It's 4am on Sunday morning. I've just managed to avoid 30 very drunk teenagers in Wells, who still haven't gone home after the England game; I've been riding for 22 hours and I'm shattered. My planned sleep stop at a 24 hour MacDonald's hasn't happened because I don't actually know where the MacDonald's is. Suddenly, one of my riding companions, Fraser stops and signals to the left. There, a farmer has left a field gate open and there's a full wheat field. I don't hesitate, so I climb off my bike and lie down for a sleep. It's not gone well, but at least I'm getting the full audax experience.
To become a 'Super Randoneur', one has to ride a 200, 300, 400 and 600km audax ride in a season. As well as that, this is the requirement to gain entry into Paris-Brest-Paris and riding a 600 event in the year preceding PBP would mean I would stand a better chance of my entry being excepted. I guess my two main reservations were the distance (obviously) and the fact that the mercury in every British thermometer was rapidly going up. However, this was my one and only chance to do a 600 so I got my entry in (all £6 of it). This was an 'x-rated' event; nothing sleazy, but it meant that every rider would have to be completely self sufficient with no formal, manned controls. I would have to prove I had been through each town by getting a shop receipt or atm slip. Sleep was another issue. My very lose plan was to keep going until I would have to stop and then rest up, although I knew there was a 24hr Macdonalds at around the 350km point, so that seemed like to best place to get an hour or so before carrying on. The best laid plans.....
There were about 25 starters so I assumed that I would be on my own for most of the ride; thankfully I was wrong, but the first six hours or so went by suitably quickly; settling in and chatting to few people before I found myself on my own. The Van Nic felt very heavy as the only thing I hadn't packed was a kitchen sink. I'd even packed my thicker wet weather cycling cag, how stupid was that with temperatures scheduled to be around 30 degrees? The second control was in the town of Chandler's Ford and I wasted a bit of time trying to control before finding a co-op and buying lunch and getting the all-important receipt for proof of passage. This was 6 hours in and just gone midday and as I started to eat I could feel my stomach having a few problems. I can usually eat anything on the bike, but the heat meant that my stomach just wasn't working properly. Not a good sign. I left the control under a bit of a cloud but also with two other riders. One of them had just finished building his bike the night before; I didn't know whether he was inspired or mad; probably a bit of both. The other rider was Paul, and we were to ride together for the next 18 hours.
The next stop was Sailsbury, which was very quiet as the England game was just starting, so we controlled at a cafe (cake and coke) before heading to Sherbourne. Soon after we lost the other rider as he had not topped up his battery on his Garmin so he stopped while we carried onto Sherbourne. This is where I started to find it really tough as the temperature was very high and on one section of road the tarmac was actually in puddles, sticking to my tires and frame.
Onto Sherbourne, where we controlled at a pub. I'd parked the Van Nic and as I opened my saddle bag I looked at a drain and thought 'I'd better not drop anything down there', and then watched my bike pump clatter on the floor and disappear down the drain. Thankfully, with my belts and braces approach to this ride I had also brought along a load of CO2 (But I had no mechanicals and no punctures, all ride). My stomach issues came back with a vengeance as I had some coke but couldn't eat the chips I ordered and I was in quite a black mood, but I thought I could get to Exeter which was halfway and assumed that if needs be, it would be easier to catch a train back home from there, so onwards to Exeter. This leg was the hardest of the day. The wind got up, which was in no way cooling and dragged our speed down; almost as much as the melting tarmac which was actually pooling into small puddles and the road was continually going up with sharp climbs.
We rolled into Exeter at 12:15am, where we met up with Fraser, who I had briefly been riding with earlier in the day. He had spent the last 10 hours on his own and as we all demolished a Burger King, he asked to tag on with Paul and I, so we formed a trio as we left the Exeter Services and another small group of riders came in. So we were heading back north and as the temperature dropped our speed increased ( a bit). I was able to digest food again and was feeling better. This was quite wierd as we were riding in pitch black and there were times where I was convinced we were riding up hill only to see the speed of the bike dramatically increase and vice versa; it was a wierd and disconcerting assault on my tired senses. The 20kms into Wells were down very small farm lanes and I was getting extremely dozy; it wasn't that I was falling asleep but I just couldn't process quickly enough what I was seeing and I was really pleased to get into the town, but only to be confronted with a large group of extremely drunk teenagers.
By the time we found the field, I was ready to get off the bike. Although I had been hot all day and the sun was now about to come up again, within a couple of minutes I was shivering badly as my sweat drenched kit cooled me down a bit too quickly. Thankfully, my over-preparedness worked and I was able to dig out my waterproof jacket, which kept me warm (ish). We had a 90 minute sleep and then were back on the road to Bath.
We left the field at 6am and would be on the road for another 12 hours, getting back to Leighton Buzzard at just after 6pm. We decided to take it very steady, and had numerous stops, pretty much every 30-40kms. I was really struggling in the morning, with no energy and feeling sick every time I tried to raise my cadence even slightly, and when I suggested to Paul and Fraser that they should go on ahead, they wouldn't have it and insisted that we stay together. I'm so greatful to them both for this as it made a difficult ride much more bearable. At one point around midday, we found a shady spot and just rested up for 30 minutes. At that particular time my stomach was really tying itself in knots and this particular stop helped me to start digesting food again. I had asked some advice on the yacf forum about how to cope with the heat, so at every stop it was shoes off, helmet off, cream on, water in and then any food that I could eat.
I had in my mind that I would finish this ride at around 1pm. It took me 5 and a half hours longer and according to Strava I spent the best part of 10 hours stationary. I am sure more experienced audax riders would be aghast at this but I was just really pleased to finish and while I have ridden in the heat before, this was a completely different experience and I am super chuffed just to have got around with the help of some top blokes.
I learnt a lot. I need to carry kit better as my saddle bag is too flappy and upsets the bike's handling. I need to carry less kit or at least get the weight of my kit down.I need to get my contact points sorted, in particular, my feet were a problem for long portions of the ride. I need to find ways of getting calories in, if it's hot at PBP next year.
So, lots learnt. Just the matter of a 200 to finish off the season.
