Thanks for the good luck messages..they worked!
Dry all night. In fact the only rain we had was on Sunday when we had to shelter from a couple of short showers around Shaftesbury.
This was the best 400 I've ever ridden, much better than the normal format of an early morning start.
I started at 19:15 and rode down to Romsey to meet Chillmoister and Keeks at 20:15, that meant we replicated the PBP start time and rode into the night.
No early morning rush required, and, best of all, it meant we finished the ride in lovely sunshine rather than dawn's first light. Sunday is usually a lost day after a Saturday 400 but I feel great today. All in all I highly recommend a Friday evening start for a 400, it's just about the only overnight Audax stage I haven't disliked.
We had timed the ride to arrive at Cheddar Gorge at dawn but we miscalculated and made better progress than anticipated. We got to the Gorge at 02:45 in total darkness. What a surreal experience that was, descending in total quietness we had the gorge to ourselves. We stopped at one point, in a normally full car park, to shout "ECHO" and so on against the sheer rock faces. I definitely won't forget that experience.
After hauling our way out of Cheddar we bimbled our way to Weston, arriving at first light around 5am and no chance of any food (apart from a Kebab, for late night revellers making their way home I suppose).
A Cabby directed us to a "24hr" MaccyD (actually opened at 5am), Chillmoister banging on their window forcing them to honour their 5am opening time. Fuelled by a plastic breakfast in a bun and a large Coffee we turned 180 degrees and headed back on the daylight leg home.
Note. This leg is usually ridden into the dusk and nighttime. I've been as cold and miserabl eon this leg as on any Audax I've ever done. Food & water opportunities are scant and it can feel a long way to Ower Services when it's dark and 0degC.
By contrast this leg was superb, views of Glastonbury in full sun, a warm and lively Shaftesbury and a sunny run in to Ower for a MaccyD milkshake (the one thing they do well). I parted company at this point and rode the Test river route back to Andover, my legs beginning to fail me by this point, made worse by a slow puncture I picked up in the New Forest. I couldn't be arsed to fix it so I stopped a few times to add more air until I arrived home. I caught some TV but 20 minute chunks are missing (due to me slipping in and out of coma every so often).
Great day and a great way to ride a 400.
Chillmoister at the Gorge (camera flash-meter struggling to deal with the copious amounts of relective material)
Keeks at same
Keeks and me at WestonS-M
Chillmoister in Weston. Damnit! The Amusement Arcade is closed
Keeks & Chillmoister. Fun in the sun instead of freezing our nuts off in the dark
Me, looking for the Hovis Delivery boy
Please note we were all flying the Audax England flag. What we shall refer to as a "Full English"