First Audax (Final Part)

Above, or at any rate not here, you have the factual account of my trip to my first Audax and back.

But, what of it?

I guess the questions you're asking are:

1. Why?
2. What did I get from it?
3. Will I be doing it again?

all these answers and more below.

WHY

There are a lot of whys and wherefores. I became interested in Audax because I'm already a long distance cyclist, but it's easy to run out of excuses and destinations for a good long ride. I already know some Randonneurs - Steve and Ted, who both came on this ride, for example. Typically, I joined Audax UK BEFORE I'd actually done one of their rides. I started reading about the history, and about all the various "rules and regulations" (for want of a better phrase) and was fascinated and enthralled enough to just jump straight in.

Why did I not just get myself over to Leicester the easy way and just do the ride? I don't have a motorised vehicle of any kind. My bike is my only carriage. I could have hired a car for the weekend quite cheaply, and driven myself there and back, lodging overnight with Ted, and indeed this option was briefly considered. My original plan, formed while studying opencyclemap.org, when I realised that Steve's new abode was exactly halfway between mine and Ted's homes, was to cycle to Lydney on Friday, from Lydney to Leicester on Saturday, do the Audax on Sunday, then the same in reverse to get back, assuming I had enough stamina. Some paid work came in on the Friday which prevented this, and that's when Steve hatched the plan for us both to travel to Leicester in his van.

While there is always a challenge in riding a 60 mile organised ride, I don't find it much of a challenge, and I hope this doesn't sound like I'm bragging, because I'm not. I can ride 60 miles in relative comfort, and the only way I could make it more of a challenge would be to impose time limits, and that's not how I roll. I ride for enjoyment, pure and simple, and if I'm rushing round a circuit just to beat the clock, the chances are, I won't be enjoying it. So, that's why I like to "go the extra mile" as it were. A couple of years ago I agreed to join a big sponsored ride from London to Cambridge, and circumstances demanded that I cycle there in the end, turning a 50 mile jaunt into a 340 mile 4 day event, and I loved every minute of it. I also love the fact that, if you're not into long distance cycling, you've no idea what I'm talking about. Not a clue, no point of reference. Even long distance walkers have no idea, but if I have to go into the reasons I love cycling, then why are you here?

So basically, I did it because it was there. Somehow I had to get myself and a bike from Pembrokeshire to Leicestershire as cheaply as possible, then back again. I had friends in Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and Cardiff I wanted to see, which further justified the effort.

What did I get out of it - in a single word, freedom. I have a wonderful family with whom I enjoy spending the vast majority of my time, but every now and again, a little solitude is needed. I haven't found anywhere quite a solitary as perched on the seat of a bike yet, so when I "want to be alone", the bike is my companion. Thankfully, my family understands me, and they let me go.

When you cycle all day every day for a few days, you get into a "mindset" which nothing else can bring. Faced with 80 hilly miles, most people wouldn't even cock their leg over the bike, but for me the distance is the attraction. The feeling when you can look back over those 80 miles is like no other. Walking is too slow, you'd never cover that distance in a day. At the end of it, you ache, and you think that maybe tomorrow you'll have to take things a little easier, but it's amazing what cures a few hours of quality sleep can bring on!
When Steve still lived in Pembrokeshire a couple of years ago, we cycled out to the Black Mountain to watch the Tour of Britain come by - one of the wettest rides of my life. As we cycled back we commented wryly that we do this kind of thing "because we enjoy it", and I remember saying what an easily pleased beast the long distance cyclist is - he could be reduced to the coldest, wettest, miserable wretch on the planet, but he turns a corner and finds an open cafe, and instantly he's the happiest man alive! And that's how it is - for every bad moment (and there honestly aren't many) there's a good one just around the corner.

There's the endorphin rush of all that exercise, there's the health benefits of those gallons of oh so fresh air, there's the joy of the bike just singing along the road, there are the breathtaking views, the sweeping descents, the daunting hillclimbs - it all leaves a big fat smile on my face.

Will I be doing it again? Yeah, this weekend, actually!

First Audax (Part Four)

I woke around 7am to a silent house, and got packed up ready to leave Gloucestershire for Wales. Today was to be a much easier ride than the previous two days - 80 hilly miles on the first day followed by 60ish hilly miles in Leics and Rutland had taken its toll on my knees, so all I was doing was following the River Severn down to Cardiff, a nice, flat journey.

I eventually got rolling about 9.30am. It was a much warmer day than the previous two, but overcast and gloomy, with a bit more breeze. Steve had suggested a "scenic" route (euphemism for hilly), but as I wanted to spend some time with a friend in Cardiff, I was conscious of the time, so headed straight along the main A48 to Chepstow. Once through the seething metropolis, I turned off for Caldicot, and wound down some lovely tiny lanes which make up NCN Route 4 to Newport, through the villages and hamlets of Undy and Nash, coming back to so-called civilisation at the Newport Transporter Bridge, which had closed 5 minutes before I got there.

As I re-routed over the next bridge my front tyre punctured, and when I stopped to mend it, I noticed that my pannier rack had lost a bolt. I had a couple of spares in the bolt holes of my forks, so it was soon repaired and I was back on the road. I'd contacted my friend Colin who'd said he would ride out along the coast road to meet me, and despite becoming fairly lost and getting stuck on the horrible A48, I managed to find my way south and meet up with him at St Brides.

We took a leisurely ride into Cardiff, and had a bite to eat on the Lightship in the bay, then I headed off to get a train back to Pembrokeshire.

My GPS reckoned I'd travelled 355km, which is around 220 miles. 20 miles of that was by car while my GPS ws still switched on in the back of Steve's van, so call it a round 200 miles.

Enough to make anyone's knees hurt a bit.

First Audax (Part Three)

The final 20 miles of the Rutland And Beyond Audax were beset with problems.

Steve had toothache, quite badly. He'd also wasted a lot of time and energy due to the loose crank arm. At one point he was just shuffling along with his legs spinning round, trying to stay awake, looking like he wasn't long for this earth.

An experienced cyclist, he knew that most pain and difficulty can be ridden through. He did request that we leave him to it (we all had a "route card" with good directions), but there was no way I was leaving him behind, and there was no way Ted was leaving me behind, etc, so we all took it very gently and eventually cruised home together about 5 minutes before "cut off point", which is when the "crew" pack up and go home.

After a brew, and some sandwiches and cake, we loaded the bikes and stuff into Steve's van and headed back along those oh so boring motorways to Gloucestershire, only breaking down about 25 miles from Steve's place. Somehow we managed to limp off the motorway, down the sliproad and into a pub carpark, where we had a pint, negotiated leaving Steve's van there for the night and waited for his partner to come and rescue us.

When we eventually got back to Steve's house it was 11.30pm. We'd been out since 5.30am. a 16 hour day. Phew.

First Audax (Part Two)

So, day one was fairly uneventful apart from frozen toes and the loss of a front mech. I can't say I slept too well, knowing I had to be up and out by 5:30am - I remember waking with a jolt and the thought process went: "What time is it? Must be somewhere near 5 because it was already fairly near 5 when I went to bed...". It was 2:20am. You'd think after 80 miles of hillsome cycling my need for sleep would keep me there.

Steve very kindly brought me a mug of tea at 5am, and after some more tea and toast, we were off. He'd hoped to have a spare front mech among his bits and pieces, but he didn't, so I was left with minimal gearing. My motto is "If it ain't broke don't fix it" and I was now able to add to that "If it is broke but you can't fix it, just do without it."

I knew exactly where we were going in Leicester, as I'd once occupied a flat just round the corner, and we were there in good time to get a cup of tea and load up on biscuits, unlike my mate Ted, whose club, Leicester Forest CC, were doing the organising. I'd phoned him just as we got there to find he was just dragging himself out of bed. There was a quite staggering turnout for the event, and after registering we stood around in the cold morning air watching the main group of riders set off while we still awaited the arrival of Ted, who turned up nonchalantly about 15 minutes later.

Myself, Steve, Ted, and his friend Martin set off at a leisuely pace about 20 minutes after most of the others had gone. I found the cold air made regular breathing difficult at first, but soon found a rhythm. My feet were still aching from the cold, even more so than yesterday. I discovered when we made the first cafe stop after around 20 miles that my Sealskinz were not actually on my feet, they were in my pannier. I put them on and soon felt the benefit. It had been 5 hours since breakfast. That bacon sandwich was very welcome!

As we'd travelled east from Leicester out to Rutland, the snow on the fields had deepened and the temperature had dropped noticeably. Now we were heading south into Northamptonshire, and the level was maintained. Only one road had been changed on the route, the rest of the roads and lanes were well gritted and pleasantly traffic-free.

Along the middle section Steve's bike developed an annoying and time consuming habit of loosening his left crank arm bolt. No matter how much we tightened it, it would work loose again in a matter of minutes, until we realised there was quite a bit of oil present both on the axle itself and in the threads, so before tightening it, I packed the socket with snow, in the hope that it would repel the oil and supply a little friction to hold the bolt in place, which seemed to do the trick.

(TBC)

 

First Audax (Part One)

Setting off from Pembroke Dock on the 7am train to Carmarthen, it was a dark morning, bitterly cold. The train arrived in Carmarthen on time around 8:30am, but did some last minute shopping in Tesco before setting off, which delayed my by about an hour, so at 9:30am I set out along NCN Route 47, a familiar route I have taken a number of times before; quite level most of the way as it follows the course of the river. Sun was shining, but despite having 4 good layers on my feet (tights, sealskinz, shoes and overshoes) my toes were still painfully cold. No photos as my camera decided to tell me there was a "card error".

At Llandovery I stopped for a bacon sandwich and cup of tea before pressing on up the A40 to Brecon, where I phoned ahead to arrange a rendezvous place with Steve, and pressed straight on for Abergavenny.

We met up without problems and had a cup of tea. Steve's van was parked at Monmouth, so we were to cycle there, a further 20 miles or so.

As we started the first hill out of Abergavenny, there was a crunching of gears, my chain came apart and closer inspection showed my front mech to be mangled and twisted beyond repair. I took it off, repaired the chain, and we were soon moving again, with my chain on the smallest ring to accomodate the hills.

It was dark well before we made it to Monmouth, then we (thankfully) drove the last 20 miles through the Forest of Dean.

I was struggling on the hills by the end, and my knees, particularly the left, were quite sore and painful, which I put down to the extreme cold and an accident I'd had a couple of weeks previously.

Dinner of macaroni cheese and mashed potato washed down with a bottle of Weston's Cider. Mmm.

Bed at 11, to be up at 5 the following morning.

(TBC)

Audaxity

Yes, I know.

I joined Audax UK back in December, just before Christmas.

It seemed like the logical next step, joining a group of amateur enthusiasts, all intent on riding as far as they possibly can, at feasible speeds. I already know a few "randonneurs" anyway.

The first Audax I've signed up for is on 12th February. 10 days away.

It's a 100k ride (I now have to think in kilometres rather than miles, which will be a bit of a challenge for a while).

It's in Leicester, which is around 250 miles away from where I live.

I have a friend who lives halfway.

The original "plan" was to ride from here to Gloucestershire on Friday, stay with friend, then ride from Gloucs to Leics on Saturday, do the ride on the Sunday, and return in the same fashion over Monday and Tuesday.

Then some work came in on the Friday.

Plan B is to cycle to Gloucs on Saturday, and stay with friend, who will then drive us both to Leicester very early on the Sunday morning, and we will ride together (plus Leicester friend), returning to Gloucs in the evening, so I can cycle back to Pembrokeshire on Monday.

This will cover around 300 miles (er, 420k or thereabouts, I think...) over 3 days.

That should wake me up!