Tag Archives: transitional

Saturday 25th September Transitional Ride Report

Large group in the carpark this morning, warmer weather at last! No one to lead the Transitional Group for the third week in a row so agreed with Peter to take the group after checking ride route details. Twenty one all up, made up of regulars, returning regulars and some new faces including Jackie, Lorraine’s friend (sorry forgot your name) and a couple of others, along with some Main 2 riders wanting to rest their legs before the hills ride on Sunday.

Leon joined us along Canning Highway near the freeway. A few separations at the lights and re-groups along Canning Highway, this is bound to happen with such a large group. Thanks once again to Rob and Michelle for helping to keep the group together, with Rob tirelessly working his way from the back of the group to the front, well sprinting sometimes! The hill along Burke Road was enjoyed by all?? Good pace along West Coast Highway, some commenting the fastest ever on that stretch. The group spread out quite a bit at that point.

A quick check and all OK at the top of Claremont, no one wanted to take the short cut. Ivan, Gary and co set the pace through Dalkeith. Owen, Leon, Rob and myself stayed at the back making sure all fine with the new riders. The fast group sped past us near Steve’s Pub. The sprint along Mounts Bay Road had people recording their personal bests. Thank you to Owen for providing me with a wheel and a good draft so that I could keep up the pace. Overall a good safe enjoyable ride in nice weather.

Transition Ride Report – 18th September 2010

With Shaw helping with the Juniors, Mark leading the Development Group I agreed to lead the transition group for a second time this week. All up 12 headed out of the carpark. We discussed the strong easterly and we knew we would be in for head winds on South St and Nicholson Road.

Good pace along Canning Highway and North Lake Road, a few calls for ëase up were heard. The left turn into South Street saw us keep in a tight group to shield from the easterly. Colin and Yo did long stints at the front along South Street which we all appreciated. Good strong efforts by Owen, Mike and Jenny kept the group together. 

The roll through on Bannister went well with Leon and Steve helping to keep a smooth pace in the group with no gaps forming. The left turn into Albany Highway gave us a nice tail wind and we were soon cruising at 38km/hour. A couple dropped off the back but caught up at the lights in Bentley. There was some discussion about watching out for Yo on the sprint leg and he didn’t disappoint on Riverside Drive.

Good safe ride with strong winds to test us. My bike computer showed an average speed of 28.3km/hour.

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

3 Damns ! from the turtle end …

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Lynda and I ( normally of the transitional group) thought we would “ have a crack” at the 3 dams challenge, we needed a goal !  Probably wasn’t the best idea since we hadn’t actually done a full hills ride. Id only really done the Zig Zag and Lynda had done Canning Mills. Oh well.

We headed off from the Narrows at 6, the sooner the better and managed to jump in with a quick group to Midland.  Then the hills began….  Lucky we were very fresh, although quite a few people went around us we got up at a reasonable rate.  Why did everyone need to make a comment about the two very large bananas bulging out of my back pocket! Very happy to see Mundaring  and get away from that road, it felt pretty safe just didn’t like the trucks.  It was also good to see Bernie and Grant waiting for us at the top, it was great to have a bit of support, they stayed with us to the end it definitely helped a lot ( Thanks !) 

One banana later and rolled down to the Weir and arrived at about 7:45 which was well before the cut off, yay( yes that what we worry about down this end)!.  I think the 5 dams fellows were probably at Wungong by then.  Large number of peps at the Dam, we were fed and watered, got our stamp and rolled on.  Saw a couple of other SPR riders always nice to see the SPR jersey.  Next we learnt the problem with a nice roll downhill is getting back out.  Past Gungin and a cruise down to Aldersyde, its funny how quickly the speed is lost going back up !  Another hard slog up through Carmel not too bad though with it being a bit rolling.   Crossed paths with the Advanced SPR guys before Karragullen and refuelled there.  Flew down Brookton and Croyden and again it began. 

Rest stop at Canning Dam a few people being loaded onto the ute ( $130 taxi id rather walk!) quick stop as wanted to get the next section over and done with.  Crossed paths with the 5 Damer’s coming into Canning. A lot of puffing and sweat got us back to Albany Hwy. 

ONE TO GO…  Really warmish along Albany Hwy glad we were finished with the hills.  Arrived at 11:40 and again fed and watered at Wungong,  loved the fruit cake!  Wondered if the 5 Damers had finished yet !  Heard about a MTBer on the 5 Dams route, that had not known about the speed humps on the other side of Wungong, had apparently hit them unaware at 70km and endo’d and damaged himself not sure injuries but ambulance required, ouch!

One hill to go ( what a doozie) tried to get a run up and found the speed humps.  Long slog up Wungong pretty sure could have walked up faster, but made it.  We all jumped aboard the cycle train and whizzed our way through Armadale.  Due to a few war wounds reemerging in our crew after the long ride, the train slowed down on Armidale Road.We were joined by the Cycle Buzz guys near the end.  I know its the most direct route but it’s a hell of a road, did not like it AT ALL.  Several sections of bad surfaces, debris and it was just long and hot, may have been because we were stuffed and over it ?.  I had the GPS but we just never seemed to get to the end.  Im telling you the real train station at the end was pretty damn tempting.   Finished it off up the freeway rolled into the Narrows around 2.

3 Dams ride

Finished yay!  Slow and steady but thankfully uneventful. ( thanks again to my buddies Lynda, Bernie and Grant!) One damn fine effort I think J

Although it was a hard slog this was a very enjoyable ride really glad to have broken the ice and gotten into the hills as it felt a bit inaccessible.  We are definitely novices and survived, so I recommend it to others.  Anyone who wants to give it a go (at less than race pace) I would love to do it again. 

Final tally 164km, 1928m gain elevation, 7000 cal ( noice!),  avg heart rate 159bpm!, max speed 65.6km average 23km.  Minus 2 kilos ( made up for it with beer not long after J )

Anyway thought id put this in to say if we can do it anyone can, so get amongst it J

Cheers

L’escargot sur velo aka Tracy

Transitional Ride Report 16/3/2010

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This is only a short report as Toby doesn’t normally write one for Tuesdays. Set off from Narrows not far behind the advanced group. Toby and Scott lead along Mounts Bay Road and it was clear the pace was going to be faster today.

Soon after turning onto Hacket Drive the rider next to me was already pushing the speed up and we were sitting just over 30km/h. Up over the small rise on The Avenue and he was pushing me at around 27km/h I just made it but I know I saw him looking back waiting for me to catch up. I was expecting Shaw or someone else to go past as a few were on my wheel but they left me there. Right onto Birdwood Pde and we were still ticking along. Was starting to feel today would be a bit of punishment.

Passed Sunset Hospital and Toby called to slow down so the pace dropped back to a mild 25km/h. Toby let us know that a few couldn’t take it and were going home. Apparently Tracy was very clear she wasn’t going to take further part. She did complete the three dams on Sunday though so probably deserved to take today off. All were on and Toby mentioned that we are going to make you work now. Up went the pace again until most the way around Victoria Ave where I pulled off the front to have a rest. However I dropped back a little to much and then had to work to get back on. Scott dropped back a bit and I got on his wheel and I think Shaw was in front of him. We had a minor regroup at Queenslea Drv where Toby announce for our efforts so far your all doing Mosman Park hill. You could hear the moan and just to annoy the rest I blerted out “Bring It On!” Toby seemed to like the enthusiasm.

Short trip along Stirling Hwy and left on the route to Mosman Park Hill. Arriving at the hill again I think there were five (we only had 8 or so in the group now) that were in front of me. Not fussed I set my own pace and got up the top and then made my way to the Water Tower for the regroup. Passed a couple of others on the way there. Off from the water tower I was on the front again and I think it was Toby that met me. We lead through until just before Stirling Hwy where I dropped back again for another break. Over the bridge and onto Preston Point Road and Shaw started the sprint up the Hill. Not sure who won. Caught up the rest and after passing EJ Chapman Playground Shaw and I were on the front (I don’t know how I keep getting to the front so fast when I drop back).

Shaw and I lead the group until the downhill of Burke Drv where Toby called for a roll through. This seemed to work well with the pace sitting on around 30 ~ 33km/h. Soon arrived onto Canning Hwy where some car decided to cut us off. Left onto Dunkley Drv and we resumed the roll through again. Left onto Fraser Rd and Kintail. Again found myself at the front again. At the Raffles we kept rolling and decided to regroup over the bridge. After getting over the bridge and slowing right down to wait up for the others I was accused of protesting. I told Toby “No your so slow I had to wait so long for you :)”

Nothing eventful from here was just a normal ride back to Mends St. I’m not sure who won the sprint was too far back and when I wanted the right lane on Labouchere Rd had to wait for a group of other riders and cars to go by.

This was probably the best Tuesday morning ride I’ve been on. Overall speed was not as fast as other weeks because of the hills but was a much better workout.

Ok this was a little longer than I had planned but Meh.

By Nathan Rzepecki

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

sunday 28th feb – transitional group – armadale & canning vale

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ride report by peter.

after being off the bike for two weeks with firstly a cold and then a knee injury i arrived at the sunday hills ride ready to not actually do any hills.  the physio had given me the all clear to start riding again, but only as long as i go with the easier groups.  luckily that meant that i could still do a sunday ride as the transitional group allowed me to not have to stress the knee too much.  i had taken the transitionals out the previous day so was beginning to remember a few names, but forgive me if i get them wrong in this write up.

we had about 37 or 38 riders turn up this morning which made up the three different groups heading out.  the plan is to always get them riding together as a group for the first part and then split apart at the appropriate point.  in this case we were all heading down to gosnells and riding across to the bottom of the kahuna.  from there the advanced and intermediate would take the first climb together while the transitional group made a quick turn to avoid the climb all together. 

the first part of the journey went quite smoothly even when nicole got a puncture along manning road.  for any of the riders on the sunday ride, please make sure the group know that you have a puncture as we will stop to wait for you to fix it.  nicole pulled off to the side and was overtaken by most of the group but there was no call to halt the ride.  a few of us hung back to help her out while a couple of others sprinted up the road to stop the group.  we quickly got going again thanks to the intervention of a gas bottle.

no other incidents and soon we were at the base of the kahuna.  we bade the other groups farewell and watched them head up the hill while we traversed the flats at the base of the escarpment.  the road was undulating slightly and we sat at a nice even pace dictated by whomever was at the front with me.  there was about 10 or so of us which included doug and shun to help us along.  not that these guys really needed much help as we were ticking along quite nicely. 

we made it to kelmscott and headed back out to albany hwy.  one of the riders (insert rider #1 name here) turned off home at this point as she lived at the base of mt nasura very close to the f_ckenberg.  her husband rob was on the advanced ride and he has come out quite a bit in the past so good to see that we can now offer something for everyone.

back onto albany and as we went up the hill past the brookton hwy intersection, the group split up a bit.  doug and shun stayed back to look after those that had been split off while i headed up the road to make sure the group was on the right path.  even in the advanced group, this little ride before the turn to carawatha can often break the group up a bit.  the damage was mostly done by steve who astride his colnago decided to up the pace to see who would hold on.  there were some takers and pretty soon there was a group of about 4 up the road.  as i bridged across i grabbed nathan who was stuck in no-mans land and gave him my wheel.  we made it just before the crest of the hill and told the pack to keep going as we would regroup at armadale rd.  most impressive in this little pack were young jamie who has been out with us for a while now and a new girl alex who was about 16.  alex and her dad jeff usually ride with a freo group on saturday but were looking for a sunday ride and were told about us.  a couple of strong young riders which is good to see since the average age of our group would be well and truly north of 35.

as we waited for the lights at armadale rd, the backmarkers caught up so we were off straight away.  as planned, this stretch contained a very nice tailwind.  jamie and i sat on the front quite easily ticking over the k’s at around 40km/hr.  occasionally looking back, i checked that the group was all together and everyone seemed comfortable and revelling in the tailwind assistance. 

i was riding with one eye on the garmin as i know we needed to to make a turn to get onto ranford road.  i had not actually ridden or even driven out this was before so was just going off the map.  luckily google had done it’s job properly and all the roads were where they said they would be.

along ranford road, i swung off the front and sat at the back with doug and shun.  i told the guys on the front that they were responsible for maintaining the speed as after all it is their group.  this means that you must have an idea of what the rest of the group is doing.  there are two ways to do this and both need to be employed.  firstly, don’t just ride with your head down.  you may think that you are putting in a nice hard effort for the good of the group, but in reality, if you have gapped the rider behind you, then they are working just as hard as you.  secondly, pass the message along the group if a rider falls off the back.  often, a rider will not call out if they are struggling as they don’t want to cause a fuss or feel like they are holding up the group.  we once you are on the ride, you are committed so it is up to the rest of the group to make sure you get home in one piece.  it is sometimes up to others in the group to point out that a rider has fallen off the back and you all need to slow down to wait.  it often just takes one person to say something and everyone will slow.  be that person and look after the other riders in your group.

as we crossed the tonkin hwy and entered the “kennel zone” john (i think rider #2) dropped his chain at the lights.  i stopped to help him get it back on but we then had to chase to catch back up.  the group had slowed, but even that had split the group apart somewhat.  it is important that the group stays together as much as possible as this means that we don’t take up as much room on the road and piss the drivers off as much.

away again and we had a fairly uneventful trip into canning vale.  as ranford road became south street, so did the rolling hills that we needed to negotiate to reach stock road.  close to murdoch, jamie got in a bit of distress. he thought that something had bitten him on the back so we pulled over into a bus stop to investigate.  sure enough when he pulled up his top a bee fell out sans stinger which was still embedded in his back.  i dug it out and asked him if he was allergic.  he didn’t think so as he had been stung before so we kept going and would just have to wait to see if he died or not.

coming out of the north lake road intersection the hill totally blew the group apart.  steve took off again so i  bridged across to have a chat to him.  i told them to keep going as long as we regrouped at the top.  pretty soon a couple of others including the young ones had joined him to keep the pace on.  there was no regoup at the top but rather we were all together by the time we turned onto stock road.

we were pretty much on our homeward stretch but the rolling hills and the distance were starting to take a toll on some of the riders.  we crossed canning hwy together and made it onto burke drive for the final drag to raffles.  most of the group had stuck together, but emma and john were in trouble so steve and myself set the pace and broke the wind for them to try to get back on. we almost made it by the time we hit the applecross section, but a few more riders were struggling by then.  i jumped across to the main group and told doug to take them the normal route while we took the others along kintail instead.  steve, shun and myself each had a rider in tow and paced them towards raffles where we regrouped with the rest of them.

the final push back to the carpark was a bit disjointed, but we eventually made it and a few of us stopped for coffee at the boatshed.  i think that when i map these rides i make an allowance for a coffeebreak about ¾ along the course.  maybe i am too used to the more advanced groups where the distance and terrain would not pose an issue to the group, but the way that some riders were struggling, a rest would have allowed them to enjoy the last bit of the ride a bit more.

overall though, i think that everyone enjoyed the ride and even though nathan still hasn’t cracked the 30km/hr average for his rides, by the time he got home it was over 100kms on the clock.  depending on the physio visit this week, i may be back with the transitional group again this week.  if not, i think that there are some good riders there that will be able to look after that group.

Saturday Transitional Ride report 26/2/2009

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First Saturday ride back after missing the last two. Maintaining the trend we had around 25 riders today.  No Shaw though. I know you were planning to ride 200kms last Sunday. Did you get lost we haven’t seen you all week. Maybe tomorrow.

Due to the fact we were following the same route as the intermediate group this week we held back for a few minutes and let them get off down the road. This week everyone got out of the car park without a flat.  Good work all 🙂

Doubled up we headed down Mill Point Road towards Canning Hwy. Today the wind was quite gusty however the group was maintaining a pace of around 28km/hr. Over the causeway and past Burswood. For some reason virtually every set of lights we came across this morning went red or amber on our approach. So was a lot of stopping and getting clipped back in once rolling. Left off Great Eastern Hwy and onto Stoneham St past Ascot and over Garret Rd bridge. Another red light before the right turn onto Guildford road. Finally a green light as we rolled through the crossing of King William St and Guildford road. Home again already but no such luck. From this point on the traffic seemed to be in a bad mood this morning.  I think too many drivers had missed their Muzz Buzz coffee. Peter signalled for the roll-through to start. In all honesty for this section up until the left turn onto Lord St the roll-through was a bit of a joke. The gaps were large. People missing the call for last wheel (myself included, as Michael made me well aware. Enjoy the sprint 🙂 ) Maybe this had something to do with the wind as it just wasn’t anywhere close to how well it had been the last few weeks.

Once onto Lord St back to single file as the traffic was really poor. Double white lines means no over taking. However some Perth drivers seem to think this rule only applies when there are no cyclists. WRONG. Pace here was still up in the high 20’s and touching low 30’s.

Left at the round about and onto Benara Rd. This is where we picked up a tail wind and the roll through. The pace quickly picked up to low 40’s. The roll through was still a bit messy and after a reminder from Peter about working together on the roll through then things finally started to work well once the lights went green.  Everyone kept the gaps tight and we quickly made our way to the end where we went left onto Camboon Rd. Single file down this stretch. Another red light before crossing Morley Dr onto Wellignton Rd. I hate this road in the car because its so rough and its no nicer on the bike. Just as bumpy and full of man hole covers and the like. At the lights we doubled up in preparation for our short journey down Walter Road West and past my office. Bummer its still there. Left onto Coode St for the run down to Whatley Cres. There are a couple of hills on this stretch, Well they aren’t all that bad but some egos got awoken here and seems to been a sprint up and over the crest.  This group was quickly caught on the roll back down the other side. At the lights right onto Whatley Cres we got split so was a slow roll down until the others caught up. This was basically the home stretch. because of the lights the group was split into three groups. For those that got ahead earlier they were re caught going up and over the hill past the East Perth police station. Thanks to the lights got a clean roll all the way down to river side drive. As I pulled right onto river side drive I was waiting for the break and the sprint to the cafe. However only Steve broke free and took off 75meters or so ahead. I sat behind one rider before pulling along side. We pulled about a 25 -30 meter gap from the rest of the group but this week there was no sprinters. Maybe the wind had taken its toll. At the cafe had recorded an average speed of 28.2 which I thought was decent considering the wind this morning.

Tomorrow we have a 76km ride planned.  It is all flat. See here.  Hope to see you there. I have made the deal with Peter on my facebook that if we get an average speed of over or equal to 30km/hr tomorrow I will shout the first round at the pub. I think I’m safe however Peter reckons we can do 45km/h. So much for taking it easy and recovering from being sick 🙂 I think he just wants the beer.

Least I ended this rather un-eventful write up with a laugh.

By Nathan Rzepecki

PS Side note still waiting for some people to sign-up and Join me on the HBF Freeway Bike Hike. Currently I’m gonna be a loner in a team of 1. So I look forward to having a few additions to this SPR team before the team entries are cut off on the 12th March. See here for details.

saturday 23rd – transitional group

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ride report by peter.

third time on the bike since before christmas and gee my butt is sore.  to be more specific, my sit bones are sore.  it is amazing how much resistance you can build up to that sort of abuse if you just persist with it.  i was having trouble backing up rides and had to ride the first few kms standing up.  i guess i am just lucky that the rest of the muscle groups seem to be firing ok.  cardio is a different story.

i turned up relatively early (well for me anyway) as my kids are still not quite over running on melbourne time.  the first morning we got back and they were up at 3:30am ready for action.  at least now they are closer to 6:00am but still not quite there yet.  anyway, i turned up to a sea of unfamiliar faces and this both excited and worried me.  excited as it was great to see that the group is steadily growing, but worried me because i like to know everyone’s name.  i am going to have to work on the names thing so don’t get to upset if i apologise for not remembering we have met.

as per the blog, we proceeded to split into 4 groups.  i sent the advanced group on their way as they had the longest to travel.  then i split the novice group out and left them in the hands of mark and carol.  the intermediate group was next with the transitional group to follow the same path.

dr ronny has volunteered to look after the transitional group and i came along today to make sure everything went well.  we took off and i sat on the front with mandy as we set an easy pace along mill point to great eastern.  the idea was to just leave a couple of people on the front and then have them peel off when they got tired.  nice easy pace and no roll through or anything. 

we made it to ascot with me playing sheepdog and constantly moving from front to back to give directions and make sure we hadn’t lost anyone.  there was the occasional person falling off the back and we had to slow the group down a bit to keep everyone together.  we were heading out guilford rd into a decent headwind and it is important to know where to sit to keep out of the wind.  these are skills that you pick up along the way and it is generally trial and error that will see you through.

a bit of confusion at the turn at guilford saw half the group going straight instead of turning to get onto west swan rd.  by the time we got together, we were already on benara rd.  once the group formed up we tried to roll through, but it didn’t go too well and we dropped a couple of riders.  also there were people that hadn’t rolled through before and didn’t know what to do.  my fault really, as i thought that everyone had been through this sort of thing with the previous novice group.  it is something that we will work on but it will not be the focus of the transitional group.

i dropped back a few times for riders that were struggling and once for a dropped chain, but we were back together for the route through the northern suburbs.  the roads were tighter and the traffic heavier so we were down to single file for quite a while, but eventually got formed back up.  the rolling hills heading into bayswater took their toll on a few and the group split a bit with me off the back lending a hand.  on the last small hill, lynda stopped as she dropped her chain.  or so we thought.  turns out she snapped it totally.  too much power i expect.  she was within rolling distance of the train station so she headed for a ticket machine.  with the remaining three riders, we made our way home along whatley crescent and to the belltower.

the rest of the group were waiting there and the other groups had already taken over the majority of the coffee shop.  we stood around and had a quick chat about the ride and how we thought it went.  there are some changes that i think that we will make to it, but basically there are a few things that we need to work on.

  • two leaders are needed.  one to control the group and one to help those that are struggling.
  • know the ride route.  not just the leaders, everyone that is riding.
  • know where to position your bike to get a good draft.
  • know how to safely move off the front.
  • the ride route needs to be shorter.  some people were struggling towards the end.
  • how to roll through.  we will discuss this before the ride starts next week.
  • correct gear selection at traffic lights and climbs.

all up though, i thought it was a good ride today for the new group and definitely something we will continue to do.