No racing on Sunday means smashfest on Saturday! Dennis had delivered a new route that took the groups out along Great Eastern Hwy, through Bedford up to Morley Drive, out to West Coast Hwy, down through Claremont and back to the bike shop. Probably easier just to look for yourself here. It wasn't overly hilly but then it wasn't completely flat either but it would allow for the opportunity to ride it at significant pace. Group 1 wasn't big on numbers so we combined with Group 2, 3 and 4 to get started but this wasn't set to last.
The pace out along Great Eastern Hwy rarely took the pace over 30 km/h which boded well with me as I had heard about the impending climb up Creswell Rd. The ride to that point would allow me to warm up the legs and prepare for the assault we would make on that hill. I'd never climbed it before but Simon had and mentioned it was a difficult one. I had looked it up on Strava to see how people performed on the climb and only one person claimed a pace greater than 30 km/h, which appeared to be one of those cheat climbs with a car or motorised bike. So it looked like a tough one and with the training load I had done since last Sunday, it would take a monty of an effort to beat it but I was ripe for the challenge.
Well, I was until that hill loomed up above us into the distance as we approached it from Woodrow Ave. It wasn't Crystal Brook Rd or some other climb out in the hills but considering it was the middle of suburbia, it was a monster none the less. It seemed to have an initial kick, a false flat and then a final brutal rise to the roundabout at the top. The Strava segment was set from the roundabout at the bottom of the climb up to the roundabout at the very top of the climb. It would be a case of trying to complete the climb as quickly as possible, which meant BIG CHAIN RING!!
My aim for the assault would be to replicate the efforts up Forrest Drive in Kings Park where we would hit a pace of 40km/h before the climb started and then maintain it for as long as possible. The distance would be similar to Kings Park but the gradient would be far worse so it was going to take some real hurt and grunt to get to the top. Simon's previous best effort was just over 21 km/h so I had set him the challenge to try and get a PR and also to beat me. A challenge he was seemingly happy to accept.
With about 50 metres to the first roundabout, I fired the burners and set my sights on getting the climb over and done with as quickly as possible. I hit 40 km/h as I passed through the first roundabout so was on target to replicate the Kings Park efforts. The gradient to the first rise wasn't sharp and it seemed easy enough to get to the false flat without burning too much energy. I had anticipated that the false flat would offer some respite before the second, steeper part of climb but it wasn't forthcoming and I was soon feeling some pretty harsh pain in the guns. I was still pushing the big chain ring and wasn't prepared to change down so continued to shift to larger rings on the cassette.
About half way up the second part of the climb, fatigue from the week's training kicked in rapidly and the lactic build up was intense enough where I almost came to a complete stop. At this point, Will and another rider had come around me at a pace I would not be keeping but it did inspire me to keep pushing and not let the hill beat me. I was out of the saddle and pushing hard through the pain and was expecting Simon to come around as well but there was no sign of him and I hit the roundabout at the top with memories of Malcolm Street pain flooding back into the legs. 24.8 km/h average - not bad.
We regrouped at the top which seemed to have us waiting for a while so it was clearly not a pleasant climb for a number of people and the group had been demolished by the hill as riders came in one or two at a time. I kept the legs moving by circling the roundabout but seemed to miss the point where Groups 1 & 2 had departed and I was amongst the group 3 & 4 riders who seemed to give me looks of surprise as I made my way through them looking for my fellow Group 1 members. By the time I had reached Morley Drive, they had about 400 metres on me up the hill leading to Flinders St. It was going to take some effort to pull them back so I set into a hunch over the handlebars and began the chase.
Red traffic lights seemed to be the main perpetrator responsible for screwing up any momentum in the ride this morning and it was no different at Flinders St intersection with a red light halting my progress and allowing the group ahead to get away again. A quick skip to the side and over the pedestrian crossing had me over the other side and continuing the chase quick enough, but not before I had lost any ground I had gained previously.
I eventually caught the group just before the Main St intersection with Javan suddenly on my wheel. I had no idea he was even riding this morning. He was trying as hard as he could to keep my wheel but the red light at Main St allowed him to catch on as well. I made my way to the front of the group in anticipation of the climb up to Karrinyup shopping centre and as we crossed the freeway and rolled to the Huntriss Rd intersection, Javan joined me on the front and we completed the climb together before Jav was replaced by Simon for the recovery roll down to West Coast Highway.
At this point, the knowledge of having no race tomorrow spurred me on to turn the ride into a smash fest. I wanted it to be as it was on Friday morning along Riverton Drive where riders would either hang on or be demolished. I used the rise up West Coast Hwy into Scarborough to set the tempo and see who would be up for the challenge. The group appeared to have thinned out a bit as riders already began to drop off. The usual suspects were still with me at this point.
Another red light at Scarborough Beach Rd allowed a bit of respite and a bit of a regroup but there was another climb out of the intersection and I was keen to set a strong pace up and over onto the flat stretch down West Coast Hwy to City Beach. I immediately picked up the tempo to about 44 km/h and again, it would see some riders drop off the back while others would take the opportunity to roll turns and keep with the pace. I was happy to take more turns on the front in order to keep the HR up and improve the HR average for the ride and it was here that the Strava PRs were starting to be collected (see below).
As we pushed on through a few more traffic lights (not all red surprisingly) the bunch was now looking a lot thinner and we were about to hit the rolling hills of the southern end of the highway which would thin it out even more. I was still pulling long turns at the front, however 1 or 2 other riders would continue to offer me some respite and a chance to recover slightly before noting a decline in pace where I would come around and pick it back up over 40 km/h.
As we pulled off West Coast Hwy and into Servetus St in Swanbourne, there was a call to look at a regroup but there was no sign of any of the riders that had been dropped by the pace so with 7 riders remaining, we decided to continue on and keep the smashfest going. We pushed through to Stirling Hwy in Claremont at a steady pace but not quite up to the 40+ km/h we had been keeping but this was only brief respite as we continued on to the top of Victoria Ave and I picked up the pace to continue pushing the limits of the other riders.
Again, there were some opportunities for respite and recovery as 1 or 2 riders would come around and take a short turn at the front but as the pace slowed on each of these turns I came around again to pick the pace back up. This was keeping my HR at threshold where it had been for close to 20 minutes at this point.
I collected another PR with the effort down The Avenue and onto Hackett Drive up to the traffic lights at Mounts Bay Rd for another red light and a chance to regroup. It was now time to sort out the remainder of the group and put the pressure on along Mounts Bay Rd. As we rolled through the traffic lights I was still on the front and I latched onto the back of an older Mercedes Benz that was heading in the same direction and that was it - my chance to break away from the group with a bit of motor pacing!
The Benz gradually picked up speed and I kept with it for as long as I possibly could but once it hit 60 km/h it was enough for it to pull away but not before it had taken me at least 1/3 of the way along Mounts Bay Rd and had had the desired effect of separating me from the rest of the group. I was keen to keep the burners going and kept the pace up over 40 km/h right the way through to the Old Swan Brewery with a significant gap on the bunch. Unfortunately a semi-trailer had botched my approach to the roundabout before the Narrows and I lost some significant pace and time before I switched back on the PSP and passed the group who had gained some ground on me. I still managed to record my 2nd best time of 00:03:23 and 42.6 km/h average.
As I came around again to begin the climb up over the Narrows I noticed Simon had skipped up over the grass to catch me as I came onto the bridge properly - a cheeky move but it worked for him. As I came around to pass back under the Narrows, Simon was now on my wheel and was proving hard to shake so I allowed him to keep me company in anticipation that he would take a turn at the front, offer me some respite and recovery where I would then finish him off with a sprint for the shop along Mill Point Rd.
As we passed by Douglas Ave, Simon still hadn't come around for a turn at the front and I was beginning to think he wouldn't when sure enough, he came around right on cue and the pace dropped a little bit. I "encouraged" him to keep the pace above 40 km/h and he responded for a while but was showing signs of fatigue with gear changes up and down the cassette and struggling to keep the pace. This was my queue to come back around and fire the guns for the last time toward the shop. It was certainly enough to break away and I completed the ride some 70 metres ahead. There was absolutely no sign of anyone else from the group and I was in the shop some 3-4 minutes before the rest of the group (other than Simon).
It was the perfect smash up and I loved every minute of the pain that the last half of the ride inflicted. It wasn't hilly by any means but it sure allowed me to push the limits by keeping the pace right up with the HR at threshold. I could certainly feel the week's training efforts throughout the last part of the ride but I was still happy with the effort. I also managed to rack up a couple of PRs as I went and, yep, I managed to keep Simon at bay on the climb up Creswell St:
Creswell Rd (Climb)
Wignut's Super Sprint (West Coast Hwy)
TSR Reverse Pines (Vicroria Ave)
TSR Monument Sprint (Birdwood Pde)
The Avenue (Top to Bottom)
UWA Sprint (Hackett Drive)
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