held up by the wind making for a slow top speed.  davina and john bombed to the bottom and were miles ahead by the time the rest of us reached the traffic lights.  we had not seen the jacobs brothers at the top so pulled into the school to make sure that they got down alright.  it took about three light changes at the hwy before they finally rolled up.  each had a different excuse. one said that the other had seen his gay boyfriend in kalmunda while the other said that the first had trouble on the decent and had to hold his hand as they came down at 40km/h.  ah brothers. 

along welshpool rd it became obvious who still had some legs and a bunch of us just couldn’t go with the group as the pace increased slightly.  we caught up again at the lights of maccas, but only because they waited.  as we turned onto berwick st, davina and lisa took off with john and josh.  john turned off home bu the rest of us really had no legs to chase them down.  we caught them a the next set of lights, but lost them straight away.  it seemed that the girls were making a serious effort to put the rest of us well and truly in the hurt box.  it was working.  the rest of us made it into the carpark after quite a few minutes of rest time at the traffic lights.

so, a great ride today and even though only a handful made it to the end, it was a good solid hit out.  next week will see a few of us heading back to pinjarra for the next cyclo-sportif but there still should be a hills ride on regardless.

cyclosportif – swan valley (team a)

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race report by peter.

 

cyclo-sportif races, for those of you that don’t know, are not races.  they are participation events.  there is no winning team and the results are not even published in finishing time order.  this escapes a few insurance issues about holding races, but as far as a participation event goes, it is pretty damn competitive.  for this reason, i was trying to put myself in the second team as i know that i was not totally on form. 

however, let me step back a bit.

it was great to see so many spr riders entering the event this weekend.  we had four teams, two in the 78km event and two in the 62km event.  what was even better was the fact that we had a number of first timers and it was great to see them out having a go at racing.  hopefully this will be a sign of things to come and we can build on this.  if people are still willing to turn up when gale force winds and driving rain are predicted, then they are hard enough to take on any of the races.

so, i was trying to change the teams around so that i could have an easier ride.  not necessarily an easier ride, but just so i wouldn’t be a burden to the team.  the format of these events mean that you cannot drop a rider or leave anyone behind.  it happens and we have done it before, but with no real definition of a winner in these events, it is hard to say that any team has had an advantage.

so our team consisted of ryan, brendan, judd, michael, mike, jerry, rob and myself.  some strong riders in there, but i was not to be counted in that category.  the other 78km team had seven riders as did the two other 62km teams.  hopefully we will get a race report from all of them.

this event has been notorious for attracting bad weather.  two years ago, the wind and rain was so bad that they eventually cut the ride short and sent people home.  last year was wet, with some wind, but it is winter after all.  this year, the long range report had most people running scared.  the wind and rain that lead up to the event were not a good sign, but by the time the morning rolled around, it was looking pretty good.  we seemed to have lucked out and the event was sitting right between two cold fronts.  kind of the eye of the storm.  there were showers about, but the wind was nothing like the previous day.  hopefully it would remain that way.

we signed the teams in and managed to get everyone in a spr jersey so that we at least looked the part.  the main registration was held at the velodrome and would coincided with the track grand prix.  more on that later.  lorraine showed us her wheel with the nice nail stuck right through the tyre and embedded into the rim.  luckily she had her spare wheels ready to go.  there wasn’t a lot of stuffing around before it was time to head to the herne hill school for the official start.

we had obviously stuffed around enough as we missed the initial roll out and the escorted transition to the start line. we kind of knew the way so just took off on our own.  well not really on our own as others missed the escort as well.  by the time we reached the school, there was only time for a brief toilet stop before we were lining up.

gary suckling announced our team, had a few digs at ryan and before we knew it we were away.  single file was the plan with 30 sec turns at the front.  this allowed everyone to get a decent rest and also made sure that riders didn’t burn themselves out too early.  a proper two line roll through means that you are often chasing the guy in front and don’t get to rest too long.  with the wind the way that it was, a single file also meant that we could hopefully echelon across the road if we needed to.

the groups were set off in 30sec intervals and so we could see the guys in front of us right from the start.  usually they start the faster groups later much like a handicap event, but this means that you need to know how fast a group will go.  as we haven’t competed this year, they just put us anywhere. 

we quickly caught and passed the first group and began chasing the next one.  the circuit, although square in nature, had a number of left, right corners and even what could only be described as a chicane.  this meant that you were often dropping into corners and this made it hard with slower groups around.  we often had to slow down to get past a corner before we could overtake. 

by the time we reached the long back straight, we had picked off a number of teams and had begun to work out what to do in the wind.  i had just got to the front when i heard a call go out.  against the buffeting winds it was hard to make it out so i asked behind me what was going on.  “ease off” was what we heard, but there was no way i was hurting anyone this early in the race.  a few more calls later and we sat up to find that judd had punctured his rear tyre.  we spun back around and watched/helped/waited for the tyre change as a number of groups past us back again.  with the tube changed and all gassed up we were off again.  i was just behind judd and noticed that hie tyre was looking flat almost straight away.  i thought that maybe he had not put enough in but he said that it was getting soft.  two flats is a criminal offence so we shot him and left his carcass in the bushes.  actually, we disobeyed rules and left him behind with a spare tube to fix his wheel.  as it was a circuit race, we would pick him up next lap.  i now had the timing band on my leg so the team would at least have to get me home.

we got going and quickly picked up the teams that managed to get past up while we were stationary.  one team did come flying past and we never saw them again, but no-one else managed to pass us.  we were still sorting the team out in respect to where to echelon off to account for the wind.  some people felt compelled to ride on the left side of the road when the wind was from the right.  i guess that it is just what is hammered into you when you start riding.  it took us a couple of laps to really get it sorted out and it made it difficult that we had to continuously pass other group so had to revert back to a straight single file.

we picked up judd on the second lap and continued on our way.  we were all still doing turns at this point, but some like rob and myself were beginning to struggle.  rob would put too much into his turn and would drop off the back after he peeled off.  i was really starting to feel the pace in my hammies and was not able to maintain a strong lead.  judd (or the judd-inator) was determined to make up for his lost lap and would often get to the front and smash out a long time trial.

by the end of the third lap, both rob and myself were toast and with two laps to go, we were down to survival mode.  we didn’t go to the front and just sat mid pack with ryan riding alongside, in the wind, giving us the occasional touch-up to put us back on a wheel.  it was only 2 laps and only 30 kms, but it felt much, much longer than that.  only highlight i can think of was rob dropping his bottle and having it jam in between his frame and cranks.  he thought that he had dropped in altogether, but managed a great save.

we eventually rolled across the line for the final time and stopped the clock at 2:11:07.  no idea how much time we lost with the tyre change, but with the conditions the way they were, we were pretty happy with the time.  it was then the slow roll back to the velodrome to get changed and have lunch.

the one benefit of starting early and being relatively fast was the fact that there were no queues for lunch.  after getting changed we were straight through to the stands to eat and watch some classy riders on the track.  there were a number of riders that have ridden with us before as well as some regulars.  josie was back from europe and was wearing her world champs colours as were anne meares and kaarle mcculloch.  three world champs at an event wasn’t bad.  the fleet girls were there (minus davina who is still racing in america) as were a few others that have graced us on sunday – mel, sam, adrian.

all up a great day (as it didn’t absolutely pour down on us) and it was great to see some of the non-regular-racing people having a go to show off the spr colours.  thanks to kim as well who came out to take some photos and helped mike back to the velodrome after he cracked his norco frame on lap one.  also thanks to shun who won one of the raffle prizes at the cyclo-sportif but donated it to spr for us to use as prizes and giveaways.  he said he didn’t really want the stuff, he just wanted to win.

sunday 29th mar – the tour of the damned

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ride summary by peter.

a very quick summary this week as i am running behind schedule again.  we lined up to do a number of climbs and take a number of roads less traveled.  unfortunately this may have meant that there was a lot more crap on said roads than we usually have.  we went out via belmont and abenathy rd where we got our first flat.  john went to change his and found that his tube had a hole so stu gave him his spare.

we then got stuck at a railway crossing waiting for a train that was moving freight between yards.  there was sea containers stacked up on top of each other so it was moving soooo sloooow.  probably wasted 10 min of my life that i will never get back.  russell joined us on the other side of the tracks but we didn’t get that far before gregor had a flat.  by now lorraine thought she had missed us as she was coming down from darlington to meet us.

due to the delays, nev and the doctors took off with a couple of triathlon ladies that had joined us today for a shorter route up the zig-zag.  we also deceided to shorten our route and would skip the parkerville section.

up coulston the first five were –

ryan – 10, ben – 7, mike – 5, peter – 3, stu – 1.

 

we detoured up mills rd which was another berg that tests the legs.  we haven’t named this one yet, but anyone that tackled it is welcome to throw up suggestions.

along to mundaring weir rd and after a fun, fast descent it was on to the climb.  i didn’t have the legs to stay with the big boys today so thought i would save them for the time trial on the last climb.

at asher rd, ryan – 10, ben – 7, mike – 5, stu – 3, andrew – 1.

 

final climb, ryan – 10, stu – 7, mike – 5, andrew – 3, ben – 1.

 

a number of riders timed themselves and i will update the hill climb time later.

ryan 7:21, stu 7:36, peter 7:55, andrew 7:58, lorraine 8:48, mark 9:00, lisa 9:19, ronny 12:20.

 

on the climb, mike b got a flat to be number three for the trip.  on the decent stu got a flat to be number four.  he also had given his spare to john, so he called me up and i had to ride back to the base of welshpool hill to give him a spare.  a few guys had gone ahead as they had time restrictions.  we passed mike t on berwick road in a bus shelter…changing a flat.  number five.

i will try to put a bit more effort into my write up next time.

sunday 22nd mar – welshpool & observatory & kalamunda

ride report by peter.

 

welcome to the last daylight savings sunday hills ride.  on my way to the carpark i missed a call from ryan.  it seems that he and jerry were both having trouble getting to the start today because the freeway was closed for some damn bike ride.  those inconsiderate bastards, taking up our roads.  as we sat around for a while waiting for them to arrive, stu realised how cold it was and took off home to grab his vest.  i knew that we had a couple of people waiting for us on the way and didn’t want to delay the start too much.  jerry and ryan fronted up so we took off sans stu.  he had the bike setup as a time trial bike, so i was sure that he could catch up.

we headed towards orong rd, which is not a usual route for us, as it would take us straight to the welshpool rd climb.  there were about 20 riders all up with a couple of new faces.  a young guy named sam was looking for a sunday ride so bella and sam (girl) had invited him along.  he had a talent identification jersey on so it would be interesting to see how he went today. 

we lucked out as we turned onto orong rd as a group of 4 guys managed to turn in front of us.  they all had local team jerseys on and looked like they could be “a” graders so we caught up to them and let them draft us all the way along to the climb.  on the way we picked up mark and sharon who were waiting on the flats before the climb started.  stu had rang up to see where we were but had still not caught up to us yet.  it looked like he would miss out on the fun.

the hill started and our 4 escorts were not in a fighting mood, so we had to go around.  i am always wary of passing a rider who you don’t know as they could come and smash you later on the hill.  these guys didn’t seem too worried though.  as the memory fades from a long week at work, i cannot remember exactly who did what, but i got to the front at one stage to set the pace.  i wanted to see how the young bloke went and the answer is – very well. 

it all became too much for me and i fell off the pace allowing ryan, sam, mike and a couple of others to head up the road.  i think that mat was in the group too, but eventually fell back from the pace.  by the time we reached the lesmurdie rd intersection the three front guys had a decent gap on mat, lindsay and myself, who were chasing hard. 

chasing mountain goats in mountain country is never going to work and i was sure that we weren’t going to catch them.  i started to concentrate on the other 2 as we were still in the points and i wanted to maximise mine.  another attack a bit later on was too much for mat and this left lindsay and i to fight it out for 4th and 5th.  local knowledge goes a long way and i managed to jump at the right time to stay ahead of lindsay for the points.

ryan was too much for sam and mike and they finished in that order.

ryan – 10, sam – 7, mike -5, peter – 3, lindsay – 1.

 

i got to the top and found that i had a text message from sharon.  she said not to wait for her as she would find her own way to coffee.  not a chance.  if she had enough energy to write a text, she was not trying hard enough.  we waited to make sure she did the next hill.

 

i am running a week behind, so i will fast track the rest of this blog.

 

observatory climb i got blown out and sat up to make sure everyone got the turn right.

ryan – 10, sam – 7, stu – 5, mike – 3, lindsay – 1.

 

rolled back around and did the mundaring weir rd climb to kalamunda.  it wasn’t the last climbs so i was looking for some pb’s on the hill climb times.  it didn’t disappoint.

ryan – 10, stu – 7, sam – 5, lindsay – 3, peter – 1.

stu 7:29, ryan 7:31, sam 7:36, lindsay 7:51, peter 7:52, mike 7:58, jerry 8:12, mark 8:31, julian 8:34, dan 9:03, paul o 9:22.

 

down the zig zag and back up kalamunda rd.  a few went straight to coffee and the girls went down kalamunda and back up again.

ryan – 10, sam – 7, stu – 5, mike – 3, peter – 1.

 

it’s been a busy week so sorry for the delay.  not really used to this whole work thing after so long on holidays.

sunday 15th mar – kahuna & peet & observatory

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ride report by peter.

 

the predicted top of 38 degrees seemed a long, long way off when i reached the carpark this morning.  a dark overcast day blocked what little light we see before 7am but the temperature did not seem too bad.  a decent field of about 20 odd people with nothing better to do turned up to endure some pain.  with a couple of new faces, some old returning ones and also some prettier ones as we had four girls at the start line.  some regulars like davina and lisa as well as bella and sam.  bella used to ride with the group on saturday years ago.  it was always funny to see a 15 yr old girl beating half the guys in the final sprint along mounts bay road.

the course today was a pretty basic one with a couple of climbs up to rollystone and then the observatory and the final push up to kalamunda.  there were 4 climbs with points today and we would continue the timed climb up mundaring weir road to see how everyone was going.

as we left the carpark, ryan was still getting his bike out of the car.  i told him where we were headed so he could catch up later.  the ride out to albany hwy was easy enough and soon we came across a rider waiting on the side of the road.  it was ryan.  he had taken the “old school” way along berwick rd and out near diesel motors to make it onto albany hwy.  he was quick enough to have to wait for us as we turned off manning rd.  as we progressed along towards maddington, i noticed that mike was not in the group.  i was sure i saw him there at the start, but i was on the front as we rolled out and never saw him again.  i talked to ryan and we were worried that he had slowed down to help ryan, but was left waiting as ryan took a different route.  he is a big boy so we were sure he would have worked it out for himself.

the trip to the base of the kahuna was pretty uneventful until we went to cross the tonkin hwy.  as usual for the mornings, the wind was pouring off the escarpment and straight into our faces.  i was sure it was going to push us backward as the group seemed to be at a standstill.  we eventually got everyone across the road and started the climb.

i was pretty happy to just sit in and see what happens, but some other wanted to assert themselves today.  one of our new guys, ian, took off but i was reluctant to chase as i didn’t know how well he climbed.  jerry took off soon afterwards with a case of “new bike syndrome” and he steered his prince to the front.  i knew i couldn’t let him get too far so jumped across to his wheel.  we set a tempo pace and quite a few riders fell into line behind us.  ryan eventually took off but no-one had the legs to go with so he scampered up the road.  i went around jerry to set my own pace and sat their for a while before julian came around me.  i was a bit taken aback.  he has been improving lately but he is now climbing quite nicely and pretty soon i couldn’t hold his wheel.

in the midsection of the hill there was a bit of yo-yoing with alistar and lindsay before i put in a bit more of an effort to shake them.  as the hill progressed, i made my way back onto julian’s wheel at about the koala park entrance.  julian rode beside me and asked how far to go from here,  quite a bit more i told him.  it was probably close to about a kilometre, but it did flatten out a bit.  i rode tempo for a while to recover and to see whether julian was hurting at all.  we had lost sight of ryan by now as the small twists and turns around the top hide the finish line.  i knew just how far to go so put in a few surges to drop julian for good.  a bit of riding scared kept me away from him until the line.  alistar and lindsay filled the remaining places, while davina out sprinted jerry for sixth place.

ryan – 10, peter – 7, julian – 5, alistar – 3, lindsay – 1.

 

there was a rebellion at the regroup point and a small bunch took off for an early coffee.  amongst the group was jerry, who must have been upset that davina beat him and his mega-dollar pinarello princess.  the rest of us continued towards rollystone.

a nice descent to start had the girls showing how to take a hill as bella and sam flew past me in pursuit of davina.  i was more worried about the climb and waited until ryan came past on the uphill out of the dip before i made an effort.  a bunch of us rode the first stretch up to peet rd together and to where the hill starts to really hurt.  not far into it, ryan surged and found a easy gap.  no-one had the legs to go with him, but the change in pace pretty much split the field apart.  i ended up riding with lindsay for the majority of the hill, but still tried to shake him with a few changes of pace.  realising that i couldn’t shake him, we continued to the top but saw that ryan was probably too far ahead to catch now.  i looked back and saw julian and davina cresting the hill behind us and making ground fast.  by the time we reached the final straight, there were four of us all vying for the remaining points.  i was on the front and no-one was willing to come around.  i knew how this worked, but i also knew the finish and just what was needed.  however, davina has won a couple of races on this circuit, so i knew that i had to watch if she made a move as well.  i stayed on the front, but didn’t do any real hard effort to push the pace.  ryan was too far ahead to chase down and there was no-one behind that would catch us.  i had my point on the road that i knew that i could sprint from, but it would all come down to whether the others made a move.  i finally went and went hard enough that the others didn’t follow and were content to fight it our for third.  it came down to a sprint between davina and lindsay, with the latter getting it by less than half a wheel.

ryan – 10, peter – 7, lindsay – 5, davina – 3, julian – 1.

 

we regrouped and chugged along to karragullen for some refreshments before continuing to pickering brook.  a change in the standard route had us entering the observatory climb via repatriation rd. it really just added some variety to the ride and a small hill to negotiate as well. 

the group bunched up well at the start of the climb with john and myself on the front.  the tempo wasn’t too high and people were able to sit in for quite a while.  we made sure that ryan was boxed in behind john on the kerb side so that he couldn’t attack too early.  it was all fun and games until john started to fade and the group split apart a bit.  this allowed ryan a bit of free space, so i thought that i would initiate the move and chucked it up a couple of gears.  a big attack allowed me to get a big gap, but i was running out of steam and ryan was bridging across.  i had to drop back to a tempo ride before i totally popped and everyone past me so eased off a bit.  ryan came up to me and sat on my wheel content to leave it to the end.  i looked back to see who was coming and a small group with julian, lindsay and davina were going to catch us.  i just kept plugging away waiting till the next attack came.  there were the five of us altogether on the false flat before the final pinch when ryan took off.  i sprinted after him only to find myself in serious oxygen debt and fading fast.  julian and lindsay came past to fight it out for second while davina also dropped me to claim fourth.  in my case it was too much with too little in reserve.

ryan – 10, julian – 7, lindsay – 5, davina – 3, peter – 1.

 

the final climb of the day approached and i explained about the timed hill climb.  where the start and finish were as well as what the current record was.  as the time depended on when you crossed the start line, the mountain points placing were not a good indication of the timing.  especially when half the group had to give way to a 4wd as we went to turn onto mundaring weir rd.  ryan and i started the climb together and i was determined to get a better time than last week.  i set a tempo that i thought i could hold for the entire climb and started to pick up those that managed to get in front of the car.  ryan decided that even though it was a nice tempo, he could do a faster one and took off up the road.  when i came past a small group, davina, alistar and julian jumped on behind me to get a tow for a while.

i continued at my pace and kept looking back to see if there was still a wheel behind me.  for the majority of the bottom part of the climb the three of them sat in but pretty soon only davina was holding on.  after that brick wall that signifies not too far to the flat section, i looked down to see no wheel at all behind me.  i continued along but was cognisant of the fact that i was starting to run out of reserves.  i hit the flattish section in the big ring, but by then alistar and davina had battled their way back to be with me.  alistar set the pace but i soon took over as i still wanted a good time.  we hit the last pinch and i tried to keep the pace high, but was soon forced into the small ring.  knowing that i would be jumped before the line, i ploughed on ahead until they both sprinted for the speed sign and finish line.  it was close, but davina managed to take alistar on the line by about half a wheel.  i struggled on watching my time tick further past my pb until i crossed the line.  julian brought it in for fifth.

ryan – 10, davina – 7, alistar – 5, peter – 3, julian – 1.

 

we turned up to coffee just as jerry and the  “princess” group was leaving so we secured their table.  i was feeling like crap after such a sustained effort but managed to down most of my chocolate croissant.  it was good to see the girls riding so well with davina fighting for the points and lisa climbing so well lately.  they both have the same coach, so he must be doing something right.

the ride home was quite uneventful with some fast descents on welshpool adding to the fun.  a couple of breakaways on the sprint to the first maccas saw ryan and alistar take off with lisa having enough energy to try to chase them down as well. 

the expected high temperature did not affect the ride as it didn’t peak till almost 5pm making our part of the day quite pleasant.  with the freeway bikehike next weekend i expect that the sunday ride will be just as popular with those that have endured the chaos that is a few thousand weekend riders that all think they are a top pro sprinter.

sunday 8th mar – f_ckenberg plus others

3 Comments

ride report by peter.

 

i managed what i thought was the impossible this morning and snuck out of the house without waking anyone up.  this is especially lucky as the microwave (for breakfast) is loud and usually precedes number 1 son’s equally loud start to the day.  i was out the door and into the dark before my luck ran out.

we had around twenty at the start today and a new face (to sunday) as matt whom i have raced against before thought he would give our group a go.  the rest were fairly regular sunday riders with the exception of rachael who decided give the hills a crack today.  we headed out and picked up bonner and nev along the way to bolster our numbers a bit.

the course today is one of the most brutal that we have in our repertoire not for the distance but mainly for the steepness of the climbs involved.  there were 5 categorised climbs today but we would start with the f_ckenberg which runs up the back of mt nasura.  not as brutal as the chookenberg, but certainly there to test the legs.  it is steep enough to make it almost impossible to start again if you stop on the way up.

a fairly uneventful run along albany hwy with the only fun being to watch stu and brendan on two separate occasions have to time trial it back to the group after a nature break.  once we hit brookton hwy a split formed with a few of the dr’s and a couple of others opting for a run up the brookton hill rather than the fun of the f_ckenberg.  the wind had picked up as the day progressed and was in our faces as we approached the base of the climb. as it looms ahead of you, the bulk of the climb is hidden by the fact that the road turns left to skirt the hill and is hidden by the surrounding trees.  quite a few in the group had not the pleasure of acquainting themselves with this climb and so we were talking it up as much as possible.

i, myself, am not a big fan as the steep climbs do not bode well with me.  the f_ckenberg doesn’t give you much of a chance of finding a rhythm unless you have a compact cracnk and a granny gear.  as the road turned left some of the boys started to flex their climbing muscles and took off up the hill.  i was content to let them go, but was concerned when milram dan shot past me as well.  his fitness has been getting steadily better, but i was unsure about his climbing.  i set my own pace as best i could and managed to eventually haul him back in as the hill was a little too long for the effort he put in.  i didn’t make any more ground on the leaders and came to the top about seventh or so, but happy that i could actually see the front bunch this time.

mike – 10, brendan – 7, matt – 5, judd – 3, lindsay – 1.

 

a regroup at the top and a chance to get the breathing patterns back to normal and we were on our way again.  this next climb up canns was nowhere near as steep but went for a couple of k’s and had a few pinches involved.  brendan and i led the way and the rest of the group formed up behind.  no-one was keen to make a move so we set a more relaxed pace as we were working into the wind.  brendan was still recovering from some oral surgery from earlier in the week and was not feeling 100% because of the antibiotics.  he said that whenever he got his heart rate too high, he felt crook.  bad for him, good for me. 

not doing this climb too often, it is hard to remember exactly where it ended and therefore exactly where to attack.  as a right hand kink in the road approach, i thought that it was not too far away now so was up out of the saddle and broke away from the group.  i think everyone was waiting for brendan to chase me down and it allowed me to make a decent gap.  i was constantly looking over my shoulder and saw mike swing off and around the group in response.  i held out as long as i could, but mike was making ground and towing a substantial group behind him.  i eased off so that i had some reserves for when they past me, but didn’t quite have enough to go with mike and judd.  i managed to jump on with stu and matt, but they also eventually dropped me.  as the finish line approached, i thought that i could bridge the gap and stood up to accelerate.  unfortunately for me, they also stood up at the same time so there was no chance i would gain anything.  i looked back and decided that the others wouldn’t catch me so rolled up to the line.

judd – 10, mike – 7, stu – 5, matt – 3, peter – 1.

 

the decent down soliders rd is always fun once you get past the tight sections and today threw up a further obstacle.  as we approached the decent, i commented to bec that they must have resurfaced the road as there was a lot of loose gravel on the top and the evidence that they had widen the road had been covered up.  this caused a few concerns to some riders, including myself as the surface did not inspire much confidence and i had to swing wide on a few corners just to make sure.  the nice and smooth road returned soon afterwards and i managed to clock about 73km/h as the road twisted it’s way down the hillside.  everyone managed to make it down ok and we regrouped before hitting peet rd.

once again the pace was not on.  i was expecting a few surges from mike at the very least but they never came.  it was tempo up the first steep section of peet rd before a left hander onto urch.  at the turn we still had a decent size group to contest the prize.  the slight downhill gave a reprieve to the legs but also allowed a few people to sneak ahead and mark flew past in the tug position.  i wasn’t too worried about him (sorry mark) as i thought that i could catch him on the uphill, but then matt took off after him.  i was a bit worried about him and had to get a bit closer to his wheel.
once the hill started again, matt put in a big effort and jumped in front of mark and up the hill.  i jumped across to his wheel as he was still putting in the big effort and sat behind him for a while.  when he finally sat down, i attacked him to see if he had anything left.  not enough to sustain and i managed to put some distance in him.  the grinding climbing technique of mike and stu slowly dragged me back as there was a substantial amount of hill remaining and i couldn’t hold position behind them for very long.  once we crested the hill, there is a section of flatish rd before it intersects canning mills rd which is the finish point for the climb.  a bit of confusion last time we did this route found mike pulling up too early and a few of us overtook him before the line.  this time he was making sure and he kept the pace on to stay well ahead of stu.  i looked back a few times to see matt gaining once the hill eased up, so i clicked up a few gears to stay ahead.  lindsay was climbing well and managed to secure fifth place.

mike – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, matt – 3, lindsay – 1.

 

judd decided to call it a day and took the decent down the kahuna for an early home time.  the rest of the group ambled along the back roads to pickering brook and continued to the base the easy side of the observatory.  no-one had made the early turn to the coffee shop which was good to see and the group is certainly climbing well.  i was hoping for an easy start to the hill and that the attacks would start till later.  unfortunately, brendan was in the mood to shake things up a bit and went off the front from the first turn.  mike and stu chased and left me no choice but to try to get across.  we soon caught brendan who was still suffering from that earlier complaint, but could do little surges to make people think that he was going. 

mike and stu left me behind a they increased their pace and i looked back to see matt and lindsay on my tail.  thinking that i would be better off in no-man’s land, i put in a effort when we were halfway to the top and managed to shake them off.  i just needed the maintain now to make sure i kept my points.  as the road flattened, i looked back to see matt stuck to the wheel of dr mark and they were making ground.  i accelerated as best i could to stay ahead and thought that i was actually making ground on stu up ahead.  in reality i was getting closer because he had started the hill while i was still on the flat.  as soon as the hill started for me, i did feel that close.  matt was now powering up the hill to the finish and i had to continually look behind to make sure he didn’t make up too much ground.

mike – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, matt – 3, dr mark – 1.

 

one last climb today and we are starting a new leaderboard.  this one is not to see who can afford to buy the lightest bike but is more a list of personal best times and will show how well people are improving.  our last climb on a sunday ride is generally up mundaring weir rd to kalamunda.  from the bottom there is a road called aldersyde which is where the time starts.  you then climb up to the top where there is a 50 km/hr sign just before the roundabout and stop the clock.  i will start a new page which will show the start and finish points as well as a list of peoples best times.  hopefully we can use it as gauge of fitness and it allows people to see where they stand.

anyway, the climb started and matt shot up the road after some early breakaways.  i commented to stu about it and he thought that we should be able to make up the ground.  i had started my clock and was determined to put in a good time so i set myself a nice tempo and took off after matt.  he had sat up once he caught the breakaway so i picked him up quickly and sped past.  a couple of turns into the climb and i noticed the train of mike, stu and brendan baring down upon me.  brendan offered me the wheel as they came past and i jumped onboard.  about halfway up the first section, and well into the steeper bit that i hate, mike made a big move off the front.  i chased onto mikes wheel and held on for as long as i could.  i thought that i was going ok and may have had a chance at sticking to his wheel when all of a sudden brendan shot past with a “yee-hah”.  mike accelerated just enough to dislodge me but not enough to stick with brendan.  unfortunately, this was just one of the surges that brendan was capable of, but couldn’t sustain and was soon overtaken.

i jumped back on stu’s wheel and we soon picked up brendan.  mike was a fair way ahead but i thought we could make up some ground once the road flattened out.  brendan came around and offered to take us up to mike and we jumped on board and caught him before the road turned the corner.  brendan went straight to the front and kept the pace up until he felt crook again and had to back it off.  the three of us approached the final pinch and suddenly mike and stu were sprinting for the line.  my legs were just happy to be there and had no sprint left in them but i managed to keep ahead of brendan.  my time was 8:03, so if you managed to get a split, send them to me via email and i will post them.  when the page is up it will explain the rules etc.

mike – 10, stu – 7, peter – 5, brendan – 3, lindsay – 1.

 

the "long coffee stop" group
the "long coffee stop" group

the coffee shop was busy, but we managed to all squeeze around a couple of tables (with a few parked on the stairs).  the early off shoot that left us on brookton hwy was still sitting at the coffee shop by the time we arrived.  service was very slow and they were still waiting.  we eventually received our orders and were late to leave as it was well after 11 o’clock.  the most eventful part of the return journey was right at the top of kalamunda where a guy (with family) in a big range rover, deliberately swerved to our side of the road (oncoming) for no apparent reason.  when i stuck my hand up (yes all the fingers) to say wtf are you doing, he did the same back to me as if i was doing something wrong.  see mr dickhead can drive anything.  i actually think that he was on his way home from church as there is one on that road.  so i hope a drop bear lands on his bonnet.

sunday 1st feb – chook farm classic

what you can see through the cut is a $5 note which is stopping the tube from popping out
what you can see through the cut is a $5 note which is stopping the tube from popping out

i had all the best intentions of riding a good, hard hills ride today.  i had mapped out a course that took in some really nice climbs that we didn’t do very often and some absolute shockers that we had never done before.  however, as we came through vic park, the australia day bogans decided to cut my ride short, by leaving a glassy reminder of the more fun side of drunken yobbos.  i mean, how much fun is it to smash stuff.  come on lets all smash bottles on the road. 

anyway, a very big slice in my tyre had me limping home like a fallen soldier that had stubbed his toe on the way to battle.  an almost brand new set of tyres are now ruined (i know only one got sliced, but i can’t ride with one blue and one black tyre, dr paul would be upset).  so off home i went and jumped in the car to make sure the rest of the group did the chook farm hill. 

 

 

the remainder of this post will be of the pictorial nature. 

the fast boys were slow on this section
the fast boys were slow on this section
stu was still pushing the old bike hard
stu was still pushing the old bike hard
note the direction some of the riders are going. one of the guys said his gps said 20% at the steepest. on average this section is around 17%.
note the direction some of the riders are going. one of the guys said his gps said 20% at the steepest. on average this section is around 17%.
not much aerodynamic advantage staying in a pack
not much aerodynamic advantage staying in a pack
ronny took a wrong turn and was a little behind
ronny took a wrong turn and was a little behind
mark was sure that he had enough room to brake.....at 85km/hr
mark was sure that he had enough room to brake.....at 85km/hr
fast = fun
fast = fun
"derosa dan" working it for the camera. yeah, baby.
"derosa dan" working it for the camera. yeah, baby.

Sunday 25th January – Kahuna, Peet, Canning Mills, up,up up…

ride report by mark

pete asked me to write the blog up, as he is up to his ears in new family and new cycling club stuff. fair request i thought. As for me, no real excuse for being late with the write up.

i arrived early  on sunday for a change, and was pleased to see about 18 – 20 including a good compliment of medical specialists as usual, and pete! we headed out with peter and brendan leading till well into albany hwy, and thereafter steady rotations in front at around 28 -31km/h. there was a moderate to strong headwind all the way to the first hill; kahuna.

it’s a good steady climb – i started out near the front and watched them come past; peter, stu, brendan, warren, dan, etc. then jon b and i rode together for a while – which is becoming a pattern. near the top i thought he was on my tail, and tried to get away, but it was actually shao (sp?) and he passed me easily as he chased the leaders. points at the top were: brendan – 10, stu – 7, warren – 5, bill – 3, peter – 1.

i think i was 7th at the top of the hill, mainly due to the absence of ryan (racing), michael b (heart surgery – fair excuse) and dr jerry (chasing lance at tour down under). we had to whistle really loudly to stop dr carl from going straight over the top – he looked like he was on a mission in search for coffee; in the drops, head down and in the zone. the group was down to about twelve riders by that stage, with the short riders taking on of the earlier hills straight up to the coffee shop.

then the dog-leg via chevin, and the great downhill of urch, before the horror uphill of peet.  luckily i had a head start from the downhill, but as usual it was not enough. for a while i actually thought i may be in the points there. i hung in with the front bunch till past the top of the steep bit, but then it just got too hard (read “i didn’t want it badly enough”) and i fell back. that was ok; i was still in 5th position and in the running for my first point of 2009. then warren came past, and i thought i might latch onto him, and chase the group for some serious points; but he made it clear that he was on a chase, not a rescue mission. i watched him and my one point disappear up the hill to rolystone high school.

brendan – 10, peter – 7, dan – 5, warren – 3, stu – 1

 

we regrouped, and then headed down the hill to the t-junction at brookton hwy; and turned right. the first time i’d ever done that before, and the first time for many by the sound of it. going all the way down brookton was a strange experience, and it seems like a completely different road to the one we’re used to climbing. but it was hell-fun for a downhill junkie like myself, and it seemed to go on forever. then up the back of the hill for a steep steady climb to the chevin rd turnoff again.

i think that is one of the best climbing hills in perth for a cyclist; it feels like a shorter version of an alpine ascent to me, and one seldom sees a car on the road. great steady winding road, lots of shade, and a steady 7-10% climb. i settled into my own rhythm, and tried to keep it there till pete passed me. being a boy on a push bike, tried to follow, but didn’t have the legs to stay. then along came some big fella dressed in white, on an all white bike with no labels. i don’t know who he was, but he ended up joining us at the coffee shop. i followed him for a while till we caught and passed pete. then he left pete and i to battle it out as he went ahead. i was in a mood to play, so i passed pete and chased the white knight, only to run out of steam, and watch pete roar by me a few hundred meters from the top.  i coasted up in about 6th or 7th again; whilst the order up front was: brendan – 10, bill – 7, warren – 5, stu & dan – 2 (deadheat)

we regrouped, and carried on straight over the undulations that took us back towards canning road. i remembered the road well from a cyclo-sportif event we did there a year and some ago.  we were all together as we went through bickley valley, and took the usual old route to the bottom of mundaring weir road. brendan and i took the corner first, and i sat on his wheel for a few hundred meters until the others caught us. surprisingly i hung on almost until the hill flattens out before the long false flat. i really thought i may be in the points, until i looked down at my heart rate which was 192.  i felt the imaginary elastic band connecting me to the group snap, and made a loud “ping” sound as i exited off the back. so no race up the last bit of the climb for me, but i was happy that i’d felt fine on all the climbs on the day. for those in front; the points at the top were: brendan – 10, stu – 7, warren – 5, bill – 3, dan – 1

i don’t know how many meters we ascended, but i’d guess it was around 1500; a good ride by any standard. the coffee was great as usual, but the croissant was overdone for the second week running; one more and we will have to register a complaint in writing! at least the service was good this week.

the ride back home was pleasant and uneventful; just a little too warm at around 35 degrees.  the sprint to the first set of lights at the bottom of welshpool road is becoming increasingly competitive, with john b being the current favourite.

we chased and caught a fit looking rider on a cervelo t3 bike on the way to leach hwy, and kept a brisk pace all the way to albany hwy. then i left to make my way home via manning, only to find that the freeway bike path between canning and mt henry was closed, so i had to do an extra few km via mt pleasant. not a bad detour, but i felt hot and thirsty, and didn’t need the extra km at that stage. it was at the rowing club in that i passed dr ronnie, wearing leggings and long sleeves – i don’t get it.

another great ride with the bunch. also the end of my slack cycling phase, which has lasted since i got back from vietnam in october. next week i officially start training harder; the goal is to contest at least one hill each sunday by march. they say if you make your goals public, you have a better chance of achieving them. this is as public as i get!

see you next week

sunday 18th jan – greenmount & mundaring weir

2 Comments

ride report by peter

 

a pleasant change from last sunday with the temperature only predicted to be in the low thirties with a fair bit of cloud cover.  i thought that this may bring out some more punters, but the crits and some of the guys “tapering” for the tour down under, meant that numbers were around the 15 mark.  some of the doctors had already organised their own breakaway group and were just going to ride out to helena valley rd with us and continue on to ridgehill rd.  we planned to turn off an tackle greenmount and john forrest national park, before heading to coffee via mundaring weir rd.

the trip out was at a nice cruisy pace and was quite uneventful.  we picked up mike along the way, and with stu and dan already on board, i knew that there wouldn’t be any easy points for me today.  five turned off with the doctors and this left us with just 11 riders as we made out way through the suburban housing estates at the base of greenmount.

once the hill started, we neatly fell into single file but stayed together as a group.  no-one was applying the pressure yet, and i wasn’t going to be the one today.  mike finally got his rubber-band wound up and came to the front with ease.  obviously no heart problems today and he quickly gapped the front of the bunch.  i sprinted to catch his wheel and soon there was a string of the main contenders hanging off his wheel.  a frind of shao’s named bill soon came to the front to show us that he had a bit of climbing ability.  he set the pace in front of mike and was going quite well for quite a while. i soon had to drop the wheel and set my own tempo which was so much less than what the front guys were doing.  i watched as the group overtook bill and fully expected him to drop right off after the effort, but no he held on to the group.  as the road wound up greenmount i saw dan and then judd fall off the back of the group leaving just mike, stu and bill to fight it out.  i kept looking back and saw a small group of paul, mark and john (i think) coming up towards me.  i could also hear a large truck slowly making it’s way up the hill and with us in the left lane, he was blocking traffic in the right lane.  as he came by i saw that it was a double trailer semi carrying a load of stinky arse pigs.  he changed lanes as he overtook me and i got a draft for a few metres.  unfortunately i couldn’t hold on for too long as the smell was unbearable, especially when you are gasping for breath.  i backed off searching for clean air and just grateful that none of the passengers had decided to give me a squirt as they went past.

the small chasing bunch soon overtook me and i sat on their wheel for a while.  paul decided to make a break for it and launched off the front with a few hundred to go.  the other weren’t moving so i sprinted off after him and flew past.  it didn’t last long and he picked me up just as we were turning into the national park.  luckily there were not points at stake for us by then.

mike – 10, stu – 7, bill – 5, judd – 3, dan – 1.

 

a very quick regroup as the smaller group was generally full of experienced riders, and we where off on the rough roads through john forrest national park.  the gates were already open by the time we arrived, so i was hoping the one at the far end was also as we did get a surprise one time.  a small respite from climbing with a quick descent before regrouping at oxley rd to make sure everyone was ready for the next climb.  i went to the front to set the early tempo mainly to make sure that mike or stu didn’t leave me for dead before we got into a rhythm.  as the group approached the base of the climb i heard judd swear as he had not done this climb before and it looks really steep from the start.  stu came up beside me as the hill got steeper and mike and judd were not too far back.  i could still hear judd and mike having a conversation about the climb and i asked stu how they could still be talking as i was gasping for air.  stu said he couldn’t answer as he needed to breath instead.  the climb has two pinches in it and by the time we hit the second one, stu, dan and myself were still holding a gap over mike and judd.  or it may be more realistic to say that mike had not decided to chase us down yet.  the road flattened out and stu, knowing where the finish was, took off.  i couldn’t chase, but dan took off after him.  he ran out of puff just shy of the finish and i managed to take him on the line.

stu – 10, peter – 7, dan  -5, mike – 3, judd – 1.

 

a nice quiet descent and pleasant ride from parkerville through to stonyville found us crossing the highway at mundaring.  the change in course from what we used to do meant that we now no longer need to ride on the highway at all after we finish greenmount.  it was decided not to regroup after the next mountain points but call “advantage paid” and continue on to the coffee shop.  stu mentioned that he hated the descent into the weir so we tried to play that one to our advantage and hit him hard al the way down.  at the end of the day, we didn’t gain that much advantage and we were all close together by the climb. 

judd had a slight advantage and lead the way up the hill with mark and john close behind.  as the road got steeper, judd got away and stu and myself came around the others i tried to hold stu’s wheel but found that i just couldn’t on the steeper slopes.  mike suddenly flew past and quickly hunted down both stu and judd.  as i watched them head up the hill, i noticed another rider coming up behind me.  it was paul whose climbing has improved a lot lately and pretty soon we were riding the hill together.  dan apparently dropped his chain at the start of the climb and was languishing back with mark a bit further down the hill, but both were holding the gap steady.  as we reached the top of the initial climb, paul and i worked together to limit our losses to the riders ahead, while still trying to keep away from mark and dan.  up ahead we could see that mike had a clear lead over stu and judd who were now working together.

there are a number of small climbs and rolling hills that follow the main drag out of the weir and the official points aren’t until you get right to the top and start the descent into hacketts gully.  it meant a lot of chasing and a lot of being chased.  unfortunately up ahead, mike didn’t know where the top of the climb was so slowed down to wait for stu, who then took him on the line.  as we hit the last small climb, i said to paul to make sure he kept looking behind and just stay away from the others as we were still in the points.  i knew that i had to put in a bit of an effort to make sure i would secure fourth spot and left him behind for the climb.  i kept looking back though and right towards the end, he also made a big effort to keep away from mark and almost caught me at the crest.  however, he held on to get his first mountain points.

stu – 10, mike – 7, judd – 5, peter – 3, paul – 1.

 

we had seen judd up the road as we were doing the final climbs so i knew that we were not that far behind.  paul and i kept swapping turns to try to catch up and we were flying down the hill.  i had to apologise to paul later as he thought it had started to rain, but it was just the sweat dripping off me and hitting him as we flew down the hill.  i looked back to see mark gaining fast which i knew he would.  i said to paul that they were coming and next moment there was this blur as mark sped past and down the road.  years of riding and racing under his belt has meant that mark can descent at quite a pace.  fitness may determine your climbing abilities, but skill and a big set of kahunas allow you to go fast. 

i had trouble keeping up as we sped around the corners as the road dropped into the valley.  the four of us were basically together as we started the final climb with mark just slightly up the road.  dan accelerated to catch up and i jumped on his wheel.  paul was totally spend from the previous effort to gain points and had to let us go.  the three of us made our way up the hill and i soon found my way to the front as mark eased off the pace a bit.  after a few minutes, i thought that i would test the waters and surged a bit without getting up out of the saddle.  mark put in an effort to get on but it just pissed dan off and he was up and attacking hard.  i jumped on his wheel and he attacked again but i managed to hold on.  i looked back to see mark falling off the pace and just stayed on dan’s wheel.  up ahead we could see the unmistakable figure of judd fighting the climb on his own.  i mentioned it to dan and he said that i was welcome to chase him down, but i was struggling to hold wheel.  as the road flattened out i came to the front and put in a big effort to try to bring judd back.  with dan tucked neatly in my slipstream, we sped up the false flat and onto the last pinch.  judd was just ahead and i was finding my final reserves to hold a decent pace.  right at the end, dan came off my wheel to take fourth place, but judd only got to the top by about 5 – 10 sec.  it seems that mike was not happy about stu taking him on the last climb so absolutely smashed it on the final one so that there was no doubt.

mike – 10, stu  – 7, judd – 5, dan – 3, peter – 1.

 

with only eight of us staying for coffee, it was a nice and quiet affair and service was relatively brisk.  the cooler weather made the stop even nicer and there was even a very slight drip or two of a sun shower on the awning roof.  nothing to dampen the spirits and we were soon off.

a nice bomb of a descent down welshpool had me clocking about 82 as the wind was not totally favourable, and then the time trial along the flat to the highway.  we all did turns at the front but i had nothing left when mark and john went up the road for the finish.  another rider, who we will call longhair (cause he had long hair) turned onto welshpool at hale rd in front of us.  we didn’t chase him down but eventaull caught him coming through queens park.  he sat on us until the lights at leach hwy, but then took off around us once we got going again.  this did not bode well with some of our guys and they just had to chase him down.  this lead to a very long sprint along welshpool rd that my legs were not in the mood to try.  longhair jumped ahead of us at the lights onto albany hwy but we soon turned off on hill view so the chase was over.  the final sprint along berwick was initiated by judd but was foiled by the lights so that it all came together.  most of us came over the rise as a group so it came down to a final burst to maccas which dan convincingly won as no-one else had the legs to chase.

 

so we have a busy week for cycling this week.  tour down under is on tv every night at 6pm on sbs.  perth criterium series will be held this weekend so look forward to some of the girls we ride with competing as well as ryan will be suiting up for the WAR team in the open division.  his first crack at the big time (or a big world of hurt).  also, more importantly, we will be holding our pseudo-agm on saturday to vote in our office bearers for the new club.

sunday 11th jan – gooseberry & kalamunda & mundaring weir

ride report by peter.

 

the combination of hills and hot, hot weather seemed to be a deterrent today as the turn out was poor compared to recent times.  the normal core group was there, but none of the new additions of late had fronted and looking at the weather forecast, who could blame them.  a predicted top of 38 had been downgraded overnight to a top of 37, which i am sure would make all the difference.  especially when tackling the three main climbs around kalamunda. 

the course would see us all warm up on ridge hill rd before heading up gooseberry hill.  a cruise down the zig-zag and back up kalamunda rd before passing through kalamunda and back via bickley valley and mundaring weir rd.  as i said previously, that hardest part will be not pulling the pin early and stopping for coffee.

we rolled out into a fairly gusty easterly breeze that meant the front guys had a bit of work today.  the load was shared fairly well and we picked up melvyn along helena valley rd to get the numbers up to about 16.  the first climb of the day was a “bonus” climb and did not contain any points.  we were generally taking it easy but ridge hill rd was one where people will still try to race up no matter what.  i wanted to save my legs and opted for a quite chat at the back of the pack.  the regroup point at the base of the zig-zag marked the first opportunity for an easy day and only one rider decided to head up the zig-zag instead.  the rest of us sped down the newly laid hot-mix and onto the main climb.

gooseberry hill sucks.  there is no other way to describe it.  it sucks, but i am starting to learn it.  not enjoy it, but learn how the road pitches up and where it flattens and where it tries to deceive you.  basically, to know how to measure your effort when climbing and when to chase an attack.  however, the attacks went early today and dan took off like a rocket from the base of the climb.  jerry and i dodged traffic to get on his wheel and i was wondering how long he could hold that pace for.  i looked back and no-one else had made the junction but i could feel my legs starting to protest and knew there was quite a lot of even harder hill to go.  i fell back from the wheel and set my own tempo.  mike and stu came past in their typical “slowly but surely grind you down” pace.  if the hill is long, they will eventually beat you.  i counted up the road and i was still in the points…for now.  i looked back and saw the familiar colours of milram and dan j was climbing well today.  mark was with him and soon they both overtook me.  knowing the road certainly has it’s advantages and i was sure that dan hadn’t played on gooseberry much before.  as he is built like a footballer, not a climber, i thought that i will be able to make up ground once we turned the corner.  mark accelerated through the “flat” section of the climb but i didn’t want to go with him as i needed to conserve as much as possible today.

the climb has three main kinks in it to catch you out.  the first right hander is after the first part of the climb.  it flattens out quite a bit and you think that you are over the worst of the hill.  it even rolls down for a bit before heading up to the next corner.  this left hander starts the climb off again and it is on this stretch that i got back ahead of dan j and still had mark in sight.  there are some pitches on this stretch that really test the legs and you are hoping that it is over soon.  the road turns to the left one more time and you look up and realise that you cannot see the top because the road is so steep.  i set myself a tempo and managed to latch back onto marks wheel for the steepest section.  i remember my back wheel slipping a bit on the twigs and crap on the road as i was standing up with so much weight over the front wheel.  i finally saw my saviour in the shape of a road sign signifying that there was a round-about ahead.  i know there is only one round-about and it is at the top.  i mentioned before about learning the climb and knowing when to attack.  i could now see the top and measured my effort to shake off mark and “sprinted” off up the hill, securing that final spot.  dan who attacked at the start of the climb didn’t know the hill and paid for it at the top when mike, stu and jerry managed to chase him down.

mike – 10, stu – 7, jerry – 5, dan – 3, peter – 1.

 

dr mark was climbing well today and managed to get to the top at the front of the pack.  as i mentioned before, dan j was climbing very well for a footy player and someone fairly new to the whole “bike vs hill” thing.

at the top we traded one dr melvyn for a russell as mel went for an early coffee and russ had made his way up from darlington.  we started the always fun descent down the zig-zag.  it isn’t very steep and certainly gives a different perspective as opposed to the white knuckle ride down welshpool.  suddenly we were back where we started at the top of ridge hill rd. 

kalamunda rd was a full on head wind as we approached along the flats.  russell was on the front as we started the climb and everyone tucked in behind trying to shelter as much as possible.  as the pace slowed too much for some of the whippets, stu lead the charge around to the front with myself and about five others on his wheel.  sorry to have done it, but we left him out front for most of the climb as he set a nice tempo into the wind and up the steepest parts of the climb.  about halfway up i saw a bike coming down the hill at speed.  the guy was on a mountain bike and was probably doing 50 if not 60kph.  in front of him, attached to the cross bar, was a wee-ride kids seat and a kid no older than two strapped in.  now i have one of these and ben loves it when we go fast, but this kid looked like he was crapping himself.  i’m sure his wife would have killed him too if she found out.

stu continued to grind out the k’s with the train following behind when mike made the first move and it was a good one.  some expletives escaped my mouth as he went past fast and was suddenly up the road.  i had a decision to make, and i made it way too late, and went to follow mike.  no-one else came with me and i found myself in no-mans land and back to finding a tempo i could maintain.  dan and jerry had left stu by now and were making ground on me.  i realised that i was not going to catch mike so set a pace that left at least one more attack in the tank.  i was soon caught so i jumped on board and allowed them to set the pace to the top. 

we finally saw the roundabout near the servo and i thought that this would be a nice place to attack as i was sure i knew how far to the finish.  off i went and again managed to get halfway across to mike.  however, with the heart-rate managing to push into the 190’s i was pretty much on my limit.  i looked back to see dan and jerry slowly making ground.  i was at the top and circumnavigating the perimeter of stirk park, but they were gaining too quickly and came past with only a couple of hundred metres to go.  mike had sat up but had enough of a buffer to hang on for the win.

mike – 10, jerry – 7, dan – 5, peter – 3, stu – 1.

 

this would have to be the first time that we actually had a regroup point in kalamunda that didn’t involve the coffee shop.  we stopped at stirk park and worked out who was wearing the blouses and who was wearing the pants.  about half fluffed their puffy sleeved blouses and headed off to the coffee shop while the remaining eight hardcore cyclists took off along canning to the sanitarium factory.  we stayed together well all the way through bickley valley and to the base of mundaring weir road.  i was down the back a bit with mike while dan and stu were setting the pace at the front with john.  the hill started in earnest and mike decided to set his pace on the climb and i just held on as best i could.  we picked up stu and dan but left john behind and powered up the climb.  i didn’t last that much longer and soon had to drop the wheel as my legs were gone.  john soon picked me up and just as quickly dropped me again.  i was in severe damage control mode and even though i knew that i would suffer on the hills, i needed to put in the kms as i had been given permission to ride.  shao soon passed me but tried to encourage me along and offered his wheel.  too late as the legs had already departed for an extended holiday.  i was left to suffer my way up the hill with only the voices in my head for company.

mike – 10, stu – 7, dan – 5, john – 3, shao – 1.

 

the other blouses, i mean boys, were still at the coffee shop once we arrived and hung around while we ordered.  there was a slight delay on the coffee, but the shorter ride gave us an early mark and we were soon back on the road and heading home.  the nice tailwind was a payback from the earlier headwind and the homeward journey was a much more pleasant trip.  no sprints at the end of welshpool but we certainly noticed the temperature heating up and pointing towards that 37 top. 

dan j got away after the kent st lights and almost stayed away till the end, but was halted at the george st set.  the rest of the group was not delayed for so long and i tried to get the jump as we were still rolling when it changed.  not possessing the endurance of old, i only made it to the top of the hill before my heart tried to break through my ribcage.  i looked back to see that jerry was not far behind and gaining fast.  i sat up for the downhill and let things be.  dan tried to chase him down but didn’t quite have enough at the end.  however, it was close enough that jerry didn’t have time for his trademark victory salute.  juan antonio fletcha has this salute where he mimics an archer pulling a arrow from his quiver and drawing his bow.  this is a play on his name which means archer in spanish.  jerry, however, has a salute that is based more around his profession and involves a single finger and usually a latex glove.