We had a fantastic day, it's always so much fun from our side, it's great to meet all the riders, and especially hearing all the stories at the end without having suffered them ourselves
Everyone back and accounted for. A few "hors délais" — "beyond time limit" — but brevets signed and returned (but not validated) in order to prove to the grandchildren that they're not dead yet
Definitely a tough day with that bitterly cold wind, the forecast snow in the end was just flurries and nothing serious. Although the final two back on the Pork Pie were still out as the snow started to settle and that was a concern, they rolled in at 11pm with the news that the route had been fine.
One muddy descent on the Pork Pie was exactly where it always is, and advised in the briefing. One short snowy patch on the Spring Dash caused a few to question the rest of the route and B-road it around (and therefore just short on distance, missed the info, and not validated, but they enjoyed the cake at the end). But in the end it was all benign, merely a weather caution (yellow), not a warning (amber).
On reflection of both pre-ride forecast and in-ride actuality it was the correct decision to go ahead with the events. Those who chose not to ride did so because they were not comfortable with the forecast conditions and personal risks — and most spoke of the potential for ice, rather than just the wind, and I rated the cold (temp - windchill) to be the greatest risk with the potential for hypothermia; the ground was too warm from Friday for ice to form until late into the evening. Many riders struggled to sort their brevets and receipts out as they finished until their fingers had warmed through and I had to remove the gloves off one! However, it was remarkable how quickly everyone came back to life with a hot cup of tea — followed with hot soup and finished with some of Mrs WB's homemade cake
Those who did ride, many found the wind too much for their legs and abandoned safely — on the Pork Pie catching a train back from Oakham or Melton Mowbray; and several on the 100 simply riding back into Cambridge. Roughly
20-25% one-third abandoned, so a tough day, but that underlines the
audaciousness of those who went on to finish.
Lantèrne Rouge on the Pork Pie was a Cambridge rider who I've ridden the Extra in 12 hours with (and he had to wait for me on the climbs), so would normally be ahead of the bulge on the Classic, but found himself alone pushing into the wind at 15kph on the return — underlining the difficult windy conditions.
Audax is not an armchair sport, it's definitely not a fair-weather sport. Audax is about going out on your bike to do what you said you were going to do and taking the conditions in your stride. Everyone who rode yesterday I have the deepest respect for — you can wear the badge of starting yesterday's events with pride, as you set out to overcome difficult weather to achieve your aim. Those who had to abandon, you still achieved far more than those who chose not to start, and you can take the experience away with you and hopefully build on it
And chapeau to everyone who finished — it was humbling to see so many of you strive so hard to achieve that solitary Pork Pie stamp in your brevet, and two points on your palmères, or the grinning mad "yeah" man stamp and no points. It makes me wonder whether the reputation of Mrs WB's cakes at arrivée might've had something to do with it?
My personal thanks to my small team of amazing volunteers who make the reception and hospitality so good for you all — AlexB for turning up super early to sort the parking out with AlexW; BenW for running the desk all day. And my biggest thanks, as always, go to Mrs WB for running hospitality from end to end to look after all you riders so well! Thank you Team!
