I wonder if it's becoming a theme with Tom's events, me and failure.... I do hope not as they are all great.
So....after promising myself to learn from my disastrous DNS on the last of Tom's events I did, I suppose in a way; no light problems (of any great degree). This time though I got the start time wrong. Ever since I entered I've been convinced it was a midday start. Really don't know why. Irrelevant now; more than a little annoying at 11.50 Saturday morning.
I was already a little short on time due to traffic issues but to walk into a deserted hall and being told everyone had left 50 mins ago wasn't the greatest of feelings.
Anyhow, as luck would have it there was someone there to hand out my brevet card and send me on my way. He also phoned ahead to Tom to let him know
I an idiot was on the way. Thank you both!
I made it to the first control at Reed bang on the control closing time and, after a very quick drink and brief chat to Tom was off again. I did pass a couple of riders during this leg and, by the time I got to Clare, there were several folks still milling about in the town square. I was to ride with and around these guys for the rest of the ride. I guess that first two legs being pretty fast (terrain wise) was in my favour there but the pace calmed down a bit after that; knowing I wasn't still miles out the back of the field helped.
Rode the leg into Harwich mostly on my own, with brief sections sharing the road with other riders. I stopped very briefly in a garage at Harwich to grab some additional light batteries at which point Brad and Jim (Audax Club Hackney, who I'd met at Clare) turned up and we rode into the Harwich control together. Here I got a taste of the ACH way of audaxing....both sat down to a lovely cold bottle of beer, with me choosing the more Audax option of a coffee.
We agreed to ride together for the next couple of sections into the night and invited another chap onto our group who was riding solo. Unfortunately we lost touch with him shortly after we left so the three of us rode down to the coast, along the costal path and were treated to a glorious sunset. Another reminder of 'why we do this' to add to a growing list we had been discussing at various points.
We found ourselves in Clacton McDonalds around 2100, along with a few others who turned up shortly after. A greasy (but very satisfying) burger and one of those oh so hard to suck through the straw milkshakes saw me right and got going again about 2200. Don't remember too much about the run into base except for the interesting off road section which reminded me of my night MTB days. Great fun - especially on narrow slippy tyres.
. We did find another rider on this leg and we four rode together back to Gt Dunmow, a lovely midnight (0200) feast and sleep. Well, I say sleep. I woke with the most awful cramp in my left thigh about 0330 and then, in trying to release it, got the same cramp in my right thigh. Trust me, it really hurt and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to release both at the same time. Luckily, my roomies seemed to remain fast asleep (notwithstanding the annoyance at me waking them up who knows what they'd have thought looking through bleary eyes in a dark hall with me contorting myself into various undignified positions with a grimace on my face and a fist in my mouth) and eventually it sorted itself out and I was able to lie back down and get some shut eye.
We woke at 0430, quick breakfast and then back on the road. Took me quite a while to warm up and I was finding it a little tough to keep on Brad and Jim's wheels when the road went up. However, pace on the flat was such that I was always able to catch up. Ironically, the legs seemed to get better during and after North Hill and I felt much improved after that. Arrived at Billericay at around 0730, a place I know well on account of a very good friend living there. Bumped into a few other audaxers enjoying some sunshine then set out to Maldon. This section was great but the road towards Burnham was narrow and traffic heavy. I'm not one to get 'worried' on main roads (I actually quick like it) but this road did spook me. Traffic passed close and fast and I was looking forward to the turn at Burnh....twang!
Spoke on front wheel gave out just after cresting a hill and before I'd got too much speed up thankfully. Wheel buckled alarmingly and I stopped to survey damage. Jim sensibly got us off the main road. It was bent well out, so much so that it was rubbing / stopping on the fork. I had a spoke key (as part of a multi tool) but try as I might, I could not get it to fit. It had two sizes, one was too small the other slightly too big so it just ragged the nipple. After a while it dawned on me that I wasn't going to get this fixed myself. I was roughly equidistant between South Woodham Ferrers and Burnham so walking would have taken quite some time with no guarantee there would be an open bike shop with the ability or time to fix a broken spoke and true the wheel. After surveying and discussing options with Jim and BRad, I sent them on their way with thanks and best of luck (they were on an ECE 600 so needed to get going) and heading to the closest rail station which was North Fambridge about 1.5 miles away. Walking back along that road wasn't much fun either!
I rang my Billericay mate on the way to plead for rescue but he had prior commitments. He did helpfully tell me that there was a train every hour.... and that I'd just missed the previous one...
. So...I sat in the sun on the platform for 50 minutes trying to figure out the best way to get back to Gt Dunmow. 3 trains to Chelmsford and a taxi ride later I got back. Roughly at the same time I was projecting to arrive funnily enough.
As I said to Brad and Jim at the time, I'm not points chasing, so not getting 4 points means little to me in the grand scheme. Although it was annoying to get so far into the ride and not complete, I'd done over 350k at that point so not a wasted effort. And, as always with Tom's events, it was a great route, well graded, very pretty and very well organised, a pleasure to ride.
Thank you to Tom and all his helpers, nothing too much trouble. I hear news it may not run next year but I'd be up for a group perm possible to bag this one. Failing that, I'll keep an eye out in the 2019 calendar. Thanks also to Brand and Jim for great company (great job on completing the ECE600) and to those few others I rode briefly with.
