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!

sunday 9th mar - gooseberry & kalamunda

ride report by ryan

well, i was running strategically late today (i figured if i was late enough, i would miss the ride which would allow me to go jump back into bed. i felt i could do this without feeling bad as i had done an extra 90kms on top of the sat morning ride the day before. but to my dismay, everyone was rolling out of the carpark as i came onto canning highway so i just had to catch them up.

todays group consisted of nearly 50% females and 50% males. almost 6 and 6 i would hazard a guess at. josie and davina had come down to play with the big boys (ok, maybe not so big) but i was sad to see mike b in the line as this meant i would be hurt up the hills.
as i rolled past the pack near burswood, i noted there was a collective sigh (i am assuming this was because i was looking good in my white knicks and white sleeveless top??).
anyway, all pretty cruisy, some natter and taking of turns at the front out to gooseberry hill. simon was giving us instructions today as pete was giving 110% in the brw triathlon (seems he was having trouble walking for a good few days after, bike fitness does not translate into running fitness it seems).

approaching gooseberry hill, i thought maybe i would go a little harder at the front to put in a little distance between myself and mike b and stuart so i could ease up later and then jump onto their wheels as they came bay later on. well it did not take mike b long to come past and i attempted to sit on his wheel. this attempt was pretty feeble and as the road went up, so did the distance between my front wheel and his back wheel. i have only done this hill once before and i remember entertaining the idea of walking up the hill. well once again i was entertaining this notion, i am not sure why i hate this hill so much? i think maybe just a smidge too steep for me to stay seated the whole way?

well i arrived at the top a distant second and i went off left (the downhill direction) whilst mike b head right (still a bit of an incline). i am not sure who was next up but there were a group all close together (no stuart though, turns out he had dropped his chain at the bottom (very convenient i say)).

The trip to the bottom of the zig zag was fun, josie and her playmate (another young lady with tanned skin) took off, so i thought i may as well play with them and chased. i went past (being a man and all) and we kept the pace on the whole way down. slow for the corners and then charge out of them. on the last ‘zag’ i called out as there was gravel and one of the young guys had fallen off at this spot the last time i did this route. josie was behind me and was going very slow but still slid a fair bit and was nearly sitting on the road nursing some grazes, but she managed to keep the bike upright.

we regrouped at the bottom of the zig zag (well mike b took off ahead alone, which i was grateful for as i thought it meant i did not have to try so hard up kalamunda hill). i was mistaken, after choosing to head to the front and pull everyone along to the bottom of the hill, i see mike b had turned around and come back to find us. he then slotted back in with us.. damn..

up kalamunda hill, i tried to sit on mike’s wheel again but was unsuccessful once again (i was getting used to it) and resigned myself to second spot (looked back and there was noone in sight). looking forward, i did see lorraine and a few of her male friends (secret training??) and passed them a little further along the ascent. once again i am not sure who was after me (could have been josie??), i should pay more attention but mike b had taken off never to be seen again for the day.

coffee shop was as usual, too early for the opening of the fairy shop and the new waitress was not there, lucky we had the ratio we did, although josie had continued on for a little more riding (as did stuart when he caught up with us).

on the way home, we took the longer route home, i am not sure the details but down towards mundaring and then right up past carmel school? when we hit welshpool road, stuart kept the pace high on the ascent, i held his wheel for most of the ascent and then came past and let him have mine. the road then flattens and there are a few undulations till we hit the main descent. i wanted to push a little more on the way home as i felt the first half of the ride had been short (two nasty climbs though which hurt) and stuart held on to my wheel for most of the way.

down welshpool, i hit about 80km/hr i think as the road flattens out at the bottom and the cross wind disappears. we all regrouped and took off again, i wanted to do some more work so went to the front and kept the pace up. it was a lonely ride home, only davina came up beside me at one stage, i thought she was coming past to take a turn but she was just coming to say hello before she dropped back into line. we were held up at the railway line at the spot where dr melvin usually takes off, which broke the rhythm a little but then we took off again towards the mcdonalds lights.

josie had said she had my wheel but i think she thought she had miscalculated as i dropped back a little so she went ahead to find a better wheel. i then started my run a little way off the pack of the pack so when i came past them i was already a few kms faster than them and there was no chance they could hang on as i went past. worked out well and i was through the lights safe by a fair few metres.

then pulled everyone along berwick till the lights where the sprint sort of starts from. stuart came past at a pretty decent pace so i sat on him for a little while then i kicked. probably a little too soon again as jerard was sitting on my wheel again and pipped me at the post. some people can sleep at night by hiding all day till the last moment and i feel good at giving people the satisfaction of beating me every now and then.

well there is my round up of sunday’s events unfortunately it is all from my perspective and i did not pay too much attention to what was happening behind me. if anyone from a little further back has some insights on sunday’s ride, please come forward.

i have to mention stuart’s remark when i asked if everyone enjoyed the fast pace i set on the way home, he replied with ‘was that fast?’. next week he is on the front the whole way home.

sunday 3rd feb - welshpool & observatory & kalamunda

well another hot day was forecast, so i thought that we would stay close to the coffee shop as possible. the temp only dipped to 25 deg overnight so this generally meant that a crap night was probably had as well.

the course would take us up welshpool rd, over the observatory, up mundaring weir rd to kalamunda, back down the zig-zag and up kalamunda rd. it was a bit of a criss-cross on the map as we rode the same patch of road twice and also came within 100m of the coffee shop before riding back down the hill.

just over 20 riders showed up this morning, with the heat probably scaring most away. a couple of regulars were racing crits and ryan was sunning himself in thailand so i was interested to see who would bring the pain on today. it was therefore good when young mitch turned up (pictured). he is only about 18 or 19 and is in some wais program or something, so can pretty much ride a bike well. he has been out with us before and i have seen him crack ryan on a climb. so, it should be a good day.

as we rolled out we picked up alistar on berwick rd. al is a fly-in fly-out engineer, so doesn't come out with us very often. however, when he does, he usually does a good job of hurting us. stuart was also back after a week watching the tour down under and doing a few serious rides while over in adelaide. all in all it should make for an interesting ride.

the trip out was fairly uneventful. we picked up russell and doug along welshpool rd just to swell the ranks a bit. the main thing was the hot wind that was blowing directly into our faces all the way out. i sat at the back the whole way out as the pack got split early on and so i dropped back to ensure everyone was still on. this meant that i would be starting the climb behind the eight-ball. however, mitch, al and stu were all back with me too.

as the climb started, the pace at the front began to slow, so i started to come around. michael and ben s were on the front, but i wanted to try to thin the head of the pack out a bit. michael did stay at the front for long as he had decided to do the entire climb in the 53 x 19. just cause he can. i pushed the pace up the first section with al, ben, stu and greg in tow while mitch was still finding his way to the front. i was trying to set a hard pace while at the same time waiting to see who would be coming around. by the time we hit the main part of the climb, mitch had taken up the pace making and was making it difficult for all. a little way up the steeper section he accelerated again and i just did what i could to hold his wheel. we managed to gap the others, but not for long as stu bridged across quickly.

i didn't fair too well out of mitch's acceleration and began to drop off his wheel. by the time we past the servo, mitch had 50m on me and 20 on stu. once they hit the flat section, they both sat up and i managed to catch them. i told them we need to keep going to stay away from the others as this was all part of the game. the next step up in the hill i managed to hold on for a while, but mitch stepped up the pace again, and i fell off the back. i knew i couldn't catch them, so did what i could to try to stay away from the rest of the pack. repeatedly trying to stay on mitch's wheel meant that i didn't have much left, but managed to keep away from al to the top of the last pinch.

we regrouped at the top and headed onto the next climb. as we came past carmel and the sanitarium “factory” the group started to split a bit on the decent. I managed to come around the outside but on the uphill section I hit a rock or gum-nut with my front wheel while I was standing. it scared the crap out of me as it really twisted the handle bars in my hands. well it would have been interesting to get on tape as the video was running at the time.

we hit that little decent before the climb and I made sure I was already in the little ring as I know how steep this climbs starts out. russell turned off at this point so added to the others (dr paul, dr greg and dr ian) that we had lost on the first climb. I managed to get to the front and set the pace for a while. after the first pinch it is not a particularly hard climb, but long with dead roads that sap your strength. mitch eventually came around me and I managed to hold his wheel for a while. this also meant that we had gapped the field in the process. unfortunately my legs were not up to his standard and I fell off and ended up in no-mans land. by the time we got to the intersection, mitch had about 100m on me but also rode past the turn by about 20m. this meant that I “caught” him for the last pinch. stu had found his second wind and managed to bridge across as well.

a regroup at the top and we were on our way for a leisurely decent. not so leisurely for some as darren got cut off at the bottom of the hill and ended up leaving the road. I waited behind to make sure that he and the others were ok. the main group had kept on riding and we ended up getting scattered along pickering brook rd. as the main group was well and truly gone by the time I hit the climb, I decided to have a bit of a rest and just take it easy to the top. about halfway up the first part of the climb, todd caught up and past me. he wanted to know whether I got that on tape as he said it didn’t happen very often. at the very end, we picked up al who had tried to match it with mitch and was now feeling the aftermath.

we regrouped at the top and i asked who wanted to go straight to the coffee shop as it was only 100m away. we had a couple of takers, but as the majority were going to continue, peer pressure forced most of them to continue. i think if i had said that we would just go to coffee, there would not have been any complaints. i knew that we had to do more and we had lots of time up our sleeve. so down the zig-zag to the base of kalamunda rd.

when we turned onto kalamunda rd, the wind was coming quite strongly off the hillside and channeling straight into our face. this forced the group to split into little groups and i got caught in the middle one. i looked up the road and stu and al were in the front one, so i had to catch up as i didn’t want to give them 50m head start before the hill. i think that mitch was with me so we both came across.

as the hill picked up, i managed to come to the front and up the pace to thin out the pack again. my legs were starting to feel it but i kept pushing until only mitch and al were left. mitch then came around me and started pushing a bit harder. it was good to hear that his breathing was labored and i wasn’t making it too easy for him. al also came around and i managed to sit on for a bit. towards the top mitch then hit the turbo and spat me out the back. al lasted a further 10m before getting dropped as well. we just had to make do and maintained till we got to the top. it is a windy climb, so it was hard to judge how far ahead of the others we were, but we could still see mitch when we hit the top. neither al nor mitch were staying for coffee, so i was first in. well not exactly. christophe had ejected before the last climb and was happily relaxing with a coffee when we showed up.

water was the order of the day as i had sweated profusely throughout the ride. coke was also on the cards to get a sugar and caffeine kick to get me home.

the decent was good with the tailwind helping michael to get to 87 km/h and me to about 80ish. when we were all back together, we happily cruised along welshpool rd at about 40 without really needing to push to hard. as christophe and i led the pack along i was waiting for the attack to come and wasn’t disappointed. “mr excitement” aka dr melvyn took off around the pack to try to shake it up a bit. after weeks of trying the same move, he deceided to leave it a bit longer so he would have more of a chance. in the end we only had to sprint for about 100m before having to slow down for the lights.

the final sprint along berwick and christophe hit out early at the lights and got a bit of a break. i chased him down bringing jerry and greg with me. jerry came around me to take second wheel as we hit the downhill. i waited till we were back on the flat before launching. i came around both, but also saw a shadow on my right as greg was trying to come off my wheel. i had to sustain the sprint a bit longer than usual to keep him at bay, but also had another secret weapon. as it was hot, really hot, i was still sweating a lot. this managed to come flying off in the sprint and splatter all over greg as he tried to stay on my wheel. quite disgusting really, so next time he might want to be in front of me. rolled home and found the air-con had thankfully been left on. a quick weight check and i had lost 2 kg through sweating so it was an afternoon of drinking, drinking and more drinking.

sunday 27th jan - gooseberry & kalamunda

well it was forecast to be a hot one today and was already over 20 degrees by the time we started. about 25 rolled up to the start today which is a good turn out considering yesterday was australia's national drinking day.

the course today was going to be as quick and painful as we could make it. two quick climbs before coffee then a bunch of undulations before heading home. the two climbs were gooseberry hill, and kalamunda rd. i really hate both these climbs as one is just too steep for me and the other i find hard to get into a rhythm. but cycling is all about testing yourself...and hurting other people as previously discussed.

we rolled out and headed along great eastern hwy avoiding the little patches of broken glass. aussies are tops at drinking and seem to be even better at smashing bottles on the road after they have finished. luckily there was only a smattering mostly near bus stops. the weather was nice, the pace was easy, nothing really to say about the ride out. it was just a good opportunity to have a chat.

once we approached the hills we picked up another couple of riders. russell, who often latches on if we are heading this way, and a new guy neill. he was just out an about and jumped on board for the ride. i had done a turn and had headed to the back so was right at the tail end talking to neill when we turned onto ridge hill rd. this wasn't one of our main climbs, but is just steep enough and long enough to really hurt people.

as soon as the group hit the climb, it spread out across the entire lane. people were reordering themselves based on climbing ability and were trying to make their way around the slower riders. i looked up the road and greg and mike were close to the front, and i didn't want to get left behind. up out of the saddle and a quick sprint around the pack found me at the front but also near out of breath. i sat on gregs wheel for a bit before hitting it a bit harder and seeing how many we could drop off from behind us. by the time we got to the zig-zag rd, only greg and mike were close behind. i was guessing that mike was saving himself for the next climb. greg also said that he expected there to be a further climb, so he may also have had quite a bit in reserve.

a quick regroup and we headed off to gooseberry hill. now this hill is not really that long, probably 2 kms max. but it does have some really nasty sections that make you want to find an easier gear. the climb is really broken up into 4 sections. the initial climb which is fairly steep, a reprieve in the middle, a really steep section followed by a f~ckin steep section. the wonderful thing is that each section is preceded by a corner, so you don't really see it coming.

well i started mid pack again and had to come around the slower riders (i really must work on my positioning). once i got towards the front the pecking order had already started sorting itself out. i sat on gregs wheel with mike, jerry & michael in tow. we pushed on forming a gap to the others. i decided to see who wanted to hurt and came around greg to up the pace again. mike came with but the others kept up their steady pace. i am pretty sure once we hit the flatish section, it was only mike and myself, but greg may not have been too far behind. the reprieve section can often catch you out as you think that the hill is not too bad. you then turn the corner and start clicking back down the gears.

i tried to keep up with mike for as long as possible, but my legs were not working well today. i wasn't smashing the heart rate, but my legs were just heavy especially the quads. i kept pushing on and tried not give mike too much distance. after the next little bend in the road and the road kicks up even further, i heard greg had caught back onto my wheel. as i said, i really hate this climb. if you are afraid of heights they say not to look down. with this climb, it's best not to look up.

anyway, i kept the pace as high as i could so greg could not easily come around me. once i could see the road sign for the roundabout at the top, i accelerated a bit to see if i could close the gap a bit to mike and try to shake greg. dropped greg, but could not catch mike who was at least 50m in front once we hit the top. the only thing it did to me was put me very, very close to the spew zone. that awful feeling where, you know that you may have gone a little hard. i hate it as it takes a while to recover and i knew that the next climb wasn't too far away.

the rest of the guys made their way up to the top of the climb, but no-one really looked happy. it is that type of hill.

a regroup, before a nice decent down the zig-zag. the zig-zag is often used by groups to come up to kalamunda as every other way involves a steeper climb. it is however, a one way road that goes downhill. we have used it in the past, but find it a bit too shallow to use for a sunday hills ride. it is scary when you find a car coming the other way towards you. that didn't happen today as we were going the correct way.

the decent takes in 4 switch backs and was resurfaced a couple of years ago with nice smooth hotmix. only the last corner caused any problems as it was totally covered with gravel, so i waited to warn the rest of the pack. back down ridge hill rd again and onto kalamunda rd.

i don't know why i don't like this climb. we don't do it very often as it can get quite busy. i have also avoided it lately as it takes us directly to the coffee shop and the temptation to stop early is too great. anyway, the gradient constantly changes which makes it hard to get into a rhythm could be the main reason we don't get along.

i don't remember a lot of what happened on this climb. i know greg was there at the start and i jumped on his wheel. then i think mike came around and i tried to stay with him as long as possible. he was going hard and again my legs didn't want to play so i couldn't hold his pace for long. looking back i could see jerry and michael together and i was stuck in no-mans land between. a saw another couple of riders up ahead and soon past dr paul. he obviously hadn't stopped at the regroup to try to get a head start on the climb. i exhaled a greeting as i was starting to struggle by then. even the thought of keeping mike in sight by the top of the hill was going to be a hard ask. more than hard. he was long gone by the time i hit the funky gumnut roundabout at the top, but i did manage to keep jerry and michael at bay.

mike wasn't stopping for coffee but when i rolled in i found that i wasn't first either. darren and russell also hadn't waited at the base of the zig-zag and had beaten everyone else up the hill. well first to the coffee is the winner, so i couldn't begrudge them that.

being a short ride, and doing a bit extra after coffee meant that we rolled up early for a change and promptly took over most of the outdoor section. service was excellent and one of the waiters continually bought out jugs of ice water which was well received. paris-brest cafe kalumunda (free plug).

the conversation at the coffee shop is varied and will often cover most topics. mostly bike orientated, but with eight doctors on the ride today, it can sometime take a bizarre twist. i recommend staying for coffee just to listen in on what is said as i can't remember every detail. however, i would say that at least once every ride the whole table is pissing themselves laughing over some comment or story.

instead of the usual decent straight down welshpool rd, we were going to head down mundaring weir rd and though bickley valley, before heading back to the city. we usually head up this as the final climb of the day, so it was a pleasant change to be going down. we lost quite a few with a group of them deciding to take the quick way home. i was bring up the rear of the decent when i saw simon on the side of the road taking off his helmet. dr nick and myself pulled over to see what the problem was. apparently he had hit a bee at speed which had gone straight into his helmet and stung him on the scone. no allergy that he knew about so we continued, but i rode the rest of the way with him, dr nick and lindy.

the pack had waited near carmel school and we headed towards welshpool rd for the final decent. no cross winds today and i managed to keep up with the front guys. i even changed lanes at the bottom to take advantage of a passing 4wd's draft and manged to crack 85 km/h but was pedalling at 140 rpm to do it. i need more gears for both higher and lower.

after a regroup, we headed along welshpool rd proper when adi dropped onto the tri bars and attacked off the front. unusual move as he is a very passive rider, probably cause he is young compared to the rest of us. with the wind behind us, most people took the opportunity to stretch their legs and took off after him. it was earlier than we usually go, but a fun diversion nevertheless. as we approached the final stretch along berwick rd the set of traffic lights at kent rd kept us fairly well together. i jumped at the lights and actually got on behind a couple of cars which were helping me to extend the gap. however, the road works conspired against me as one of the cars was turning so the other now couldn't get around.

in the interest of making the world a safer place for pedestrians that don't know how to look both ways, they are converting the rest of two lane berwick into single lane with huge traffic islands in the middle. these "traffic calming" devices are fine if you are a single cyclist, but now the cars cannot get around groups of riders as they don't have enough room to pass before another traffic island appears. it just makes them hate us more.

anyway, we got the next set of lights which let everyone group up again. michael hit out hard and i jumped on his wheel, letting him draft me to the final sprint. as we approached the end greg and i think jerry started coming around so i got up out of the saddle and went for it too. the sore legs came back to haunt me as i got a bit of a gap but couldn't maintain it and greg slid past at the end.

no last second car park crashes like last week, so i good ride all around. the morning was heating up so it was off home to a shower and an air-con, before watching the crits in vic park. legs are also looking forward to the recovery ride tomorrow. the picture is supposed to be of where the bee stung simons head, but he didn't do the decent thing and swell up for the camera.