VinSumRox
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders
I prefer Marmite, not sure about the badgers
Your ride today....
- Thread starter gbb
- Start date
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I prefer Marmite, not sure about the badgers
roubaixtuesday
self serving virtue signaller
Bovril for Badgers, you'll be lucky to get a mole rat with marmite.
Tapirs like tabasco, but you're unlikely to get one in Cheshire.
lazybloke
Ginger biscuits and cheddar
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
Saturday morning:
Up very early for a breakfast, a bit of dithering about what to wear for the day, then out the door for the hour's drive to Reading for the Kennet Valley audax; my first 200.
Parked next to Titus, the organiser, registered, then spent 20 minutes chatting to another rider Mike. Then a quick briefing before 90+ riders set off in the early morning 7 degrees air. I was glad I'd worn longs.
With well under 500 cumulative kms in my legs this year, and with memories of fatigue on the London Lockdown ride a fortnight earlier, I wasn't sure how to pace this ride. I took easy at first, maybe 15-20 minutes just riding at the back of a very large group, watching the occasional driver do incredibly daft overtakes.
Once warmed up, I picked up the pace slightly, and eventually caught up with Mike. We rode together for the rest of the day. The route took us past forbidding buildings at Aldermaston, then near Greenham Common, always heading west, through villages and landscapes that reminded me parts of my home country; except this was much quieter.
Hungerford came up suddenly, we were 25% done! Had to get a receipt here for the audax controls, so I bought a bucket of coffee and sat in the sun for half an hour; nattering to other riders.
The next section was simply gorgeous; the road headed west through quiet landscapes, snaking back and forth over the railway and the Kennet & Avon canal. Some daffs still looked good, bluebells have been emerging for a week , cherries, magnolias and camelias were stunning. The verges were full of celandines, Brimstone butterflies fluttered, and fields of oilseed rape were bursting into colour as Red Kites soared and swooped overhead. Honestly, it was some kind of bucolic idyl, and I must have a look at Right Move.
I was well and truly in the moment; all perception of time retreated as the kilometres ticked over, until suddenly we were at the halfway point; a farm shop at Bratton that not only had seating in the sunny orchard, but also did a mean bacon & egg bap.
Departing back East, Mike and I were in a group of about 5 riders. I moved to the front on some of the hills, and enjoyed leading the group for a while, but there was a stiff headwind that was really noticeable on the exposed part of the route near Salisbury plain.
I was managing smaller goes at the front, and a couple of times dropped off the back and had trouble catching back up, but we stayed in a group all the way back to Hungerford, and at not a bad speed. 75% done.
It was the final 50km that really hurt. Almost immediately upon leaving Hungerford, the hills started. Nothing particularly steep or long, but they felt brutal. The earlier speed, and the fight against the headwind has sapped too much energy and I struggled. Mike was a younger rider, very strong, and did more than his fair share of leading; now just 3 of us. I'd stuffed some gels, flapjack and fluids and recovered enough to lead a little of the way; at one point everyone dropped off my back wheel, but my reserves were very low towards the end of the ride; with shadows lengthening in the late afternoons sunshine.
Finally the end; and a well-earned bowl of soup with toast.
Absolutely loved the day; a fantastic day in the saddle; a beautiful route, and some impressive speeds; but the first half was particularly fast and I probably burned through too much of my energy reserve. Then that headwind just sapped my energy more and more.
Another mile or so, back to the car.
Taking off some extra bits, the distance was 206 km, and my 'moving speed' was 25.6kmh.
Pretty much my longest ride ever, and somehow the fastest ride for about 3 years.
Up very early for a breakfast, a bit of dithering about what to wear for the day, then out the door for the hour's drive to Reading for the Kennet Valley audax; my first 200.
Parked next to Titus, the organiser, registered, then spent 20 minutes chatting to another rider Mike. Then a quick briefing before 90+ riders set off in the early morning 7 degrees air. I was glad I'd worn longs.
With well under 500 cumulative kms in my legs this year, and with memories of fatigue on the London Lockdown ride a fortnight earlier, I wasn't sure how to pace this ride. I took easy at first, maybe 15-20 minutes just riding at the back of a very large group, watching the occasional driver do incredibly daft overtakes.
Once warmed up, I picked up the pace slightly, and eventually caught up with Mike. We rode together for the rest of the day. The route took us past forbidding buildings at Aldermaston, then near Greenham Common, always heading west, through villages and landscapes that reminded me parts of my home country; except this was much quieter.
Hungerford came up suddenly, we were 25% done! Had to get a receipt here for the audax controls, so I bought a bucket of coffee and sat in the sun for half an hour; nattering to other riders.
The next section was simply gorgeous; the road headed west through quiet landscapes, snaking back and forth over the railway and the Kennet & Avon canal. Some daffs still looked good, bluebells have been emerging for a week , cherries, magnolias and camelias were stunning. The verges were full of celandines, Brimstone butterflies fluttered, and fields of oilseed rape were bursting into colour as Red Kites soared and swooped overhead. Honestly, it was some kind of bucolic idyl, and I must have a look at Right Move.
I was well and truly in the moment; all perception of time retreated as the kilometres ticked over, until suddenly we were at the halfway point; a farm shop at Bratton that not only had seating in the sunny orchard, but also did a mean bacon & egg bap.
Departing back East, Mike and I were in a group of about 5 riders. I moved to the front on some of the hills, and enjoyed leading the group for a while, but there was a stiff headwind that was really noticeable on the exposed part of the route near Salisbury plain.
I was managing smaller goes at the front, and a couple of times dropped off the back and had trouble catching back up, but we stayed in a group all the way back to Hungerford, and at not a bad speed. 75% done.
It was the final 50km that really hurt. Almost immediately upon leaving Hungerford, the hills started. Nothing particularly steep or long, but they felt brutal. The earlier speed, and the fight against the headwind has sapped too much energy and I struggled. Mike was a younger rider, very strong, and did more than his fair share of leading; now just 3 of us. I'd stuffed some gels, flapjack and fluids and recovered enough to lead a little of the way; at one point everyone dropped off my back wheel, but my reserves were very low towards the end of the ride; with shadows lengthening in the late afternoons sunshine.
Finally the end; and a well-earned bowl of soup with toast.
Absolutely loved the day; a fantastic day in the saddle; a beautiful route, and some impressive speeds; but the first half was particularly fast and I probably burned through too much of my energy reserve. Then that headwind just sapped my energy more and more.
Another mile or so, back to the car.
Taking off some extra bits, the distance was 206 km, and my 'moving speed' was 25.6kmh.
Pretty much my longest ride ever, and somehow the fastest ride for about 3 years.
Yesterdays cycling shenanigans. Aprils Imperial Century qualifying ride done and dusted with another ride of the fabulous Man Of Kent Audax of which I first rode 10 years ago and plenty of times since. A lovely day for it or was it?. It was bright blue sunny skies all day. However the cold easterly wind made riding much harder then it should have been. Even though the temperatures reached 17.5°, the wind made it feel much colder. But it was a great ride never the less. I felt good and strong, especially for the second half of the ride. I told myself I wanted to be back at base for 6pm, I did it by 15 minutes. I made a conscious decision not to faff or hang around at controls of which is easy to do, just lounging around and/or chatting to other rides. I said to myself 15-20 minutes at the most and it worked out quite well.
So scores on the doors,
130 miles for the Audax and 37 miles to the start and back to home, making a grand total of 167 miles.
Imperial century ride # 351
Imperial month in a row #173
Toot Toot at New Romney Railway
Elham Valley. The picture really doesn't do it justice and how beautiful this place is.
So scores on the doors,
130 miles for the Audax and 37 miles to the start and back to home, making a grand total of 167 miles.
Imperial century ride # 351
Imperial month in a row #173
Toot Toot at New Romney Railway
Elham Valley. The picture really doesn't do it justice and how beautiful this place is.
Stevo 666
Active Member
Ian, I'm glad I didn't post the Garmin map from my ride yesterday, as yours make mine look a bit pants. Your trip to and from the start/finish point was longer than my entire ride 😃
Ian, I'm glad I didn't post the Garmin map from my ride yesterday, as yours make mine look a bit pants. Your trip to and from the start/finish point was longer than my entire ride 😃
Don't matter what the distance is Steve. You were out on the bike and if you enjoyed your ride then that's all that matters,
Stevo 666
Active Member
I was half joking there Ian - I'm not fussed about my own distances, I just enjoy the riding. But the sorts of distances you and some others put in are pretty impressive.
CarbonClem
Regular
Saturday
Undertook the RVV Sportive in Oudenarrde, Belgium. Early start from Ghent, and then started the ride around 0800 in bright fresh conditions deciding to start 'cold but bold' to avoid carrying kit later as it warmed up. Superb weather, fantastic feed stations and brilliant atmosphere. Route was very busy meaning patience in narrow areas and quite a few enforced stops for road crossings and segment control. Rode all the hills comfortably bar the Koppenberg where congestion meant I had to walk the middle section - as did everyone around me. It was a hard ride on the body - cobbles were much more brutal than I expected and I wore no gloves (mistake) but legs and lungs wise I was happy. No punctures or issues either which was nice. The sound of being in a pack of bikes hitting the cobbles doesn't wear off
105.5 miles. 6512 feet.
Undertook the RVV Sportive in Oudenarrde, Belgium. Early start from Ghent, and then started the ride around 0800 in bright fresh conditions deciding to start 'cold but bold' to avoid carrying kit later as it warmed up. Superb weather, fantastic feed stations and brilliant atmosphere. Route was very busy meaning patience in narrow areas and quite a few enforced stops for road crossings and segment control. Rode all the hills comfortably bar the Koppenberg where congestion meant I had to walk the middle section - as did everyone around me. It was a hard ride on the body - cobbles were much more brutal than I expected and I wore no gloves (mistake) but legs and lungs wise I was happy. No punctures or issues either which was nice. The sound of being in a pack of bikes hitting the cobbles doesn't wear off
105.5 miles. 6512 feet.
Attachments
Lazy Bloke said:
"Then a quick briefing before 90+ riders set off in the early morning 7 degrees air."
Impressive numbers of riders: When I started riding Audax (randonneuring around here) twenty years ago there were close to a 100 riders in our club, now there are none. AudaxUK does so much better than RUSA in building the sport and retaining members. At last count, there were less than 1,000 active members in all of RUSA compared to over 8,000 for AudaxUK.
"Then a quick briefing before 90+ riders set off in the early morning 7 degrees air."
Impressive numbers of riders: When I started riding Audax (randonneuring around here) twenty years ago there were close to a 100 riders in our club, now there are none. AudaxUK does so much better than RUSA in building the sport and retaining members. At last count, there were less than 1,000 active members in all of RUSA compared to over 8,000 for AudaxUK.
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