The Summer Warmer 200

Quick update (sorry no pictures this time).

Seems a long time ago since I did the Bryan Chapman Memorial ride. Its time to get back in the routine of weekend Audaxing.

This weekend was a 200km ride in Buckinghamshire, starting in Great Kingshill. My aim was to ride out of my comfort zone as much as possible.

I averaged 21.6km/hr. I'm very happy with that, because my LEL calculations are based on 20km/hr. It took 9:45 hours to cycle 230km (excluding stops).

It was a wonderfully sunny day, with a great route, going out to the Guildord/Hazelmere area.

Next Saturday, I'll be cycling the start and end of LEL. I'll go out from about 7AM for 6 hours and then return. It will be interesting to see what distance I cover. On the Sunday, I'll do a repeat for the three Richmond Park laps, which I did last Saturday and aim to beat my time (too bad to publish!).

The Bryan Chapman Memorial 600

When I explain what Audax is to people who show the slightest bit of interest (!), I always say its about unsupported long distance cycling. The long distance cycling is of course true, but the 'unsupported' is really something I need to find another word for.

The support for and on the BCM was amazing. From friends and family, work colleagues, the organiser, the volunteers at the controls, the cyclists, the check in lady at the Travelodge ...

She was the start of a good weekend, she was so friendly, welcoming and helpul. She wanted to help Pete out with storing his kitbag till Sunday, but her boss wouldn't have it. It would be a health and safety risk. I would have thought that the BCM would be much more of a health and safety risk to us, than the bag would be to anybody. Still she let all of us take our bike into the room.

And Pete gave out good signals too: "You'll love the BCM" he said, "Its a wonderful ride".

After checking in, Bez, Pete, the Faccombe Four and I went for a meal at the Boar's Head in Aust, joined by several more BCMers.

Bez and I cycled over the Severn Bridge to the start the next day. It wasn't too windy and we took it really easy. I was nervous at the start, anxious. Good though, to see familiar faces from other Audaxes. I was wanting to take photos of extremes, like Hummer's ultra lightweight setup as if he was going out for a 30 miler; to the bike with full double panniers. But I was too focussed on being ready for the start. I knew that if I didn't take photos then, I would never have the opportunity again!

If you can spot me, you can see how focussed I am on the start!

I really enjoyed all the way to Menai Bridge. Going over the suspension bridge was a highlight for me (halfway point and interesting bridge). After that, it wasn't a ride of many highlights, but a matter of survival. The night ride back to Kings YH took far too long, leaving me with 30 mins for a quick sleep and skip breakfast. Charlotte, Greenbank and I discussed tactics here, not knowing if its better to invest time in sleep and go in time deficit, or to just keep going. I decided to do the next 'short' section and have another kip there. But again, I was too slow and felt I had no time to sleep, so carried on. I wasn't feeling too bad, I didn't get too cold compared with others (only once where my hands were freezing, that was when I caught up with the Faccombe Free by then!), didn't feel hungry at any stage and didn't run out of water.

It was at Kings Youth Hostel that the first magical moment happened, although I didn't fully realise this till I finished. I had already chatted with RichForrest when he was contemplating spending the rest of the day/night/day helping out at the YH. When I did arrive at the hostel in the early hours of Sunday morning, he made me the best, strongest coffee ever and him being around was just so good for me. Now skip to the finish or even the following day where my mum was so delighted to tell me that RichForrest's comment on my blog, saying he saw me leave the YH, meant the world to her! Waiting two days for a worrying mum is quite something, then to get such a message out of the blue ... Silverbackcyclist ... thank you so much - you are a star!

The controls were fabulous. The volunteers would know exactly what you need and want: have a chair (oh thanks!), would you like some hot soup (oh yes please!), or rice pudding (oh yes! both!), cup a tea?
Another magical moment was on the last leg. I had a quick kip of 1o mins on the grass verge, because I couldn't go anymore. I was falling asleep on the bike and was seeing double. Then an angel appeared. He tapped me on the arm and said he was going to make sure I'd make it to the end. I put my whole trust in him - no point fighting this! This was with 80km to go, which is a long way for not wanting to go on anymore! That would be about 4 hours worth of your body and mind saying stop. Thankfully, an Audax is "unsupported", because if a broom wagon had come along with someone saying 'hop in', I would have (would I?).

It didn't rain the whole way, but that is how I remember it. At first, it would shower and you'd dry off again, but towards the end, the rain was continuous. The hailstorms also were painful. Everything became wet, even my brevet card, which I normally treasure and keep dry. All the stamps probably washed into one, I don't know, I didn't look anymore, just handed it in.
Which brings me to another magical moment! From the finish control, I had to cycle back across the Severn Bridge to the Travelodge. Not far, but I didn't want to. Sorry I don't know his name, but a fellow cyclist (and budding beekeeper!) offered a lift in a van that would have enough space for the bike. Oh yes please!

Other moments: the fireworks at Beddgelert, the Honeypot Cafe where I wanted to buy one of their T-shirts (Blacksheep offered his instead), hearing cuckoos and owls again, the hallucinations not being too bad, learning about "Death Shimmy" (but sorry it happened to LEE, who then packed), the crossing of Barmouth Bridge, hearing John 'two punctures before the start' Spooner shouting "wake up" as I was shaking my head in dozy disbelief of what was going on...
Here are a few quotes from the YACF forum which made me realise what has been achieved by all participants - well done everybody!:

• Out of the 80 or so that started about 30 packed and went home at some point in the ride due to the bad weather (RichForrest).
• He said there are still about 20 still out there, and that he'd not want to still be riding - it's raining, windy and very cold (Fidgetbuzz).
• I am wondering if this is the hardest ride I have done to date (Bianchi Boy).
• That decides it; never doing this ride again (Martin).
• Just starting the ride in those conditions merit a medal (Jethro).
• First rider back was about 3 hours slower than last year (teethgrinder).
• Youtube clip (geraldc) - don't know why this made me laugh so much!

All the people who made a difference: the Faccombe Four, Greenbank, Scotlington, John Spooner, Pete, Mel, Mercury, Bez, organiser Mark Rigby, RichForrest, Charlotte, Pompey Phil, all the volunteers, Paul and budding beekeeper ... thank you! .. and Hummers, how can I forget Hummers!
My recovery was really strange. I now know about the Tuesday Blues, which I got badly, but its as if my body was in three parts. Apart from sore feet, my physical body was OK. My brain wasn't switching on again for a long time although my emotions were on overdrive. And the weirdest was very sore top stomach muscles and pain inside to the core.

What have I learned? I [sort of] enjoyed the first 520km. In the penultimate stage, I could really push it, eventhough I was tired. My disappointment was my complete collapse in the last 80km. And I think it must be due to lack of sleep and lack of food. I wasn't hungry at any stage and tried to eat deliberately, but it was probably too little.

I need to find out my own sleep strategy, whether to invest in sleep despite going in time deficit. And I need to find a way of eating better. I think I do OK with food, but my calorie intake was probably far too low.

Would I do it again? Certainly. I'd like to do the ride over five days. I would wait for the best 5 day weather forecast and then set off and visit some friends in Anglesey while I'm there.
Have a look at the photos - on the slideshow till the next ride or click here.

The Denmead 400 Perm

It is telling that on Sunday I wrote: "Finished the ride in time". For a couple of dark hours I thought I wasn't going to make it. But what can you do? Its the middle of the night, dark, everything closed, the odd light on - but you wouldn't knock on anyone's door. teethgrinder had given me the best piece of advice: "... don't give up, even if it looks like you wont finish. Sometimes things turn around and get better." Between 3/4AM of Sunday that kept going through my head, I gathered that by 4AM things would turn around, so in the mean time, I might as well cycle a bit. I stop/started many times, to try and warm up. The windchill generated by movement was horrible. On the Saturday morning I had already complained of painful feet, and now I didn't know anymore if they were painful or cold. Then I started to forget about the cold, the landscape flattened, there were glimmers of dawn and the end was 'imaginable'. I constantly redid my ETA (estimated time of arrival) calculations, getting later and later, but the last one sticking with about 30km to go, to arrive by 9AM.

What a day - 26 hours!

I already mentioned the highlights being Cheddar Gorge and getting into Weston-super-Mare. Going down Cheddar Gorge brought similar emotions to reaching Whitstable on a FNRttC last year, with that beautiful sunrise. There was a group of Minis parked in one of the bays. Had to take a picture for Sarah of course. The owners scuttled away from their cars, I can only think because they were eating pizzas out of carboard boxed and didn't want that to spoil the picture!

It was great to have Urban_Biker and Chillmoister as companions again. Even the full set of the Faccombe Four appeared, with LEE and keeks joining us for parts of the ride. As always, I am very grateful for their support. Although we don't ride together the whole of the time, you do have the feeling that you are in this together.

Urban_biker very kindly put up two tents in his back garden for Chillmoister and I, to have a kip at the end of the ride. I tiptoed around wondering which tent Chillmoister was in - didn't hear any snoring as promised, and was lucky to find the first one I tried empty. I unzipped as quietly as one can! Tried to muffle my gargling cough which had developed all of a sudden. You've guessed it already of course, he wasn't there, but had already gone home.
Other things of note:
Headwind: 200kms of it, all the way to Weston-super-Mare, 17kph had been the forecast.
Spoke: back wheel spoke broke (when/where was this Chillmoister?), fortunately the wheel stayed true enough.
Mileometer: stopped working, making navigation more difficult. Had lots of navigation doubts in those deep, dark hours I talked about. Used the iPhone mapping on many occassions.
Wildlife: oystercatchers heard over Frome, lots and lots of tawny owls calling - lovely. Also lots of spring nectar smells, probably hawthorne.
The Oxford Corner Restaurant: was a great, friendly place to have a meal of baked beans on toast and chips in portions none of us could finish. The staff were not at all stirred by the fact we cycled from Portsmouth, probably because it is a regular stop for Denmead 400 audaxers . I'm puzzled though why giving an 'audax receipt' was still not part of the routine.
Swarm: while at the restaurant, Sarah called to say there was a swarm happening on the allotment. Briefly I thought she was joking, because we always say that the bees wait till I've gone out cycling. But no, there is photographic evidence even! I'll check the hives at the weekend, but I would be very, very surprised if the swarm was from one of our hives.
The Bear and Ragged Staff: what does the pub name mean? Maybe this link provides some answers : clicky.
Meim ... please skip this paragraph and go to next ...
RTA (road traffic accident): after Salisbury plains when relieved to have got to the next T junction, and me being ahead of Chillmoister and Urban_biker for the one time, I stop, lean my bike against a post ready to have a little break, when I hear the unmistakeable sound of a car on car collision. I look around and saw a car tumbling down the slope. The atmosphere changes, cars stop, people get out and help the man and women out of the crashed car, alive. Soon after Chillmoister and Urban_biker catch up with me, I was pleased to see them.

... maybe skip this one too ...
Hallucinations: had three types of hallucinations

• roundabouts and T-junctions: in stage 6, 19 out of 29 instructions were roundabouts or TJ's. No wonder I started to see them everywhere. Especially in trees.
• people waiting to wave at me only to morph into postboxes or hedges as I get nearer.
• and the spookiest of all are the shadows, because shadows move. They are like giant cranes, like giant arcade pick a toy grippers, ready, waiting to pick you up as you move beneath them. I imagined being picked up and being dropped somewhere ... at the finish.

The Denmead 400 Perm

A quick touching base to say that I finished the ride in time. It was the toughest ride I have ever done but my spirits stayed up. Photos up (on the slideshow until the next ride or click here), ride report to follow

Started at 7:08 Saturday, finished at 9:05 Sunday.

Highlights: Cheddar Gorge and approach into Weston-super-Mare

The Denmead 300 Perm

Sunday morning:
A quick note to say I'm home! Its now Sunday 11:30AM, had a shower and breakfast and am not feeling too bad. I can walk!

We finished at 2AM, and I got home at 5:30AM, stopping about 5 times along the way to take powernaps.

Will post more later - taking Poppy for walk, and looking at the bees this afternoon.

Sunday afternoon:
I'm a bit downbeat at the moment. Because as I set to blog yesterday's ride and put the photos up, I realised I couldn't find my camera anywhere. Hopefully it will still turn up somewhere sometime.

We had a very ambitious plan, to finish before midnight. By late lunch time, we realised we were not going to achieve this. Instead we finished at 2AM. I probably added an hour for everybody, being the slowest and loosing a lot of time on the hills.

I have mixed emotions about this ride. On a positive side, I managed to complete the ride, with 2.45 hours to spare. The light system was fantastic, my saddle bag worked out. My chain fell off a couple of times but there were no punctures. My eating and drinking was good. Had the right clothing. Fantastic, generous company. The weather couldn't have been better. The scenery beautiful.

So what was wrong? My slow hill climbing sets me back quite badly and plays on my mind. The biggest concern I have is the night riding. The navigation gets more difficult because its harder to keep an eye on the routesheet and the road (even with the brilliant dynamo light). Its harder to read the road signs. I pay good attention to the mileage to work out where I am and take note of the next instruction on the routesheet. I overshot one junction, and quickly realised I was wrong so turned back. I overshot a second junction, but had Pete not called me on the mobile, I wouldn't have realised for an other couple of miles (not quite true as I was slowing down thinking the junction must be soon or behind me). And when you're tired, I think such mistakes can easily happen. Again, these things play on my mind.

Back in January, after the first 200, I stated that I could not see how I would ever do a 300. Now I am saying that I can not see how I am ever going to do 4 300s in a row!

I got home at 5:30AM, stopping about 5 times along the way to take powernaps. The drive normally take less than 1.5 hours.

Some stats: 20.4kph average, 52.3 max, 178bpm max heartrate, 140bpm average heartrate, 8847 calories burnt.

A big big thank you to the now named Denmead Dynamos: Chillmoister, Urban_Biker and Keeks for being such excellent company. Unfortunately, LEE had DNS'd (Did not start) because of a stomach bug. Hummers joined us for a while too after providing a welcome breakfast bite. I have doubts though whether I'll do the 400 with them in two weeks time. I do hold them back more than is acceptable I feel - so will suggest I either ride a calendar event, or go my own pace.

Also a big thank you to Sarah for letting out the chickens two mornings in a row!

FNRttC March 2009 - Brighton

I was asked many times if 'this' was something to do with Red Nose Day! It would have been so much easier to say yes, but it was so much more fun to see the ensuing facial expressions when the truth was told. Mind you, its hard to explain when asked "Why do you cycle to Brighton, from London, in the middle of the night?". And you do this on Red Nose day? And you are not raising money? Should have referred them to my JustGiving site ...

We had the usual stop start exit out of London, before we came to quiet lanes. We had some really fast stretches (max 52.5 km/h). I also love the rolling section after the climb in Coulsdon

We cycled through residential areas, went through gates onto a footpath, left, right, up, down and ... all of a sudden, into a back alley, bike on shoulder, up the stairs and 'Arrivals'. Being in Gatwick Airport was quite surreal.

I just love FNRttC. Every ride is different. The only thorn in the side last night was an on/off puncture. Not so bad in itself, but you know that it holds up the group and it meant that I ended up walking up Ditchling Beacon. I have never walked up that hill before (I mean, I always manage to cycle up - slowly).

The mist over Ditchling Beacon and Brighton was an improvement on the hail we had last year. Shame we couldn't even see the sea though! I didn't have good memories of the Madeira Cafe breakfast, but this morning's Full English was pukka (= the max).

It was a great group of people with old and new faces. It was great catching up with Brian, Chris, the scott and meeting new cyclists.

Had a smooth journey back home, good train connections, coffee ready at home!

More photos are here.

The Kennet Valley Run 200

This was a great ride with beautiful scenery. I had a bad patch halfway. I was feeling very sleepy. If I had been on my own, I would have stopped for a quick snooze. Instead, I drank Lucozade, slowed down for a bit and carried on. Not sure what the right strategy would be.

But other than that, I felt really good. For the first time after a 200, I felt I could have gone on. With my new dynamo light also, cycling in the dark is no longer so daunting. So this ride has given my a lot of confidence.

Saw a lot of familiar faces, from previous rides, and YACFers. Its nice to catch up, see what others have been up to, what their 2009 ambitions are, how they are getting on ...

The area around Welford was really nice. There is a privately owned Manor House with surrounding park, which is only open to the public when the snowdrops are out. May make a visit. The associated church looks impressive too, it appears that a round tower is unusual. Click on this link (and then 'Search for images') to see some images on Google.