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.
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