Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => Topic started by: steveh on 23 August, 2010, 10:52:21 am
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Mornin' all.
Is anyone doing this one?
I'm pondering it as my first 200, but given previous comments that this might have a place on the list of "top 10 hardest audax" and a niggling left calf problem I'm not sure that the 100 might be the more sensible choice this time round.
That said, the bit that appeals to me is the stretch from Ramsbury onwards, as most of it would be new for me. Decisions decisions.......
If any of you will be there it would be nice to put faces to names.
Steve
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Not sure I'd put in that list of 10 hardest - first half is very benign. Second half is lumpy, but fantastic countryside, with a flat run in after Kingsclere. A great ride.
I shall be around at the start, and Mrs D and I will be manning the Faccombe control. I rode it last week.
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...and it's pretty much all downhill from Faccombe.
I'm doing it and it is my mate Phil's first 200 too..
H
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Hi Phil
Funny you should say that about this ride - I've been getting more disciplined at searching for stuff before posting, and on page 6 of this (Top Ten hardest Audaxes (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=24196.0)) it only just fails to make your very own list...... :)
I have to get myself to the point of completing a 200 at some point and as one of my "local" events (Kennet Valley Run and Taste of the Test are the other two nearest) it's high on the list.
The route as far as Shrivenham is all on very familiar roads, so maybe I'll only take half the routesheet to save weight..
Steve
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I must be getting stronger ;D
Didn't seem that hard last Wednesday. I didn't ride the exact route (substituted from home to the first info, and then rode home from Beech Hill to make a 222km GPS-verified perm, while checking the routesheet for Allan) but completed in just over 10 hours.
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I must be getting stronger ;D
Didn't seem that hard last Wednesday. I didn't ride the exact route (substituted from home to the first info, and then rode home from Beech Hill to make a 222km GPS-verified perm, while checking the routesheet for Allan) but completed in just over 10 hours.
On which point
<lack of confidence>
My last DIY 100 miler took me 7 hours in the saddle and 8 hours 20 door to door - on that basis I'm guesstimating about 11 hours or a bit more to finish this. Does that sound reasonable?
What I would prefer to avoid doing is keeping the poor guys managing the last control waiting as I roll in 10 minutes short of the deadline. :-[
<lack of confidence>
Steve
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In 2005 I finished in about 11 hours. After eleven hours of the 2006 running I was still on the wrong side of Watership Down, with a p+nct+r+, and got horribly lost in the final 5 km.
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I'm grounded on The Day as I have to go to Mrs Manotea's Best Friend's 60th Birthday
PartyEvent.
To say I am tremulous with excitement regarding this development might be an overstatement. I'd ride on the Sunday 5th but I'll be escorting Ms Manotea round the London sightseer, which I am looking forward to.
But, yes, the AFM is a good 'Ride Round Ride'. Enjoy.
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Was 2006 the year they'd resurfaced the roads, and not yet repainted the white lines? There was one junction that is normally a sharp LH bend with a road off to the right (in reality straight on) which caused a lot of problems. All was OK last week.
To answer Steve's point - there will be plenty of people taking 11 to 12 hours (or more) to complete. There are one or two AUK members who have developed the principle of finishing just in time to a fine art. They refer to it as getting value for money ;D
The organiser at the end will have a reasonable idea of how long riders will be, as the controller at Faccombe (me, as it happens) will let him know as the first and the last leave that point. And (for me, anyway, and I'm sure other organisers too) spending time at the end chatting to the riders who have finished is an enjoyable part of the day.
So all you have to "worry" about is finishing in time. Enjoy the ride - that's what you are doing it for.
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Was 2006 the year they'd resurfaced the roads, and not yet repainted the white lines? There was one junction that is normally a sharp LH bend with a road off to the right (in reality straight on) which caused a lot of problems.
Sounds familiar - I ended up going through here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Wall+Lane,+Silchester&sll=52.617109,-1.513056&sspn=9.598378,19.753418&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wall+Ln,+Silchester,+RG7+2,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.35049,-1.066146&spn=0.009636,0.027466&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.350402,-1.066198&panoid=aT3uzjaBfkoH2ya0i5eKGA&cbp=12,198.9,,0,5) having done an R eff SO instead of going round the corner and turning right onto Park Lane. I ended up somewhere the wrong side of Bramley in the dark without the extra lighting I'd have normally had if I'd expected to finish after sunset >:(
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Does anyone have a GPX for this from previous years. The routesheet has very few distances on it making creating a GPX a far lengthier process than I have time (or the inclination) for.
I have a GPX file with the 2010 200km route. It uses the 'jwo method' - ie 99 waypoints corresponding to each routesheet instruction rather than a continuous track. Each waypoint labelled sequentially using:
L for left
R for right
R L for right then immediately left
BL for bear left
FR for fork right
SO for straight on
E3 for 3rd exit at roundabout
CTRL for control
INFO for info control
LINF for Info control and then left on leaving.
You can get it here (http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~jwo/acf/UpTheDowns2010.gpx).
Caveat emptor and all that, but I've checked it as best I can.
See you on Saturday.
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Thanks Jo.
See you on Saturday.
Anyone needing a lift from west London let me know. Leaving around 6.30
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Change of plans means we're now free this weekend.... just made enquiries about entry on the line. If we can join in, that will make it three years running, I believe. Looking like a nice day too :)
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The email address works if you want to contact Allan.
H
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All looking in fine fettle as you storm thru' the homestead ;)
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and everyone safely through the Faccombe control in good time. The last few riders might have experienced a few drops of the wet stuff over Watership Down, but otherwise a fine day.
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Cracking day out and my 3rd Up the Downs. 8) My mate Steve and Richard's 2nd 200 and Phil's first. They all done good. :thumbsup:
This is a fine route and the pub at Shrivenham couldn't do enough for us - food was superb too and a lot better than last year.
I suffered a bit after lunch as Phil and I were pissing it up until the wee hours last night but once the hangover and lunchtime pint of Wadworths wore off, the 6 weeks off the bike and stone gained on holiday mattered not a jot.
H
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I think that's what the Yorkshire types refer to as a Grand Day Out (TM) :)
Excellent weather too.
I was pleased to get round in just over 11 hours, nine and a half of which were on the bike.
Suspect I could do with some more hill training if the "grovelling" up some of the hills in the second half was anything to go by.
To be fair though if I'm planning to go up hills like that I normally don't do 75 miles first!
Thank god for the 27 tooth sprocket - if not for that I'd have walked up more than the ramp out of Ramsbury and that nasty kick out of Ashford Hill when your legs just aren't interested any more.
A nice way to open my 200k audax account.
Right, when's the next one.............
;D
Steve
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A good ride, on the recommend list. Those hills in the second half a bit tough though.
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A good ride, on the recommend list. Those hills in the second half a bit tough though.
Yes, Faccombe seems a long time coming although the hills are never that steep - if you don't count the one out of Ramsbury that is.
We had a bit of a tailwind up Walbury too.
H
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We thoroughly enjoyed the day out, big thank you to all the Reading crew for putting on a fine day, in every way.
So much more enjoyable than the domestic chores we'd planned: we felt like naughty children all day, going out to play on our bikes when we hadn't yet tidied our room! But made amends for it Sunday, so overall good result.
Our thirds consecutive Up the Downs, and it looks like it was our shortest time of any 200. Slight irony there: the more enjoyable the weather, the less time we spend out in it!
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Anybody got a GPX or Bikely track for this?
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My attempt at tracing in the 2008 route sheet is here (http://goo.gl/ehtN). I don't think it's changed much since then.
Lemme know if you need a hand converting that to something more GPS friendly.
(EDIT - fixed URL. Thanks Matt. Naughty bad wicked forum)
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Anybody got a GPX or Bikely track for this?
Go to the ReadingCTC website, and in the forum there there's a gpx file of the route. You need to register to see that part of the forum, but that's easy enough.
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My attempt at tracing in the 2008 route sheet is here (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
115034980880134024013.000455d8f3745552e716a). I don't think it's changed much since then.
Lemme know if you need a hand converting that to something more GPS friendly.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IG6klg0VlqI/SZCsmMipqfI/AAAAAAAAAek/d1rzulp1cU8/s400/still_dorothy_03.jpg)
"Postie, I've a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore"
H
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My attempt at tracing in the 2008 route sheet is here (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=115034980880134024013.000455d8f3745552e716a). I don't think it's changed much since then.
Lemme know if you need a hand converting that to something more GPS friendly.
Try this (if you don't like Kansas):
maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=115034980880134024013.000455d8f3745552e716a (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=115034980880134024013.000455d8f3745552e716a)
The forum wanted to linebreak the Thing's URL for some reason ...
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Thread resurrection - I'm not sure if this is the same ride (pretty sure it is) - but it is running Sat 2nd July this year.
https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=9774
I've recently discovered this part of the countryside is much nicer to cycle around than the Chilterns. The roads are quieter, the scenery more open, and the surfaces in better condition.
There are some punchy climbs on the route - they may not be long, but they are steep.
If I bring the backup bike - I'll probably be walking the steep stuff.
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Yes, that's the same event though there have been a few route tweaks over the years. It moved from September to June / July a few years ago when I was temporarily running the event and also acting as mentor for the Rural South organiser.
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There are still several seats free for this event on Saturday, as well as for the companion 100km ride. The forecast looks good!
https://www.readingctc.co.uk/up-the-downs-200km/
https://www.readingctc.co.uk/down-the-ups-100km/