It started as a casual remark at Paddles’ corner on Friday morning. “How about a ride on Monday?” said O’Dirty. Paddles was keen, but desired new roads to explore. “Jarrahdale” I suggested, unsure if I’d be able to make it out but happy to suggest a route based on a solo ride I’d done a couple of year’s back. Little did I know that by mid-morning on Australia Day the Coglioni engine-room would have completed its first serious training ride for 2009.

It could have been one of those rides that never happened, but a few phone calls on Sunday afternoon was enough to make a plan to meet at 6.30 the next morning. Paddles and O’Dirty were at the corner of South Street and North Lake Road when I rolled up in the pre-dawn gloom, soon to be joined by Blinder. Stuey was a possible starter so we gave him a few minutes. Ironically his reputation for punctuality almost cost him a chase, as I was keen to run a tight schedule, having optimistically claimed I’d be home around 10.30. But before long sharp eyes spotted him powering up the hill to the intersection.

I’d worked out the route at 5.00 am, trying to make it more interesting than the freeway bike path oriented route I’d used before, and decided that the first leg should expedite our journey and simplify the task of remembering the route by sticking to main roads, assuming the traffic would be light at this early hour. This proved to be true as we rolled down North Lake Road, but after about ten minutes it seemed time to tear up the schedule. The pace was pedestrian and O’Dirty and Stuey had each tried to hold things up by mysteriously dropping off the back and tossing sunglasses to the ground respectively. Meanwhile Blinder and Paddles were chatting casually instead of working up a sweat.

But a warm-up is in the nature of things, even on a warm morning, and the pace picked up of its own accord as we turned south on Jandakot road. Blinder and Stuey took turns testing their legs off the front on bumps in the road, but otherwise our little bunch was starting to look like the well-oiled Coglioni machine from last year’s Cyclosportif season. Only a little though, as O’Dirty, Stuey and your humble scribe had chosen our kit randomly, albeit all with unifying flashes of red, while Blinder and Paddles were resplendent in their respective choices of blue and red Coglioni livery.

At the end of Jandakot Road I was disappointed to find that its proposed extension as Mason Road had not yet been made, despite my route having been planned with a more than decade old street directory. This meant we would have to ride a short leg on busy Forrest Road into the rising sun. Far from ideal and something to be revised the next time we come this way, but we were soon heading south again on the reassuringly neglected tarmac of Taylor Road.

By this time five were riding as one and the kilometres rolled by as we rode alternately south and west on the grid of semi-rural backroads between the Freeway and the South-Western Highway. The lads seemed keen to reach the climb as even the light southerly that promised an enjoyable return leg failed to dampen the pace.

Coming up the back way to Jarrahdale via Nettleton Road the scarp is tackled in three stages of about five kilometres each. The first stage starts with a gentle rise that tips up a little after crossing the highway to peak at 100 metres before giving back 25 in a swooping half-kilometre descent. The next stage climbs almost 200 metres at a mostly comfortable gradient, a couple of ten per cent pinches notwithstanding. The last stage undulates up another 50 metres to reach a high point of 315 metres. Hardly alpine meadows here, but a nice climb for Perth in dappled sunlight, with only the threat of kangaroos and the odd passing vehicle to disturb the ambience.

With the cima coppi passed the road undulated steadily downwards to Jarrahdale producing bouts of friskiness from all but the ever cool-headed Paddles. Reaching Jarrahdale Road we turned left up the hill (”of course”, Paddles would say) to take respite at the cafe at the Jarrahdale General Store, an old friend to weary Munda Biddi riders. We rolled in at 8:28, a couple of minutes ahead of my unlikely schedule.

After twenty minutes of downing mugs of coffee and chomping on raisin toast it was time to rally the troops. With ablutions, faffing and a photo stop duly completed it was 9:00 sharp and we had slipped effortlessly fifteen minutes behind schedule.

I didn’t have fond memories of the Jarrahdale Road descent from my last trip here, as a nasty headwind blunted the pleasure of the plummet while heavy traffic made dodging the many ruts and potholes a stressful task. There was far less wind, not much traffic and seemed to be less flaws in the tarmac, so it was all in all far more pleasant. But it remains one of my less favourite drops off the scarp, as there is really only one solid piece of downhill about a kilometre long, and too much traffic to relax and enjoy the feeling of gravity doing the work.

Back on the coastal plain the schedule was starting to look plausible again, as the gentle southerly urged us along, and I watched the average speed gained on the descent sit resolutely at 36 km/hr. It was champagne cycling as we criss-crossed the rural roads back towards the Freeway with turns rolling rapidly and solidly by. We lost a little momentum at the Freeway as four-fifths of the bunch missed the bike-path on-ramp and had to double-back, but with a little nudging we were soon humming along again.

Close to home Blinder’s local knowledge came into play as he took us via a cunning back-way to Farrington Road. I took my leave of the bunch at Winterfold Road and found the day’s efforts starting to take their toll as my legs complained sharply on the little hills of Spearwood. Nevertheless I was back in the drive only eight minutes off my ambitious schedule, with an average for the return leg of 34 km/hr, and something around 31 for the full 115 kilometres. A great day out and one that should prompt the reuse of this route in the near future. Just be sure to check the weather for a forecast of a light southerly to blow you happily home.