sunday 20th april - b grade trophy race

sunday and another race day. this would be the third weekend in a row for me and i was beginning to get the feel for what racing was all about. it was an early start as i met davina at canning bridge for a warm-up ride down to wandi. it was less than 30km but we wanted to get there with time to spare so allowed an hour which meant a pretty cruisey pace. it was freakin’ cold again and i had rugged up with big gloves, vest, jacket and booties on. anything extra that i didn’t need i figured i could chuck in someone’s car during the race.

there were plenty of triathletes on the bike path as the half ironman was only a couple of weeks away. from groups to individuals they were all making their way down to the end of the freeway bike path as it is a pretty popular run with very few stops. justin also past by on his way down to the race, but was doing quite a bit faster than we intended to.

the roads were a bit damp and the clouds on the horizon showed that it wouldn’t be a dry morning. a few sprinkles early on weren’t a real concern and actually after the rain event that we raced in during the tour de perth, anything short of a thunderstorm would be manageable. bruce, chris and ryan were already down at the start by the time we arrived and stu turned up not long after. a quick registration and we headed out for a loop of the circuit to get an idea of what we were up against. it was a nice square taking about 8km to get around. the corners weren’t too bad and the undulations were not steep enough to really make a difference. the only real concern was the roundabout on the back straight and the huge traffic island that separated the two lanes as the road swept round towards the finishing straight.

so, about 60 riders pitched up at the line. this was the “b” grade trophy race and as such, the “a” grade riders were riding the support race. we also had four girls sprinkled in amongst our field. it would be a nine lap race and we were sure that it would probably stay together till the end. the point was made by the race officials about having your race number under your vest and it not being able to be seen. i was pretty sure that it would not warm up that much and got the other guys to re-pin it on to my vest.

it had sprinkled with rain again before the start and the roads were wet enough in places to cause some spray off the back wheels. it made me wonder about the state of some of the corners we had to take and at what speed the pack would want to take them.

the first lap was a pretty standard fare with guys testing their legs on the “climbs” but not really getting away. the corners were not too bad but there were a few patches where the road was a bit potholed and you had to be careful each lap. the roundabout, as expected, caused a bit of concern early on as people tried to get through about three wide. this took us a couple of laps to sort out and by the end was a lot more controlled.

just after the roundabout was a small rise and almost every lap, someone would put the hammer down to try to stretch the group out. i spend the first few laps towards the back, getting used to the pack and when it would make surges. i watched davina a bit during this time and noted how she anticipated the surges in the pack and got up before the people around her moved so that a gap wouldn’t form. i was learning.

i would say that there were about four or so punctures within the first lap and a half. the wet roads make it so much easier for bits of crap to work their way into the rubber. also, i suspect that some of these guys had the good going out rubber on the bike with a bit less protection from punctures. there was a spares ute but none of us had any wheels in the back. if we punctured, too bad. stu has had a run of bad luck with one last race at gnangara and then again on saturday as we were lining up for the sprint on mounts bay rd.

ryan had begun to stalk a cyclemania rider and was now up near the front. this guy had won a couple of stages of the tour de perth support race and stu had told ryan that if there was going to be a move, then this guy would be in it. after spending the last race chasing down the break, rayn was keen to use that energy to get in it instead. anyway, the coffee boy from cyclemania (mattiaccio - cause it sounds like a coffee) was near the front so ryan was sticking close.

attacks were going at almost every one of the main rises in the road, but none really got very far. it was pretty much the same each lap until lap six. i think it must have been the rise after the roundabout, ryan and two others got away off the front. the coffee boy had dropped back and ryan had went when some others attacked. they had a bit of a gap and when we turned up the next rise, a couple of others tried to bridge across. i was near chris at the time and asked him if that was ryan up the road. he guessed that it was, so it made it easier for the rest of us. i thought about getting to the front and trying to control the speed to let them stay away, but there was a few teams up there already and i didn’t know how long i could actually stay up front. so in typical team p0rn0 tactics, ryan, you are on your own.

by the end of the lap, only one of the chases had bridged across to the break and it turned out to be the coffee boy, forming a fairly strong group of four. with three laps to go, we were unsure whether it would all come back together or not. it seemed like a long time to be off the front.

on the second corner of lap seven, something didn’t feel right. i bounced my front wheel a couple of times to check the pressure and it felt a little down, but not too bad. oh well, must have just been the road surface tricking me. on turn three the bike heavily understeered and i almost clipped the traffic island. a few more bounces and it confirmed my fears. the front tyre was going down fast. damn.

i pulled over and waved the spares ute along as i had nothing in it anyway. nothing i could do except change the tube and roll back to the start line. even if i had a spare, the pace was picking up a bit and i doubted that i could have got back on.

i got to the line before the group finished lap eight and watched ryan go past and get the bell. his little posse of four still had a decent gap, but the pack was not that far behind and it didn’t look hopeful. the “a” grade support race had already finished and they were all lining up to watch the sprint finish, so there were a few spectators around.

coming into the final straight, the break was still ahead and had started the sprint. ryan was in too hard a gear and could not go with the coffee boy who took line honors over ryan with the other two from the break following behind. not long after, the main field came barreling down the road. they were spread across both lanes and were throwing bikes everywhere, looking every bit as dangerous as a “b” grade race. our boys managed to finish in the group but kept out of trouble at the end.

it turns out that it was similar to last week where everyone was trying to get position early and was taking up the whole road even before the sprint started. position, position, position. it is so important and i am still learning where i should be. i find it hard in such a big group too as there is a lot of ground to make up if you are hanging at the back.

so, ryan got a second place and a trophy to collect dust. i wasn’t happy with getting a flat as i was feeling quite good up till that point. after hearing from the other guys what the finish was like, i think that it might be better to put it all on the line and take off before all the carnage happens fro the final sprint. if you can stay away, all good, but the sprint itself seems pretty full on to be caught up in. it was good to get some more race k’s into my legs and the ride back home would be a good warm-down.

no races for us over the anzac weekend, although ryan was talking about doing the stan gurney memorial crit at midland on the friday. i will take the opportunity to do a long hills ride to work on my issues i had during the tour de perth.

thanks to the melville fremantle cycle club for the video and picture

sunday 20th april - welshpool & observatory & kalamunda rd

ride report by darren

rolling into the carpark i was a little earlier than usual but a few has arrived already. i was hopeful that we going to get a few more than last week? unfortunately, racing, the cold weather, and/or lack of commitment ( i can only assume) meant that there would only be about 9 of us today. huddled and shivering rob sat on the step, head in hands, looking like he did last week, was this déjà vu, another big night? turns out he was under the weather, well under. when john arrived we had a brief conversation about how cold it was, he said it was only 8c or 9c. felt about 2c, turns out you were closer to the mark and we are all woosies for being so rugged up.

with no one to lead the way we stood around in the cold until 7:05am or so. this weeks route was reasonably familiar so 'someone will know the way' i thought - so up welshpool rd we went. melvyn and i took the group out, camille turned off before we hit welshpool road, probably because most of the usual suspects were not there, luckily young matt and his micro front chain rings were there to keep us honest.

it was an uneventful ride to the foothills. we picked up a few passengers whose cyclosportif team piked on them. it still felt baltic as the sun was well hidden behind the scarp. the pace slowed as we started to climb, so it was up to me to get things rolling. young matt was not far behind. as we hit the straight exposed section i could feel the heart rate increasing, and hit the front derailleur changer to get an easier gear. oh no, stuck in the big ring. fiddling with gears i eventually locked everything up and had to step off, reset and started all over. matt sped off to the summit.

as we rode past the petrol station we ran into doug who had tried and meet us on welshpool rd but turned around at the grain terminal as he thought he missed us, not realising that we were late. at the top, there was daylight between matt and the rest of us. a quick chat at the top and off to the observatory we went.

the group held it together until the start of the observatory climb, i went with matt off the front and we were joined by todd. matt decided he would play cat and mouse with us, clearly overestimating our climbing and acceleration abilities. so todd and i played wile-e-coyote to matts road-runner. matt would slow up, wait for us to pass and sprint past as quickly as possible (beep beep) until he has put 100m or so into the gap and then waited up again. so todd and i endured this humiliation until the top of the climb. we were shortly followed by rob and john, with the others not too far behind.

a bit of procrastination we headed off down walnut descent, with doug, melvyn and rob trying to keep pace with matt. i stayed at the back, a bit nervous that the new bike may get the speed wobbles. as we headed over the top of aldersyde rd i had made up a bit of ground on the lead group as we turned into mundaring weir rd.

feeling good i set a good pace and headed past rob and john, surprisingly matt stayed with them. head down, i found good rhythm and after a little while looked back to see quite a gap had opened. maybe i was half a chance to get to the roundabout first? ........not likely! matt made the gap in about a minute and despite staying with him for a while and trying to dig deep on the flat section near the top, matt dug deeper and sped off to the top to finish several hundred metres in front. rob also recalled that he was surprised that matt stayed with them for so long, only to take off like a rocket (beep beep) and bridge the gap. soon we were joined by john, closely followed by rob (coughing all the way).

once we were together again we all headed off to the zig zag, only to cop a sprinkle of rain and some wet roads. where did this rain come from?. most of the group descended at a fast but sensible rate, but the freshly washed roads did raise the stress levels a tad. at the bottom, matt took off home. the scenic views down zig zag showed us that there was more rain on the way so we sat around discussing whether we should make a run for home to avoid the weather or go to the coffee shop and face certain drenching on the way home. i wanted to go straight home, robs vote was via bushmead road (surely there is a coffee shop in midland) but the deciding vote went to todd, lindy and mike who were resolute that they needed another climb. doug headed home via forrestfield.

melvyn led the way back to kalamunda rd. rob suggested that goosberry hill rd could be a good option (joking), but was the first to hit the climb back to the coffee shop, and waved todd and i through. todd took the lead most of the way up while i tried to decide if i had any energy left, sort of, maybe, not sure. i stayed with him on the steep sections and when it levelled out on a nice flattish section, the big ring and plenty of beats per minute saw me pass and open a gap. so... first time to be first to coffee shop but i have no illusions about where my form is. john, rob and todd were not that far behind.

just enough time to re-arrange some tables and my double shot mini-bowl arrived, that was fast! some water, some more cyclists, a hot chocolate here and a flat white there, all served in rapid time. melvyn and mike ordered what would only be described as lunch (which they inhaled). we sat around discussing the finer points of interval training, sally robbins’ rowing efforts, shimano shoes and all facets of personal lubrication (for triathlon, get your minds out of the gutter).

instead of asking the group who would write the blog for today i asked melvyn (as he has previous credits and regularly comments on articles) if he or i should contribute this week. his well considered response "you should write the blog, because (long pause)...... you should write the blog" nuff said, so here it is.

heading back john led the way and when the group hit the downhill on lesmurdie rd they all seem to step up the pace. rob made the mistake of taking my wheel and we dropped to the back, so rob went around to catch the leaders. melvyn and i were last to welshpool rd at which point he took off to get to the bottom fast. i was the slowest descended on the day, but didn’t get speed wobbles even at 70kmph, so the new bike is looking ok so far.

a time trial effort brought lindy and i back to the field but it was clear that john had won the honours of being first to the bottom. at the tonkin hwy lights we encountered our first boy-racer/bogan/redneck who zipped past at a rapid rate with inches to spare.

melvyn and john dragged the group back up welshpool rd into the cold westerly wind. i went for the bonus points at the grain terminal. mike reacted but i managed to hang on despite dying on the hill before the leach hwy lights. being too exhausted to contest the macdonalds sprint, i watched john take off with absolutely no one chasing, john was also surprised when he looked back, so slowed down. melvyn peddled slightly faster than everyone else and managed to pass john on the line.

on the way back to the shop i got dropped at a set lights so i dont know how many made it back. props to rob for winning last weeks final sprint effort against stan and myself despite both of us turning off along berwick a few hundred metres before, but well done this week for some strong efforts with a chest cold and paving our way in mucus. good luck to lindy in the 1/2 ironman in a few weeks, hope those 19hr training weeks pay off.

in summary: cold start, nice middle, bit of rain, windy end. seems that the climb up kalamunda rd and coffee rest, meant that we missed the rain and did not get wet! nice!

saturday 19th april - rebold and cott

cold, damn cold. i had to go back in the house and get my jacket this morning, much to the disgust of my sleeping wife. i always prepare everything the night before (including pumping my tyres) so that i minimize the noise when i get up. if i creep around quietly, i can usually be out the door before anyone wakes. this morning was not my stealthiest. if i was smart enough to thoroughly check the weather report the night before (it is all about preparation) i would have noticed that it was forecast to be freaking cold overnight and i would have got the jacket out just in case. so no, not a good start.

the course today was added not long after christmas as we kind of went this way for our christmas ride. a few extra hills, some fast paced sections and a few more km’s turned it into a standard saturday ride course. today it would take us around the bottom of kings park, onto hay street through subi and over rebold hill. a quick lap around cottesloe and we would then head back the normal route through dalkeith.

despite the cold we had a decent turn up as we would have had close to 40 riders roll out. a nice and gentle trip along riverside drive and onto mounts bay road allowed the group to ease into the ride. even the climb up thomas rd was not too stressful as the group remained under control. as we rolled down hay st which becomes underwood ave, i was surprised when we hit the few rolling hills that there were no real attacks as everyone found a nice climbing pace to the top.

once we came around rebold hill, i was going to allow the group it’s head of steam up the climb and along west coast highway till we hit swanbourne. as we turned onto oceanic and started the two small climbs around rebold hill, dr nic came charging up the road from almost the back of the pack. she hit the front and kept going with nev not far behind. i was waiting to see who would react but the group looked content to let them go. i switched it up a gear or two and started setting a faster pace which the guys could get a tow behind. we picked up nev and then dr nic before the top of the hill and by the time we crested, had a group of around 7 or 8 riders. with the chase and hill over, the momentum left group and the rest of the pack caught up by the time we hit west coast highway.

the group really seemed to not want to go hard at all today, and it took a few prompts to get it to start chasing. michael and nick finally broke clear along this stretch of road before the group reacted. however, it didn’t even manage to get strung completely out as no-one seemed eager to flat out chase them down. we regrouped around the lights at swanbourne and made our way down to the southern end of cottelsoe to come back up marine parade. a few of the boys wanted to stretch their legs a bit and i was content to let myself slip to the back of the pack and take up position as last wheel. with the race set for tomorrow and my flu like symptoms forcing me to have tuesday off this last week, i was a bit dubious of my form. i had already struggled a bit on some of the climbs for today, and worried that it my be a bad sign for tomorrow.

so, the group stayed together through a relatively fast tour of cottesloe and we meandered our way past the swanbourne shops. a nice big 4wd decided that we were too slow and tried to get past only to find that he was running out of road before the intersection. he had to slow down and push back in, splitting the group in half. smart man. if he had waited ten more seconds he still would have made it to where he wanted to go.

the route took us back home through dalkeith and the group will always go hard along here. always??? not today. with team p0rn0 making other plans to see how we can control the sprint, none of us were planning to do any work on the front. this left nick and a couple of others to force the pace, and they were not keen to hurt themselves either. chris stamped off the front to try to get something going but no-one would chase and he soon grew tired of playing and was absorbed back into the pack. finally as the group approached the last few undulations on birdwood pde, the pace picked up thanks to nick, christophe and nev. the group strung out a bit but not to the extent that we have seen it smash everyone apart.

team tactics were still in play and we were trying to keep mid pack to keep us out of the work load and in position to attack. a car interrupted us on the turn onto hackett dve and the front guys got a bit of a break. i mentioned to chris that is they got a good set of lights onto mounts bay, we were done for. it would have been an unusual set of events to get that to happen, and we caught them as they sat waiting for the green.

now, the team tactics for the day was to sit in till about two km’s out and then we all go hard down the right hand lane to get a break. we would all line out and try to deliver ryan to the line in one piece. now it didn’t quite go to plan. just before we were due to go, stu got a puncture and was off the back for a quick change. when i finally did decide to go there was too much traffic and i couldn’t get into the right hand lane, so i knew that there would be some hangers on.

brendan had made a break earlier and had a bit of a gap on the field. nick was on the front chasing him down with the rest of the train strung out behind him. as i led off the front, with (hopefully) the rest of the team in tow, i knew that we were not going fast enough, or over far enough to stop anyone jumping on board. too late for second chances as we had committed to the move already. i did a turn and manged to pick up brendan from his breakaway. i flicked the arm for michael to come through and looked back to see what the move had created. half the field were attached to us and the rest were still being pulled along by nick. i hadn’t totally smashed myself as i was hoping that i could jump on board as the tail came past. as i waited for the many riders to pass by, i started to doubt that the move would pay off at all. i ended up letting them go up the road and paced myself to the coffee shop. it turned out that chris had done an extra big turn to deliver ryan to the line but with steve firmly attached to his wheel. steve wasn’t too happy with some of our tactics and was unhappy with a blocking move by chris at the end when he released ryan. oh well, not a complete failure, but we will try something different next week.


coffee stop was good, but with a notable exception. big john who works with me at rio, didn’t make it back to the shop. his wife was waiting for him (as is the tradition) but he phoned up saying the he had four flats on the way back from cottesloe. with stu hitting a pothole to puncture and dr melvyn’s brake levers coming loose (after some dyi maintenance) we were lucky that there wasn’t a stack.

i have also started to take orders for the new group jersey, as had been posted on here earlier. if you want anything (jersey, knicks, vest, armwrmers) then see me after the ride or send me an e-mail through the blog. i will finalise the order over the next couple of weeks.

race day tomorrow at wandi, so hopefully we can get a ride report from the hills ride a well.

ride routes 19th & 20th april

i will be back on deck for the saturday ride this week after a couple of weeks of clashes. however, i will be doing the trophy race at wandi on sunday so will miss the hills ride again, but i promise i will be there on the long weekend. thanks to darren for blogging last sunday's ride.

saturday 19th april
rebold hill & cott

sunday 20th april
welshpool & observatory & kalamunda rd

sunday 13th april - peter clark memorial part 02

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