Gently Bentley 200km Audax 2023

 Well, it’s been a year. To be honest, I completely forgot that this blog even existed and then it just seemed to pop into my head; I wonder if it’s still there and if anyone else reads it? Well, it is and few people still do, so…..

What to report? Not a lot, if truth be told. The last year has mainly been coffee rides, a few park runs, a little bit of zwifting, and that’s been about it. My feet and ankles continue to plague any chance of meaningful running. Some days I can barely walk. I should do more to investigate what’s going on and I have a few suspicions but at the moment I cannot face doing anything about it, save for just being careful and doing no running. I managed to squeak under 20 mins at Bushy Park run last November and that was my last run. 

The miserably cold winter has made it no fun dragging myself out into the wattage cottage do some zwifting, so I started to do a bit of riding on my commute home as I was already togged up in my cycling gear.  Despite the absolute woefully pot holed roads and terrible driving from a few drivists, it was (a bit) more enjoyable than sitting in a damp shed. I needed to train for something so I entered the KWCC Gently Bentley 200km audax ride, which happened last month and I managed to convince Suzie and Simon to join me. It was fab. Really lovely countryside, a pretty relaxed pace and lots of coffee and junk food. I finished it with a smile on my face and that was a good feeling after feeling that exercise just seemed like a lot of effort. It’s been good focussing on other areas of my life and I’m trying to achieve a bit more balance with everything and I think I’m getting there. 

So I’ve got a couple more audax rides planned in the near future. I’ll try to remember to come here and actually put something up. It’s been a while. 

Gently Bentley 200km Audax

 

Chatting on the way to Lasham

The idea of the RRtY award has taken a hit with life getting in the way, but I finally managed to summon up the energy to ride my first audax this year and my first since the Buzzard-Exe back in 2018. I've been struggling with my mojo and my weight for the last few months with my bout of covid and subsequent accident really effecting me. I've been so used to going out on my Sunday 3 hour rides over the last 10 years,  but recently I have been finding it really difficult to  summon the capacity to do them, even though I know that I enjoy it when I'm out. In particular the contact of seeing friends on the bike and just chatting is such a tonic, but the last couple of months have seen a bit of a downturn. Gradually, as the Gently Bentley audax approached I started to feel more excited about doing an event. It had been a long time.

The Gently Bentley 200 is a long standing event run by the excellent Kingston Wheelers audax chapter who run a whole series of audax events including my first ever audax, the Amesbury Amble and with it starting and finishing a mere 2 miles from home it was a bit of a no brainer to get me out. It was also my first ever 200km and I assumed that this would be absolutely fine for me to do on minimal training. Hmmm, didn't quite work out that way, but no one said it would be easy.

A group of six of us would be riding together; four from the Phoenix and two friends and we were all looking for something fairly social rather than pacey. It was great to bump into Nick at the start, who I rode with on the LWL. He's since gone on to ride the TCR and other amazing things and while I was able to do my fair-share of riding on the front back then, he was going to be a good hour or so further up the road this time.

The first part of the ride was quit uneventful, taking us out towards Henley and a few other places that were familiar from my DW days and at this stage the ride was pretty flat. One of our group, Paul, was out on his first long ride since having a new hip about six months ago. He's quite a beast on the bike and he smacked it hard up every hill, leaving the rest of us to chew our stems, metres behind. We controlled in Henley and bought a lovely coffee and vegan roll, before pushing on to the next control at Lasham. I was in full kit as it was quite cold, but I had to strip off my ear warmers and buff when the sun got up, putting them back on again an hour later. It was great to feel the sun on my face, even if it was weak. It was good to be out!

A quick information control at a war memorial at 80kms and then continuing on towards Lasham, with it getting gradually lumpier; those very short and sharp lumps that required the lowest gear and lots of swaying on the pedals and this gradually took it's toll on my undertrained lungs and legs. I had said to Martin, another member of our group that this was apparently quite a flat route; yeah, right! Maybe flat by audax standards, but not by mine.

Feeling tired and still a long way to go.

Lasham was reached at 120kms where we planned to stop for lunch and take a bit of a rest. Unfortunately, the queue for food and service was really long and I just didn't fancy a really long wait before doing the last 80kms. Paul felt the same, so we grabbed some coke, water, Bakewell tarts and crisps and after scoffing a few hundred calories and putting the rest in our pockets, we got going again, leaving the other four to stop for longer. (As it turned out, they had a pretty eventful ride home. Martin somehow destroyed a chainring at Bentley. He bought a train ticket to get home, only to be told that there were no trains running and a bus replacement service was in operation. Oh, and by the way, you can't put your bike on the bus. He ended up making the call of shame and getting a lift home)

Paul did most of the heavy lifting on the way home, although towards the end he was not getting up the hills quite as quickly as before. My legs started to suffer and I was spending more time in the small chainring, trying to stop the lactic acid flooding my legs at every opportunity. I turns out that two hours of Zwift a week isn't enough to prepare you for a 200km ride. Who knew?  

A quick pit stop, still 30kms to go

I stupidly didn't validate the last three control stops, so this ride will not count towards a Super Randonneur award. It was my own fault as I downloaded the GPX from a friend and it was one complete loop instead of the individual legs that I normally break the route into. To be honest, after 150km, I was just glad to be heading home and finishing. Paul peeled off  and I was left to get back to the finish for a quick bowl of pasta and half a cider, before trundling the last two miles back home. 

A meal fit for heroes

It was a great route. I think I will aim to do it again as  a DIY audax in the summer, when hopefully, I will have a lot more fitness. Onwards.

Some racing

Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was riding my bike, a lot. Like most people, merely coping with the heat became all-consuming and trying to complete a hard turbo session in a shed that was only just shy of 40 degrees was a complete non-starter. So, I rode my bike, on the roads.

How quickly the roads filled up again. Myopic Audi drivers, white van men with no patience and even less spacial awareness, but in the heat the roads were the only place where I could get an hour on the bike. I could literally feel the ftp that I had gained over the last few months, seeping out of my skin pores as I trundled round in Zones 2 and 3. There were however, some good things.

I went out with Simon and Suzie at the end of July to ride the Wheelers' Amesbury Audax 300km route. It was a very long and hot day, with us trundling back home at around midnight. It's not a particularly hilly ride but the hills that are on it coincided with the hottest part of the day and this meant that we drastically slowed during the afternoon, having to get more liquid on board and taking more frequent rest breaks. I really enjoyed it and was  able to use my audax rides from the previous few years to keep comfortable but Suzie and Simon found it tough going, just trying to keep food and drink down. It's really not pleasant when your stomach simply doesn't want to play ball.

From long distance, to short. Last Wednesday I rode my first proper 10 mile time trial in 2 years, with full on TT bongo set-up and kit. A slightly embarrassing episode in the car park when my skin suit zip broke; thankfully I had my club top to wear over the top, which avoided any mankini moments. I had forgotten just how hard a 10 mile time trial is. I gave it everything, but I wilted in the heat quite spectaculalry, and with a lack of TrainerRoad intervals in the preceding weeks I just didn't have the ability to process the lactic acid build-up. My final time was 23:35, so by no means a disaster, but I thought that I would be a lot closer, or even break my course best of 22:47. I've got another go in 10 days' time, but I can only see me going slower. I've put on weight and dropped in power, but it was good to finally pin a number on.

Plans on hold

It's been a properly mixed bag (for that read 'unplanned') month's worth of training, mainly centred around enjoying the Sunday club runs with KPRC and a few rides with Simon. Over the course of a couple of family holidays I started some running again and was really enjoying it, even dipping under 20 minutes at a parkrun. But then the old body gave way, with my hamstrings and glutes protesting  to the point where I had to stop.

However, instead of bitching and moaning about it I actually did something proactive, so I headed down to the gym and got myself seen by an instructor who's given me a strength and core routine to do. It is truly staggering how weak my core and upper body is. During one particularly stressful core exercise my arms were trembling like a skyscraper in an earthquake. 'Ooh, you are weak.' said Tom, my instructor, as various gym bunnies looked on in bemusement. That said, it's been fun doing something different and it seems to be working. I'm going to try some gentle runs again later this week but I'll make sure I keep the gym sessions going, along with a short pool session.

So, that's good. Now the not so good. It looks like that PBP will not happen next year. I spent a few days looking at the qualifiers I was going to do (200 and 300km Kingston Wheelers events, 400 would be LWL again, then Windsor-Chester-Windsor as my 600). But then I checked the dates of PBP and realised that the last day is GCSE results day and with Wheezy Junior taking his GCSEs in 2019, it's not something I can or want to miss. Theoretically, if I left with the 80 hour vedettes group, and everything went well and I had a stellar ride, then I could get back to London by Thursday morning, but that's all a big if and I would constantly be clock-watching, which would just sap the fun from the event. I am gutted, but I've enjoyed the audax this year so I intend to complete my Super Randonne series this season and do all the qualifiers next year anyway. Even if I can't do PBP I can still do a shed load of audax.

It does rather leave me with what else to focus on next year, but for the time being, a bit of bike, a bit run and a bit of swim is fine.

The Buzzard 600km Audax

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.

London-Wales-London Audax

Suited and booted

I was really looking forward to this ride. The thought of actually using my bike and being under my own steam to travel to another part of the UK, from the capital, seemed  to conjour up a sense of daring-do and gutsy ambition. Admittedly, the 'London' bit is actually Chalfont St Peter, on the very outward western fringes of London, and the Wales bit was only just about touching it before heading east again. But nonetheless, it was still going to be 400kms and a very long day in the saddle, in fact my longest ever continuous ride. I decided to go 'full audax' and bed down at the HQ the night before as it was an early start, so I headed off the the pub with a couple of other riders to have an anaesthetic pint, while the line-dancing class finished off. In the pub a few of the locals were rocking out to a pub band and a few of them were kind enough to wish us luck for the next day's shennanigans.

The start was typically low key. Coffee and toast, a few last minute fumbles with kit before Liam, the organiser, said a few words in the car park and on the dot of 6am, we were off. 119 of us setting out, north and west for Wales. As usual, a bit of a fast start before things settled and I found myself in a group of 3, cruising along some single lane at 17-18mph. My abiding memory of this section was just the haze and the gorgeous sunrise turning into full morning. I'd dressed in my leggings and long sleeves as it was cold and I was just right; comfortably cool. Before long we had turned into a group of five as two faster riders went past and we hooked onto the back, taking the odd turn on the front, but these two guys were doing a great job and didn't seem to mind us sucking their wheels.

Early days

  I had got chatting to a rider called Jacko and we spent an hour or so chin-wagging, before pulling into the first control at a social club in Woodstock to have a full fried breakfast. The club was a throwback to the mid 1980s, with brown swirly carpet, sticky dancefloor and pub furniture, but it was perfect. There were no energy gels, protein bars or shakes here; just a full english brekkie! I inhaled the sausage, eggs, beans and bacon. Brevet card stamped, water bottles topped up and I got going again.

Leg 2 was going to be another 70kms to Tewksbury and as I left the control I hit the first junction with a chap called Nick. We had a few brief words as we'd missed the obvious road to the route and then I spent a few silent minutes with Nick sitting on my wheel, so a few more words to say hi and from that point we rode the next 15 hours or so together. The sun was starting to get up and it was going to be a very hot day, but I was still in a long sleeve top and cosy warm, rather than hot. Nick and I chatted for the next few hours, talking all things endurance sports, work, kids. Although this was his first audax, he'd done plenty of other long endurance ultra-marathons so I could tell he had that calm, even temperament that I think you need to keep going when things are hurting and maybe not going to plan. After a while we caught up with Jacko who had left Woodstock 10 minutes or so before me and we rode the last hour into Tewksbury, where we had to get a receipt as proof of passage. It was properly hot now, so it was time to strip off, eat one of Gregg's finest steak bakes, top up bottles and get going towards Tutshill. The sun was shining, my legs felt great, Wales was 3 or 4 hours away and all was right with the world.

The countryside continued to unroll under my wheels; never ending fields and carpets of bluebells. The route was really wonderful and quiet, which made the cycling such a joy. While we had a good tempo going I wanted to take the time to smell the metaphorical roses, and I tried to take as much of the scenery in as I could. It made me realise how much of my own country I have yet to explore and what a great way that a bicycle is to do it.

Nick and I were working together well and we were keeping the speed up as we glided through Gloucestershire and into Herefordshire. The terrain was less than lumpy, but more than rolling, so at times we could really get the speed up, while some of the rollers sapped all the speed from my heavier than usual Van Nic. We had an infomation control at a war memorial, where I lent another rider who was on his third puncture, a tube, before we headed towards the big climb of Yat Rock. By this time we had hooked up with a female rider in full LEL kit and the three of us headed to the base of the climb. I started it ok but as we got to a steeper ramp near the top I got out the saddle and all of a sudden I just knew that I couldn't keep the bike moving forward, as Nick and LEL lady weaved up the road to the summit, I got off and discovered that I had not tightened the QR skewer tight enough and when I was pushing really hard to keep the bike moving forward, the wheel had moved (as happened at the Bec HC a couple of years ago). Frustrated, I sorted out the skewer before walking the rest of the way to the top, where Nick and LEL lady were waiting.

The Tutshill control was still a good hour or so away, and this was where I had my only really bad patch of the ride. I was frustrated and a bit angry at myself for not getting up Yat Rock (pure male ego) but I noticed that I was getting the tingles in my arms and starting to feel a little shaky. With the increase in heat I had been religiously taking in water but I had stopped eating for some time. I also realised that my worsening mood was an indicator that I didn't have enough energy in my system, so I got out two soreen bars and forced them down, hoping that they would be enough until we got to Tutshill. Nick and I had been sharing the work, but he was looking comfortable so I took the opportunity to sit in and take his wheel while I recovered. Nick's a big lad and made a large hole in the air so it made my life considerably easier to take a draft while I recovered.

We had arrived at Tutshill at 14:15 and not too many riders had gone through, so the control was quiet. The two fast lads I had been with early on were there with another two or three and I tucked into a big plate of pasta and a couple of bags of crisps for the extra salt. I could literally feel the energy pouring back into my muscles and as I slapped on more sun block and vaseline,  my mood lifted considerably and I started to look forward to getting back home.


 Within minutes we were over the Severn Bridge with clear views across the estuary and we headed for the climb up to the Somerset Monument at Hawkesbury. My front mech was playing up and had been for a while so I had a couple of mechanicals where I was overshifting. This would only be very mildly irratating on a standard club ride, but 240kms into a ride even a small issue becomes a major problem. It seemed sensible to just keep in the small ring which helped keep my legs relatively fresh. Again, plenty of green fields, bluebells, country mansions and  york stone villages. Audax riding really is a brilliant way to see the country. There were some sections where Nick and I were able to 2up along some faster roads, each of us taking a turn on the front for a few kilometres before swapping. I was thankful that I'd been able to stave off a full on bonk earlier, which would have been a bit of a disaster by this point in the ride. Nick was great at making us stop at a few other intermediate points to top up bottles and grab a flapjack or ice lolly. This was a big lesson for me to not just rely on the controls for food and while each stop cost us a few minutes it helped to keep energy levels up and take the pressure off our contact points, which I'm sure helped keep our average speed that little bit higher.

Fading light at Lambourne

We pulled into the last control at Lambourne and had soup and a roll, flap jack with fruit and a few cups of tea. It was about 7:30pm and it was warm but the heat was dropping fast, so I got my long sleeve top on, more vaseline and I was good to go. As I pulled out the control I suffered another mechanical and had a proper sense of humour failure. I'd just washed my hands and then within seconds they were covered in oil again. I told Nick to carry on and I would catch up, but it took me a couple of minutes to get the Van Nic back up and running. Nick had waited for me a kilometre or so further on (he'd taken the opportunity to stop and put on some arm and leg warmers). I was really grateful that he had waited; as the sun was going down, night riding after being in the saddle for over 12 hours was going to be a new challenge. It was also really quite lumpy. In my mind I thought that this section would be flat and easy; it wasn't. There were a couple of really quite tough climbs that had me bobbing and swaying out the saddle in the lowest gear I could get, the weight of my bike trying to drag me back down.  Things were starting to get quite tough.

Nick was doing more work at the front as his front lights were much better than mine. He was also doing a great job signing the many potholes, but after a while I asked him to stop. I think he was more likely to come off with only one hand on the bars and I would just run into the back of him, so I dropped back a bit and just hoped for the best. After Henley and avoiding the drunks, there was another climb out and by this time I just wanted to get it done. I tried to take turns on the front where the light was better, but Nick was able to read his GPS easier than me, so he was burdened with most of the hard work. I was behind him, clattering into potholes, swearing profusely and hoping to stay upright. With a few kilometres to go, I was just hoping not to get a puncture in the pitch black and it was testament to my mood that at that time a puncture would have seemed a disaster, but in reality it's nothing more than a minor inconvenience.  In the last 10kms, there were another couple of steep-ish hills and tons of gravel that I just couldn't see that had me slipping all over the road. It was pretty hard work and when we eventually got onto the A40 and the turn for Gerrards Cross I was a very happy bunny.

Best. Dahl. Ever.

Amazingly, we made it back before midnight, which meant that there were approximately 20 riders of the 119 or so who had made it back to the HQ before us; all in all, a pretty good day's riding! I fell on the food. Dahl, rice pudding, peaches, tea, biscuits; I had the lot and despite being achy and tired, all in all, I felt pretty good. Although not the toughest route in the audax calendar, it was still a hard test, with a varied diet of roads. I was extremely lucky to hook up with Nick. Working with another rider makes it much more bearable when things get tough and over those last 50 kms it would have been a lot more difficult, but his steadfastness and easy company really helped the miles go by. I've learnt so much about audax from this ride. I'll blog my main thoughts another time, but the main two things I've taken away is that a 400km audax is very much more than a 300km one and I really enjoy audax riding.

The next big thing.

Last minute.com

Just before I started the Amesbury Amble, I managed to get a very, very last minute place on the London-Wales-London (LWL) audax, which takes place on the first May bank holiday weekend. It seems that spending an inordinate amount of time on twitter can have its uses! I had looked at entering this a while ago but it was full, then unexpectedly 2 places became available as  some people had dropped out. Bingo! It doesn’t actually start in London and it only just about scrapes into Wales, but it’s still a full 400km audax, which will mean me being on the bike for the best part of 24 hours.

I’m really looking forward to it, but it’s going to throw up a few more challenges for me.

Night Riding and navigation- While I’ve commuted home in the dark hundreds of times, actually cycling through the night and having to navigate at the same time could be pretty tricky. It seems that I’m going to have to find a way of lighting up my Garmin so I can read it whenever I want. I have a light that attaches to my helmet that might work, but I will have to test it and see how long the battery lasts. Riding while fatigued in the dark will be an interesting one. Looking back at the Amesbury Amble, I feel confident that I could do the extra 100km without needing a nap or extended rest. Best laid plans and all that, but I think that will be fine and it seems a lot of people just ride through, unless they are riding at the lower speed range for an audax.

Nutrition and hydration- I’m going to need to be more self sufficient during the night when shops are shut, which will mean carrying more food and water with me. I think it will be prudent to have two bottles on the bike and I’m going to get a small handlebar bag for food that I can reach quickly, if I need it. I can now comfortably ride 4 hours with very little food but I don’t want to bonk with no shops open, along hill to climb and a good few hours until breakfast.

Lighting- Not surprisingly, the cheap lights that I bought for the 300 were not particularly reliable, and as I will be riding through the night I am going to need a higher quality, and therefore expensive front light. So back to the drawing board with this.

Route planning- The organiser has provided a GPX file for the whole route but I need to learn how to divide it up between the controls, without me having to draw out the whole thing.  I could do that, but it’ll take me ages.

Amesbury Amble 300km Audax 2018

Getting up at 4:30am is a tall order, but as I had been wide awake since 3am anyway, getting up and ready was a bit of a blessing.  I ate my usual breakfast of tea, porridge and banana before cycling the 10km to the event HQ in Raynes Park. Like time trialling, the HQ venues tend to be rather low key affairs and this was no exception. The difference was in the riders as it was a real mix of people. Mainly club riders from the Wheelers (who were putting on the event), Dunwich Dynamo, SWRC, but there was a spattering of Rapha hooligans, audaxers and privateers.  There was a simple but hearty breakfast provided but as I was yawning my head off and I had already eaten I elected to have just a coffee.


 I got chatting to a few other people, most notably a guy who had done LEL last year. The navigation and relying on my Garmin so much was obviously playing on my mind, as I quizzed him about using the route sheet. He simply said he'd never understood them and that the Garmin would be fine. I could just see myself stuck out in the wilds of Wiltshire, lost, with a broken bike, but like most times, the difference between reality and my fears was very wide.

There's no point in me describing the route in detail, except for the fact that as audax events go, it was not particularly hilly. The weather was kind, being very cool, almost cold at the start of the day before it warmed up later on, which meant that I went from being fully dressed to stripping off; a typical early spring day. Yes, I went out too fast and a large group quickly formed, with me in the middle of it. After the first control at Lasham if thinned out quite quickly and it was here that I learnt my first audax lesson. I was busting for a pee so went to the toilet and when I came back there was a long queue for food, which meant I now had to wait and would be quite late leaving the control. I noticed that LEL man had bought his food first, dumped it on the table and then went to the bogs. As a result, he ended up leaving a good 10 minutes before I did.

Just after the first control I ended up riding with Keith, who obviously seemed an experienced audax rider. We ended up pretty much riding the next 10 hours together. I was a little faster than him, particularly up hills but this was great for me as it meant I slowed a bit and stayed within myself. That said, Keith was great company and kept a steady pace going and I learnt a lot from chatting to him about different approaches to all this new type of cycling.

The long drags across the Wiltshire downs, which would have been very hard going if the wind had been up were a real pleasure and at times there was not a single sound except for the click of a Shimano freewheel and very empty roads. We went past the top secret Porton Down Government buildings and as we skirted Netheravon Airbase we saw the Red Devils freefall parachute display team practicing.

The Garmin worked brilliantly and breaking the route down into sections between controls helped to mentally break up the ride too. I topped up the Garmin at each control and this kept the battery life very high. I am sure that this would work really well for a 400km event too as I still had 60% battery life at the end. I can't see me using a route sheet again!

Over the last couple of hours, Keith was getting tired and I ended up rolling into Bracknell about 15 minutes ahead of him, soI was able to have a longer stop while waiting. He went to a local chippy instead so he had a quick stop to top up bottles before the last short leg back to Raynes Park. Much of this was roads that I know well from the KPRC rides to Windsor and Virginia Water so I could switch off a bit and just spin out gently.

When we got back the Wheelers had laid on a lovely stew, which I absolutely demolished, while the couple of other riders I finished with pushed their food around their bowls. I was ravenous. I then had to spin home ans thankfully this last little bit meant that I just crept over 200 miles for the day.

Amazingly, as I write this, I have no major aches or pains at all. I got a little sore in my right shoulder on the bike but this soon wore off. The bike was fine although I need a new front chainring, but no mechanicals or punctures which considering some of the rural roads I was on, is a bit of a miracle.

A great ride and a great day.

Final bits n' bobs

Always the way that I start to dismantle my bike to 'fix' something almost immediately before I need it for an important event. The creaking in my headset came back yesterday, so I bit the bullet and decided to strip it down. It was as dry as a snake's backside. I'm pretty sure that I will need a new cartridge bearing and forks but without the time to order them and get them installed a good clean and then packing out with fresh grease will have to do. Mrs Wheezy was thrilled about turning the dining room into a bicycle workshop.

I gave the Van Nic a thorough clean and put new brake blocks on; heck, I even cleaned the mudguards. So here she is in full audax trim. The front light that was an £8 Amazon purchase, although heavy is very powerful and as it's powered by AAA batteries I don't have to worry about recharging. I'm carrying spare batteries but unless I get hopelessly lost I shouldn't really need it except in the early evening. The Alpkit dry bag is carrying everything; I've even put my pump and spare tubes in there so I don't have to carry them in my jersey. It has a little bit of a wobble despite much swearing and strap tightening, but other than that it's pretty neat. I did a ride to Windsor yesterday to check the Garmin and whether it charged ok from the battery pack and that was all good.

Rear view shows how neat the Alpkit stores. I've added a few reflectors on the rear mudguard; two small rear back-up lights above the rear brake with my main rear light still to go on. Belts and braces.

Only thing left to so is to have a quick shake down ride this evening just to check for any last minute problems, and then I'm good to go tomorrow.

Audax Kit

I've started getting all the bits and bobs I'm going to take on the audax with me. To be honest, this is overkill as I regularly do 80-100 mile rides with little more than a couple of spare tubes, a bottle and a cash point card, but with longer events on the horizon it seems prudent to pack for a longer event and see how this works for me.

Gilet / lightweight top / lucky DW snood / base layer / 2 tubes (plus 1 in a back pocket) / tyre levers (plus one in back pocket) / multitool / spare link / puncture repair kit / ibuprofen / spare front light / charger and mini-usb lead / cable ties / cafe lock / waterproof case for my phone. Also not in the picture I have packed my waterproof jacket which packs fairly small.

Still a few bits needed - pack of AAA spare batteries / front light which can velcro to my helmet for when it gets dark to read my Garmin. This shouldn't be an issue for the Amesbury Amble, but will be for longer events. Also need to organise a way of carrying some spare chain lube / chamois cream / sun cream.

So I've bagged it all up as follows. All my clothes except my waterproof jacket is in the Wimbledon bag. The top tube bag contains the charger pack, lock, phone. There's not really any room for food but I will carry bars and sarnies in my back pockets, as I have always done. The blue bag contains all my spare tubes and levers. The green bag contains the multi-tool / spare links / ibuprofen / cable ties.

All that comfortably fits into the Alpkit bag and there's still room for me to put my mini pump and leggings in there. I'm going to sort out how best to attach it under the seat on Friday, but tomorrow I've got a long ride planned with Simon so I will check that the Garmin 800 charges ok from the charge pack.

Which way?

Gurning

I think riding this audax is going to be a baptism of fire, not so much in the miles that I'm going to cover but the navigation that will be required. I've taken some advice from a few facebook and forum groups and rather than trying to upload the whole ride as one file to my Garmin 800, I've broken it down into the 5 sections between controls which has taken me a few hours but hopefully will make it a lot less stressful on the road. This makes the file sizes smaller and should (hopefully) stop my Garmin having a meltdown. I've tried to get my head around the route while I've been copying them using Garmin Connect but it's a very long way with hundreds of junctions. The route card is gobbledygook. I've been told that once you're on the road it makes a lot more sense and I'm sure that it's just a skill that needs learning and practice. I am also hopeful of being able to follow a wheel or two through the hard bits (yes, cheating).

Answers on a postcard, please.

Yesterday was the KPRC Open 10. My TT bike is still un-serviceable (I ordered the wrong rear replacement brake and I'm waiting another week for a new one). So I ended up riding on the Van Nic in full commuter trim. It was also a dog of a day with a block headwind on the way out and added to that, my chain slipped off at the start and my pump fell out my pocket at halfway. By that time I well and truly gave up but I bulked it out to do a solid 80 miles after eating my own bodyweight in Cornish pasties all week on a family holiday. Time to get back on it.

Blogs of note

Reading some new audaxy, touring type blogs.



https://audaxery.wordpress.com/
http://iansaudax.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/newbie-guide.html
https://traumfahrrad.com/

Audax Checklist

when I plan longer distance events I tend to overdo it as far as equipment is concerned. None more so than the DW when I came back with boxes full of food that we were never, ever going to finish eating . A 300km audax is significantly longer than any other road ride I have done but it’s not really long. My 12hr time trials don’t really count as food and drink is handed up and navigation simply isn’t an issue. The point of Audax is that it’s a self supported ride and the rider is meant to be self reliant and able to deal with most eventualities on their own. The start of my Audax is at 6am so, in theory, I should be able to finish in daylight, barring mechanicals and stops that are too long at the controls.

My basic thinking to tackle the event is this;

• Battery operated front light so if I need one later on, I’m not worrying about charging. Also means I can buy batteries at a shop or garage if needs be. 
• I will have a few rear lights running throughout the event. I like to have a rear light on even during the day. 
• I will navigate using the supplied route card (going old school) instead of using my Garmin, so I will need to fashion a route card holder for my bars. I will load the route on my Garmin and have it on the bike but more to record than navigate. I have not used my Garmin 800 much and want to get more used to it before relying on it.
• I will have my top tube bag with a phone and nibbles and I’m going to buy a lightweight Alpkit dry bag for behind my seat. I think a front handlebar bag as well as a saddle bag is overkill for a 300, but we’ll see.

Kit to carry

• 2 bottles
• X3 spare tubes and a repair kit
• Multi tool
• Spare chain links
• Chain oil
• Chamois cream
• Phone
• Portable Battery charger and lead
• Spare base layer
• Gilet
• Garmin 800
• Skull cap
• Spare food (mainly savoury) but not much. 

Once I get the route card sent through I can think about planning out eating and drinking to coincide with the controls but I know that I can fairly comfortably keep the food going in, even when on the move. I’m going to try to keep kit down to a minimum but it will be weather dependent and if the ‘ Beast from the east: vol. 3’ does materialise then I won’t hesitate to take plenty of spare clothing. 

Suddenly excited

I’m excited again as I have just entered my first Audax ride in two weeks’ time. It’s one of the events organised by the Kingston Wheelers and at 300km, it’s long, but doable. I hope it’s the complete antithesis of the ride I was on today. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely time with five of my club mates on a Sunday club run and after doing 20 miles on my own we covered another forty odd miles. The roads were chokka with other riders and while this is great for the sport and all that, there’s an awful lot of  willy waving going on with herds of young MAMILS gunning it around. Part of it is pure jealously on my part as they’ve all got 15 years on me and are probably faster. The faster they go, the slower I want to go and I do sometimes long for the days pre- 2012, when I could ride for 4 hours and barely see another rider on the road.

 Hence, the Audax. It’s going to be a long way and my longest ride on my road bike. I guess I’m looking at somewhere between 10 and 12 hours in the saddle depending on stops and I’ve started to research what kit I might need to carry and how I can carry it. My main concern is navigation, or rather, how to navigate. A map is best and fairly foolproof, but where to put it? Do I need a bar bag in with a map pocket so I can read on the hoof? Frame bag and saddle bag? Probably overkill for a 300km ride. Lights; will I need better lights if I get caught in the dark? Do I need a method of charging lights, Garmin, phone etc? If so, how? I think the first thing to do is make a list of what I will actually need to take and work back from there. Any excuse to buy some new kit.

A change of heart

The fact I have not blogged for a month tells its own story in that this month has been a relaxed and lovely time with very little training. After the Outlaw I started some regular, easy running  only to get injured a couple of weeks ago. At the time it just seemed like a gentle Achilles strain but it soon got quite bad, not helped by the fact that we were doing a lot of camping and walking so I never really rested it properly. I cycled gently into work last week and it even hurt doing that, so I just put my bikes away and forgot about cycling and training for a while.

This two weeks though has given me a lot of headspace about what to do and how I want to do it. Another Ironman? Sub 53 for 25? Sub 1:55 for 50miles? Sub 4 hours for 100 miles? All good goals and all achievable with a lot of work. The thing is, my cycling has been all about one performance goal after another and all the training that they require, and somewhere along the way cycling has turned into an increasingly joyless affair, with me being more concerned about power outputs and CdA coefficients rather than the landscape I'm cycling through and the sheer enjoyment of turning a set of cranks.

As part of my time trialling targets I have been seeking out faster and faster courses, and this usually requires dual carriageways, with a net downhill, and fairly high traffic flow to push one along.  Not the nicest environment to be cycling on and an increasingly dangerous one. Two months ago, a club mate and friend was killed on the F11/10 course after being struck by a vehicle. It made the National news and our club is still in mourning.  A few weeks before, during my 50 TT where I set my pb, I had my closest ever pass by a van that left me shaken for some time after and in the same event a rider who finished only 20 seconds after me was hospitalised for a week after being hit by a car as he crossed the finish line. I guess you could say that I have lost my bottle, but the more I put myself in harms way, the more likely some idiot is going to hit me and at the moment, that's not a risk I am prepared to take. It's not a case of not time trialling any more, but I do intend to be a bit more selective as to what and when I ride a TT. I want my time trialling to be fun again rather than the feeling of being in some arms race, where I have to find the fastest courses, most areo helmet, buy the latest TT frame just to keep up.  I am just an average MAMIL after all and no one really cares if I I knock 30 seconds off my 10 mile time. Increasingly, I am becoming less bothered too and as I get older I'm going to have to put in significantly more work just to stay still.

So I want to change the way I ride and why I ride and I think I have found it.

 Audax.

 What on Earth is Audax? Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure.  It's described as something between touring and a time trial; a kind of long distance touring ride event with time requirements in order to get to the control points by a designated time.  They are usually fairly long with 100, 200, 300, 400 and even 600km events. The fact is that they are on more picturesque, quiet, hilly routes and they seem a bit more sociable. Not that the people I have met and competed in in time triallling are not sociable, just that when actually riding it. time  trialling is by its very nature an individual experience.

Every four years the premiere event in the international audax calendar takes place, the Paris-Brest-Paris audax and the next one is in two years' time. It's 1200kms long, which in anyone's book is a very long way. That's quite hard.  The other hard bit is that to qualify to ride it by ridding a 200, 300, 400 and 600km event in the run up to PBP. So a big goal but one I can do at a more sedate and sociable pace. The drawbacks? It seems that the most essential bit of kit an audax rider needs is a beard and I have always found one quite difficult to grow. Still, I've got a two year head start..