Meanwhile, at the other end of the field...
A ride of two halves really. The first part was a blast, got the Pashley spooled-up and was making cracking progress. Usually I bounce the Alcester control, but this year I stopped and had beans on toast, which is what proper cyclists eat apparently. I wouldn't know as I believe it's the first time I've ever eaten beans on toast during a bike ride!
Things only got better when, as I was leaving Alcester I spied another Pashley Roadster Sovereign parked in someone's drive! So I just had to stop, take photos, natter to the the owner, etc.
I was using a new GPS this time and a few times I missed a turn whilst I was getting used to it. But it was doing a much better job of showing me where to go than the hated eTrex 30 - which would have probably tried to send me round the route anti-clockwise anyway. However, at one point I clearly pressed a wrong button or three and, for the next fifty miles or so, every time I pressed the show-me-where-to-go button it kept asking me if I wanted to play thermonuclear war...
From Atherstone to Daventry, mostly glorious. Sunshine, tailwind, Pashley - what could be better? I realised a few times that I was riding along grinning like a loon and I was thinking "This is marvellous, why doesn't everyone ride Audaxes?" Stopped by Mallory Park to watch a bit of the bike racing. Took me back to the days of my youth when the pub at Kirkby Mallory was one of my favourites. Then it burned down.
Started to flag a little on the run into Daventry so I had a decent feed (chilli and rice, coffee, chocolate milkshake) but I was about an hour earlier there than the last time I rode the HoE so I was pretty relaxed about life. However, this feast didn't seem to turn readily into any sort of usable energy so speeds dropped off noticeably on the next section which seemed to me to be the longest 54km I've ever ridden. And it was starting to get dark and get pretty cold too. My planned 11pm finish was out of the window.
Took my time at Sturdy's castle, couldn't face the thought of eating anything but I'd packed a couple of "breakfast drinks" in my saddle bag. 200+ calories in each one so I thought they'd come in handy as bonk-rations. Turns out they work quite nicely but are pretty cloying and sweet. But then it says "Australia's favourite breakfast drink" on the side, so what can you expect?
By now it was pretty bitter outside. I have the delightful tendency to "sweat like a pig" when I engage warp drive (often needed when persuading the Pashley to go up hills) and this does not make for a comfortable Wobbly when it's bitter outside. So I reasoned that I had only 57km to go and over five hours in which to do it; therefore I'd go Very Slowly. Sort of like riding to enjoy the view except it was pitch dark. Suffice to say that I stayed mostly dry but still bloody cold. A few times I was thinking "This is ridiculous, why does anyone ride Audaxes?".
Cirencester was a very welcome sight; not something I've said too many times before. Funnily enough, my memory of the HoE route was that there was a nasty little climb on the run up to the petrol station before final the decent into town. I assume the civil engineers have been at work because hill; there was none.
My thanks to Peter (his last time as organiser? Really? What a shame) and the controllers. And my thanks to the owners and staff at Venue Xpresso (Alcester), Winnie's Café (Atherstone) and Roso Café (Daventry) who have always been most welcoming and accommodating over the years. I hope the Heart of England ride continues to provide them with a few hours of frantic extra revenue. Why no mention of Sturdy's Castle (Tackley)? Well, I've always found them to be a pretty indifferent bunch but then it is a pub/restaurant and it is Saturday night, so a stream of flagging riders might not be at the top of their priority list.
Apologies for not mentioning the riders I chatted to, but I have a brain like a sieve when it comes to names. But everyone was very nice. Oh, hang on a sec...
Everyone was very nice except that scoundrel MattC! I brought him a set of lights (one has to help out the under-privileged of the parish) but he had lashed some contraption to his bike which he claimed was a light and declined my very generous offer. So I ended up carrying an extra light (and a spare set of batteries too, dammit!) round with me. Then, on one of the ascents in the Cotswolds he barges past shouting "get that heap of crap of my way". Naturally on the next descent I went past him shouting "heap of crap coming by" - the Pashley really does descend *very* fast
After that I didn't see him again, I assume he overtook me later with a little more humility.
Have spent today (Sunday) mostly asleep, knackered. LEL's only three months away. I'm supposed to be doing a HoE ride every day for four-and-a-bit days, how...?
