Worthing Winter Warmer 11th Feb

[Martin]

another El Supremo catered classic (and one extra feed) never checked the profile but I suspect it looks a bit like

.......................MMMMMM..............M.......

will be ECE'ing for another bargain day out

anyone else?

[toestrap]

I'm entered for this. It was my first audax last year and very enjoyable. The route has one big lump with an 'exciting' descent if I remember rightly. Soup and rolls at the end were absolute luxury. 

[Martin]

does the lack of traffic on this thread mean there might be some food left in the Oven when I get there at Polepole speed?

[Polepole]

Well I've just spoken to my parents in West Chiltington who say there is snow on the grass but the roads are clear so it looks like I'll be doing this one. 

Martin if I were you, I would press on up that hill to the first control and not wait around for me. Just make sure you save me something for when I eventually get there!

[DaveJ]

I'm skipping out on this one.  There's ice on a lot of the smaller roads round here, and I imagine that there will be on the route too, so I'm going to give it a miss.

Have a good day, those that are riding.

Dave

[toestrap]

I'm afraid I'm with you. It's -8.5 in Horsham and there's a fair bit of ice on the sheltered bits of the smaller roads. I had been looking forward to this. Hope it goes well for those of a harder disposition.

[Martin]

The event itelf was fine; there was a lot of ice around but Mick the org sensibly took out the icy steep climbs of Blackdown and what was left was generally easy to spot and avoid (or ride very slowly through)

El S hit the spot as always; and it was almost into single figure temperature by the second control;

The ECE was altogether more heroic; must have been about -8 when Polepole and I left my house and it didn't really warm until "all day"; the hall at the start was lovely but any heat gained was gone 100m after going back out, we used main roads all the way inc the horrible but short A24 and came back via the foot of the Downs and our intermediate control near Barcombe before a nice warm up along the A275 which is one long slog up; frost was on the cars as we arrived home.
The South Downs were a majestic snowy backdrop for much of it; very pleased we made the effort!

115 entries of which 60 turned up and 59 finished which is very impressive

Thanks Mick El S and all your helpers  see you next year

[Polepole]

An enjoyable event, impeccably run, marred only by the cold at the start. The morning ECE leg to the start was something else! It was always safe as Martin had chosen his route carefully but flippin' COLD!! The outside of my thighs (foolishly only one layer here) were actually in pain with the cold for a lot of the time and at one point my hands seized up despite double gloves, leaving me incapable of changing gear. I was well layered on the body though and so never felt cold all over. The water bottles froze solid before I had even taken a drink. The brief respite from the cold and cuppa at the start made going out again all the more hard.

The leg to the first control was largely spent fighting a mental battle to continue the ride, not helped by the fact that we passed a 1 mile sign to my parents village shortly after starting, raising thoughts of a hot bath and warm fire. I'm good at "mentally putting myself somewhere else" if I'm suffering, but the need to stay alert for ice removed that option. However hot tea and food provided by El S and helpers in a layby was remarkably restorative. I was also able to clear out the ice from the top half of one bottle (the other was completely solid) and fill it up with hot water from the urn so I now had a drink which mercifully stayed unfrozen. Things got much better (and warmer) from this point onwards and I began to enjoy the ride. The snowy scenery was spectacular in places.

The ECE leg back to Martin's house was chilly but never anywhere near as cold as the morning had been, even in the dark, and so I stayed comparatively warm. I did have to scrape my car before driving home though!

All in all a challenging days riding due to the cold but one which will give me a useful experience to draw on next time the going gets tough.

Many thanks to the organiser and to those manning the controls. We were cold riding. I would hate to have been standing around! Thanks also to Martin who was patience itself and who never complained even once that he was freezing his bits off waiting round for me to catch up.

[mmmmartin]

......The outside of my thighs were actually in pain with the cold ..........
...... my hands seized up despite double gloves, leaving me incapable of changing gear ...........
........water bottles froze solid......
....the leg to the first control was largely spent fighting a mental battle to continue the ride.........
......... the need to stay alert for ice.........
........ I did have to scrape my car before driving home.........
......... he was freezing his bits off........

You know, I really don't understand why more people don't flock to the wonderful sport of audax......

[PAC]

And I thought I was cold when I went out yesterday....the cold on my thighs was stopping my legs from working in the last 20k of the 100k I was doing, but when you started, if near Surrey it must have Been colder than -15!!! Well done for persevering though

[Martin]

The weather was much the same as usual last Saturday although the ice was all but gone after an hour replaced by drizzle. I'd not done the full new route to Winterfold before as it was curtailed again due to snow last year (or even the lane up to the control, certainly more humane than going UP Barhatch Lane).

This is a really good little traditional club event; excellent as an ECE as the roads into and out of the control are all pretty quiet and benign and the A24 can be completely avoided. I varied the (mostly return) ECE by a trip down to the coast; via the 2015 airshow crash memorial which was very moving as I was likely to have been in that very spot had I not decided to go to Bournemouth at the last minute. Shoreham harbour is a gem; a real working harbour 4 miles from Brighton's Palace Pier with sea lock gates a la Netherlands. The ride along to Brighton was also quiet by then due to the ipssing rain.

I think a few others OTP did it but only recognise them from the names on the finish list

Thanks Mick and your helpers