Got up at about 0615, slightly acidic in the stomach department but it passed so didn't bother with medication for it (it's been months since I popped one of those pills - I used to take one twice a day so things are improving!).
Left at about 0740, later than intended due to being a bit slow to get organised, and had to stop on the way to re-attach one of the 6 bike carrier straps, which had come loose. Pressed on and arrived about 0815 (start 0830) but I was just too late as the last car park space went just as I arrived so had to park on the street. Soon realised an Error - had omitted to fit the bracket adaptor that came with the new GPS to its back, so was unable to clip it into the mount. GPS thus became relegated to the back pocket - fortunately I had the route sheet and bar bag so was able to use that with the GPS to check on things and provide speed info. Switched the Powertap head unit over to km/h so would be able to use its distance logging. Some concern about Powertap dropping out (hub seems to stop sending when it gets cold). It didn't work when removed from the garage this AM, worked after sat on the back of the car on the drive over, stopped working
after being sat in the shade at the start control, worked again after being moved into the sun. Grrr. Maybe it got damp inside on the Cheddar Gorge flood shenanigans. Have to remove the cover and have a look/let it dry out. Which I had to do to my Solidlights 1303 after the 3Down downpour as well (it's now working fine again, was a bit ropey during the Cheddar Gorge which alerted me to the problem). Anway, enough of that nonsense.
We set off slight after 0830, I tried to stay with the lead group who were pushing 30kph as we headed out of town. Hmm. Spied an ACF top, was Chris S and rode with him for a little bit; his comment was I would need to ride slower than this on PBP. Too right! I pushed on to try to stay with the leaders, but into a bitchin' headwind and undulating terrain, it eventually all got too much and I got dropped along with another guy, who I rode with taking turns at being in front. We were still doing well, fighting the headwind. Ahead, we saw the first of many wrong turns from some people ahead of us... always useful to catch people, that.
Arrived at the first info control... discovered that the answer to the question was a wind turbine, not just any wind turbine though... it was a Proven one!
Must pass that onto mum & dad. At the check point when I mentioned the connection the organiser suggested I had an unfair advantage!
If it had been the one 200 yards from work, then maybe... but there are about 1000 of them out there, and I had never though of them as useful inside knowledge on info controls before.
The next stop was a "free tea" stop. It turns out this wasn't a control, just free tea (very nice thank you, but as there's no stamp to be had, I'm outta here). Which then lead to a Powertap annoyance: if you walk away from it, the HRM pickup stops. And then it (the HRM part) goes to sleep immediately. And will not search again until you have the powertap power down and back up... so I ended up having to pull the head unit off the bike until it powered down, which defaults as 4 minutes. Grr. So that led to Wrong Distances from then on. Bah! I whinged about this to Chris S, as I rode with him for a bit, before pushing on to catch back onto a group which had formed around me (so self centred, but I can't help it) before the tea stop. When doing a time, I find being in a group helps lots, especially on such a breezy day.
On we pushed, until a check point with the organiser at Bures; the people I'd been riding with set off ahead of me. Deniece was also there, about to leave when I arrived, presumably also dropped by the lead group (though she kept with for longer). Off again, heading east then north to a control at "Monks Eleigh". Although this sounds as though it ought to be rude, I suspect that it isn't. Angry This was a control at Corncrafters' Tearoom. Unfortunatelty, the service at the counter was very slow so it took more than 15 minutes to get to the front of the queue, and I think it was at least half hour elapsed between the 12.15 arrival time and getting hold of my beans on toast and apple pie with icecream. I also indulged in a sneaky Cappucino. I have decided I am permitted caffeine on audax events despite my general pre-PBP abstinence. The delay did at least allow time for a visit to the loo, removal of base layer, application of suncream etc. One thing I didn't get round to til later was re-aligning my saddle, which has been very slightly pointing right for a while.
Eventually left after 1, but the next section was fast owing to being pretty flat and now with the wind. Elected to make the most of this and was pushing 30-35kph for a long time. Eventually ... brief interlude where I thought I had lost the RR so far due to bastard poweragent 7.1 install rebooting machine (when typing fast and pop-up takes over the keyboard, very easy to hit the return key without realising what you are doing... however the "Restore Session" option on Firefox ressurected the post reply form complete with my text intact... Firefox, I love you! ). ... eventually ARGH GIANT MOTH ATTACK eventually EWW WHAT's IT LEFT ON THE SCREEN? eventually after not stopping at one info then stopping at another got caught up by group of 4 from Sudbury CC and then bloke I'd paired up with early on, plus Shaftesbury CC bloke who knew me from Fenland Flight and Deniece. People going off route when I don't is BRILLIANT.
So we had a peloton of 7 and we were flying, 30kph was the norm and we pushed on and on, eventually arriving at the final control (53k to go) with oodles of time in hand, and overwhelmed the lady at the cafe with orders for copious quantities of tea (or in my case, cappucino) and crumble with icecream, which was wolfed down. Took a few pics here (note to self: don't take a camera along on PBP, it'll be a waste of weight, cos no way will there be time to take pics!). I'll save being a Damon Peacock wannabe til I find out just how much time I have to spare at the end on this attempt... then when I wanted to leave was delayed because none of the bottles had been filled yet so got away shortly after 4pm, just one info to go. Again, pace was marvellous except for navigational woes... harder for me to help out as I had to ride one handed and fish out the GPS... oh yeah it lost signal in my pocket in deep tree cover, once pulled out was happy within a second or so... fantastic compared to my old device! We were pushing 27kph into the headwind (someone
very strong on the front) but eventually it began to tell on me and I got the burny legs on a climb. I though Deniece was going the same way as she was breathing very heavily (I wasn't... heart and lung capacity don't seem to me my limiting factors) but she was able to press on whereas I dropped back and settled into
a more comfortable pace. I was still looking at a sub 10h time for the whole ride, which would be a new record for a 200. Had to stop for an energy gel and was passed by the 4 Sudbury chaps who we'd dropped when 'most everyone missed a left turn. I caught them at the final info and rode with them for a bit, but they
were a little too strong for me so I let them go. After climing gently for the last bit, a swoopy descent, and then a short climb and arrived at the finish at about 1825 (recorded time was 1820, or 9h50 for the 203k). Except my GPS claims it was 199k and the distance from the Powertap was useless.
Fastest every 200k a week before PBP is just what was required. Grin My power vs heart rate was much better and managed a peak power output of 781W which is about 100W better than last weekend. Not quite as high a peak output over times like 30s etc but I suspect that's because there were no steep climbs of great length.
Overall average if you believe the 203km was 20.6kph. Rolling average was 24.9kph which is relatively fast for me. I did a similar time on the Fenland Flight back in April the week before the Brevet Cymru. Except that has according to Tracklogs a total ascent of 963m instead of 1700m, so though this was flat in Audax terms that ride was /very/ flat!
Although I know I could do with more speed for PBP, at least it's nice to have set a PB time for a 200 a week beforehand... alleviates some of the worry caused by the last two slow 300ks... and I don't feel tired now whereas in times gone past a 200k would leave me zonked.
Bring it on! Whimper.
Edit: there was some dry blood on my leg at the finish. Not aware of any injury so cleaned it off to see what was underneath. A slightly supicious looking mole, that's what! Bah. Off to the doc's then. That'll be cos I lived in Libya when I was 4-5 years old. It only scores as suspicous in one regard: there's this tiny little mole but there's then this much bigger triangular outgrowth from it. On all the other metrics I'm aware of (apart from the blood) it looks fine. And I'm not even sure it was the mole that bled, because there's a spot nearby. It probably got irritated by my cycling shorts since it's right at the point where the shorts grip the leg at the bottom. No sign of any bleeding after I cleaned off the dried blood.
That site is where I am bound to get skin cancer: I often burn there when cycling due to suncreaming up to the shorts, then they pull up slightly to reveal unprotected skin. Must remember to cream up under the shorts.
