Hereward the Wake 300km 21:00 Friday 10th July 2015

[Tomsk]

Ok...so you've done your PBP qualifiers, but need to keep the momentum going:

'Hereward', on Friday 10th July could be what you need -

1] Curry at the 'Jalsa Ghar' from 18:00

2] 9pm start mimics PBP - straight off into the evening, with a fun ride through Cambridge at chucking out time!

3] Long night sections with two 24 hour garages and the delights of 'The Pag' M1 services at Audax o'clock.

4] Good café options in Biggleswade and at the 'Silver Ball' on the A10, then brunch at the finish, [included in the fee.]

5] Mostly flat, with the usual North-West Essex and Beds/Herts lumps in the closing stages.

[αdαmsκι]

This is the αdαmsκι approach:

1] Dinner at home and drive up to Great Dunow in a hire car

2] 9pm start; rubbish if you are knackered because of exam marking near the end of the academic year

3] Long night sections with two 24 hour garages, drizzle and an overcast dawn

4] Fall alseep on the bike, wake up in a hedge and get taxi back to Great Dunmow from Bedford [NOT included in the fee.]

5] Get Tomsk to make you breakfast, drive home and return hire car

[Tomsk]

^ Not recommended  !

I'd like a clean sheet on the accident report front, had two to fill in so far this year 

[wilkyboy]

We had a rather different and much better experience:

1] Knocked off work early and rode 50km to Gt Dunmow for a curry

2] 9pm start, with a curry and a rest behind me, was lovely

3] Swift group ride to Cambridge, tailwind-assisted, where Rog and I bounced the control and rode on ahead (local knowledge)

4] Amusingly got chased down along the dead-flat, dead-straight Ramsey Road to Whittlesey and just got caught at the first overnight garage control 

5] Even more amusingly, missed a turn and added on about 10km in the dark, just as the drizzle started — there's a first time for everything! 

6] Rode through the night through this untapped hinterland of the East Midlands — you've got to love night riding, it's truly special  — to the Pag, just as drizzle turned to rain

7] Headed back to Beds just as the world was getting out of their's — a-ha!

8] Apart from some patient climbing in the latter stages (about 220km onwards) made good, steady progress; no sleep stops required, amazingly enough for me

9] Arrived back at arrivée just after half 12 for lunch

10] Had the most leisurely and enjoyable 50-odd km ride back to Cambridge for my +100ECE in the afternoon sun 

I thoroughly enjoyed it and expect to be riding it again this year 

[Cycling Daddy]

How can I resist food and the ride named after Moi
Les Hereward the Wake Sleep;D

[L CC]

1] turn up late as the A12 is closed
2] get a flat just as you catch up the ride
3] have an attack of cystitis
4] be too tired to enjoy your Monster Brekkie at Café 8
5] get to Boggleswade just as Boots opens
6] drop the medicine bottle smashing it on the pavement
7] take pictures of your beloved dribbling in their sleep on the way home

[Fidgetbuzz]

Not this year I am afraid - family duties.

[Tomsk]

...Some of you just aren't selling this... 

Another plus is you get 3/4 of a weekend for non-cycling activities, or another ride on Sunday 

[Frank9755]

Summer night rides are great as there are only three or four hours of dark to cope with, and then half the night is in daylight on empty roads - and this is a fine example.

I've done it twice, once as a relaxed mid-summer pootle with a friend and, last year, as a final try out for the 24-hour TT.  It worked well for both purposes; going at it harder as I did last year was certainly a pretty tough test.  I'd do it again this year but the calendar has put it the weekend before the 24, which is just a bit too close. 

The main thing I'd say is that it's definitely a ride of two halves (or perhaps my tired brain exaggerated the difference!).  On the first, northward leg - on flat, smooth straight roads and most likely with a tailwind as last year - it is possible to go very quickly.  But the later sections, when you are tired, are much slower, you encounter the hilly and rutted lanes and the headwinds!   

[Redlight]

Hmm.  I have an invitation to a 50th birthday party near Ipswich on the Saturday night.  An early afternoon finish and a couple of hours kip in a hotel could set me up nicely for that.

[tippers_kiwi]

I enjoyed this last year and will be back for another go this year. My memories of last year include,

- Only overnight ride that I was done fully in shorts and short sleeves
- My first experience of the Ramsey road (and it was a tail wind)
- Leaving a man shadow on the comfy chairs at Starbucks in 'the Pag' services
- Hitting a pothole and having a hand bounce off the bars only to land on the drops (that was the dozies sorted)
- Breakfast on the return

Hoping to make it for the curry this year but that will depend on how things are looking at work.

[trekker12]

Despite the 'selling' above, I'm tempted to make this my first three hundred. Yes I'm aware I've said that before on here! Will see how the St Edmunds Folk Sally Forth and paddle 200km goes in early June then start gently suggesting at home I will be fine riding through the night!

[Christophe]

I enjoyed last year also apart from aforementioned man shadow Tippers mentioned. I picked him up first not long after Cambridge and managed to pass him on to Tippers shortly before Newport Pagg. I'm quite a laidback kind of guy but after nearly 100k of an uninvited guest sucking my wheel I was ready to commit violence. Luckily for me I caught up with Tippers and Huggy and performed a world class unplanned hedge stop manoeuvre which worked a treat, thus passing the baton on to my two unsuspecting Essex compatriots.

Having said all that I'm a 'no' for this year as its my folks golden wedding celebration that weekend and doubt it would be good form if I don't turn up with the rest of my family.

[alotronic]

Oh yes, this will probably be my only/last rehearsal of the night start before PBP so will be up for this one. And I can rekindle hopes of retaining a run of 2 on the Essex SR series after missing the G&Y fields earlier.

[Tomsk]

So, we've got the SR/qualification done , now looking forward to the next one of my events:

1] Anyone like to volunteer to help with the arrivee on 11th July? Cook brunch/make tea/wash up/stamp cards. Smaller field than the 4 qualifiers, so a much more relaxed experience all round.

2] Helpers can get a free entry and do a Helpers' Ride - planned for the weekend before: Friday 3rd, start at 21:00 as the calendar event on 10th.

3] If enough want it, I'll book a curry for 18:00 on the Friday, before the Helpers' Ride and/or the main event.

[i cycle]

Tom, i'll help out again and can do the cambridge control if you want.

[riche]

Tom,

I can help at the start and/or finish.

Rich

[BikinOn]

I've been hemming and hawing over this one for a few years now. On the one hand it is one of the few 300Ks I can ride to the start of. OTOH what I really like about a 300K is I can be back in my bed at a sensible time with a good distance done. A 9pm start is the antithesis of that goal and I don't care if it's a 100K, at 2am I turn into a pumpkin!

Hang on, I just spotted, "7 information controls". Tomsk I like your rides dude, but I'm not sure I can cope with 7 info controls when I'm in Zombie mode 

Suspect I might sign up but with the understanding there's a 70% chance I'll be a DNS 

[wilkyboy]

Hang on, I just spotted, "7 information controls". Tomsk I like your rides dude, but I'm not sure I can cope with 7 info controls when I'm in Zombie mode 

I'm putting together GPS tracks for this at the moment, updated from last year's event.  All the controls are marked with cues and with waypoints in the GPX/TCX files — whichever GPS unit you use, you should get SOMETHING on the screen, or an audible beep, to wake you up close to the infos   

[Jakob W]

If you need a pair of hands at the Cambridge control I should be able to help.

[Tomsk]

A card-stamper at Cambridge would work - where would you like to hang around from 11-12pm-ish? The garage up the Histon Road is most riders' refuelling stop...not absolutely necessary, but otherwise it's a long trek to the Pag and somewhere to sit down and eat. A familiar face would make it less lonely.

The start is pretty basic - post-curry, it's just a question of filling a few bidons and handing out cards. Maybe make tea and coffee if there's a demand. Delthebike has already volunteered for the finish - he'll be on the desk [be unfair to make a vegan cook the delicious pig-bits for the brunch  ]. I know the kitchen at St Mary's Centre well enough to be happy to put my pinny on and be cook for the day, but extra hands would be good, clearing tables, washing-up, making tea etc.

Riche - riding on the day and helping when you're [first] back?

[wilkyboy]

A card-stamper at Cambridge would work - where would you like to hang around from 11-12pm-ish?

Next to The Trailer Of Life at kicking-out time? 

[Pinkybrowne]

I'm in , though I'll be on my normal Norfolk mount , Fixed Wheel .
Really looking forward to this .
Cheers Simon

[bobb]

Just about to nip down to the post box with my entry 

[tippers_kiwi]

Tom, I might join you for the helpers ride, I suspect I can bring the full army of Tippers_kiwis to help at the finish if you like.