ACME Grand 1000km 28 June 2018

[Bairn Again]

All the best to participants and helpers on this one. 

I hope the event is a success. 
 

[tippers_kiwi]

Firstly good luck to you all and I hope the weather holds and you get the scenery in Wales. (I'll be riding in mid-Wales so I REALLY hope the weather holds).

I suspect you are all in for an early night tonight but if anyone is staying in the Witham arwa the ACME mid week drinks are at the Sun Inn in Feering just up the Road. Most folk should be there by about 9pm. They do good food as well (Not sure what time they serve until sorry).

[jiberjaber]

Firstly good luck to you all and I hope the weather holds and you get the scenery in Wales. (I'll be riding in mid-Wales so I REALLY hope the weather holds).

I suspect you are all in for an early night tonight but if anyone is staying in the Witham arwa the ACME mid week drinks are at the Sun Inn in Feering just up the Road. Most folk should be there by about 9pm. They do good food as well (Not sure what time they serve until sorry).

Good call Nik!  Here's the location: https://goo.gl/maps/gbL4meQjRjn  Most of the ACME mid-week lot will be there from 9PM (which might be a little late for you guys )

[mmmmartin]

Am in Hatfield peverel tonight. Early night for me.

[Deano4]

Good luck to everyone today.

Looking forward to hearing all the stories.

[Phil W]

SLR battery on charge. See you all in about 3 hours. Good riding all.

[Tomsk]

40 starters 

Tailwind, sunshine, last night's full moon now on-the-wane, short night, very quiet from 7pm, must be something on the telly...   

Bonne Route et Bon Courage 

[Phil W]

Riders were all through 70km by 2:30pm.  First rider was through at 1:30pm.  He was riding so fast at first I did not think he was one of the riders. So I only took a shot after he had passed.  Riders are already riding solo or in pairs.  Will share pictures a bit later once I have been through them.

[Tomsk]

Thanks Phil 

Dan got some good shots: in particular sky-blue Dulwich tops and blue sky over the old Town Hall in Dunmow - looks great! Some of the ACME peloton have caught 'The Gurn' from Oscar's Dad...

[Phil W]

One set here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/audaxuk/permalink/10157587120488642/

Another set here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/audaxuk/permalink/10157586940708642/

[jiberjaber]

_DSC1347.jpg by Jason Burns, on Flickr

_DSC1303.jpg by Jason Burns, on Flickr

Thanks to Wilkyboy for the ACME group photo...

Out of the 300 photos I took, the hit rate wasn't great (camera decided to focus on the parked cars ) so I've tried to do the best I could with what was left... just uploading them now but they will all be in a Flickr album located here:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskAx4PdV

[Phil W]

Some of the ACME peloton have caught 'The Gurn' from Oscar's Dad...

Yeah they need to work on that.

[Phil W]

Some from the ones I took today

[jiberjaber]

We are just mid coffee brew after arriving, past one cyclist who might be the lead of the ride on the way up, he had a carradice, dark jersey and potentially a roll mat... that would be a very quick 500km....

[Nik's Nick]

Looks like a tough day of hard work ahead...

[citoyen]

Looks like a lovey day to be out on the bike. I'm envious.

[jiberjaber]

It's hot!

3 through so far @16:33

[grams]

Just abandoned at Treherbert. Too hot, too far behind, only feasible way of completing was one or even two more nights without sleep. It just wasn’t fun any more. Saw my last chance for a train to civilisation and took it.

(Plus a nerve in my wrist flared up early on and probably shouldn’t have been continuing this long)

Good luck to everyone still out there.

[rob]

In my hotel at Barry.  Caught out by 1. Heat and 2. Lumpiness on some of the stretches where I wasn’t expecting it.  Setting my alarm for 5am.

[mmmmartin]

The heat certainly took it out of me. And I was surprised by the steepness, length and sometimes sheer volume of traffic on the hills in the Forest of Dean.
Packed.

[Phil W]

In my hotel at Barry.  Caught out by 1. Heat and 2. Lumpiness on some of the stretches where I wasn’t expecting it.  Setting my alarm for 5am.

Good luck on the return

[Phil W]

The heat certainly took it out of me. And I was surprised by the steepness, length and sometimes sheer volume of traffic on the hills in the Forest of Dean.
Packed.

Sorry to hear that, forecast is for it to get even hotter into the weekend.

[Humpdoc]

I started this ride on Wednesday as a DIY event as I needed to get back home today.

I had to abandon at Towcester yesterday afternoon as I dropped my wallet from my back pocket, presumably shortly after stopping at Wellbourne. I could not risk going on without money to buy food and drink for the last 150km. I had Apple Pay on my phone so decided to get the train back to London from. Milton Keynes and then ride to Liverpool Street station and back to Witham.

My strategy was to leave Witham at 07:00 and get to Chepstow where I had two nights booked in a hotel. With the tail wind I made good time I was in Chepstow by 22:00. The next morning I set off for the Welsh hills - that was a relentless hard grind in very hot conditions. I did not get back to Chepstow till the early hours. Some riders were just passing through the town as I arrived back. Yesterday morning I set off back and had done all the hard work so very frustrating to abandon at Towcester after 900km.

This is a very tough ride and in the heat makes it very challenging any one who completes the ride will have been through some very tough mental and physically tiring moments.

If anyone finds a brown camouflage wallet with £10 some loose change and a debit card in it, on the road just after the one stop in Wellbourne let me know haha!

Good luck to those who have made it through so far.

[jiberjaber]

https://flic.kr/s/aHskAx4PdV

Photos from the ACME mountain based tea stop now online...

[Redlight]

https://flic.kr/s/aHskAx4PdV

Photos from the ACME mountain based tea stop now online...

I hope some of those will be finding their way to the Arrivee editor