Audax : Saturday 26th March - The Dean 300K

The Dean 300 - update: Some days it just all comes together and this was one of those days. It wasa chilly start in the car park jsut north of Oxford and I'm sure the locals were wondering what on earht was going on with 100 riders gathered at 5:30 am. Despite a stunning sunrise our ride west through the Cotswolds was cold and a little gloomy with little sign that the sun would break through ....we even found some fog in some places. However it's not a flat ride so there were plenty of lumps and bumps to keep us warm. It was only as we approached the Forest of Dean that the sun broke through and stayed with us to Chepstow. Lee was not having a bad day on the bike ...struggling on the climbs and genrally having to tough it out ...I was having the reverse and felt very strong ....it seemed the South Downs climbing and weight loss was paying off. There were plenty of familiar faces on the ride and also some new ...we even managed a chat with the the Rapha team for while who were very friendly and starting to get their heads and legs around long distance cycling! Chepstow is approx half way round and although we had been 'short stopping' we decided we had earned a proper sit down hot meal.....i can certainly recommend Aslans cafe in the centre of town. The way back to Oxford is via the old Severn bridge, and along to Malmesbury. The old Butter Cross in the middle of Malmesbury had become Audaxing central with refuelling randonneurs enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. Next stop was Marlborough ....with two white horse climbs between us and it! It was from the top of the first climb that we saw the sunset. Soon after leaving Marlborough the light finally faded and once more were in night audax mode again ...chasing the white circle of light on the road ahead. Malmesbury services is the penultimate control ..... hungry audaxers were drapped around the interior ...bracing themselves for the cold, final push to Oxford. The last 50k is a bit of a blur ....mostly flat ....a few snack stops and a final roll-in with Judith Swallow and friends into, through and out of Oxford back to a deserted car park at 10:40pm. Job done!




This is qualifier number 2 .....Starting just north of Oxford we head off at 6am across the Cotswolds to Wales, down the Wye valley and back across the old Severn crossing, onto Marlborough and finally north back to Oxford. It's the beginning of the big rides ...over the next 7 weeks we will ride 2 300's , a 400 and a 600 ....it's easy to write that down ..another to ride it!

there's a big turnout for this ride ...there appears to be about 100 starters...must be PBP fever! The weather is looking good ...not quite as warm as it has been during the last few days, about 12 degrees with a little bit a tailwind to help us on our way west. We'll need to pack some warm clothes for the evening as the temps are due to drop to 3 or 2 degrees which is a good incentive keep the pace up. If all goes well we should be finished sometime bewtween 10 and 11pm. hopefully i will be tweeting along the way and of course the ride report will follow.

The Scales of Truth

This may not seem like a big deal to alot of poeple ....but the above two numbers mark a major milestone on my road to PBP....and I probably haven't been under 15 Stone for over 15 years!

It a simple truth that the lighter you are the easier it will be to climb and I need all the help I can get. Three and a half years ago, before I started auaxing, my weight had crept up year on year until I reached a rather shameful 18 stone (252 pounds, 115 kilos)....all those miles have gradually wittled that weight off ....it's hard work ....there is no secret:

Eat less , move more

but for a lifetime foodie it's been a real mental struggle. My target weight for PBP is 13 Stone 10lbs (87 kilos) ...the lower end of my healthy weight range according to my BUPA health check back in September. ...it's still a long journey ...but this milestone is a great motivator.

Cows and Skylarks

Hurrah ...Spring is here! There have been glimpses during the last couple of weeks but last weekend was the real deal. As I rode out beyond Southwick I heard my first Skylark of the season and the cows were out inthe fields are a winter in the barn. It's such a boost to be riding in warmer temperatures and to see and feel the Sun. I even had my pitstop at the Beaches Cafe sat outside in the sun. As I said in my Tweet at the time ....it was the morning ride I had been waiting for through all the cold winter training rides and audaxes. It doesn't make the hills any easier though ...now that I have extended the ride out to South Harting there are two more proper climbs to take on ...the long steady climb to Ditcham Park School and then the harder climb to Harting Down ....in total this makes the ride 101K (63 miles) long with 1500m of climbing...a pretty good leg stretcher. I think it's now the perfect weekend training ride ...and is now officially the Chillmoister 100! It's taking about 5 to 5.5 hours to get round this with two cafe stops of about 20 mins each....Beaches on the Downs and then the Tea Rooms in Compton. The Harting climb is still requiring the Granny ring (the smallest cog on the front) to get up there so the next measure of fitness will beto climb this without it. Next weekend I'm riding The Dean. This is my 300K PBP qualifier ...a lumpy ride starting in Oxford ..heading west across the Cotswolds to Wales and back again ....but more about that to come

here's the usual view from Teglease down



and here's my favourite new haunt in Compton:

hoping for better

last weekends training ride was another cold and grey affair ....I've really had enough of single figure temps and leaden skies! my legs felt strong but my head and my heart just weren't in it .....so it was a bit of a slog mentally to get round my 80k....at least the sun came out as I spun down towards Finchdean, homeward bound, giving a glimpse of spring riding to come.

I'm off out in a few mins .....the rain seems to be clearing and the Met office promise sunshine later :-) .....today I'm going to extend my normal training ride to take in the South Harting Down climb which should take the loop upto 100k... I can smell the coffee and flapjack in the Compton Tea Rooms already!

my 'mojo' returns

phew ...what a relief ...there was a certain amount of trepidation for me regarding this ride as my last outing on a 200 been a complete nightmare. The good news is that I seem to have regained some form in the last few weeks ...those 90k rides around the Southdowns have paid off.

It was a bit of a showery ride out from Grazely village hall against a fairly stiff headwind so tucking in on each others wheel was the best idea .....however the downside was that after a few miles we were all splattered with muck off the road to the extent we looked like we'd be off-road ona cyclo-cross event! Despite the headwind and thanks to Lee's hardwork on the front the Faccombe4 appeared to be turbo charged; and foresaking tea and food in Hungerford (50k) we arrived in Bratton to have done 100k in 4 1/4 hours .. much to the amazement of us and others!

We had a special guest waiting for us at the Bratton control ...namely my brother John who was joining us for an hour of the return leg ...but not before we had stoked up on grub at the cafe. The weather was still a bit showery but certainly improving ....and as we set out we soon benefitted from the tailwind to assistance us back west to Hungerford. We did ease off the pace a little and it was greatto have my bro' as my wheelman for 20k before he headed off back towards Bratton. Hopefully more ofthat to come as he gets drawn into the world of Audax! It looked like we would be in Hungerford for tea at 3 ...however a front tyre puncture for Dave delayed that by 20 mins. After Hungerford the route heads north to pick up a few rolling hills just to make sure that you've not had a completely easy day on the flat. The lanes on this 50k loop back to Grazely were in a bit of a state and it's amazing that we only picked up one more puncture ...shame it was me!!! So another 20 min delay ....but time for the others to have a break , eat some food and offer me advice on how to change a tube! After about 35-40k the route levels out and so we put the hammer down and managed to get back at 18:30 precisely for a pretty respectable 11hour 200k.

that the end of the 'easy' rides ...next up is the Dean 300K qualifier on the 26th March ...but more about that later!!