as expected the fine weather brought all the riders out of the woodwork.  i was playing in main 1 again today as in building back my fitness i just need solid k’s, not getting smashed, dropped and then finding a shortcut home.  it was brisk to start with but it didn’t take long for the day to warm up and arm warmers were soon pushed down.  the nicer weather also saw the return of the shorty, shorts.

the fast group kicked off and there was a moment of hesitation as everyone looked around to see who was going.  they started to trickle out and then there was a flood as some riders decided to take the plunge.  little did they know that ryan was out to smash them today. 

main 1 rolled out and we still had quite a few people.  the fast with a main chaser has also meant that some of the main 2 group has stepped up into main 1.  it took us a while to actually get it all together as we managed to get split at pretty much every single set of lights.  better than last week though when we had a couple hit the deck.  at low speeds people tend to get complacent and the next thing you know there is a touch of wheels.  no real injuries though.

anyway, it wasn’t till we got to ascot that we finally got a decent run (as there are no lights).  over the river and into the unknown territory of the northern suburbs we trekked up grand prom and towards the tv stations. 

as we waited for the lights, i explained that we would go hard up the “hill” and along the top but then regroup once we hit wanneroo road.  the lights changed and there was a reluctance to up the pace so i went to the front and gave it a tap.  i pushed for as long as i could and unfortunately it was not as long as it used to be.  i was reeled back in by about halfway up the hill as i was gasping for air.

the lights at the top allowed the group to squeeze up and soon we were off again.  not too hard past the shops, but once the lights disappeared, the pace was on again.  i was content (actually, not able) to sit in the pack and get swept along at a fine pace.  what is that pace???  well i am not sure as my second garmin died last sunday in the hills.  didn’t get dropped or anything.  just stopped working.

the pace was subdued on wanneroo road and we worked our way down to leederville.  once on Thomas st the pace picked up again through the rolling hills and along past kings park.  as we turned into the wind to detour around the back of karrakatta cemetery, i had to go the front to do a bit of directing.  this actually killed me a bit as the boys were making a good pace.

heading towards claremont  we realised the mistake of the day.  the show was on, which meant increased traffic in the area.  we skirted past it quickly and only got held up at one intersection.  soon we were on familiar territory heading towards dalkeith.

again, i somehow ended up at the front, but burned out pretty quickly.  dropping back through the pack and i felt a hand on my arse, giving me a helping hand (maybe a touch up).  thanks brother dan.  a couple of small sections of smashing up the undulations and soon we were back on mounts bay road.

the lights changed and again i found myself on the front with the group strung out behind me.  ok, i guess this is my training, so i tried to tempo it along for as long as i could.  about halfway along another guy came over my wheel to help out, but i soon jumped in front of him again as it didn’t look like anyone else wanted to play.  soon jen came past dragging the rest of the group as they lined up for the sprint.  i was cooked so i backed off and sucked in some oxygen.  didn’t see the sprint winner as i was too far back.

so i think that the format seems to work well with all three doing the same route.  it staggers the coffee shop orders, although it does mean that main 2 may not have any seats left.  we will see how we go.  as the weather continues to improve and people realise how much weight they have gained over winter, i expect we will see our numbers grow again.  here is your chance to step up and become a ride leader…

kind of a ride report by peter.

another weekend off the bike for me as i just can’t seem to shake this cold.  two weeks of coughing and spluttering and a week and a half of no bike can be quite soul destroying.  anyway, i was playing “official photographer” today so with the young lad in tow,  followed the group around the course. 

there were quite a few out and only a few brief showers along the way.  the group didn’t split and waited on wanneroo rd when dr greg got a puncture going through some roadworks.  pretty uneventful from my perspective (inside a car), but anyone else is welcome to elaborate on how the ride went.

ride report by peter.

 

don’t you hate it when you think – “i will just get the kit on and be out the door” when you hear number 1 son get up.  suddenly the perfectly timed exit from the house becomes a rushed effort to get him breakfast and entertained, before throwing on the kit and heading out the door.  breakfast being weetbix crunch (bite size) sans milk and apple sans skin, washed down with a watered down juice.  entertainment provided courtesy of channel nine and dora, dora, dora the explorer.  jump into my kit, leave the sleeping wife, and head out the door.  so i was late… again… or, as always.

there was a decent crowd of around 40ish by the time i arrived.  nowhere near the crowds we used to pull, and i have no idea why.  the threat of rain was a minor irritation as the temperature was very pleasant and it is hard to comprehend that it is only six weeks till winter.  we rolled out and headed for the crossing at ascot and into the northern suburbs.  these are generally unknown areas for me and i would get lost if i strayed too far from the well worn tracks that we… wear well. 

after an uneventful 16kms in which i got to catch up with a few people we split the group.  the main group would miss the hill at the tv stations but generally take the same course the we did, with just the head and tail chopped off a bit.  at the split point i would say that 75% of the field went with the fast group today.  this would make it interesting.

straight after the lights the road heads slightly upwards past the tv stations.  the group kind of just formed up but did not really look like it was ready to explode.  i took the initiative as i needed to hurt myself today, and went to the front to force people to chase me down.  pretty soon michael was on my wheel with a few more strung out behind.  by the top of the hill, jonny, mike and brendan had also made moves to up the pace.

we pretty much rolled straight onto the top section which provides a couple of fast slightly downhill sections leading to wanneroo rd.  as far as i could see the group was pretty much staying together.  actually, i was sure that we had dropped a couple of guys, but that is the risk when you take the fast option.  unless you have a serious mishap or mechanical, then you are on your own.

i am sure that we pretty much got every light coming down wanneroo and charles, but insisted on making the group roll through.  initially they kind of sat up as we used to take this stretch easy after the tv station hill.  not any more.  once we split, the pace should be on all the way till the end.  so it was interval training the whole way back to leederville.  start and sprint to get going, roll through at pace, stop at lights, repeat.

we came up over thomas/loftus to circ kings park but turned off at the hospital to take us towards claremont.  this would allow us to still do the whole dalkeith run which always adds to the fun.  as we approached dalkeith, the comments to john were coming thick and fast.  lots of gumnut jokes and calls to “snuggles” were made, but it was good to see that it hasn’t slowed him down or freaked him out too much.

we made it safely through dalkeith and down to mounts bay road.  the only issue was a couple of guys riding slowly along birdwood pde that decided that they didn’t want to move over at all when our group came past.  thanks for your courtesy guys.

we didn’t have to stop at the lights at mounts bay rd either for a change and ran straight into pursuit mode.  the group started to string out straight away and with only a few guys moving up.  about half way along, i started to move to the front, only to find that there was no gaps for me to slot into.  i just kept on going and went to the front.  when i looked back, i had gapped michael who was powering along at first wheel, so i thought that i would see if i could stay away.  it was a long way out and i just didn’t have the legs for it.  michael, to his credit, stayed at the front and dragged the rest of the group up to overtake me, before they swamped him for the sprint. 

out of nowhere (because i didn’t see him for any of the ride) kimbo came flying past to go for the sprint.  he got a good gap on the field before brendan started to chase him down for line honours.  now sure how that ended up as i was too far back by then.

onwards to coffee, only to find that just two of the main group were staying for coffee.  apparently there has been a coup and a few riders have been heading across the river for a brew at atomic.  service was very quick today, and they now seemed geared up to be ready for us when we turn up.

as mentioned in the previous post, the online membership for the club is now available and melvyn got in quick to become the first to use the facilities.  have a read of the previous post and see if it is what you need to do.  i would recommend some level of insurance for your own piece of mind.

ride report by peter.

 

after a week of typical spring weather (rain, then sun, then rain, then sun), it was good to see some nice conditions as we rolled up to the startline this morning.  i was hoping that they would hold for the length of the ride but we would have to see.  about 40 riders this morning which included a few of the “squadra bastardos”.  i thought since they refer to our group as the “south perth rooters” i would change theirs from “squadra baristas”.  all good though, and always a pleasure to have them along.

the route today would head up past the tv stations, home of such well known wa personalities like jeff newman, a bunch of ex-footy players and the oldest news woman on tv.  for us though, it included a slight uphill stretch that when done at pace would test the legs.  we would head out great eastern and up grand prome before passing the tv stations and return via wanneroo rd and kings park.  a slight detour to add extra kms before heading home via dalkeith and mounts bay rd.

 

the trip out was fairly uneventful and allowed everyone to have a chat and catch up.  by the time we had reached the base of the hill on dianella drive, we were all warmed up ready to go.  the traffic lights meant that we were all together at the start, and the ones at the top of the hill can potentially help those catch up after the hill. 

 

the pace started well and it was not an all out sprint from the start.  mike and young alistar (who had forgone the sandshoes and had nice new white sidi cycle shoes) set the pace well from the start.  we had began to string out but most were content to hold the wheel in front.  i decided to try to egg mark on to make a move.  he has borrowed my spare set of tri-bars in readiness for the team time trial tomorrow and he thinks that they are great.  i said that he should see how well he could set the pace on the hill with the bars on, so he moved to the front.  the speed increased a bit but the main boys were still hanging tough as there was still a way to go.  mike came around again to finish off the hill, but then we hit the traffic lights.

 

the group bunched up a bit, but not everyone made it back on.  the road rose up slightly for another block or so before finding a nice gradient down in which everyone could put on some speed.  i can’t remember who actually initiated it, but soon everyone was coming around to try to get the pace high.  it wasn’t till ryan flew past with jerry close behind that a gap managed to form.  we kept pushing on to try to bridge it, but as normal it was a bunch of individual efforts rather than a even roll though.  pretty soon we were negotiating the double round-abouts that marked the end of our fast section.

 

a regroup on wanneroo rd and we pretty much had everyone back together.  it was cruisy, cruisy down to leederville before we headed up around kings park.  things started to get a bit messy here as some of the boys decided to use the slight rises then descents to push hard.  the group started to break up a bit but luckily, a set of lights at rokeby rd helped put it all back together. 

 

we turned past the hospital to extend the ride a bit as it was only just hitting 8 o’clock and less than 40 kms.  as we got to the end of aberdare rd and was attempting to turn onto railway road, we encountered mr dickhead.  this time she was wearing a dress and was driving a volvo station wagon.  talk about stereo types.  well as we were all together in a long line and taking up the majority of the single turning lane, this “lady” decides to come around the group then cut into the line so she can turn.  honestly, if we were a line of cars waiting to turn, wouldn’t you just wait??? but no, cyclist are just a pest and probably wouldn’t dent my rock solid volvo, so i will just try to push in.

 

as she came towards the front of the group where i was sitting, i gave her some choice words of encouragement to let her know what i thought of the manoeuvre.  she had this look of disbelief on her face, like she couldn’t understand why we would think we had any rights on the road.  anyway, to make matters worse, when we did get moving, she then gets “intimidated” and doesn’t move so the rest of the group has to get around her car.  as she past by us a bit later, she still gave me a dirty look.

 

we skipped through claremont and onto the final run to home.  the majority of the group was still together but this would be the opportunity to thin the ranks a bit before the sprint.  one of the barista boys and a couple of other guys swapped off turns to se the higher pace.  we dropped a few on the first hill, but i was sure it would change after the tight left hander onto jutland parade.  ryan moved to the front which was quite early for him.  he set a good consistent pace up to the rolling hills where he usually attacked.  as he was already on the front, it was up to others like jerry to try to upset the pace with a hill sprint.

 

as we approached the lights at mounts bay rd, they were quickly turning red.  ryan, jerry and jens managed to slip through while the rest of us took a break and allowed some of the dropped riders to catch up.  as we were now sprinting for fourth, i decided to get the group to roll through and wait till the end before smashing it.  as we got around the corner, jens had waited for our train rather than go with ryan and jerry.  he was rolling quite slow along the road and caused a bit of confusion as he reintegrated with the group.  pretty soon we had the roll through ticking along fine.

i was waiting for an attack to go, and as i was stuck on the inside of the roll through, there was nothing i was going to be able to do.  i popped out the back just as we approached the swan brewery and started to wind up for the sprint.  i didn’t hit it hard and just came by the group in the next lane.  a few guys like phil and jens were looking back waiting for the jump so they started to move as well.  i wound it up as jens started his sprint and had to throw on the line (we really need to paint one).  it would have been a photo finish, but i will give it to the german for having swish new shoes.

 

so i was not stopping for coffee today as i had a early appointment to attend, but i left an order form with jerry for the new spr drink bottles.  they are made by boa and hold 650ml.  we will be subsidising them for the group and will cost $6.  either sign up after the saturday ride or send me an e-mail. southperthrouleurs@hotmail.com

 

in other news, a couple of our regular riders, brendan and davina are over in nsw competing in the grafton inverall race.  this is a national road series (nrs) event and brendan came in with his group after 7hs and 228kms.  the women’s course was slightly different and was over 95km from the top of the climbs down to inverall.  being the final nrs race there was a lot of competition but davina managed to take out first place by barely a tyre width.  so well done to both of them and i hope our spr team can do a good time in the state team time trial tomorrow.

well back to blogging again. it has been a while and it will probably take me a while to get back into the grove. however, what i would like to do is get a few more people involved and give them access to blog at will. all this means is that you have to register as a user on blogger and then i can authourise you to blog on this page. i will still post the ride routes and my view on the rides, but this will allow other opinions and views on the world of cycling. so, register yourself and drop me an e-mail to let me know. i want to set the blog up as a south perth ride site rather than my site.

so, after months of bitching about the dark early mornings due to day light savings, i can now bitch about it being dark as we are only a week away from winter. well, it was dark this morning, and i had to strap the lights on to get to the start. the threat of rain kept a few away, but we still had about 30 or so turn up. the tv stations was the route and it would take us north to nollamura and back down wannaroo rd before taking a diversion around kings park and the karrakata cemetery.

it was an easy roll out down mill point road and we got the opportunity to wave to the old bikeforce group as they headed the opposite direction. or more importantly, see who was still riding with them. their choice. we rolled quite easily all the way up great eastern and across ascot to the north side of the river. the group stayed together well until the end of grand prom, where we did a quick left/right turn to get onto dianella dr. this is a slight hill that takes us up to yirragan dr which contains some nice fast sections before hitting waneroo rd.

well the pace went on as soon as the front boys realized that everyone made it through the lights unscathed. i let myself drift towards the back of the group as i was racing on sunday and didn’t need to put too much into my legs. lisa was hanging on at the back so i fell back to help her up the hill. mike b was also at the back so we formed a protective draft around her to help her back to the group. meanwhile, a number of attacks had gone off the front along yirragan dr, with the usual suspects trying to shake it up. unfortunately the “hamstring injury” that ryan has, did not stop him from going hard off the front and forcing everyone to chase.

mike and i looked after lisa until we got to the regroup point on wanneroo rd where the group had found a nice bus-stop to park in. an easy cruise down onto charles st and across to thomas rd to take us around the back of kings park. mike then told me that he would not be racing on sunday as his previous medical condition had started acting up again, and that was the reason he was hanging at the back of the pack. hope he gets it sorted out, as he is a demon on the hills when he is in form.

about half-way down past kings park, we turned off to head around the back of the hospitals and cemetery to lengthen the ride a bit. this also allowed us to come home the usual way through dalkeith where the boys could give it another go. unfortunately, just as we came through the claremont shops, it started to rain. we had been pretty lucky up till then, but maybe pushed it a bit staying out so long. didn’t change the ride much as we were already on the home straight.

the usual attacks happened around the back of dalkeith, but i stayed out of it again, content to get towed along. by the time we “regrouped” at mounts bay rd, the rain had stopped, but the roads were now sufficiently wet enough to make it uncomfortable.

as we headed towards the coffee-shop, everyone was trying to get into the right hand file to get ready for the sprint. i got sick of getting a face full of water from the bike in front, so started to time-trial ahead of the group. i wasn’t going hard, but managed to gap them a bit and force them to chase. i let them catch me before they wound up for the sprint and got back into the right hand file. as we past the old swan brewery and the pace started to pick up, i checked my back and jumped across into the right hand lane.

this has two main benefits.
1. it cuts the corner.
2. it is harder for the guys in front to get on your wheel.

i started the sprint and got a good jump on the guys. so much for saving my legs for sunday’s race. i saw that ryan had also started his sprint, but he was a few bike lengths behind me, so i was hoping i had enough to keep him off. unfortuntately he took me before the line, but i managed to hold on to second. a sign for sunday maybe.

no coffee stop for me today as i had a mountain of things to organize for both my birthday and the state championships, the next day.

however, i heard the news later that lorraine had a bingle less than 50m after leaving the coffee shop and had broken her wrist. hope you get well soon and back on the bike. in the meantime, it will have to be on the home trainer like stuart o’grady and brad mcgee, so you are in good company.

damn it was dark this morning. i was waiting for the sun to come up and looked at my watch to find that we were 5 min over time already. i usually give my spiel after mickey has taken the novice riders out first, but he was running a bit late, so we headed out first. he did quickly give ryan a new pair of cycling socks for winning the intermediate sprint last saturday.

today’s course took us past the tv stations in dianella and back down wanaroo rd past kings park, but then swinging around into claremont and getting the usual run back into the city through dalkeith and mounts bay rd.

even without the sunlight, the weather was warm. the cloud cover last night kept temperatures pleasant but the wind was moderate. we headed out great eastern hwy and i started on the back as i forgot to turn on the video cam. not sure of the footage as it doesn’t go well in low light. i’m guessing that i will check before i post this or it will not make sense how the footage got there in the first place.

anyway, i’m on the back and chatting with ryan but i notice that the pack is not holding together too well. the early pace was a bit high so gaps were forming as people lost the wheel. after this went on for a bit, i decided to sort it out and went to the front to set an even pace.

a few tricky light changes, some left right intersections and we were all together at the start of dianella dr where some of the tv stations are based. this was our first tempo section and the slight rise up dianella dr would make it interesting.

cade shot off like a thing that had been shot out of something, so i quickly jumped on his wheel with steve b latching on as well. his pace was quite high and i was struggling just to hold on. it took me half the hill to get right on his wheel but by then i had nothing to come around to help out. luckily we hit the top and lights, which held us up for a bit. the lights changed just as the others started to arrive so we headed off to try to stay in front. this section down yirrigan dr is always fast as it is slightly downhill, so i knew it was going to be hard to keep away.

cade and i swapped off turns on the front with steve b and ryan tucked in behind. we tried to keep the others away, but the group was almost upon us. the next set of traffic lights made sure of it. as they changed, dr nic came flying past with a stack of momentum, and managed to get quite a bit ahead of us. the boys all shot off after her forcing everyone to chase hard. i was pretty much cooked by then so slowly dropped back in the pack looking for whatever wheel i could hold. some of the early antagonists also fell back and were swallowed up by the group.

i finally settled on steve r’s wheel and we swapped off trying to bridge to the six guys up the road. christophe bridged across and also joined in the chase, but to no avail. by the time we hit waneroo rd, they were still 100 metres ahead.

a quick regroup and we continued our cruise down wanneroo/charles and across to loftus/thomas rd. we seemed to get every single light, which i supposed should be expected crossing the city on a saturday morning.

the pace was a bit high and erratic as we came down the back side of kings park. we used to just head straight to coffee from here, but it made the ride a bit short, so we now turn past the hospital and around the back of the cemetery. it was supposed to be moderate pace from here to claremont, but some of the boys started pushing hard early. i was in no mood to chase to the front to slow them down so i just kept my pace and slipped slowly to the back of the pack. i was secretly hoping that they would miss the turn and go all the way to the usual crossing at the grammar school.

unfortunately for everyone, chris took the initiative and turned a street too early which brought us out onto a t-intersection on stirling. a slight delay and some good hearted abuse on chris and we were back on track.

the usual wind up along victoria ave/jutland pde/birdwood pde was the typical smashfest with ryan, mike b and chris some of the main attackers trying to break the group apart. by the time we hit the last undulation on birdwood, ryan made a strong move and michael had the legs to stay with him. little dribs and drabs of riders were working together to try to keep up where they could.

even with a break, no-one ever tries to keep it going once we turn onto the avenue. generally the right hander onto hackett dr and the lights onto mounts bay rd cause the smaller droplets of riders to coagulate together ready for the final sprint. also, ten kilometres is a long way to try to hold off the pack, even if you get favourable lights.

so by the time we hit the lights at mounts bay rd most of the group was back together again. we even came across a small but smart group that took a shortcut through waratah rd.

so as we approached the intersection, ryan was trying to get people to go in front of him so that he could get a nice lead out. i jokingly warned him not to try the old “i can’t clip-in at the lights” ploy to get people to come around you. so we headed off into a general confusion.

all the main players for the final sprint were all trying to hide from the wind and trying to get others to do the work early on. the problem was that the high pace a bit earlier on seemed to blast the rest of the pack out the back so now there was no-one to block the wind. i tried to get the group to roll through, but after mike b, myself and dr marc, no-one else was willing to play. i looked back and a gap was starting to form as everyone was hiding in the pack.

“fine” i thought. “i’m off”.

it was a long way out, and i didn’t think that i could make it, but nothing was happening otherwise. a few hard pedals out of the saddle and i had easily gapped the group. a quick look back and no-one was chasing, and there seemed to be very little organisation in the group. i kept the pace on and managed to get quite a bit down the road. i think people started to panic a bit when they realised that i may stay away till the end.

eventually chris tried to get the group rolling through to chase me down, but people were still reluctant and only a handful wanted to help.

by this time the effort of doing in excess of 45 km/hr was taking it’s toll and was starting to hurt. luckily my heart rate monitor had decided to stop working, as if i saw how high my heart rate was, i probably would have given up. i saw the brewery approaching and was still ahead. i looked over my shoulder about five or six times to try to gauge how the group was travelling. as i rounded the corner to go past the brewery, i knew that i would be caught. i could hear chris screaming at the group to chase me down. nice. thanks team-mate. but it was all in good fun. i would have done the same.

with about a little over 100 metres to go, the group came past me at such a speed that i didn’t stand a chance. the last thing i saw was ryan flying ahead of the pack and i guess he stayed there til the end. my heart rate took a while to get back down to the stage where i could talk again, and relished the easy pace to the coffee shop.