Another chilly morning but compared to Thursday morning it was warm. Arrived at Coode St and only a couple of others were already there getting their wheels on the bike because they drove in. Peter soon rocked up in his car but with the excuse he was doing the time trial this afternoon and was saving his legs.
not a huge turn out today well didn’t seem to be but was a healthy number of riders in each group. I think leaving Coode Street we had around 15 in our group. After getting the group together on Canning Hwy we sat on a cruisy 33kph. Each were taking their turn on the front which was great to see. Even Ivan had the legs on the front today great to see mate.
North Lake Rd gave us a couple rest stops at the lights before taking on the small hills along here. Next was the left turn onto South St and a group of us seemed to open it up a little until we were told to cool it. I’m not sure I think a few may have been stretched on North Lake Road. All seemed to be back on rather quickly. After passing Wheatly Drv the pace was picked up again and for the next 10km the avg speed was 35pkh and this saw us catch up and join onto the back of main 1.
Nicholson Rd seemed to have a bit of a tail wind and there was a semi kinda roll though along here. Approaching the lights at Albany Hwy and 90% of the group were in the left turning lane and not the right. seeing everyone jumping across lanes I’m sure this pissed off every driver around us. You need to look at the map people. William street was a bit of chaos also. Lots of over taking and cars not wanting to be patient. Maybe this would have been safer if we hadn’t merged with main 1.
Once onto Welshpool Rd we paired up again and a few got a break away because of some red lights the pace was within 33 ~ 34 for this section. Once we turned right on Shepperton Rd the pace was lifted and it was time to fly home. Because of some red lights I fell to the back and missed the finish but apparently we caught the Transitional group and it was a big sprint on down Riverside drive.
Was a good ride this morning and my legs don’t hurt. Looking forward to Brookton Hwy in the morning and while the rain stays away I hope just as many show up tomorrow as they did today.
UPDATE: Forgot. Set my own new milestone today got home with an average overall speed of 31.1kph over 70kms. Pretty happy with that. Took so long to get 30kph this was unexpected. Yay me 🙂
By Nathan Rzepecki
Nathan, I’ll take the blame for the confusion at Albany Highway. I knew we had to turn right, but forgot how early the road splits into the right and left turn lanes. Apologies to all in main group 1 for this.
Cheers, Julian
Also recommend riders check the route so they know where they are supposed to be going, besides the little mess on the Albany Hwy cross today, the last few weeks has seen groups deviating from the posted route. Besides it leading to confusion between riders it can also be a safety issue and dropped riders can have problems getting back to a group if things change mid ride or they don’t know where they are as i have seen happen a few times.
So guys check the routes before you ride, Pete puts a lot of effort into posting them for this reason.
Julian, you’re forgiven.
I thought we turned left there, as we often do, also. Things sorted themselves out fairly quickly and I don’t recall anyone being in any grave danger. If stationary motorists (at a red light) get annoyed by a group of cyclists slowly wending their way through to get to the correct lane at 8:00 AM on a Saturday morning, well… (I’m thinking of a sentence with “natural justice” in it here). If that is all that happens to them on a given day it has been a pretty good one.
If riders have been dropped far enough to lose the group (that does wait for almost everyone), and they don’t catch the group because the peleton has gone off course for whatever reason, it is hardly unsafe. They know where they are, the bunch doesn’t. If they don’t know where they are, it isn’t going to matter where the group is. (Perhaps they need to pick the right bunch, learn the main roads back to Riverside Drive, get fitter, ride higher up in the bunch, learn the routes themselves etc.)
While it is unfortunate if we go off course or, heaven forbid, get into the wrong lane temporarily, let us still keep a sense of perspective.