5/22 rides..Don't try this at home

[crazycanuck]

Perth's weather has been pretty crazy to say the least in the past few days & had no idea if it would pour or what on my roadie ride this morning. Urm..let's just say it's going to be a Coach Troy weekend. Perhaps a mtn bike ride..

I was going to leave really early this morning but woke up to more crazy winds n rain so I ventured back to bed. I even checked the weather radar & didn't see any heavy rain blotches so it encouraged me to go.

I ventured off & it wasn't raining plus the black clouds were hovering somewhere else. At least I was dressed for properly for the occasion Firt 12km of the ride were fine, just a bit windy..

When i got to Applecross, things started to go downhill. It rained a smidgen then started to pour but didn't want to turn back as I somehow knew it would clear in a few minutes. WRONG!!! Headed to the cycleway underpass & noticed it was flooded.Not just a little flooded but Peeked around the corner & there was no way i could bike through so i ventured back over the bridge. Just about got blown away but decided I had to press on. oops..

I got onto the Kwinana Fwy bike path(purpose built bike path that runs along & beside it) and saw waves crashing OVER the path and onto the freeway. Uh, that didn't look promising but thought perhaps it might get better. Wrong..Wrong again The wind just picked up & blew me into the side of the path. Hopped off my bike & ran for a few min. I looked back and it was worse than what was ahead so i continued. There are a few ped overbridges to South Perth that I thought about taking but I wanted to battle the elements.

I then heard a honk & two guys in a small flatbed ute pulled over to the side of the fwy and offered me a lift. Twas fine as traffic was slooooww moving. Climbed over the fence & got into a warm vehicle . The gents were going very close to where I was headed too!!

Am I ever grateful for these two I have a feeling the rest of the path was under water & the exposed areas would have been I ventured to my fave coffee shop, decided i'd skip the rest of my ride as I was soaked and had no clue if there was another weather related surprise out there for me. The route I was thinking of going would just have been way way way too windy esp near the ocean. I took the train home & noticed another bike path under water.

I want to do a hill ride this weekend but the roads are pretty crappy, branches everywhere, small trees have been uprooted etc. Just crazy weather(at least til tues..then sun!!!). Dirt sounds good at the moment.

[Trekhawk]

I would stay clear of the hills this weekend. We have had a lot of trees come down in my area and power lines as well. All the lines are now back up but trees are still down in some areas and the amount of debris on the roads is huge. The trails near my house also have heaps of branches etc all over them so if you do MTB up near here take care.

LOL if you thought we had a lot of honky nuts on the road before you should see it now.

[OakLeaf]

Eeek! Be careful out there! Glad you found someone who didn't mind getting their truck soaked.

[crazycanuck]

Trekhawk, i think the trails & hills can wait til next week! I thought about just riding uphill from Mundaring to Kal but urmm i'd most likely be blown downhill

I wondered about riding from my fave cafe today to freo but then realized the wind along the route would just be triple . I know i made the right choice when i saw the news tonight about a famous concrete marker at Cottesloe beach being blown over!

[Crankin]

CC, that weather sounds frightful! Be careful.
Went for a 19 mile flattish ride. It was HOT. Even though the thermometer said 79 when we got back, it felt a lot hotter. Not a really shady route.
I felt better than yesterday, but still trying to baby my neck and back.
If I hear the weather person say "it feels like Phoenix out there," one more time, I might throw something at the TV!

[Biciclista]

yikes! sounds like a good day to stay home and make cookies or something!

[hipmama]

Crazy ride here today too, what's up?!
Morning was good, was out just doing drills practice- doing my LCI training seminar/certification this weekend and need to tune up some stuff there.
Then had plans to tandem out to a friends house which would give us a 30 mile round trip- good since it's almost 90 degrees out. Got my period which traditionally means it's not going to be a good ride. I feel fine but something bad always happens!
So, we got 5 miles out and my front crank about falls off We're about 1 mile from a bike shop, and on the wrong side of a really busy street to get to it, so I shove it in and rig it up to be able to gently pedal at a low gear to get to the shop where they tell me it was never assembled right - one of the screws wasn't tapped in and I have to go drill the hole, or leave it there for 2 weeks, which was when they would be able to get to it because they are so busy. So they tighten it up enough that we can take it home and I take another route to avoid the hills and construction I would normally be going through and we take a longer quieter route- which I don't normally take and forgot that there's about a 6" dropoff from the side of the road, no bike lane, and a vehicle lane not wide enough to share, in rush hour traffic. So we forced a shared lane and wobbled our way home. Ugh!
Set up with a rack to put the tandem on tomorrow and someone to help me with the drilling, I really don't want to mess that up.
Did get home to random cyclist who I kind of know from here and there parked in front of my house and climbing the fence (he could have used the gate, he's just a little funny) to drop off bike route maps for all through NY for us, so that was pretty sweet. I paid him in cold water.

[ZooZoo]

The weather here is beautiful, fortunately. Did 22 miles, in my best time yet, in my highest gears yet (yeah, I'm still a newbie). Felt really good. Plan on riding again tomorrow and Sunday (different paths). the weekend is supposed to be great this weekend.

[Becky]

DH is out of town, so my friend K. and I went to Fair Hill for some mountain biking. He's only been there once and DH leads when we go, so it was the blind leading the blind. We managed to get pretty lost at one point. However, I was pleasantly surprised how much I remembered.

I was having trouble with my front derailleur for the first few miles. It either would shift down to the granny, or it would throw the chain directly past the granny and onto the bottom bracket shell. It must have been gunk in the derailleur, because it seemed to eventually work its way out. After that, things were great!

We found some great singletrack that we'd never done before, and I rocked an obstacle that I normally balk at. All in all, it was an awesome ride I scrubbed the heck out of the front derailleur when I got home

[cylegoddess]

My BF told me( he lives in perth)
that he dad ridden to work and swore at one point it was hailing!
Also he said, he felt like a crazy old man( or as my friends call them in Canberra 'the nut brown old men who pass you like your a little girl) as only the dedicated old guys or crazy young women joggers were out!
He at one point, found out that there was anew lake created over the cyclepath, and was jeered at schoolboys at the window of the school near by, for not riding thru it.