This was intended to be a bit of a fallow year of audax for me after PBP last year. Just bag an undemanding SR and keep things ticking over. However, protracted illness at the time in the season when I should be increasing the miles contributed to a serious loss of cycling mojo. I completed an Easter Arrow just days after having a nasty flu bug, which really wiped me out and took some time to recover. I'm not sure that I was fully recovered for the Heart of England 300 which I ended with nausea and vomiting - see nasal discharge at
I had a trip to visit an old friend in Truro planned for the first weekend in June - ride from Reading over Thu/Fri, spend 2 days with friend's family, then return over Mon/Tue. I could also get a few 200km validated rides out of the Reading-Exeter and Exeter-Truro out-and-back route. A tester DIYxGPS 300 the preceding Sunday did little to restore my mojo, and I gave up any idea of collecting audax points on the Truro trip. Just get down there and back as an enjoyable tour without the complication and worry of validation.
I packed all my kit into a Carradice SQR Tour bag on Weds evening and started out from home at 8:30 the next morning. The ride to Exeter, where I had a room booked at the M5 TL, passed through Andover to Salisbury, where it then followed the route of the Buzzard 600. The weather was good and I made food stops at Andover (the excellent Blue Onion cafe), Shaftesbury, Crewkerne, and Honiton (fish and chips), arriving at 21:05 in the evening having covered 248km. I felt quite fresh and had a quick shower and celebratory beer before going to bed.
The second day followed the route of the KSW 600 from Exeter to Truro. Breakfast was a pint of milk and pack of biscuits at a petrol station on the edge of Exeter, followed by a surprise hot pasty and Danish pastry at the Co-op in Bow. I entered the shop to find a long queue at a counter where there was a very large selection of hot pasties, which perplexed me until I discovered there was a nearby camping and caravan site. I arrived in Bude to find it bustling with half-term holiday visitors. An excellent bakery provided pasty and apple turnovers for immediate consumption, and some double-wrapped stodge called "bread pudding" for the saddlebag. The Bude-Looe section is quite wearing - KSW veteran Bianchi Boy described it as having a sawtooth profile. At Launceston I texted my friend to advise that I'd be arriving at least 2 hours later than I'd said earlier. I'd based my timings on an easy 200 like the Kennet Valley Run and they were a gross underestimate - I really must study ride elevation profiles in future. The Looe-Truro section was a bit of a slog at the end of two days riding as I tried to ride it as fast as possible to meet an unrealistic arrival time. My friend lives just off St. Clements Hill and I stopped there to phone him for precise directions. A few minutes later I arrived for my friend and his family to greet me with applause, an air hooter, and a welcome bottle of beer.
After a weekend's rest and recuperation enjoying the warm hospitality of my friend's family I set off back home on Monday. The out-and-back route worked in my favour here. I was able to enjoy the Truro-Looe section in the cooler morning, without tiredness in my legs and an unrealistic schedule. My friend had shown me a perfectly rideable track by the Tressilian River which brought me out onto the A390. Morning late rush hour traffic between Truro and St Austell wasn't too bad and you're pretty soon off the main roads down to Fowey. A pasty and Eccles cake in Looe set me up for the knee-battering ride to Bude. I arrived there just after 15:00 and revisited the bakery I'd used on the outward journey. I refuelled on pasty and custard tarts, and again requested double-wrapped bread pudding for the saddlebag. I took it easy on the section from Bude to Exeter, enjoying ambling along with the evening sun on my back. I ate the bread pudding at the M5 TL where I showered, watched TV, and went to bed.
The next morning, Tuesday 7th, saw a little drizzle as I set off from Exeter. This was barely enough to damp the roads and so caused no problem as I negotiated the late rush hour traffic. A petrol station a few miles out of town provided a pint of milk and pack of Eccles cakes for breakfast, after which there were some easy miles to Honiton on what appears to be old A/B-road orphaned by the A30 dual carriageway. A bakery/cafe in Honiton (the one opposite Costa) provided a pasty, cake, and coffee before I started out for Sherborne. The next section of A30, which appears to be a feeder for the A303, was a bit busy on a midweek morning for my liking. But a bit of main road bash puts the miles behind you quickly, and I was soon back onto more pleasant roads and into glorious countryside. In fact the whole of the Honiton-Salisbury section was absolutely delightful and I settled into a brisk touring pace (except for the climb into Shaftesbury
). A cafe meal there (posh but not too expensive) was the only non-garage/coop/convenience shop food I had after Honiton, and I arrived in Andover about 17:00 and for a pint of orange-and-lemonade at the Wetherspoons (you always have include at least one in a long ride). I then coasted home in the early evening sun via Whitchurch and Kingsclere.
In summary a good ride and a good weekend (if I were to describe the two days with my friend this report would triple in size). My thanks to Ian Hennessey for providing the route - it's very pleasant and you have no trouble finding food (esp. pasties). My mojo is back and I'm now studying the Buzzard 600 routesheet (gotta get that SR). Despite doing audax for the last four years I hadn't appreciated how much fun cycle touring can be. When I started this cycling game nine years ago the daily distances of around 200km would have seemed unachievable, but with LEL and PBP behind me they can be ridden at a brisk touring pace (all were within audax standard times).
The bike functioned well from a technical and comfort perspective. I can recommend the SQR Tour bag for light touring and the quite worn Pro 4 Endurance tyres suffered no visitations:
