Yesterday I went out with the Crossing Crew for the first time in quite a while. We did a nice 90km-ish ride to Freo, around to Raffles, down the freeway to Roe Hwy, along the bike path (which is in excellent condition and good for individual or group efforts) to Orrong Rd and then back into town. It felt good to be back out with the group again and doing some work at the front.

Today was the Freeway Bike Hike. We started the 60km route in Kwinana and rode to Joondalup, averaging 42.6km/h along the way. The Broad Team did a lot of work at the front; Tony, Richard and I helped out along the way doing a few efforts up hills and on the flats. Out of the 500-odd starters in the "A" group we ended up with about 50 in the pack at the end. Not such a bad effort.

We didn't see any serious incidents. One guy came off his bike at the 3km mark but was seen carrying it off to the side. Apparently there was a fall at the 15km mark where a rider broke some ribs and punctured a lung but it must have been in the pack behind us - I didn't hear or see anything. Apparently it took about 30 minutes for the ambulance to get to him. And as we were coming into Joondalup a few riders were surprised by the curbing that appeared at the freeway offramp (onramp for cars at Hodges Drive) so there were a few scrapes and bumps there.

I would have liked to have raced today but there were no day licenses available and I only got my racing license sorted out this week - well after I'd registered for the event. Plus, I wasn't sure I could keep up their pace - apparently they averaged 45km/h so it seems acheivable for next year.

Lisa did participate in the race and held onto the end to take 4th place in the women's event so congrats to her for a very nice effort.