Rutland Weekend 300K and Rutles 230K, Baldock 30th July

[ian_oli]

I still have some places on both these basic rides which run on minor roads from Baldock to Rutland and back.  The 300K goes on to the Vale of Belvoir, the 230K (better for public transport to and from the start) loops around Rutland Water.

The rides are squarely aimed at PBPers as an opportunity to check out fitness and equipment with as similar a rolling route as possible, but I don't expect many of the burghers of Nothamptonshire will be out applauding riders in the dark .

Non PBPers are very welcome of course and a few lumps in Rutland are a little steeper than what you get on PBP.

More details at http://iansaudax.blogspot.com/

[Andrew Cornwell]

Anyone doing these rides and hoping to use trains out and back from London (and stations in between) should be aware that there are engineering works between Hitchin and Stevenage affecting trains after about 8pm. There will be a replacement bus on this section, and usually this rules out bicycles.

I am planning to avoid this by riding the 11 km from Baldock to Stevenage station after the 300 and picking up a London service there.

[ian_oli]

Anyone doing these rides and hoping to use trains out and back from London (and stations in between) should be aware that there are engineering works between Hitchin and Stevenage affecting trains after about 8pm. There will be a replacement bus on this section, and usually this rules out bicycles.

I am planning to avoid this by riding the 11 km from Baldock to Stevenage station after the 300 and picking up a London service there.

Thank you. That is bleeding annoying because I checked a couple of weeks back at Baldock station in person, knowing there were works, and was told trains from there were unaffected. The last train from Stevenage is at 22:57.

If anyone wants to swap to the 230K as a result, please let me know asap, so if necessary I can change the Brevet order.

[Mike Conway]

I'm on the 230k. Looking forward to it

[Pete Mas]

I am entered for the 300k but am no longer free on that date, so please re-sell my place if required, Ian.

[dasmoth]

I'm in for the 300.  Should be a nice easy pootle to the start.

Now hoping that the new wheels I've ordered for the geared bike show up in the next few days, riding this fixed might be a bit of a stretch...

[teethgrinder]

riding this fixed might be a bit of a stretch...

Nonsense!


 

[zigzag]

getting bits and pieces ready for the ride - lights needed?.. weather forecast looks good, no need for extra layers. just basic stuff really.

see you at the start!

[Adam]

Anyone doing these rides and hoping to use trains out and back from London (and stations in between) should be aware that there are engineering works between Hitchin and Stevenage affecting trains after about 8pm. There will be a replacement bus on this section, and usually this rules out bicycles.

I am planning to avoid this by riding the 11 km from Baldock to Stevenage station after the 300 and picking up a London service there.

Thank you. That is bleeding annoying because I checked a couple of weeks back at Baldock station in person, knowing there were works, and was told trains from there were unaffected. The last train from Stevenage is at 22:57.

If anyone wants to swap to the 230K as a result, please let me know asap, so if necessary I can change the Brevet order.

They're only running the buses between Baldock and Hitchin up until about 1 pm or so.  After that, the trains are back to normal.

[Manotea]

Great day out yesterday on the Rutland 300km. I was running 89" which worked fine except for the 25km after the turn at Bottisford which had a smattering of long 1:7s which rather caught me out, especially as I was running a bit hot'n'empty by then. A Yazoo cheered me up but didnt really kick in until the hills were done. When I wasn't grovelling up hills I was motoring along gently rolling roads, cruising at >30kmph, a bit of a departure for me, I can tell you. Excellent.

Many thanks to organiser Ian_Oli for the lift up and LiamFitz for getting me home.

p.s., Made an excellent chip shop stop in St Neots, midpoint between Oundle and Baldock, on the return (bottom of the high street on the RHS).  V.nice.

[zigzag]

it was a lovely day out spent on the road (192k driving, 310 cycling). ian_oli summarised the route very well - good roads, very little traffic and relatively flat. slight headwind going out, but no tailwind coming back. met dasmoth, uncle eric and manotea along the way, but most of the time rode solo.

metrics of the ride can be found here

no more long rides for me until pbp, just a few short and fast ones.

[Mike Conway]

DNS for me 

Had everything prepared, but when I realised at 2.30 in the morning that I really was not going to fall asleep, I set my alarm for 8am...

[Uncle Eric]

Great day out! Fine scenic rolling route, flawless detailed route sheet accurate to the meter of intermediate distances, excellent caff controls suggested by Ian in the pre-info. Enjoying a pint and a tasty tuna sallad baguette at the pub finish, chatting away with fellow riders and the orgs was a good post-ride wind-down indeed. Got a bad patch during km 170-210 with bad nausea with tummy feeling like an overinflated balloon, forcing walking up a couple of the 14% grades. The Lucozade, Powerade, Coca-cola, two lattes with too much sugar added and a bag of candy - cocktail was too much since I never consume that stuff in everyday life since six months. Luckily a kind and friendly fellow rider gave me a couple of Rennies that sorted out the mess... Took an extra stop at the neat Windmill Cafe, real gem of a middle-of-nowhere caff.

[PloddinPedro]

Very enjoyable ride. Good weather, dry throughout without being uncomfortably hot (well done Ian!) A lot of very pleasant roads, pretty villages and attractive country scenery. A few stretches of "bigger" roads but I never felt uncomfortable on them and none lasted very long. Not entirely flat but the ups weren't over-long and were compensated for by quite long stretches of flat where I could recoup time. Good cafe stops and lots of places en route to top up supplies if necessary. All told, a perfect event; definitely one to do again, if you decide to Ian. Many thanks.

[Andrew Cornwell]

A very quick 300 by my standards - helped by roads in reasonable nick (and plenty of fast A and B road sections), perfect weather conditions with cloud hanging around until lunchtime and little wind, model route sheet. Cafes in Oundle, Edith Weston, Bottesford and Oakham could not have been more helpful (although we cleaned the first out of bacon) and with 30-odd starters, riders were spread out sufficiently so that queues were never long.

Scenically this exceeded expectations, with Rutland Water, Belvoir Castle, Kimbolton, Oundle, the Harringworth viaduct and endless stone villages among the sights to offset the frankly tedious flat sections either side of St Ives. Big open views all the way home and remarkably little traffic.

Nice to talking to Manotea about the Ditchling Devil and riding again with Duncan from Kent who previously helped me get around the Beast from the East with his navigational skills. Thanks to Mel Kirkland for the lift back to north London, which saved a ride to Stevenage for the last train - hope those who set out for that made it back to London with no trouble.

I realise this event was put on to get the miles in for PBP, but it would great to see it become a fixture in the calendar, which gets a bit thin at the back end of July and into August for those of us who choose not to go on holiday then. And a good perm too?

Thanks Ian for organising this.

[teethgrinder]

That was a good ride. Bits of a 600 I organised about 8 years ago and some Middle Road thrown in, so no real new territory for me. But some of my local favourites like the Harringworth viaduct and those nice villages near Oundle. One day I'll visit a cafe in Oundle.I would have been last one back, if it wasn't for Mr Beauchamp.
That baguette at the finish was the best I've had in a very long time.

[drossall]

I realise this event was put on to get the miles in for PBP, but it would great to see it become a fixture in the calendar, which gets a bit thin at the back end of July and into August for those of us who choose not to go on holiday then.

+1. I'm five miles down the road from the start and really wanted to ride the 230km event, but family priorities won out. I'm hoping for another chance...

[Bendy Bianchi]

Can't really add anything that hasn't been said already, a really nice route, one of the prettiest I've done down south. The first and last time ever that I've finished ahead of Mel K, though he did have the excuse that he had half of his knee cap poking through the skin after the 110km mark where he clattered into a concrete fence-stay and took a tumble (to which I think I replied "what the hell are you doing down there Mel?"  ).

Thanks Ian, it was fab.