Four Minute Mile 200 - Sat September 19th 2020

[Phil W]

The Four Minute Mile 200, starting Stevenage, Hertfordshire, is now published and open for entry this year. It will be running on Sat 19th September.  Café start and pub finish.  Back to the original anti clockwise direction.  There will be accompanying 100 and 50 events which I’ll get round to publishing in the next few weeks.

In its third iteration I’ve eliminated a couple of receipt controls, and replaced with infos. There’s also a new route from Chesham to the finish which avoids the Alban greenway and visits some new roads for audax. It’s now also 15km shorter.

Visit the stadium where Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile and cross the Chilterns twice as part of this outing. Also available as a perm.

Enter or add to your calendar as part of your RRTY series or local audaxes.

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/20-265/

[Lightning Phil]

Now open under Covid rules.

Limited to max 30 entrants
Staggered starts from car park in Fairlands Valley park, Stevenage
As x rated as can be
Postal finish.

[Lightning Phil]

All out on their ride with start going very smoothly. Lovely day to be out on an audax.

[grams]

I wasn't making great progress and then my chain snapped* just outside Oxford. I did bodge it back together but it sucked up any time in hand I had and made me nervous about pedalling too hard, which is the last thing you want on the hillier sections. It also meant I skipped eating properly, which ditto.

I ground to a halt somewhere near Harpenden and got the train back.

Loved the route though. Thanks Phil.

(* the bike has had no TLC since PBP, and I keep grabbing it last minute and assuming it'll be fine for just one more ride...)

[Lightning Phil]

Oh bad luck , hopefully your bike will now get some TLC. Glad you loved the route.  It’s available as a perm should you wish to give it a go again. Otherwise I plan to run the calendar event same time next year.

* There was a bike shop on the RHS on the high street in Oxford , did the chain snap before or after the Oxford turn?

[grams]

There was a bike shop on the RHS on the high street in Oxford , did the chain snap before or after the Oxford turn?

It happened right on the junction where the route split. I did think about going to a bike shop but in was running pretty smoothly at that point and I was mostly in a hurry to get in and out of town.

Also, last time I went to a bike shop for help on an audax I got a "we'll book you in for next Thursday" type response.

[GdS]

Sorry to hear that Grams; I always carry spare links and a Park folding chain tool; it's saved my ride a couple of times.

PS your next ECE will be free 

[Pete L]

Really enjoyed this ride yesterday. The sunshine helped, but also nice country roads on the outward leg, mostly fairly quiet, gently rolling, with some good views, and occasional whistles from red kites overhead. Great route into Oxford on cycle paths and quiet suburban roads. On the return leg, a pleasant stretch along the Phoenix Trail cycle path, lots of families out, which slowed progress occasionally, but was good to see. Quite a few ups and downs after the cycle path, more than I was expecting, and some felt rather brutal, but thankfully they eased off a bit nearer the end.

Good organisation, the staggered start worked well, and the range of validation options made it easier to minimise human interactions. I have only done solo rides since March, and this felt similarly low risk to those.