Thanks for putting the route together Alan. Now that I've had time to recover a little, I think it's fair to say that I enjoyed it
I've got a draft of a ride report, which like the ride itself is very long! I'm going to work on trimming it down and I will publish it at some point.
I failed to complete the ride last year - I stayed in a hotel in Romsey on the Friday night. I was aiming for a 6AM depart, but set off later than planned. The headwind was incredible and was probably the thing which did for me, mentally.
This year, I chose to start later in the early evening. I hoped that by doing so, even if there was a headwind it would have calmed down a little. The ferry crossing is a constraint - the ferry's last sailing is 11pm. In the end I chose to leave Romsey at about 5pm.
Noteable highlights on the ride for me were the ferry crossing and the ride through Studland; the approach to Corfe Castle and the ride through the Lulworth Ranges; the section between Lyme Regis and Seaton, in fact the whole section between Seaton and Exmouth - Sidmouth is beautiful and the climb out of it tough, but rewarding; the path along the Exe estuary; breakfast in Moretanhampstead; the approach to Tintagel and the coast road along to Bude (though I deviated from route slightly here); Shaftesbury to Salisbury - it was mainly downhill and I was struggling a little at this point. Finally, the comparatively little dash from Salisbury to Romsey, I was fatigued, but feeling fine in the main and was pretty confident that I was going to be able to complete the ride which put a smile on my face.
@andyp I updated the GPX files prior to doing the route this time round as I struggled with the set that I used previously. I put an event together on RWGPS so that future riders could use my versions. You're more than welcome to use mine, or ignore them! They're here:
https://ridewithgps.com/events/32698-sea-lovers-600km-permanent-audaxEnjoy!
