The 3Down 300

Great news!  The front gear cable snapped.  I was waiting for it.  I wasn't really waiting for the front gear cable to break, but I was waiting for something to happen.  I had woken up on time, got to HQ without problems, knew about the road works, remembered to fill my water bottle, no noises from the mudguards,  lights ok, correct and latest gps file ... everything was just going so well.  It's going to be a puncture in the dark I thought, no, two punctures and a tyre split, or ...  maybe my light will stop working.  But I have backup for all of that.  I was trying to think of something more major, something new.  And there you go, how about a gear cable breaking?

All going well at HQ

I knew it wasn't a showstopper, but I didn't know how to leave the chain on the middle chain ring.  I was looking for a way to release the derailleur spring, which doesn't seem possible.  Thank you to the couple who stopped and advised me to just use the two adjustment screws.  And thank you to the 3 Specialized guys, plus one, for checking up on me whilst waiting at the railway crossing.  At that stage I had already found a new rhythm.  What rhythm, mind!  I felt like a hamster on a treadmill with my legs spinning all day at high revolutions!  On the downhills, when I couldn't pedal to increase speed, I got into uber aerodynamic position.  Cavendish would have been proud of me!  Chest on saddle stuff it was.  Must have looked hilarious, me trying to get every inch of aero advantage, that whilst having a pannier bag hanging off my bike.

And why is this great news?  Because anything that happens now is less likely to happen on the pilgrimage.  More about that in a 'Other thoughts'.

So, once I got back into my rhythm, I was loving the ride.  It was a sunny spring day with the hawthorne finally flowering.  But it's not spring just yet, not till you can smell the hawthorne.  It was a nice sight when a tawny owl flew across me, and in the evening, Colin and I were hearing wonderful owl calls.  There was lots of beautiful country side and wildlife to enjoy.  A more unusual sight was the meadow pipits in the New Forest.  What an elegant bird.

Lots of families were out cycling in the New Forest.   There was one family around me when I had stopped to take the photo below.

Spot the baby cowsie

'O look at that baby cowsie', the youngest boy, 5 years old maybe, had said.  What a wonderful moment, only to be spoiled by the dad.  'And what are baby cowsies called Jay?'  Oh dear, instead he could have told the boy how unusual it is to see cows on the road.  And what about the significance of cattle in religion and the holy cows in India.   Surely his boy was ready for that?  Having the vocabulary 'holy cow' could be useful in later life?  Anyway, Jay said 'calves' before I could bring up the word in my head.

I feel like I've been on holiday during this ride.  A holiday in many countries.  The landscape is so varied.  The river Test valley area is very distinctive and so is the New Forest, of course.   Cycling through Leckford Estate (the Waitrose/John Lewis estate) is like cycling in another world, surrounded by big old imposing trees.

Towards the end of daylight, I was beginning to struggle.  At the 200km mark I could feel I was tired enough for the ride to be over.  And I was struggling to eat much.  Alarm bells!  Focus!  It's important to recognise those signals.  I made sure that at least I would drink milkshakes.   I knew I had to keep my pace to make it round in time.  It might have been a slow pace, but it required as much effort as a fast pace.  I had been cycling on my own for most of the time.  When a bright front light was gradually coming up from behind me, I expect it to be Dave.  We had been leapfrogging each other earlier in the day.  But it was Colin.  We both benefitted from each other's company in that last section.

We arrived at the finish a 1:30AM, with a whole 30 minutes spare.  We were the last to arrive and so earn the lantern rouge honour.  Gordon, whom we had spotted at Winnersh, was eating and sharing his thoughts on the ride: 'tough'.  Ian and son we perfect 'arrival' stewards, just letting us settle before offering tea and dinner.   I had a kip in the car before driving the 15 miles to home.  I parked in front of the house and rather than dash for my bed, I had another kip in the car!

Many thanks to Ian Oliver for organising and team Oliver for the hospitality at the end.

Other thoughts:

• the ponies, cows and donkeys in the New Forest - never saw them so much out and about on the road
• I have an ever increasing admiration for people using fixed gear bikes
• every time there was a climb I thought of the people riding the Hardboiled audax
• Colin and I concluding that we'd stick to 200s from now on
• next ride is the Severn Across 400
• next month (!) I'm setting off on a pilgrimage to Russia covering 3000km to reach the Solovetsky islands in the White Sea.  A monk setup a monastery there back in 1436. That monk is known as St Zozimus, the patron saint of beekeepers.  John Spooner is joining me.  Our visas are in, the ride is on.  

Photos are here: MyPhotos

FNRttC Bognor

The first ride in the FNRttC season is not one to be missed.  It has elevated levels of anticipation and anxiety.  Do we still know how to do this?  'Haven't put enough miles in this winter'.  One never does, and especially not this winter, which was dominated by 'easterly winds from Siberia'.  

You gather at Hyde Park Corner, and the natural thing to say is 'Happy New Year'!  From then on, it's business as usual.  Simon does his, what I call, B&B routine.  It's a demonstration, with audience participation, of the hand signals and calls used on the ride.  But it's the finale of the bollards and bungalows signals that leads to the rapturous applause!

Full moon at Hyde Park Corner

At midnight, we're on our way to the coast.

The ride had a great flow and rhythm about it.   Everybody was keen to keep going without standing around too much.  There were some long stretches of road for stretching the legs.  It was great.  The windchill wasn't too bad either.   I noted how the coldest part of my body were my legs.   I had used double gloves and double socks and layered up warm generally.  I still had knee warmers which I could have put on, but the stove in the Cabin warmed me up enough that I forgot about it.

We stopped at Pulborough by the bridge.  It was a lovely spot with a sunrise moment to treasure.  I was totally surprised though that I couldn't drink from my water bottle.  I knew that the water has become a frozen slush, but not that the mouth piece was completely frozen solid.

Pulborough

Breakfast at the Lobster Pot Cafe was fantastic.  Both service and food were top notch.  Nice to see Titus and Miranda joining the group.

The train journey back home was busy but trouble free.   Once home, my afternoon kip was longer than usual after a night ride.  And this morning my legs were telling me that there must have been some hills along the route.

Thanks to Simon, TECs and riders for all the effort that goes into making it another memorable night.

Just a few photos: MyPhotos

The Dean 300 Perm

Entering The Dean 300km perm costs £3.50.  Getting the train from the first control, Stow, back to Oxford costs £9.50, so I found out.  That's right, I didn't even cycle back to the start after deciding that it wasn't going to be my day.

The funniest thing was that when I had made my decision, my legs still kept spinning.  Stop! Stop right now, turn the bike around and cycle back.  But my legs kept going.  I've become an automobile, I thought.  It helped me comply with one of my ritualistic rules:  always get to the start, always get to the first control.  I got to Stow already behind time, with an average of 13km/hr, just.  The organiser might have forgiven this if I had still managed to finish in time overall.  But it was one in a series of signals, that this wasn't going to be my day.

The Dean 300 is an x-rated event, even as a calendar event, let alone as a perm.  It comes with a warning that 'if you are not sure that you can ride safely then you are advised not to start'.  When iddu contacted me suggesting he might join me, I was delighted, it's on!   In fact, a lesson learnt is that you should always create a thread on yacf to 'advertise' the intention of riding a winter perm.  As it happens, another forumite called 'Can't Climb', also did the Dean yesterday.  He called it 'brutal'!  If we had all linked up we would all have had a greater chance of finishing and in a less brutal way.  Chapeau to 'Can't Climb', for finishing and then picking up his friend who bailed out at Membury. That is heroic.

I regretted not cycling back from Stow.  I had to deal with another grump, the train guard.  The word Grumpalo came to mind.  Alo, Grump, are you Mr Grumpalo?  'You're going to make the train late, mate!', he said. Oh, a rhyme, how wonderful, Julia Donaldson would approve!  Me making the train late is your problem I said thought.  Either tell me to get the next train, or help me to get on more quickly by telling me where the carriage is and other such instructions.  I got on and dared not sit down for fear of another telling off for making the seat wet.  I was soaked through of course.  So I stood under the heater which was in the ceiling just by the luggage section.  Lovely...  Till we got to Kingham.  Then cold air come through.  Mr Grumpalo at work, I'm sure.

Whilst on the train, I ate my Malborough bun.  I'd never heard of Marlborough buns before, so I bought it as a snack for when I was going through Malborough, all being well.  But all was not well.

Iddu abandoned, because the temporary fix of a tyre split, found after two punctures, wasn't to be trusted on a 300.

Iddu fixing a puncture

Now I was on my own again, and it was the thought of flooded potholed lanes in the dark that I couldn't get out of my mind.  The roads were terrible and drivers are more aggressive in bad weather conditions.  I was talking myself out of this ride.  The night before, I had had bad premonitions in my dream, the details of which I'll spare my mother.

Then I got a puncture myself.  No, not my day.  And I had lost my mental bottle.

I found myself tweeting more than normal, yep, I had truly given up on this ride.

So I got home in time to watch some fantastic rugby.  Then I had an afternoon kip as if had done a 200km ride.  I went to bed early.  Rain on the roof woke me up at 2AM, I would still have been cycling, most likely.  I'm pleased I wasn't stubborn, this one could have ended up in tears.

Thanks to Andrew for administering the perm.  Thanks to iddu.  We have unfinished business, as they say.

Some photos here.

The Oxford Ox

The Ditchling Devil 200 Perm

Cycling in Richmond Park before the cars get in is like being the only swimmer in a swimming pool.

Richmond Park at dawn

It took a while to get out of the park again though, because I seem to have been ahead of the 'opening of gates' schedule.  It was great to see the deer wondering about.

I found this ride much harder than the Poor Student the other week.  I had to watch the time and keep going.  This was probably due to the headwind going south and from Turners Hill, it got quite cold.  Think of the benefits I told myself!  I had bruised my left foot in a fall earlier in the week, so it needed icing.  My feet definitely got the cold treatment.

It was little weird to cycle past the Burstow Scout hut.  That is something from the FNRttC world.  So it was strange to see it in daylight.

I was very happy with my bike.  I was over the moon!  Because I hadn't ridden it since the Kiwi Hunt 1200 February 2012.   The bike had been in a dismantled state since the flight back from New Zealand.  Just looking at the bike hanging in the shed kept bringing back memories of pain, darkness and hallucinations.  But I finally took the bike to the Bikehub.  Mike and David helped bring it back into a rideable state and more!  It now has a pannier rack, so it's on the way to become a tourer bike which I'll use on the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage is less than 3 months away!  Thank you so much to Mike and David for helping me out.

The ride back from Brighton is wonderful.  I might keep that route on my GPS for when I feel inclined to ride back after a FNRttC.  It's a really nice route through rolling countryside.

A highlight was Devil's Dyke.  Amazing how I've never been on that side of the downs before.  The views, despite it being a grey day, were excellent.  And of course, it was the halfway point, with the prospect of a tailwind.  No comedy moments to report this time. 

I indulged in my craving for chips after finishing.  No salt 'n vinegar thanks.

Many thanks to Paul Stewart for organising this perm.  The calendar event is on in June.

A few photos are here: MyPhotos

The Poor Student 200 Perm

The Poor Student 200 is a favourite ride of mine.  An audax I've done the most often.  It starts in Oxford, goes south west to Malmesbury, then north through Cirencester where the huge yew hedge is, to Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds, and back to Oxford (Map).  Beautiful and varied country side.  Look at the photo below, I almost want to take up horse riding.

You see the mist hanging around?  It was foggy pretty much the whole day.  There were just a couple of hours in the morning when the sun broke through.  Unless I cycled out of it?  I don't mind, you get different perspectives of the scenery and buildings.

Fog at 6PM

Had a comedy moment in one of the petrol stations I stopped at.  There was a grumpy women at the till, the only till, so I had no choice.  I had already spotted her, and she had given me the look as I entered the shop.  It wasn't a look you might get in art galleries.  Still, I got to pay for the few items I had gathered.  Then the dreaded happened.  In slow motion, she reached for a carrier bag.  I didn't want a bag, I didn't need a bag, I didn't ask for a bag, she didn't ask if I wanted a bag, the bag was going to end up in the bin.  My instinct told me to go with it, rather than deal with the grump-stare.  But my audax instinct kicked in also.  My cartoon clock appeared, where willy wonkas (or Oompa Loompas) have to make huge efforts to move the little hand by one second.  The more the second is wasted, the harder it is for them to move the hand.  Mrs Grump had got hold of a carrier bag, but rather than hand it to me, as I expected her to do in a grumpy way, she had a moment of customer service overkill, and wanted to open the bag for me.  Only she didn't manage it!  Poor willy wonkas, they were exhausted.  10 seconds probably, it took.  At least it was warm inside, you might say, but I still chose to eat outside.

Outside, I happily observed the petrol station dynamics.  Then a car broke down, 'can't get it into gear' the man said.  Phone calls, discussions with other drivers, 'sorry mate's, hazards lights ...

Just then I realised I hadn't asked for a receipt.  Darn!  I'll have to go back into grump vibe city.  True enough, she was in top form by then: 'That man has broken down on my forecourt and he hasn't even had the decency to come and tell me.'   I managed to suppress my giggles.

Saw quite a few cyclists on the road, racers, mountain bikers, road cyclists.  All very friendly and cheery.  It was a wonderful day.  I was very pleased with how this first 200 of the year went.  I feel I'm 'back on the road'.

Photos are here: MyPhotos

Other thoughts:

• thanks to Pat for administering this perm event
• thanks for the tweets I received
• missed opportunity to bump into Nuncio2 on a Malmesbury Mash (which I think was the David Lewis ride?)
• next week is Paul Stewart's Ditchling Devil 200 perm
• I had made Paul Hollywood's Chelsea buns for this ride.  I like making these, and they are perfect for a winter's ride, with dates, raisins, apricots and cranberries
  
  
  

The Watership Down 100

You forget.  You forget the rituals around audaxing.

• You forget that you shouldn't rely on just one alarm clock.
• You forget that putting the bike flat in the car with the full water bottle in the cage is bad news.
• You forget that you need a pencil or pen with you.
• You forget that the right hand side pocket is where you should always put your camera.
• You forget that the light brackets are where the winter mudguards should go.
• You forget that taking a change of clothes for after the ride is a good idea.

But you don't forget that audax riding is just brilliant.

• You don't forget the warm welcome you'll get when entering the HQ hall.
• You don't forget the wonderful landscapes in Britain.
• You don't forget that the organisers work out the best route possible.
• You don't forget that there will be talk about LEL.
• You don't forget that the brevet card must be signed at the end.
• You don't forget that great feeling when you get home.
• You don't forget to enter the next ride

Photos of the ride: MyPhotos

The Fridays Windows and Death Ride

You always learn something new about London when you're out with the Fridays.  This was certainly going to be true about today's daytime Windows and Death Ride.

Just look around you, look up, and left and right.  It's all there for you to see.  But what is not there, is Simon and Ian's personal take on London historical events.  A big thank you to them both for sharing facts on history and architecture in such an entertaining way.

It all started in Queen Anne's Gate.  I like the picture below as you can't see any windows.  Simon explained the reason for that.  You should have been there to hear!

Anna Regina

The Great Stink!  Simon described it so well, that I felt like I was cycling in Dickens' time for a while. When we went through the Savoy Place Pedestrian way, I could even smell it!

Passage from Savoy Place to Adelphi Terrace

Why were flush toilets not a good idea at the time and what did Sir Joseph Bazalgette do to start the clean up the Victorian capital?  It's not the same as hearing it from Simon, but you can read about it here: The Great Stink

Below is Ian talking about Lenin and linoleum.  Myths were demystified.  Handouts were handed out.

From Clerkenwell Green we moved towards Worship Street and Worship Mews.

Philip Webb is the architect of these mews.  I wasn't getting it at the time, I admit.  Why was Simon so animated about these building?  So I had to do some googling.    I read wikis and history pages.  I found the connection between Webb and Morris.  I finally really got it, when I read the introduction to Kitty Valentine by thegentleauthor on this blog: About a Worship Mews resident.

I love learning something new about London.  And the day was concluded by talking about baking and  cycling plans for 2013.   Oh and LEL.  Anybody thinking about it, just register.  Entries open 5th January (tomorrow at time of posting).

Thank you Simon, Ian and the Fridays' company.

Photos are here: MyPhotos