City of Perth Great Bike Ride

Had a blast doing the City of Perth Great Bike Ride on Sunday the 25th November! Whilst it's not meant to be a race, it definitely has that competitive flavour, which makes it interesting!

I started off in group K (groups A to D were for the two lap 106km ride whilst groups E and back were for the 1 lap 53km version), as not having done it before I was a little unsure of what to expect. Next time I'll get up into the higher groups: the sheer number of riders (3,845 this year!) means that, although you start off in groups separated by a minute's gun time, you very quickly catch up with groups ahead if you are back in the field and can motor at a decent pace. The road course is restricted to one lane, so it quickly becomes slightly difficult to maneuver around riders and progress forward, particularly in the earlier part of the ride. Riding by myself did however mean that I was able to scoot around various groups riding together which was fun!

The course was generally flat, with a few larger hills at about one-third distance mark, and some undulating territory in the last half: overall, a good and enjoyable ride. Rolling down the freeway on the run home was a buzz, although the anticipated following wind was more of a side one but never mind!

Overall, I managed to make up a few positions, finishing 219th in a time of 1:30:30 at an average of exactly 35km/h. I was hoping to beat 1:30:00, but maybe next year. Although I may do the 106 km two lap ride - depends on if I can get up at 5am or not!

Amusingly, the organisation responsible for the timing on the day has my age listed as 22 in the results sheet! Hehe - not sure what's going on there: clearly my youthful appearance belies my actual chronological age of 47!

Anyone interested in checking their times can do so at the following link:

blueChip Timing

My Masi 3VC Volumetrica performed beautifully - well suited to this ride, with supple vertical performance and nice handling. My new TWE wheels were a revelation: super stiff laterally but with nice vertical compliance and superb rolling! If I'd have known custom built wheels could be so good I would've swapped long ago! Thanks to Greg Ryan at TWE:

TWE Wheels