FNRttC to the Continent

Where were you on Sunday 22nd July 2012?  Let me rephrase. Where were you when Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France?

You could have been with the Fridays in Paris.

Photo by StuartG

Bradley was born in Belgium, did you know?  So whilst the Fridays went east to Paris, I went north to Belgium.  I could have gone to Ghent.  Did you know that Bradley was born in Ghent, Belgium?  But I didn't go to Ghent, where Bradley was born.  I went to Rumbeke.  It's where my parents live, and there is a gem of a tenuous link to be had also:

Bradley is the first Briton to win the tour, and that, 100 years after the first Belgian won the tour.  Bradley is from Belgium, sorry, Bradley was born in Belgium.  And the first Belgian to win the tour, Odiel Defraye, was born in Rumbeke, where I am from.  There we go, Bradley and I are connected.

It was a weekend with all the best ingredients: the Fridays, night riding, an audax, Le Tour, family, great weather, good food, many things to celebrate and the Olympics to look forward to.

Meeting point

Everyone was relaxed at the Hyde Park Corner meeting point.  It didn't have the school trip nervous giggles like the Friday's tour to John O' Groats had at the start.  A 'stranger' handed over a passport to Simon and that signalled the kick off of an adventure.  No talk of bollards, no roll call - we were on our way to Newhaven.

Thought it was going to be a long night, when, before we had even crossed the Thames, there was a tyre blow out.  Not a problem though.  Some Fridays live in central London, and popping home to pick up a spare tyre is done naturally.

Time to chat

I always love the surreal entrance into Gatwick airport.  With a suitcase and flight ticket in hand, you wouldn't dream of using that back staircase hidden by the bins.  But with helmet and bike in hand, up we go.  We park the bikes by the familiar Costa Coffee.  It's a new era, the days of Mr Exit are over.  Gatwick is London 2012 ready.  You don't even have to go upstairs any more for the toilets.  They now have the poshest public toilets I've ever used, on the ground floor.  You could wheel your bike into those cubicles, do a bit of fettling, change the bottom bracket or something, nobody would know.  Wash basin right there, inside the cubicle, as well as Dyson type blade hand dryers.  My derrière didn't seem to want be clad with lycra anymore, so I used the facilities to change into casual shorts.  Always a good look in combination with lycra knee warmers.  Mr Exit was missed, but the security people had a go at doing their job by asking which flights we were on.

The cafe in the Newhaven ferry terminal was good for another surreal moment.  One minute a guy was serving breakfast, next, the same guy was checking our tickets.  Ugh?  We all got on the ferry.  Together with several other groups of cyclists.  Wiggomaniacs, they are called apparently.

Base camp was at exactly the same location at last year, right hand side of the bar.  I lost bonus points for having a sleep during ferry drinking hours, but not as many as TallMart and DavyWalnuts would lose later in the day.

I had been warned: 'Good luck with that lot'.  Just getting off the ferry was a challenge as TallMart went Toutes Directions whilst Centre Ville is what we needed.  Fair play to Teef who called him back round, as my voice wouldn't carry the distance Mart had already cycled up the hill. 'Let's meet in la Troubadour' said Teef, after we checked into the hotel.  It was my turn to go in all directions, but could I find la Troubadour?  Fair play to Teef again who came out of Le Cafe des Tribunaux, asking what I was doing walking by just like that.  TallMart was still sitting and DavyWalnuts was still standing at that stage.  There wasn't anything Teef could do to keep that going, mind.  DavyWalnuts disappeared into the night, admitting he couldn't keep upright anymore.  And TallMart, nobody knows what happened to him, or what happened has stayed on tour, fair play to Teef again.

Ian, now better known as Laurent for wearing a Fignon jersey, and I had a seafood meal in one of the Dieppe seafront restaurants, before heading back to the hotel.  I had an early start the next morning.  Ian didn't have the restful night I had, as he was called up by TallMart, asking to be picked from hospital.

It took a while for the fog to lift and the sun to come through on Saturday.

St Laurent Chapel in the fog

Google map routes in France sometimes includes 'off road' tracks through fields.  Whilst exciting because you never know what you're going to get, it can mean losing time (being on a DIY audax). It happened several times, once I stopped to watch deer, once I ended up on top of a hill with excellent views, once I bumped into a horse and cart, once I nearly came to a show stopper as the route was interrupted with pipe laying works, once I did need to turn back as the route was blocked. I ended up needing to push it for the last 100km.

Under? Over? Ladder?

I had a lunch stop in Hesdin, even though I wasn't half way yet.  Quick service, rosbif, potjevleesch, chips, Jupiler, le Tour on screen and overhearing the proprietor praising Bradley Wiggins.  I wondered how the other Fridays were getting on with getting to Paris.

Pushing it towards the end was not a problem.  I was keen to get home to my parents, arriving around 18:30.  No punctures but one spoke pinged kaput.  I had an urge for oil again, like I did last year, this time being able to pick up a bottle in a Carrefour.  The rest of the ride happened in silence.

Once home, we celebrated my latest cycling achievement (ride report to follow!) with champagne and Belgian patisserie.

On Sunday we watched Mark and Brad make history in France.

Freezetaerte

Thanks to Simon for organising the Fridays French trip, and to all the riders for making it another memorable one.

Photos are here: Photo Link
Read this post for the Mr Exit story from two years ago (had to correct that thinking it was last year): Mr Exit

6 July Russian 1200: Vologda - Onega - Ladoga

East to west, we are going, and around the two biggest lakes of Europe: Onega and Ladoga.    I wonder if we'll get a chance to see the endemic species of seal, Ladoga seal.

The details are here:VOL Route Details

The route is unusual in that it is not circular, nor 'there-and-back'.  I will arrive in St Petersburg on Wednesday 4th, and will take an overnight train to Vologda.  In Vologda, there will be a day 'free'.  The ride starts on the Friday at 7AM.  After the finish on Tuesday (1AM) we'll take a bus back to St Petersburg.  I fly home on Thursday 12th.

Around 70 riders are registered. There a few familiar names like Ivo and Abraham Cohen. Jan, who did the Kiwi ride, and another Belgian will also be present.

The photos taken on previous editions of the ride leave me intrigued and drawn to the area.

Do leave a comment if you know of any points of interest along the route.

The Fridays Tour!

The Fridays are doing what they do best, which is to cycle to the coast.  The coast, this time, is John O' Groats, northern Scotland.  I joined them for the first night.

Hyde Park Corner meeting point

Same meeting point, same time, just heading north.  This meant going on the Kilburn High Road.  It was brilliant!  It was like PBP with lots of cheering and clapping from people by the road: 'What are you doing', 'Where are you going', 'Can I come', 'Why', 'What for?', 'This is for fun?', 'I'm coming with you', .....  A policeman in a van said: 'Keep going north for another 400 miles or so'.  This has been the most entertaining FNRttC exit from London, ever.  I wondered if England having won a Euro 2012 match earlier in the evening had anything to do with the jolly atmosphere all along that long road.

In fact, even on my way to London, there was already a jolly atmosphere.  A guy on the train pointed at my bike and asked if that is one of those you can lift with one finger.  I said 'No, you need twelve fingers'.  He thought that was hilarious and continued asking questions of what, why, where, when, why, why, why, concluding it was all wickedly wonderful.

A point of interest was going through Olney.  A chance glance to the right and I saw this:

Bucks Lace Industry

When I see 'lace', I think Brugge.  And indeed, a little bit of googling will tell you that it was the Flemish protestants who brought lace to England during the 1560's, and Olney was one of the areas they settled in.  The history is nicely worded here: Flemish and Huguenot Migrations

Olney was nice.  It is particular nice after having gone through Dunstable.  Simon had insisted we stayed in a group for going through Dunstable.  He had made the effort to hold up riders so that the last group could form.  He warned us once, he warned us twice.  Then he pleaded.  'Please', he said, 'stay in a group'.  Dunstable is like Reigate in that it can be scary to cycle through because of people 'under some influence' coming out of nightclubs and late night bars.

McDonald's was our middle of the night stop.  Being June, it was just about getting light when we arrived.

McDonald's

A few people were doing calculations.  Miles done to Hyde Park Corner, miles done to Hockliffe and by the time we get to Bingham,  'I will have done over 200 miles'.  Several people were doing their longest distance ever.  Ross had gone out to Land's End so that he could do the full Land's End to John O'Groats.

Louise and Ross

There is a support van on the Fridays Tour.  We caught up with the van in King Harry Lane near St Albans.  'King Harry' reminded me of King Harry Ferry, which I used on my Land's End to John O'Groats trip in 2005.

As it was time for the group to head north, I did a little sightseeing.  I couldn't miss this church, standing on high ground, near the station.  It looked impressive inside, but unfortunately it was locked.

St Mary's Church by Sir_John_Ninian_Comper

The group is already in Scotland as I post this. There is news of exploding wheels, more McDonalds, having a 'very, very, very good time', rain, sun, pork pies, egg benedict, hills and washing machines.  No, I'm not envious at all!!

Good luck Fridays!

Slideshow is not working, so for the photos click here: Fridays Tour Photos

The Hellfire 600

'Nunney Catch in time' ...

That tweet must have puzzled all but those in the know that Nunney Catch is a control on the Hellfire 600.   It is a little village in Somerset and has a castle (not that I saw the castle).  It is also the end of the hilly stage 7 out of 8.  If you make it there before the control closes, it is 'AAA audax downhill' all the way to the finish.  I was holding back my emotions as I typed in 'in time'.  It is not over yet!  However, during stage 8, Andrew and I had both independent and synchronous bouts of smiling, grinning and loud out laughing at the prospect of completing the Wessex Series - we were on our way!  And when we did finish, we didn't even get off the bikes to start celebrating.  That was with the help of AndyH who had brought champagne.  Thank you Andy!

Andrew and I celebrating (photo by AndyH)

It was an incredible weekend and it started with me being hosted by Mike, whom I met on my 3rd audax back in 2007. Yes, we spent some time working it out on Friday evening! He switched on the answer machine and there was a message from LadyVet wishing me well on the Hellfire.  She said she would be 'Wessex green' with envy if I got the badge.

Green Wessex Series badge

My conclusion on this series is that everything has to go right during the rides and about 4 months leading up it.  Then you have a chance of completing it.  I have had so much luck on the way.  For example, I was using my transparent document holder which hangs around my neck (as you can see in 'the badge photo').  All my valuables safely tucked inside my jersey when zipped up.  Only, at one of the controls I had another 'mother of sneezing panda' moment when I found my credit card wallet missing.  That is fatal, all those receipts ... gone.  No proof of passage ... series over.  The transparency of the holder must have helped some clear thinking as I wondered if, in haste, I had put the wallet between the holder and my body.  And indeed, there it was, receipts (and some other things less important like credit cards), stuck to my sweaty body!  Phew! Moving on ...

It was in the 'long lane of laughter' that it sank in that we were in for a great treat.  The best time of the year to be cycling, and in fantastic weather.  The route may be a hilly one, but the scenery and views you get because of it are wonderful.

Long lane of laughter

The guys might have suffered in the heat a bit more than I did.  I never ran out of water and was able to share some with Andrew, when he had run out.  There was quite a bit of sharing and caring going on.  Charlie offered his newish front tyre, which I swapped with my worn back tyre.

Charlie and I swapping tyres

Andrew used my gloves, I ate one of his power bars.  I lost of one my rear lights to the road and the road gave me a puncture.  My backup rear light wouldn't work, so Mel lent me one of his. I took his picture also.  Hmm... Mel doesn't gain anything here ... except height out of Shaftesbury.  Thank you to Priddy, for oiling my jockey wheels.  I had promised Andrew I would clean my squeaky bike squeaky clean, but it started squeaking again half way through the ride.

A couple of things didn't go our way, but only a couple!  I feel responsible for missing Drew's house.  I had looked up the location on Google view and thought it would be easy enough to find. But I should have acted on my instincts in thinking that a phrase like 'the bottom of the Cheddar gorge' is open for interpretation.  Something like 'pretty much en route' is not good enough for me.   I tell myself I'm old and smart enough to work it out, but the reality is that my orientation only works when the instruction is 'straight ahead'.  Compare that with Andrew.   He should be a red beret!  After 24 hours non-stop cycling, you could blindfold him, spin him around 50 times and he would still point out the ridge we cycled over in the morning and that the hills 'over there' are to be tackled in stage 7.

It was already daylight, so time to have a kip!  We saw a blue sign  with a bike and people on it, and took that as a sign to rest both.  15 minutes, we promised ourselves.  And as if that was too tiring, we had an impromptu pause half way through as Pete cycled passed.  The tric tric tric of his cassette was an effective eye opener.  It appeared that Pete had missed Drew's house also.

We were revived after our sleep.  In hindsight, I would have been better off with a kip at Taunton Deane.  I had the dozies pretty much all night, so can't have been riding very efficiently.  Every now and then, Andrew would ask 'Are you alright'?

Of course I'm comparing the Hellfire 600 with the NZ Kiwi Hunt 1200 ride.  I was completely doolally after the 1200, whereas I was able to string some sentences together back at Shawn's house (I think?).  I was using different bikes, and the 1200 would always have been hard it being in February.  What they have in common is that I thought both were a challenge above my station.  So I am completely over moon, that both the Kiwi Hunt and the Wessex series have worked out, with the help of excellent weather and a whole load of good luck generated by people around me.

So let me finish by asking to be standing as I propose a toast to Andrew Preston, who celebrated his 50th birthday the weekend between the Porkers and the Hellfire, and makes his first series a Wessex Series.  I told him he does everything the wrong way around!

Congratulations to the incredible Andrew!

Other thoughts

• Hummers and Shawn at the start
• AndyH, PaulD and CharlieBoy on the road - absolutely brilliant!
• Message from LadyVet
• Lots of tweets of encouragement
• Sound of cuckoo
• Post ride tea at Shawn's
• Hosting, drop off and pick up by Mike - thank you so much!
• Meeting Simon Gent!
• Wonderful that the 4 new Wessex Series randonneurs 'stayed in touch' throughout
• Bit of a bizzare toilet break in the art gallery at Malmesbury.  We wheeled our bikes in amongst the art work and they didn't bat an eyelid.
• AAA audax, or triple A audax, stands for Audax Altitude Awards
• Taking loads of brufen and applied brufen gel on both knees at every stop
• Hottest between 1 and 3PM
• 1 puncture, was worried my tyre had got too thin, it was troubling my mind, hence swapping tyres with Charlie.  I always check my tyres before a ride, but I was wrong in thinking the tyre would last another 600.  It could have, but if you have any doubt, you have to act on it, otherwise it will trouble you.  The mental preparation and well-being on these rides are as important as the physical.
• Good luck to those who are attempting to complete the series later in the year, and next year (Chillmoister/Lee?)

Photos are on the slideshow (not working? seems to be stuck on the 3D) till the next ride or here: Photos
YACF thread: Who wants to do a Wessex Series
Roll of honour: Wessex Series Super Randonneurs

The Porkers 400

This was the most nervous I have ever been before an audax.    And I don't think I was alone.  There was a vibe at the start.  Everybody has to get a starting receipt, getting the start time to be as close to 2PM as possible.  We couldn't all get a receipt at the same time, so at 5 minutes to 2PM I decided to just do it.  I had a quick look at the print out, make sure all was OK, and saw the time was 14:00 on the dot! Photo below shows Priddy getting a bank receipt.

Poole start

And then we were off.  Getting out of Poole meant the group was soon split up by red traffic lights.  But amazingly, there was re-grouping on and off all the way through to the end.  The first re-group was at The Lobster Pot cafe on Portland Bill.  I ordered a crab sandwich.  George repaired a puncture.  AndyH looked pensive.  A casual cyclist said to AndrewP: "I know you, you come to my fish 'n chip shop".  

The Lobster Pot cafe stop

We were off again and from then on AndrewP and I cycled together for the rest of the ride.  We lost AndyH who had set off with us, but Andrew turned back to find out what was up.  What a hero!  I carried on, as I would be forever worrying about finishing out of time.  Unfortunately AndyH felt it wasn't his day to do the Porkers.  

I am very thankful to Andrew who accommodated my 'must not lose time off the bike' obsession.  When I had the dozies too badly to carry on, I wanted to do my 10 mins kip whilst standing up trick.  This was not a problem to Andrew, he would wait for me!  I shut my eyes for about two minutes when cold hands prevented me from dozing off properly, so we set off again.  There were very cold pockets of air about at night.  Brrrr...

Despite the cold patches, and some headwind at times, the weather was in our favour overall.  It couldn't have worked out better, as it had been raining the whole week before, and on Monday it was raining again.

Below is a photo of another re-group.  It was a milestone to get to 'Hummers' Control'.   I kept hunting for lines of re-assurance: 'We're here on time, we'll be OK now, no?'  Nobody will tell you it will be OK, there is still 150km to go, with plenty of hills, anything can happen.  

Hummers' Control

The number of tweets and photos are correlated to how hard the ride is. Last tweet was at Taunton Deane services at 165km.  The scenery was wonderful, but I don't have any pictures to prove it.   Either you're climbing your heart out, or concentrating on the descent.  Stopping for a picture means time off the bike ... not on this ride!

We had some amazing wildlife experiences, in particular the badger 'display'.  I had already been happy on the 3D to have seen a live badger.  But this was a whole family on the road running ahead of us.  They are the mammal equivalent of partridges, in that they just carry on running in front of you.  No wonder you see so many dead ones on the road.

Priddy, Peter, AndrewP and I finished together.  I was hanging on for dear life at the back!  They would wait for me when necessary, as we were getting into Poole.  Thank you!  But I will never forget that sprint I did so as not get caught in red lights again.  I was crying and laughing at the same time.  After 400km, finishing a hilly ride with a sprint!  We got to the organiser's house and Shawn remarked 'That's how I expect riders to look like when they finish a 400'.  All I wanted to do was to rest my head and put my legs up.

My next line must have been predictable: 'There is no way I could do another 200'.  But it's not looking so bad for the final 600 ride in the series.  We finished with time to spare and the following day, I was already seeing things through rose tinted glasses.

Thank you to all the riders, Hummers, Shawn, Arthur and Christine.   It was a team effort, and one to treasure.  Who would have thought I would write the next line: 'I think I'm beginning to look forward to the Hellfire 600' .. note the 'think' and 'beginning' though ...  I'm not at all sure.

Other notes:

• 2PM start is unusual, to finish 5PM next day
• Finding parking was challenging as 24 hour parking is not enough.  Train station was perfect though.
• Couldn't make use of Arthur's generous middle of the night open house offer
• Great to see Hummers, and Shawn, at the Winterborne Whitechurch control.  Christmas cake was perfect given the cold temperatures at that spot.  Cycling through the cold is one thing, but standing waiting for people is another, Thank you!
• At the start, George had pointed out the 6 climbs after Shrewton, on the routesheet.  I had memorised Sixpenny Handley.  'That's the last one' he had said.  
• We followed the red half moon for a long time
• 15 entered, 11 started, 7 finished.  Congratulations to the finishers. And I feel for those who didn't.  I had prepared myself to be in that category and told myself to see this event as an 'attempt', to come back to another time if necessary.

Sunset

Photos are on the slideshow till the next ride or here: The Porkers 400 photos

The 3D 300

The highlight of the ride was getting a puncture 30 miles from the end, when dark and wet all around me.

Doesn't sound right does it?  But there is a lot about these Wessex rides that doesn't make sense.  I completed the hilly Dorset Coast 200 in my best time.  I'm recovering from this tough, 3D 300, surprisingly quickly.  I thought I was just lucky on the 200, to have a glorious day of sunshine and excellent riding company to accelerate my progress, maybe it was a fluke  I also had excellent company on and off on this 300, but the weather certainly did not work in anybody's favour. I might have to start believing in myself a bit more.  

The weather was awful.  At the first control, in Axminster, people were not saying much.  I was drenched and cold.  'Don't stay long', said PaulD as he was leaving, 'it's too cosy in there'.  It wasn't cosy for me mind.  I got colder and colder and more and more miserable.  I exaggerated my shivering in the hope somebody would tell me to take the train home.  The thought of shivering on a train home and realising I could get warmer outside than I was inside got me back on the bike.  'You know you want to' said Blazer.

And it did warm up just a couple of degrees maybe, enough to take the edge of it.

Apologies to anybody who was affected by me not having mudguards.  This wasn't intentional.  The race blade mudguards are so easy to clip on that I had left it to do till the morning of the start.  They would have got knocked off in the car anyway.  However, during the week I had added an extra rear light for extra visibility. It seems I had a homing instinct to put the light exactly on the spot where the mudguard would need to be clipped on.  I had also secured it extra tightly so that I wouldn't be faced with a light falling off whilst freewheeling down a potholed descent.  In the absence of fettling time I opted for visibility over vanity.  Wrong!  The lights got covered with red mud so that I ended up with neither.

The red soil in that area is amazing.  I loved the lane in the picture below.  The tumbling down piles of earth here and there indicate badger sets.  And I did see a live badger (you normally only see dead ones along the road).

Badger country

The view coming down into Sidmouth with those 'red cliffs' are spectacular.  A bit further was another great view (over Seaton?).

View over Seaton (?)

There is meant to be a great view from Hardy Monument also.  I decided to put my feet firmly on the ground there and walk up.  Otherwise, I saw myself being air lifted into the Dorset sky, Mary Poppins on a bike, the wind was so strong and blustery.  Even up in the sky there wouldn't have been any views, it was dark.

Plodder, Peter, Priddy and P... Blazer

Above is the group I got to the finish with.  Absolutely marvellous company.  They were waiting for Hummers who was catching up after a puncture.  Later on, it was Hummers who had hung back for me after I had repaired my puncture.  Oh what a beautiful moment, when you see red flashing lights again.  Thanks Hummers!

In Seaton, I got an ATM receipt.  I was putting a base layer on, hidden inside a shop entrance, whilst eating the sandwich that Mrs CharlieB had prepared for me.  This was going to be another minimalist stop.  But Priddy ran up the road out of 'nowhere'.  'We're all in the four seas, come and join us'.  The way he said 'the fours seas' was like something I was meant to know about, and the only reaction could be 'Of course, I'll come with you'.  Sausage and chips with mayonnaise I had in 'The Four C's'.  Would make a nice contribution to YACF's thread 'Grammar that makes you cringe'.  Their tag line is 'Coffee and Cream, Cod and Chips'.  Half an hour, at least, we were there.  Half an hour!  I don't do hours, not even by halves, I do minutes normally.

Crediton was another control in a station cafe. There was only one other person in the queue, so I put an order in. The cup of tea came, but my food didn't, not even by the time I had taken off my overshoes (which takes ages), taken off my cycling shoes, taken off and wrung out my socks (outside), refilled my water bottle, tweeted, took a couple of photos, put my gloves on the radiator, changed my gps batteries (outside again), helped myself to a flapjack off the counter which I had paid for earlier, went to the ladies, chatted about bees to Peter Loakes (which can take ages) ... Then Pete Mass came in and I offered my food, when it arrives, to him. I packed up and went.

Peter the organiser and rider at Crediton

Arriving at Peter's house was a moment to treasure.  And seeing others arrive, shaking their heads. Hummers had settled in and had a smile on his face.  He was loving all this.  Hummers, the master, he had coaxed people into his Wessex web and and we're all his now.  At the perfect moment, when everyone was down and out he delivered his line: 'Ready for the Porkers in two weeks time then?'. He was loving all the reactions of 'not in this weather'!  The sadistic grin on his face!  We have all fallen into his trap.  He reminded me of the figure at the end of this 3 minute PBP video:

Hang on ... Simon Gent?

What went well?

• no saddle problems (moved saddle forward and wore a hardly worn pair of shorts)
• ate well
• never thirsty
• easy to fix puncture
• didn't get lost - a couple of missed turnings - thanks to AndyP for gps files
• cycled hard all the way - no CCD (cyclist collapse disorder)
• no pain in neck/shoulders - did loads of stretches

What could have gone better?

• mudguards
• was cold in those shorts
• 'waterproof' socks not waterproof anymore
• didn't enjoy myself till the puncture

What will I do for the Porkers?

• new brake blocks!
• new waterproof jacket
• new shorts like the 3/4 but thicker/warmer
• new 'waterproof' socks
• re-rig map trap gadget
• take the spare batteries for the light
• buy extra rear light so can permanently fix in correct position
• better, brighter headtorch
• back to taking two spare inner tube
• get saddle bag to avoid little backpack
• enjoy myself(!)

Other thoughts?
A big big thank you to all the riders (including Peter, the organiser).  Every encounter during stops and on the road brightened my day.  Also thank you to Peter's helpers and the CharlieB family.

The few photos are on the slideshow till the next ride or here: 3D photos

The Easter Arrow 2012

The best of the Easter Arrow 2012 was meeting other teams on the way to York.  Less than 20 miles after setting off and we spotted 'an arrow' flying by and across to Lavenham.  This was just after us surprising a deer in the middle of a field. Apparently four of the six native deer can be found in Suffolk. Then John pointed out a buzzard sitting on top of a post.  It flew off and around us for a while.  The morning was fantastic in spring  sunshine, excellent countryside to cycle through.

Spring!

In Sleaford, we bumped into the Essex team lead by tomsk, who were using the same Packhorse Inn as control.  That was a big morale booster, because we were a bit low after being headwinded all the way.  Just being able to compare notes gives you a pick-me-up.

Suffolking Slow was our team name.  And we were!  While a couple of us started to watch the clock, arabella remained her cool, confident self.  A motley crew we were also: arabella was on a fixed ladies bike a la Sophie Matter, me on single speed, Marcus on fixed, Jane on trike and John on a geared bike.

Suffolking Slow

I had decided to use my single speed, because my memory from last year was that the route was flat as a pancake.  Only, when you use a single speed, you realise that, although pancakes are flat, sometimes they come in stacks. So I had to get off and walk one of the stacks.

Several times we were shouted at from cars.  Often it is done just to give you a fright.  But it appears that one of them was very angry.  In his efforts to let his feelings be known, he stuck his head out of the window and delivered his expletives in such an animated way that his sunglasses fell off onto the ground.  Marcus managed to avoid cycling over them which is a shame.  It could have been such a good 'oh ooops sorry' gem of a moment.

My mind was playing tricks again.  I could not see one advert without reading something else into it.  The first was 'free range eggs £1.20'.  How can they be free when you charge £1.20.  The next was 'Live singer on Saturday'.   Imagine a dead singer on Saturday.  'Sunday roast being served now.'  Liers! It's Friday and you're closed anyway'.  

I have a proposal for Paul Smith and Rapha.  The items will come as the 'SR Series' of Den Coureur (£600), Den Derailleur (£400), Den Soigneur (£300) and Den Vapeur (£200).  You can go all out and get the Den Primeur for £1200.  I'm talking about a cycling friendly camera.  A camera which will respond to touch and voice.  The body will have an 'arm' coming down on the right hand side (for right handed people).  As soon as you grab the arm, the camera will be on, just like the iPad switches on as soon as you take the cover off.   Then you can customise your 'Vitessen' (gears).  I only need three (which is what you get with Den Soigneur at £300): normal, sunny, dark. Those will be voice recognised.  So you're cycling along, see a deer coming out of the bushes, you grab the camera which sits nicely in an angled pocket at the front of your Rapha top.  You say 'vitesse donker' - to continue the west-flemish language theme - and press the button with your thumb, as the button is on the front of the arm.  All done in one seamless action and in less than a second. 'Innovate' says Graeme Obree'.

Other thoughts:

• Thanks to arabella and the team for a wonderful start to the Easter weekend
• Meeting so many audaxers/yacfers at the Punchbowl
• Great journey back on the train
• Congratulations to simonp for completing the 25000 brevet
• Congratulations to John for completing a first 400, and Jane on trike
• Best of luck to the Things for their next adventure

Photos are on the slideshow till the next ride or here: Clicky