eldavo wrote:This made the 4:30am alarm worth it by the end... final 3km stretch is my only section of Riverside Drive, end to end of the CBD.
Nice eldavo! Can't say I've seen Riverside Drive on a bike quite that early (at least having slept in the hrs before hand...)
Perth: My morning commute to work was slightly later than eldavo's - left about 7:00 am. Overcast but not raining, a little humid but still fresh enough to be pleasant. Basically just another great day to be on the bike!
Plenty of fellow treadliers out and about with some Bike to Work breakfasts happening. Good to see!
Without getting too "CCR" on you, I was pulling off from a blind-ish roundabout at the bottom of UWA when a strong group of four treadliers zooted through from the right at good clip and flew past me as I was getting my pace back up. Managed to bridge the gap to them by the next roundabout (at about 42-44kph) but I tend to leave a gap between myself and pro-looking treadliers (or for that matter - any treadlier: accident/design?) which an L-plater in a Land Rover saw fit to squeeze between. The Land Rover then slowed through the next roundabout (at this point I'm megred with traffic) so the gap opened. Pulled it back again when the cycle path re-appeared after the roundabout (41.5kph per Strava) but then the group were able to swing across a gap in traffic to the cycle path running along the river while I just missed the window so had to hang around.
From there they had a gap of probably 30/50 metres. Spent the next 2.5 kms along the river at (per my eyeFone device) 38.7km/h but with the odd commuter to dodge around was only able to hold and not close the gap. Caught them crossing the road under the narrows bridge when gaps in traffic conspired against them and not me, but felt it would probably cheating to call it a draw. Given my recently-acquired 80s steel frame, 12 speed DT shifting, laptop in backpack, platform pedals and boat shoes (not official Tour-issue) I figured no points were at risk...Just good to have a roll chasing a strong group - something to aspire to!
Big gathering over the narrows with what looked like a BBQ brekkie and lots of treadliers milling around. I personally am not able to stomach a feed immediately after a ride so rolled past cautiously. Turning left towards the city and a couple of treadliers in front of me were wobbling back onto the path with the BBQ brekkie in one hand and one handlebar in the other...facepalm... so not wanting to tempt fate began my "cooldown" a little earlier and just rolled into the office.
Treadlier