SPR BREAKFAST – 21/03/2009

 Don’t Forget the first SPR Breakfast for 2009 at Pete’s place.    The state famous Lozza Brownies may just be making a guest appearance so if you could let me know if you will be attending that would be great :

lwood@claytonutz.com alternatively if you post a comment letting me know if you want to attend that is also great.

Thanks Lisa 😉

City of Perth Triathlon (National Titles)

Race Report by Rob

So, another early morning start to get to transition on time and get prepared. With the bikes all racked and ready the night before, the morning ritual involved setting out shoes and runners as well as give the tyres their last little bit of PSI treatment ready for a scorching 40 (k’s not degrees celcius like last year!).

The organisers in their wisdom had decided on a couple of changes to the routine. The first was to hold the “compulsory” race briefing at 6:45pm the night before – yeah right – been to enough of those, we’ll be right thanks – rather be home undertaking my hydration strategy of 2 beers and a glass of red thanks! The benefit of a “home” game I say! The second change was the wave start times – 10 minutes to separate each wave. No big deal? Try being the 2nd last wave of about 20 – we all had to be out of transition at 6:45am and the 35-39 wave goes at 9:02am. Brilliant! Rationale for the change was that it was such a draft fest last year (oh, did I mention that drafting [for SPR that =’s “grabbing wheels for a rest”] is illegal!…but more on that later….) the organisers decided to break it up sufficiently that there wouldn’t be any such problems this year….as I say, more on that later….!

The time spent waiting around for our start was actually not too bad – had the chance to catch up with a few of the others – Hunter and his brother Dean + partners were down there and Paul and I even managed to do a bit of a recruitment drive for SPR when we found out that Freo Bike Force is changing their group ride around and there are people out their sniffing around for a quality ride to relocate to – is there any better in Perth???

Anyway – on with the race…

The swim was declared non-wetsuit, meaning the water was above 24 degrees. Does the number 24.1 mean anything to you??! Yep – you read it right – 24.1….not 23.9 (meaning we could wear ‘em if we had ‘em)….24.1. When Paul, me and Dean finally took the plunge into the o’ so special Swan for our start, it was the coldest 24.1 we’d ever felt! No bragging rights for the boys after a swim in this!!

9:02 am and we’re off. Not a bad first 50m as the washing machine of 98 other blokes around you gets travelling and then it really kicks in – literally. I got kicked in the chest and then for good measure took a forearm to the back of the head. My right goggle filled up with water and I swallowed what I estimated to be a good 500ml’s of the Swan. Tasty. No need to worry about popping those salt tablets now!! So, a 1500m swim with a sore chest and one half of my vision cut was going to be just dandy! Trying to sight the first boy and then get a rythym going was certainly a challenge and really makes you question “Why am I doing this again??”Anyway, I think you get the picture – the swim in a tri is never really ‘fun’ – it’s just a part of the race you have to do and it tends to be “kick or be kicked” if you want to survive – especially in the National Titles when you’re out there with all the “big boys”!

Rounding the final bouy to get to the stairs on the way out was certainly a relief and I was pleased to see that upon exiting, I’d managed to swim in 26 minutes – 30 seconds off last year’s time – not bad on the back of no swim training for the last 3 weeks. Heading into transition, I grabbed the race belt and shoes, threw them on and went for my sunnies which were sitting face up in my helmet waiting for quick donning. “MMMM…what’s that on the lens? – Oh, yeh…that’d be bird shit!” Love triathlon. Oh well, on they go – hope there isn’t a big wad in the lid of my helmet too!! It was now that there was a pattern forming – vision through one eye for the swim; vision through one eye (the same one too) for the bike; what may the run hold for me??

Out onto the ride course and I’m off. Would be good to not have massive cramps setting in to my hip felxors right about now!! As soon as I got down on the TT bars they just screamed at me and forced me back up into the more upright position. Great. Where did this come from?? If it keeps up for the whole ride it won’t be pleasant. I then spent the first trip out (5ks) trying to stretch my flexors, take in some much needed water to wash the Swan down with, and get my heart rate under control. Love triathlon!

Well, I finally got the flexors soughted and settled into a nice rythym on the way back. It was as I was coming to end of the first lap that I looked at my speedo and it tells me 8.3kms. Then I start to wonder – “Are we doing 4 or 5 laps?” – It’s supposed to be 40kms – now I’m worried. What was that smug comment about “Race briefings???”!!! I ride up next to one of the other guys and yell to him “Are we doing 4 or 5??” – He looks at me like I’m mad (or an idiot – not too sure really)….”4” he says. OK. Good….got that sorted. But still the doubt lingers. As I round the bottom turn for a 2nd time, a TO on the motorbike is behind so I wave them up beside me and ask the same question. Same facial expression as the other bloke…funny that! But the same answer too. Good. Got that sorted – don’t do 5 laps; get speedo re-calibrated!

I’d like to say that the rest of the ride was uneventful, but what kind of story would that be?? Last lap; last leg; 3k’s from the end. Had overtaken 10 or so in my category – feeling really happy with an average of 38km/h and HR of 158. Then 2 blokes in the 40-45 category who are taking turns SPR style (highly illegal) overtake me but then just drop in on my front wheel and sit there. Now, the “rules” are, if you get overtaken, you have 5 seconds to drop back the requisite 7m. Trouble is, to do that, you have to sit up, brake and lose whatever rythym you may have had. At the same time, anyone who has been cruising along behind you rolls up and overtakes too – then you have to drop back from them as well! So, needless to say, at this point in the bike, I thought “Bugger That” and just sat there.

“Competitor 850. I’ve just issued you a yellow card for drafting. You must report to the penalty box for 3 minutes once you have finished your ride.”

You are !$*%*ing kidding ME!! For the love of &*%#$ that can NOT BE RIGHT you son of &$@% and your &^%#$ can go and &^#$……or words to that effect…..and as for you two cheats up there in front of me….if I catch you on the run I’ll be having words!!

3 minutes in the “bin” is not good for the head, especially when you see 7 other competitors in your category run past you into transition and heading out onto the run course in YOUR PLACE!! Grrrr. And to top it off, the TO who was timing my “binning” had a sense of humour! Great.

Anyway, time served and I bolt into transition and out onto the run. My mind was no longer with me though, so it was at this point that I just had to suck it up and pull out a ‘respectable’ 10k to make sure I at least put in a PB. It wasn’t a bad first 2, but, like with the OZ Day event, the stitch monster paid a visit and hung around until the 5th km. Love tirathlon. The rest of the run was uneventful – saw Paul out there and he seemed to be enjoying himself a heck of a lot more than he did last year (read: “His tounge wasn’t hanging out and didn’t have a ‘I’m suffering like a kicked dog in the street’ look all over his face!).

Rounding the last turn to finish off was a relief with everything that had happened through the course of the race and I was happy to get across the line in 2:17 – 3 minutes better than last year and that includes 3 mins in the bin. Paul put in an impressive turn at 2:27 – nearly 20 minutes better than last year – so a huge improvement. Hunter nailed it with a final 2:04 and brother Dean rolling across in 2:24. All in all, pretty good results for SPR!

Bring on Busso ½!

sunday 15th mar – kahuna & peet & observatory

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.

saturday 14th mar – canning vale & welshpool

ride report by peter.

 

after a day trip up to the pilbara yesterday which included 3hrs of flying and about 3hrs of driving and about 3hrs of meetings, i was keen to expend a bit of energy today.  i managed to get out early enough to be the second one to arrive at the carpark and sat around in the dark waiting for the nominated hour.  there was a chill in the air which belied the expected top of 33 today and a number of riders were wearing vests.  the dark and the cold made it seem more like winter than just leaving summer. 

i didn’t think the numbers were too large today but decided to still split the group anyway.  it has been a bit of a mess when we don’t so i think we may have seen the end of the one big group.  maybe next week for the breakfast, we might stick together and take it easy.  especially since it will be raining.

the common course took us out canning hwy down to risely and up past garden city shopping centre.  we made our way to south street and the group was generally taking it easy and getting a good conversation in.  a bit of a lane change mix up had us dodging a few cars near where we normally hang a left into banister, but all up not a bad start to the day.  as we approached the intersection of ranford and nicholson, people began to move into their respective groups.  this would be our split point and the main group would go left up past livingston marketplace shopping centre (home of livingston specsavers – for all your optical needs drop in and see sharon (i will invoice you for the advertising later sharon)), while the fast group would go straight.  hopefully someone will enlighten us to the adventures of the main group for that was the last we saw of them for the day.

as soon as we headed through the lights i knew we were in trouble.  there wasn’t much wind when i was tucked in the back of the pack during the ride out there.  now we seemed to be riding straight into it.  i got the roll through happening and got to have a look at who was riding with us today.  most of the usual suspects but some others that were giving it a crack today. 

we turned up warton rd and immediately got hammered by the fierce cross-wind.  we continued to roll through but i felt we were doing it the wrong way as the wind was on the fast side of the line.  however, in a non-race situation, rolling the other way while trying to keep out of traffic can be hard as the group seems to migrate across the lane.  thankfully for some of the riders, there were enough sets of lights to allow a regroup along the way.  we continued on and the wind seemed relentless.  after we passed albany hwy the distance started to take it’s toll and the group really splintered into little survival packs.  i had only one or two riders around me and we were trying to bridge across to a pack of four containing judd, jerry, davina and james.  the rest of us continued were just trying to keep them in sight, but big judd and his diesel engine just seemed to power through the wind.  i really have no idea who was riding around me at this time as i was sending all my blood to the legs rather the head and was just trying to survive.

judd in full time trial mode
judd in full time trial mode

as we hit tonkin hwy the lights allowed us to catch the front group which had now shed james who was back training after his fall in renae’s race.  as the lights turned green, everyone did a “ryan” and seemed to have trouble clipping in as they didn’t want to go to the front.  this allowed judd to take off and gain a big gap.  davina tried to chase him down but he is a big strong boy and was setting a nice pace.  the rest of us caught up and jerry and myself came around to help out at the front.  even though there were at least three of us doing turns at the front, we just couldn’t put a dent into the gap judd had over us.

the pain finally ended when we turned onto crystal brook rd and gained the full advantage of the tailwind.  quite a few of the group had caught up back at the lights and we now had a fairly solid group to chase judd down.  we were pushing 60km/hr along crystal brook and onto welshpool, but unfortunately for us, judd was going just as fast.  he managed to get the lights as we crossed back over tonkin and that was the very last we saw of him.

with our bigger group we tried to start to roll through again, but it just didn’t seem to work.  everyone wanted to go faster than the last person and this meant that the pace just went up and up until the group started to splinter.  we also tried to single file and pull off the front when you were done, but this also proved fruitless and we just seemed to go back to a couple on the front and a little bit of roll through when we could.

the rail lights were flashing along welshpool and we slowed to get behind the traffic.  suddenly a ute in the right hand lane put his indicator on as he wanted to turn left after the rail crossing.  he just started to push his way into the line of bikes.  jerry banged on his window and asked what he was doing.  he pointed that he wanted to turn and so therefore that was excuse enough in his mind to try to cut us off.  as the traffic got going again, a few choice words and some single finger waving from both parties had us happily on our way again. 

we turned onto shepperton road and made our final approach into town.  the rolling hills always provide a springboard for attacks but not today as the group pretty much stayed together.  the main split came at the lights before the causeway as some of the group ducked into the bus lane to get ahead of the traffic while the rest stayed behind the traffic.  as far as our group riding etiquette is concerned, we really shouldn’t run up the side of traffic at the lights when we have such a big group as the cars just have to try to get past us again.  in this case, the risk was that if there was a bus coming the lights would not have let you go, but you would have cut the bus off.  anyway, the lights changed and i was in the group behind and didn’t make it through the next set.  we watched the front group head across the causeway and out of sight while we just made our own way to the coffeeshop.

not really sure what happened as when we got there, most of the main group had already gone.  it was rally busy as there were triathletes everywhere for the national series tri that was in perth the next day.  some of our group headed around to south perth for a brew and others endured the long wait for theirs.

ride routes 14th & 15th mar

a new route for today and one where both groups go exploring.  we will split again, and you will notice that i have put both maps on the same page.  this is so you can easily see the differences between the two routes and what potential shortcut’s may get you from the fast group back to the comfort of the main group.  with about 8kms difference, but only 25kms to make it up, i doubt there will be a catch, but it is really more about allowing the fast group to stretch their legs.  both groups need to take careful note of some of the roads that you will need to take as there are some changes from the norm.

sunday will take a nice tour around the hills in the predicted 37 deg sunshine.  make sure you have lots of water and food, but the route passes by the karragullen servo, so at least bring money.  as mentioned previously, we have started a hill climb page, so make sure you check out the start and finish lines on the page so you know where to time from.  as you can draft off each other, form an alliance with another rider of similar ability and work together to get a good time.  you very rarely race on your own, so this will be good race day experience and allows those that are not always in the mountain points an opportunity to see how they are going.

south perth rouleurs saturday ride 18 (canning vale & welshpool)

south perth rouleurs sunday ride 03 (kahuna & peet & patterson)

SPR BREAKFAST!

It’s

that time again folks!!!spr-breaky2

The next  SPR breakfast will be on

Saturday the 21st March

at Pete’s place immediately following the group ride.

Lots of yummy food… lots of great fun… and great prizes to be won!

spr-breaky1EVERYONE WELCOME!

Only $10 a

head for all this… What a deal!

Please RSVP by 18/3 to our events manager Lisa so that we can have approximate numbers for catering.

lwood@claytonutz.com

See you there…

Lorraine

new pages

i have added in a couple of new pages to the website.

firstly the spr calendar – this shows when all the social events like breakfasts are on as well as the races that we will target this year.

hill climb times – to see how we are all tracking in regards to training, we will start a timed ascent of mundaring weir rd when out on the sunday ride.  a new leaderboard will be up showing how well you are placed within the group as well as any improvement.

peter

sunday 8th mar – f_ckenberg plus others

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.

Freeway Bike Hike

spr

The day after the SPR breaky is the Perth Freeway Bike Hike.

We have a perfect opportunity to carb up the day before!

It is a great event to participate in and it would be wonderful to see lots of SPR jerseys out there!

There are 10, 30 and 60k distances and a wide variety of

ability levels.

There is a specific race group for WACF members which will be the first to leave at 7am.

Register online before 6pm Friday 20th March (Friday 13th for team entries).

If there are a number of us participating there will be a rendezvous point and group ride organised to get back to the city.

Indicate if you are participating in the comments below.

All event information

is available on HBF Freeway Bike Hike for Asthma site.

Lorraine

Inaugural Meeting of the "Roulettes"…

roulettes-050309-007
Davina and Lisa... Cheesing it up for the camera
roulettes-050309-002
"lean in girls"

Report by Lorraine

Last Thursday a group of suspiciously fit and enthusiastic women riders gathered together for a clandestine meeting in the backwaters of Leederville.

Many weeks in the planning, this was to be the first meeting of the Roulettes… a subversive breakaway group of riders with associations to the

better known and more reputable South Perth Rouleurs. The pre-requisites  for entry to this elite league of ladies were simple  …a road bike, a pair of ovaries, ownership of more lycra than the average female and a penchant for speed.

Much secretive discussion, planning and stragetising ensued over the course of the evening…

roulettes-050309-003
Anna and Jill

roulettes-050309-017
Nicole, Bec H ad Bec W
roulettes-050309-016
Holly, D and Lisa

After several hours the meeting was concluded and proclaimed to be an overwhelming success. Members made their way home…

many for an early night before the next morning’s training while some lingered over coffee and hot chocolate and considered the day off they had planned for the next day (actually that was only me!).

The website for the South Perth Cycle Club