Perth, Pickering Brook, what's it like?

suggest you re-post the question on:

http://www.wa.cycling.org.au/
or
http://www.triwa.org.au/discus/index.html

You may get a reply from one of the organisers...

su22 said:

There's a road race and time trial around Pickering Brook (14.5km loop), 58km for women and 120km for men, as part of the Australian Uni Games. I'm keen to find out what the course is like, and if it's going to be hot around September. I've heard that the course is hilly and quite hard, and the Tour de Perth is run around there.

Any feedback, comments, tips and reviews would be awesome.

it definitely wont be hot in september, around 18-24 degrees, but it could be a shocker on the day and be around 12-13 and wet and windy. Hard to tell in september....

The course you are referring to is the easiest course in the hills really. A couple of rolling hills but nothing to put experienced racers in any trouble. It really is a power racers course. There is a flat section and the finish line is on a downhill section so unless you are a sprinter you will need to attack on the rolling parts of the course and hold it, otherwise you are just a wind break for the sprinters. Not too windy up there as it is very protected.
Could be very cold if the race is in the morning. In september the minimum temperature up in pickering brook would be about 0 -5 degrees.

wow thanks Byron, that's a really helpful! 🙂

su22 said:

wow thanks Byron, that's a really helpful! 🙂

I have just been thinking about the distance you mentioned in your initial post (14.5km) and the course i mentioned is around 12km so maybe it is the other course. Ill give you the rundown on that too, as im not totally sure now on which course it is, butanyhow, here goes....

The other course, if its the same as the tour de perth has two difficult hills, one very sharp, steep but not too long, while the other is longer and a bit flatter but really where the breaks seem to go. If you are a climber, you will love it, otherwise just hang on and maybe get time on the flats. I blew up on this course by attacking on a flat and lost 5 minutes so maybe im not the best person to get advice from 😉.
Will they put the course on the web before hand?

byron27 said:

I have just been thinking about the distance you mentioned in your initial post (14.5km) and the course i mentioned is around 12km so maybe it is the other course. Ill give you the rundown on that too, as im not totally sure now on which course it is, butanyhow, here goes....

The other course, if its the same as the tour de perth has two difficult hills, one very sharp, steep but not too long, while the other is longer and a bit flatter but really where the breaks seem to go. If you are a climber, you will love it, otherwise just hang on and maybe get time on the flats. I blew up on this course by attacking on a flat and lost 5 minutes so maybe im not the best person to get advice from 😉.
Will they put the course on the web before hand?

I'd say it is the same course as that used usually for Time Trials? What is that like? The AUG Time trials are also held at Pickering Brook on a 7.7km course?

http://www.unigames.com.au/aug/sports_individual_cycling.html

yes, here's the info on uni games:
Pickering Brook Rd, Patterson Rd, Walnut Rd, Glenslea Rd and Canning Rd
-Road Race
-Teams/Individual Time Trial

Road Race
14.5km Course Pickering Brook
Men – 7 laps - 101.5km
Women – 4 laps - 58km

Teams Time Trial
7.7km Course Pickering Brook
Men – 6 laps – 46.2km
Women – 4 Laps – 30.8k

Individual Time Trial
7.7km Course Pickering Brook
Men – 6 laps – 46.2km
Women – 4 Laps – 30.8km

Criterium
0.9km Course - Town of Cambridge, Underwood Avenue, Floreat
Men – 60min + 3 laps
Women – 30min + 3 Laps

but the probability of me racing now is slim-- im trying to recover from a chronic hamstring strain, which isn't looking good. And ill probably not risk doing it Jana Pittman style-- this is uni games, not an Olympic gold! but im still hanging on in hope.thanks for your comments though

su22 said:

http://www.unigames.com.au/aug/sports_individual_cycling.html

yes, here's the info on uni games:
Pickering Brook Rd, Patterson Rd, Walnut Rd, Glenslea Rd and Canning Rd
-Road Race
-Teams/Individual Time Trial

Road Race
14.5km Course Pickering Brook
Men – 7 laps - 101.5km
Women – 4 laps - 58km

Teams Time Trial
7.7km Course Pickering Brook
Men – 6 laps – 46.2km
Women – 4 Laps – 30.8k

Individual Time Trial
7.7km Course Pickering Brook
Men – 6 laps – 46.2km
Women – 4 Laps – 30.8km

Criterium
0.9km Course - Town of Cambridge, Underwood Avenue, Floreat
Men – 60min + 3 laps
Women – 30min + 3 Laps

but the probability of me racing now is slim-- im trying to recover from a chronic hamstring strain, which isn't looking good. And ill probably not risk doing it Jana Pittman style-- this is uni games, not an Olympic gold! but im still hanging on in hope.thanks for your comments though

That is the tour de perth circuit. Get ready to suffer!!!!
7 laps of that will bring you to another mental plain!
For this concentrate on hill intervals/repeats. There are no significant flat sections and the majority of it is climbing or descending.
The topography: Pickering Brook road is flat and then downhill towards the primary school, patterson rd is a long hill which flattens slightly for a couple of hundred metres and then has another short climb and walnut rd is a total downhill 75-80kph speedfest and glenisla is rolling for 500-600 metres and then it is a sharp, nasty climb thats not too long up to Carmel College. From my experiece the flats are for recovering and attacks generally always occur on patterson road. It is a good place to attack as it is a mentally destroying hill.