An Arrow is a 24 hour team event. The idea of a York Arrow is quite simple: to get a team of at least 3 people to York at Easter weekend, starting from anywhere. But there are complications….
Being an Audax event there are maximum and minimum overall speeds, which means that the distance has to be somewhere between 360 and 720 km. To ensure that you take pretty much exactly 24 hours to do the ride, you have to cover at least 25 km in the last 2 hours of the 24. That means that you have to organise an appropriate control point within 2 hours ride of York. And of course sufficient other control points en route to ensure that the distance is at least 360 km. Luckily for the rest of the team, Neil did all the hard work of organising the route and the controls, and all the paperwork too. We are all eternally grateful.
Rick and I rode from our respective homes in West Berkshire to meet up in Wantage, and then head off to Lutterworth (about 150 k in all) on Good Friday. There we were to meet Neil and Tony and start the Arrow proper at 4 pm. The wind was favourable for the trip to Lutterworth and the sun shone (apart from in Oxford). We even got a bit sunburned. We got to the rendezvous point at a supermarket café with plenty of time, and had a long lunch and a relax before the others arrived. Neil came first, then as the off-time approached so did Tony. He'd punctured on the way, and as we finished our drinks a very kind lady came into the cafe to tell us that one of the bikes' tyres had just deflated suddenly. Tony again, but he managed a rapid fix and we were off on time.
Neil and Tony did (I confess) most of the work on the first 85k to St Neots but then the navigating was tricky and they knew the route.....once there Rick and I had a pizza each (there was a deal) and we all set off into the dusk. The next stretch was a long 110 k, in the dark, to Gonerby Services. The wind was still behind us and the going wasn't too bad, but Rick and I both struggled to stay awake at times. We resisted seeking out a statute of the Blessed Margaret in Grantham (I needed a wee but managed to hang on) and got to Gonerby in good spirits, if a little weary.
After a meal we occupied the comfy chairs for a an hour and a half's doze, then hit the road for Horncastle. Only 62 k but quite hilly, and also quite wet, with a few stretches into the wind warning of what was to come. At Horncastle a market was setting up but no cafes were open (7:30 am...). The weather cheered up, but so did the wind and now it was more head than tail. I recall a long main road drag out of Horncastle then some delightful lanes round Market Rasen.
The last couple of 10s of km into Goole were tough - flat and windy - and we were struggling a bit but still perfectly on schedule with a 1 pm arrival at the last control. That gave us one hour for lunch with a 2 pm departure for a 4 pm arrival at York. Nice cafe in Goole.
That last stretch was tough. It was 38 km, which would be OK to do in 2 hours normally, but there was by now a very strong headwind. The team worked together superbly though, all taking a turn on the front and pulling nicely out to rejoin the chain. About halfway there I felt we had a good chance to make it, and by 3/4 I was sure. In the end we got a finish stamp at York Cycleworks at 15:54. 6 minutes to spare. No problem.
