it’s time. starting this sunday we will be running our weekly uwct training, taking in the new course. this year they have reversed the route so the race will go up the zig zag and down toodyay road. as the zig zag is a one way down hill only, we will not be taking a group up there. instead we get to do gooseberry.
the new training course is already mapped out and listed under our sunday hills rides. it does differ from the actual course as we will be missing out the long flat sections before and after the hills. as the actual race will be heading out the freeway and then along reid hwy, the club cannot afford to close down a section of the freeway and provide a police escort. i know, not trying hard enough.
so the route takes in the main climbs (minus the zig zag) and then heads back into town. if you want to get some extra k’s in to make up the difference that you will face on the day (140kms race vs 103km training) then i suggest either a half lap of the river or a roll along shelley.
so, as for the rules of engagement for this group training, we will be doing things a little different to a normal spr group ride. firstly we will be rolling out at 6:00am from the coode st carpark. this is a hard course and we will need to get back as early as possible.
we will head out great eastern at a moderate pace and along to ridge hill road. this will be the first climb of the actual event so we will hit it at race pace. instead of continuing up the zig zag, we will roll over the top and across to gooseberry. as this is not part of the course, we will be regrouping at the top of this climb. this will effectively be the only regroup in the hills (we may remove this too, but will see how we go). we will then head towards mundaring and across to stoneville. there is no regroup before toodyay and we will continue
on all the way to guilford. there we will regroup at the caltex servo just on the otherside of the swan river bridge. there is access to water as well as cold drinks from inside so it is a good place to stop. we will then wait for about 20min from the first guys before heading out again. it is then race pace back along guilford road and back to dome.
now this will be a hard session but we are not refusing anyone from coming along. however, just be aware the the group will not be stopping and waiting, so make sure you have enough food and water, spare tubes (and know how to change a tyre) and a mobile phone in case you need to get out of trouble.
there is a good chance that some people will not make it to the regroup in time. we are not apologising for this and if you get left behind, get home as safely as you can. there is a bike path from guilford all the way into the city, so you don’t have to negotiate traffic. if you do really, really get into trouble call me. 0438 988 677.
the reason we will be running the training like this is primarily because it is a race and you will need to put in sustained efforts over a long period of time. regrouping and resting will not practically happen on the day. also, after a recon session last weekend, it will actually be better for smaller groups of riders 3-6 along toodyay road as vehicles can negotiate them quicker than a large group.
as usual, road rules apply. don’t go through red lights to make it onto a bunch. there is only 1 set of lights in the hills, but quite a few heading back into guilford. if you need to stop for water, you can duck into the Dome in mundaring, but just don’t expect your group to wait for you.
the race will be hard. expect the training to be hard too. see you sunday morning.