Back on the bike

     Today was a good day.  Hauled my arse out of bed and threw a leg over the roadie for the first time in about four months.  Weather was awesome at 0530, overcast, a few spits of rain and warm enough not to need arm-warmers.  After a short spin to get to the freeway bike path I was ready for my long slow warm up ride into town.  I was feeling fantastic and couldn't believe that I'd gone without riding for so long.  Hooting and hollering, laughing out loud like a crazy person, slipping into a fairly cruisy rhythm. Highlight of the ride in was keeping pace with a seagull as I crossed the Mt Henry bridge.  So graceful and effortless that I had one of those moments that countless others have had over the centuries - "How cool would it be to be a bird?"
     I'd allowed ninety minutes to get the 28km into South Perth, which was clearly an overcompensation for my lack of fitness, but it was nice to not have to time trial it in to make it to the start.  I even had time for a coffee and chat at Atomic with Mark, SPR's reliable leadout man.
     Rocking up to Coode St carpark and there was a big SPR crowd.  Jordan did a double take upon seeing me there....  A decision was made to ride in the main group.  The route for the day was a standard round-the-river loop and things were feeling ok for the first bit.  It wasn't until we got to Claremont that I started to feel a little underdone but was able to keep it together.  Managed to do Mosman hill and up to the water tower without too much trouble too.  Things had started to become difficult approaching Fremantle however.  I got caught at the lights just before the bridge which split the group and that was almost me done.  I almost got back on after the bridge but not quite and when my quads cramped when I stood up for the short rise I knew that was it.  My quads rarely cramp and this was a real indication of my fitness level.  I was a bit disappointed because I reckon I may have been able to stay with the group if not for the unfortunate timing of the lights. Probably.
     A solo ride ensued until I caught up with Nicole on Bourke Drive.  We cruised back to South Perth, taking a few short cuts along the way.
     The SPR breakfast was a fine affair with a spread of sausages, rolls, fruit and drink.  Brilliant effort by the organising committee.
     The ride home was a struggle.  Needed a gel and some mental gymnastics to not stop.  Legs were aching and it was difficult to turn over the pedals.  Nothing that a recovery drink and half an hour sitting in the shower didn't fix though.
     Looking forward to getting out again - probably for the Queen's Birthday Public Holiday ride on Friday.  And maybe for a weekday ride in the not too distant future.  Golden Spokes is less than two weeks away!!!

     Must not let it be so long between rides ever again. Oh and for the record - Nathan was in the front group.

Ride details here.

Golden Spokes 2010

Thursday before the race... phone call....
Dave : "So how you feeling about the weekend?"
Toby (deadpan): "Yeah, I'm gunna win C grade at Golden Spokes"
Dave : "Oh ok then!  I'll come second shall I?"

  This race had been on the calendar for a while but it only really morphed into a 'must do' race for me once it became clear that it would be the first race that the South Perth Rouleurs were hosting.  It was important that the host club presented well for their inaugural official race event.

  As was my usual way, I was running late and rocked up to Champion Lakes a little behind schedule.  No time for a proper warm up, just register and make sure the bike was functioning before a short roll around before the start.  C grade was a sea of green with something like 14 of the 21 starters SPR members.  Talk about stacking the deck!  The general race plan was to get Toby to the finish so he could do his thing.

  When we were released the pace wasn't anything special and the pack was cruising along. Everyone seemed to be settling in and finding themselves in the first five kilometres or so. Approaching the hairpin for the first time, I made a bit of a meal of it and I was on the tight inside line. Accelerating back up to speed it seemed the peleton was a bit sluggish resulting in myself, a guy with a red jersey and a moustache, Mark H and Zac getting a bit of a gap. I was bang up for a bit of this action and kept it going. Had no plans on staying away for the entire race but it'd be fun to ride in a break for a bit. These plans needed a slight re-assessment when I looked about after a turn and discovered Mark and Zac had gone back to the bunch. Moustache and I persisted for another lap but I had to ease up about four times and wait for him to tack on. No point pushing on with five more laps to go so we just pedalled on until the bunch caught us just after the hairpin again.

  Completing lap two the peleton was stretched out through the start area in kind of a venturi effect, but once the turn onto the back straight was done nobody wanted to apply any pace. There was a crosswind but it wasn't exactly raging, yet people seemed content to amble about. Being the patient soul I am, and having had enough time to recover from my earlier effort, I upped the tempo and moved off the front. Once again, not hoping to stay away but figured the longer I stay out in front then the better off any SPR team mates in the bunch would be. This move probably also contributed further to the slower pace as nobody would've bothered chasing hard. My time in the sun came to an end shortly after negotiating the hairpin for the third time and a bit before Scott's and Lorraine's vantage point.

Strung out down the back straight.

  The third lap and nothing much was doing. Down the back straight the crosswind dictated that everyone was hard right on the bitumen, ducking the occasional bush and shrub that was jutting out. Irish Nick in particular stood out for me doing some strong work on this lap.

  Fourth lap and I was starting to pay for my earlier adventures. Took in a gel at the end of the back straight, which was right when some guy wanted to try it on. Zac covered the move easily, and I could go back to trying to refuel. There seemed to be a lot of green hanging about at the back of the pack which concerned me at the time. Looking back, with the number of club riders it was inevitable that this would happen - there were just so many of us!

Jordan, Toby & Nick pushing it.

  The usual speed up occurred at the end of the lap and Jordan was upping the speed across the top.  I wasn't aware of it at the time but it was the little general himself, Toby, calling the shots here and he wanted the pace up. Down the back straight he was ended up well off the front by himself. I can safely say that I don't think I was the only one thinking that he'd had a brain explosion! How the bloody hell was he planning on hanging on for two laps? I even heard a few of the non-SPR riders mentioning that he was our sprinter. Toby built up a decent gap and by the end of the lap it was a few hundred metres.

Toby showing how it's done.

  Sixth and final lap revealed Toby to still be off the front. A few of the independent riders were trying to organise a chase down the back straight but a couple of crafty SPR riders were constantly inserting themselves and disrupting the effort. It was almost heart-breaking to see the moment when the non-SPR riders realised they were screwed and had to bite the bullet and chase. There was a guy in Cyclemania kit that wasn't helping at all much to their consternation. Despite Toby's mammoth effort, we approached the hairpin for the final time and it was clear that he would be reeled in. Jen tried to bridge across (and may have done, I was too far back to confirm) and a couple of other riders had a go too. No joy. All together with a few kilometres to go. Only one dodgy moment was when the speed was going up and somebody had a wobble in the gutter.



Zac in the lead - daylight second.

   The death. Just before the final turns Zac had a dash. More than one of us thought this a race winning move. Clearly some had other ideas! This point of the race had kind of snuck up on me and I found myself in a less than desirable position down the back. Ian and myself had caught the Jordan Express and moved up a bit but was still nowhere going into the turns.


Out of position... far from ideal.

 The group snaked it's way around the final turns and then we were in the finishing straight.  Not quite sure how, but I'd gone ok through the turns and now there was a more manageable number of riders in front of me.  Zac was still out there, Toby had somehow dug deep and was stuck to Mark H's wheel, as well as a few others.  A flat out, dead straight drag to the end.  I don't recall finding a suitable wheel so just went up a few gears and powered on.  Pulled in a few punters, Zac and Toby still ahead.  I didn't think I could reach our captain on the road, but had just enough to steal second place on the line.   SPR taking the first four places!

Winner winner chicken dinner!

  A video of the finish can be found here courtesy of El Prez.

Placings inversely proportional to height?

  It was a fun day out racing and the SPR team spirit was in full effect.  A massive thankyou to those volunteers that helped setup and packup, take photos, manned rego desks, marshaling the course, counted laps, supplied support and all the other things that made it a successful day on all levels.

Results can be found here, and my ride details can be found here or here.

Toby's awesome writeup is also well worth reading and more photos, courtesy of Mark de Castro, can be viewed here.

All pictures used in this report credited to Mark de Castro and Richard Smith.  Many thanks.

State Team Time Trial Championships

Another first for me today - Western Australian State Team Time Trial Championships in Pinjarra. Never participated in a team time trial before and was quite looking forward to this.  A fairly flat course awaited us.

SPR had entered five teams, three in Masters and two in Open. We were 'SPR Masters C' and our band of merry men consisted of myself, Mark, Snuggles (John) and Jordan. I thought we were a pretty well matched team and I was keen to get on our way. A short warm up on the trainers and a brief discussion about what was to follow. Shortish turns between thirty and sixty seconds would be the order of the day and letting each other know if the lead person was flagging. Jordan and myself had clip-on aerobars for the event, he had never used them before and I couldn't remember the last time I'd used them in a race. Advised the others that because of this they might want to give us some room instead of sitting an inch off our wheels. Better to be be marginally slower and not stack me thinks. Everyone was to stay together for the first 10km and no stopping for punctures or mechanicals - unless there was only three of us left of course (need to finish with at least three). Not much thought was given to the order of riders on the road but once we got underway and settled down it was Jordan, Snuggles, Mark then me.

I thought the pace was on for the first 10km and was acutely aware of not letting myself stay too long on the front. Jordan was pulling strongly, Mark had ants in his pants and was putting in great efforts and Snuggles was powering away too. I was getting my usual feeling of "Oh shit,... not sure I can keep this up..." The second 10km I came good and felt quite comfortable. We were passed by the 'SPR Masters A' team who started two minutes behind us somewhere here.... A small hiccough at the second turn (..go *around* the witch's hats Dave!!!) was overcome without further drama. I managed a big turn shortly after that and despite a moment where we thought we might splinter, we all rolled around the turn-around together.

A quick decision was made to stick together, dropping no one, for the time being. It was more of a headwind on the way back and having the team together would be handy.  The Eddy Hollands team had popped one their contingent but still sailed past us with ease.  We could see about 400m ahead of us one of the guys that had dropped off from 'SPR Masters A' which turned out to be Jason, but we never caught him!  In fact I think he pulled away further in the last 10km!

The final turn for the last 10km seemed to give us new life. I was chomping at the bit and was coming through early on Mark (sorry!), Snuggles was having a second wind and Jordan was as solid as ever. A small disorganised moment came at an unfortunate time, right when 'SPR Masters B' passed us with a few kilometres to go, but no harm done. We powered on to the finish, Mark was breathing down my neck and so I just kept going. Crossed the line together, 42km down at 37.7kph average. Not bad - SPR Thursday ride pace with only four of us. I was content with that, we all rode well, sensibly and hard.
  Results indicate we finished 8th from nine masters teams. 
Team time trialling is not unlike any other skill - it takes practice to excel.  When to go hard, when to skip a turn, when to encourage, when to ease up.  A lot of it is familiarity with your team mates, knowing their strengths and weaknesses.  I had a good time riding with the guys and I'd hope to be considered for a team in a future event.
 
My ride details can be found here, Jordan's here & John's write-up here.

SPR Thursday & track session

Insert post here

Thursday