Recent Ride Reports:
Jan 30th : Winter Windup 200
A mare of a day on the bike for me. 3 weeks off the bike , with two of those in the glorious heat of Southern India, jet lag and sleep all out of kilter was not the best prep for a rolling 200 on a very cold winters day. You know you are in trouble when the 54k to the first control feels like 100...I'm glad the route sheet had no turn by turn distances as it would have been too demoralising. It was a real dig deep day for me, my legs felt like jelly and the cold air seemed to be searing my lungs. Fortunatley the route dished up some spectacular views to remind me that I was out on my bike and having fun!!
UB and LEE towed me through the low patches and I think I only managed to get on the front about twice ...and they were probably both downhill! The superb King Alfred Cafe in Wantage managed to serve up the perfect life saving full english (probably not a phrase you'd hear my doctor say!!) and made section3 fairly bearable and not too shabby. However by the time I reached the American diner (what an inspired venue for a control!) I was starting to come apart at the seams again and despite having fuelled up on pancakes the now rapidly falling temperature was taking it toll. However there is nothing like having Mr Spooner as your wheelman (who we met at the Diner) with his tales of this, that and daring deeds to raise your spirits and help let the km's slip past. Eventually we arrived at an almost deserted Fox and Hounds ...just Postie and a mountain of rolls ....with 10 mins or so to spare ...a true VFM ride ....not a pretty performance but enough to get the first qualifier done.
Jan 6th: Denmead 200
well that was definitely a game of two halves .....it was my first Solo 200 and my 5th 200 towards my rrty .....you can choose the date but you can't choose the weather!!
It was a bit of a late start for me at 08:30 and I was very much focussed on a second breakfast at Annie's Tea Rooms in Kimbridge as I pedalled my way over very familiar lanes for the first 50K ...I'm sure I know every stone on the roads between Bishops Waltham and Hursley!! However happy thoughts of hot tea and some brekky were dashed by the CLOSED sign on the tea room doors. The folks inside taking the Christmas tree down didn't look too impressed when I asked if they were really closed! I made my way back down to the Bear and Ragged Staff and while speaking to Lee ( at Faccomb4 HQ) to see if there was a garage nearby I noticeda couple of people going into the Pub .....hurrah ....I have sat outsidethe pub early in the morning many times for a snack but never when it was open. I resisted the tempation for a pint of Landlord (I can hear Hummers tutting at the thought) but did have a break in the dry with some coffee and crips! It was raining harder now but soon crossed over the A36 into the forest and picked up the bit of tailwind as I turned south towards bucklers hard. I was feeling decidely empty as I arrived at the cafe there and so necked tea and cake in record time, created a second Beaulieu lake around my table and squelched out all within 10 mins ...much to bemusement of the staff who were the only other people there.
As I set off again my hands were feeling really cold as my lighter weight winter gloves had given up the ghost and my hands were starting to go numb .....I thought I would tough it out to Lymington but as it started to sleet a bit I decided it was time to get the big guns out and put on the full monty seal skins. Good move ..it's amazing that doing something so simple can lift ones spirits. The Buttery in Lymington provided a proper audaxers lunch of a hearty soup and bread followed by apple pie and custard and of course lashing of tea.
Leaving was very hard ....I must have been running pretty low on energy as I arrived ......and when I left the food had not arrived in my legs. It was a rough 30 mins until they came back online. And then the sun came out ...and everything was good in the world of cycling again! The route North eventually picks up the road through the Ornamental drive ......there can't be many days when you can ridethe entire length and only see one car. Even in winter the trees look spectacular ...and the top section was espcially atmospheric as smoke from huge bonfires drifted down through the trees giving the whole scene quite mystical feel. After that it's a fairly uniteresting slog across the open heathland ....back towards the A36 ...past dozens of bedraggled cows and ponies stood by the roadside like some sort of depressed welcoming committee. the A36, rush hour. took me an ade to across that ......and now every lane between here and Otterbourne had become a rat run .....dark , cold and busy ...so it's heads down and crank out the miles ...although I did get a chance to show off my customised PBP reflective gilet as launched at the Denmead PBP planning meeting. The penulitmate control is at Shawford / twyford .....the Pub by the bridge was open and so I stopped there for a bowl of soup and coffee ....I say a bowl of soup ...however this must be one of those gastro pubs as the soup came in what I would call a slightly large saucer ...i tried to make up for it by eating as much of their complimetary bread as possible.
I was still making fairly good time as i left Shawford but then it all went horribly wrong ......just as i turned up the hill at the Twford lights I hit the mother of all pot holes and deflated my rear tyre immediately. There's nothing remotely more unpleasant about changing a tube in the dark and cold in someones driveway by the side of a busy road......unless that is ...you have to do it again 20 mins laters .....yep another flat just on the climb back into Bishops Waltham ...
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