Asparagus & Strawberries 400 from Manningtree (2023 edition)

[Lightning Phil]

Having driven somewhere today, with the bike, and forgotten my cycling shoes.  Don’t forget to pack your cycling shoes, if driving over!

[Wycombewheeler]

Don't forget water bottles either, as I did on a previous Asparagus and Strawberries AND on Bryan Chapman Memorial this year.
always when it's hot and sunny.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

HK and I will be there, probably on three wheels each. Not aiming to whistle round.

And we will not be there. Too much time under the weather this week. Now relying on the Flatlands for HK’s last qualifier.

Have fun out there folks. Looks like nice weather.

[αdαmsκι]

This morning 77 riders (from an entry list of 147) set off from Manningtree. It'll bit a hot ride up to Wells Next the Sea but should be a lovely overnight ride. Hopefully everyone who needs this as their PBP 400 are successful.

Brevet cards (& brevidence) should be left in the box at the Manningtree station buffet. If anyone needs to return their brevet card by post please do this asap as it all needs to be sent off for validation in a timely manner in order that people can enter PBP.

Ixworth was an info control but the straggler stepped in at the last minute to stamp cards, although he looked very similar to Tomsk in the photo I saw

[the straggler]

FWIW,

1st riders arrived in Ixworth at approx 10.40 am and last rider approx 11.30am having started 30min behind the others.

5x5litres  water bottles were swiftly consumed by you thirsty lot.

Had to call upon the stamping services of Tomsk, whilst I had to purchase extra 12l in local store. I think it just about lasted for the whole field.

Stay cool, keep hydrated and keep applying the sun blocker.

[Wycombewheeler]

Normally I don't drink much in the first 100km of a ride and rarely any in the first 50km. By Ixworth I had emptied one bottle which I refilled and by Halesworth they were both empty again.

Possibly the second hottest Audax I have been on. Temperature was still 21C when I stopped for he night at Newmarket, and 15C restarting at dawn, with 29C recorded by my garmin by the finish.

Hope everyone made it round in time, and if any just missed the cut off due to 10k race marshalls stopping them understanding will be shown.

I've been looking at my brevet times from 2019 and comparing to 2023 and worried that I am not in the form required for PBP, but this ride was the first on wit a direct comparison to 2019, and it seems I am at least as good as I was, so my slower times up to now must be based n harder rides, or heavier equipment.

edit, ride report.

Set of reasonably quickly and the head on crash brought a group of 4 together, but in the rolling hills they were a little too fast for me so ended up solo.  got caught again by a group of 6 about 15km before halesworth, and after a brief rest on the back recovered enough to take a turn on the front. But they were all of a mind to have a long rest in Halesworth while I raided spar, ate, drank, refilled bottled loaded snacks and pushed on. Expected to meet some riders at the Ferry and maybe form a group for the ride to wells, but alas no one was there and no one turned up. So pushed on to Acle where I saw one rider leaving co op as I arrived (Flatlander perhaps?) Then as I was leaving a lady arrived, she was a strong rider who left me behind in he rolling hills at the beginning, but she didn't catch me on the road to Wells, arriving just before I was ready to leave again.

Then the long fast section to Barton Mills, road was very busy, but I pressed on, keen to get as much done as possible in the daylight. Didn't feel quite as intolerably hot as earlier. Spent 30 minutes in McDonalds where I was again caught by the same rider just as I was leaving. 21:10 so lights on, even though there was plenty of light to see by.

Stopped at the M&S petrol station in Newmarket for a drink, and for some OJ for the morning, and into the hotel. Hotel room had a fridge so I didn't need to keep my juice cool with a sink full of water. and a microwave, so regretted not buying food for the morning at M&S

Saw a couple of riders in the square at Saffron walden, and then past 4 bikes outside a cafe in Sible Hedingham(?), then I had a puncture and three of the four went straight past the turning I had taken and on into Great Maplestead, while the fourth trying to catch them up took my turning and also flew past me. The route I and rider 4 were on 0.7km between junctions, while the great maplestead route is 1.6km. After dealing with the puncture with unsatisfactory equipment (always check new stuff at home before setting out on a ride, my learning point for this weekend) I managed to get enough air into the front tyre to ride on it, but not enough to be completely happy. Sure I was one pothole away from a pinch flat I proceeded with caution, luckily the surfaces from here on were mostly good. Shortly after this point I found the 3 riders waiting for the 4th to catch up, I told them she was definitely ahead of me, and pressed on, she had obviously overtaken them on the 1km shorter route, but they were not convinced.

Came across the marshalls setting up for the 10k run and was glad i got through before the run arrived, and also glad I wasn't doing a 10k run in those hills in that heat. Finally caught up missing rider 4 just before Manningtree.

Going by strava flybys it seems that about 75% of the field visited Great Maplestead, and 25% took the shorter Toldish Hall road. Digging further into this, anyone who downloaded A&S full would be on the short track, while anyone using A&S to Arrivee, A&S part 2 or the paper route sheet would visit great maplestead. which explains why people were taking a different routes. Diversion was mentioned in the email, ironically I picked up my puncture just before turning in Toldish Hall Road, I didn't notice the surface being particularly bad.

[Lightning Phil]

Are you in the 80 hr? If in the 90 hr, and you have time for a nights sleep on a 400, you’ve nothing to worry about in terms of PBP form.

[Wycombewheeler]

Are you in the 80 hr? If in the 90 hr, and you have time for a nights sleep on a 400, you’ve nothing to worry about in terms of PBP form.

only ever on this 400. no other 400 allows sleep in my experience, a combination of the late start time and the quick quick section from 100km to 300km. I had les sleep o the gospel pass and far less sleep on the bryan chapman

I am in the 90 hour group, i thought about the 80, but didn't feel brave enough,

[Von Broad]

Hot.
And for me...extremely challenging.

It didn't start great when, before we set off, I realized I hadn't got my phone with me. Damn....did I drop it, or is it still in the flat? Will I have my bank account frozen? What if my elderly mother has a fall and can't get in touch?
Panic, worry, panic, worry....so it was either lost or left. Period. I took a chance on the latter, and on arriving home, it turned out to be the right bet. But goodness me, what have we all turned into?

Performance of rider and bike, were [unusually] ok, and arriving back at 9.30am is, all things considered, about the best I can hope for.

But the heat was difficult, made even more so because of a nasty cocktail of hay fever, salt and sun blocker getting into my eyes. I could barely open them at times they were so painful, watery and subsequently became so, so sensitive to sunlight. Such an averse reaction didn't really settle down until about midnight. Today they look extremely red, feel sore and very beaten up. I've never experienced anything like that before. Really horrible. I might need to look into this. Sun blocker worked though!

Anyway...

First part of the ride up Halesworth seemed to come and go without issue, and the Suffolk lanes rode nicely. But things really went south for me after that. Somehow I just manged to forcibly grapple my way through.
Was having bad patch as regards tiredness about 40km out from Barton Mills. Arabella and wheel-man Ian, came cruising past as I was sitting motionless on the bike at the kerb side staring up into the abys, and asked if I was ok? Next thing they knew they had a tired recumbent rider sitting behind them all the way to Barton Mills. This was such a welcome happening, not because any increase in speed, but just the luxury of having the road lit up in front of me takes all the pot-hole-concentration pressure off. Both Arabella dn Ian were riding riding fixed which is always kind of interesting to observe in motion.
 
Speaking with Mel Kirkland this morning, he was making the point that generally speaking it's much more difficult if your spending the majority of your time alone on brevets. It's not a problem riding alone, but I can understand the advantage of sharing the experience with others and how that can transpose into your performance. Problem is, riding dark side, this is so often the case, it's just a consequence how how different bike formats work. Sure enough, after Saffron Waldron I let them go over the climbs.

I was warned about the last section, and it does come as a bit of a reality check. Still, I refrained from my normal habit of fighting with reality, throwing all kinds of toys from the pram and just took it for what it was - a very slow end to a bike ride. I had the gears - so I used them.

I'm sure It will have suited local folk, but I'm not sure I would ride any more 400s that kick-off at 9am. I much prefer the 6am start and especially yesterday, it just felt like 3 wasted hours. But hey ho...
Thanks to Adamski and water man water-man straggler for stepping in and making it happen.

Hope all the PBP aspirants made it round ok.

I see this afternoon, that ACP have been sending emails over the weekend. I need to make a decision soon before it's made for me.

Ice cream - food of the gods.

[Flatlander]

I think it was fast conditions compared to previous. Bit of team work kept the speed up to Halesworth. Back at Cambridge after a diversion from Barton Mills at 21:45 and hit the road again at 6:15 with half an hour spare for Saffron control. It was a 600 for me so basically a stop after the first 418km. The first part of the ride to Manningtree this morning was quite wonderful with partial recovery, perfect temperature (15-22) and quiet roads. PBP is very different due to start time. Normally stop once or twice on that so compatible with 1 stop in a 600. Don't normally stop in the first PBP 600 mind you.

The worst things on the ride were:
cars: there was a terrible crash with two written-off cars on the B1070. Motorists were queuing up but cyclists could divert to verge. It could be so much worse but it looked like it was just cars and the airbags had done their job. There was a very sorry looking lad sitting on the curb near the wrecks. Returning home vehicles were queued up going nowhere on the Dedham hill decent just after the  A137 due to camper van not fitting past an up coming car even in a parsing space. There was a 2ft gap between them (front-to-front) so could wiggle past that one whilst the drivers were arguing.
trains: why aren't they on strike, got held up 3 times although it does give an opportunity to get food out of the back pocket. View might be different next week because I need a train

Beer+ Coffee at the finish was good.

[Ribena75]

Incident packed. Going past the head on crash near the start set a unwelcome tone but then it was fast rolling to Ixworth. By the time we reached Halesworth however I realised I was dangerously overcooked, not quite enough fuel or hydration maybe, and had trouble choking down some lunch with rising nausea and even breathlessness. Eek. Once the toastie had settled though I felt much better as we made our way round up to the Reedham ferry and then onto Wells without incident, coming upon classic audax scenes of forecourt al fresco dining outside the Coop on the edge of town.

Mercifully cooler (but still pretty warm) on the night section down to Barton Mills where McDonalds was full of audaxers in various states of undress and distress with some clearly struggling with heat related issues. Ended up spending over an hour at the control, a theme throughout really, even though our pace was steady, we lost a lot of time at controls recovering from the heat.

Spicy encounter with a large group of local pissed/coked up youth in Newmarket at 3am outside the Waitrose garage, we managed to engage with them amicably, but following conversations with the store manager (and seeing them fighting each other as we left) I think we had a lucky escape here.

Controlled at the Tesco outside of Saffron Walden and from there on it was a real slog as the elevation kicked in and the heat rose. Good to hear that considerations will be made for delays due to the half marathon, we arrived just before they started, with one of the race marshalls trying to prevent us from using the route. Erm, no. So just managed to avoid it but did worry that other full value riders would be stuck. Further on the caravan in the lanes issue slowed us again, until finally we rolled into the arrivee at 11:18 (were aiming for 09:00).

[Timb]

So I didn’t need the insulated gilet!
Thanks Adamski, the straggler and acme, great event as always.

So northbound went well with classic coop stops.  Beautiful sunset at wells.  Id ece’d from home so by the time I reached wells I was at 300k and had done this in about 15 hours which is quick for me.  I turned to head south and managed a hour and a bit sleep in the forest between Brandon and Lakenheath and made to to Barton mills about 2am which I was pleased with.
I rode into the lumpy section and didn’t even bother trying to ride any of the hills, getting off and pushing the fixed up them.  This slowed me quite a bit and as the sun came up it started to warm up quickly.
I started my ece home and made it through Sudbury and out the other side but in the wide fields the other side of shimpling in the midday sun I called it a day.  I found I just couldn’t cool down, I had to keep stopping and drinking and wasn’t getting rid of the headache etc.

Qudos to all those that finished any ride this weekend, they were sub optimal conditions!

[SimonRhino]

apologies to anyone who was unfortunate enough to witness me fail in my attempts to keep any food or drink down after Acle until the bottom of one of those hellish hills at the end, but got around in the end after Barton Mills McDs sleep was augmented with another in a bandstand(?) in Balsham.....and made the nice cold pint of Shandy at the station all the better

[arabella]

Saturday morning saw me donning shorts, trousers, top & jacket with a jersey in reserve (with Ian having a quiet giggle about my worry of getting a bit cold).  When I got to Manningtree the jacket and trousers were briefly replaced with a jersey only.  By the time the ride started I was down to shirt and shorts only.  It's been a hot weekend.
Owen took what must have been an unlovely photo of us as it seems not to have appeared on the internet.  Probably a good thing.* 
Most of the riders left before we did.  Trundle trundle trundle it's hotter than it's been all week and I start drinking already. 
We too filed alongside the crash, the sound of arriving sirens as we departed.  Hurrah for the straggler and his water in Ixworth.
 
A repeat of last year's tour de co-op, with slightly different set of faces popping up this time (Owen & Tom, Amy, Claire & co, Tim, ...), similar to those on the G&Y and the FF; the Halesworth co-op in store restaurant was closed, luckily I didn't need it the way I did last year.  In Halesworth the preceding locusts I mean cyclists had eaten all the sandwiches, so we had crossants.  In Wells I had a pesto pasta which was spot on.  But lots of water spare for us to use up.
Fun fact about Mcd that wasn't obvious to this cyclist at far too late o'clock - if your order point is playing silly biggers and doesn't want your card, you have to go and pay pronto else they still won't prepare your order.  Makes sense if you are compos mentis, which I wasn't.  Oh well.  Ian and Garry were chomping at a bit of McD's finest rather than champing at the bit. My good deed was to warn a following cyclist about the outcome when they encountered the same failure at the same machine. 

Thoughts: the countryside is very green - a slightly yellowing field of barley made a change.   Some pea blossom scent but it was a bit hot.  A respectable number of vergeside flowers - mallow, buttercup, oxeye daisy, campion, stitchwort etc..  Still the nice views back towards Cambridge after Balsham.  The Broads on the way to Reedham.  A view over the coast after Wighton. The dawn chorus on the way to Saffron Walden, as ever starting when it was only just getting light. 

Didn't need the jersey at all and the jacket overnight was probably warmer than ideal, particularly with the high-viz (one size fits far too large on the arabella) on top.  Ian's temperature sensor on the garmin warned us to derobe far earlier (and more sensibly) than I might otherwise have done. 
Copious use of the 2' gear - so that's what those gear things are for (tbh, I walk some of those upnesses even with gears at that stage in the ride).
I also managed to eat plenty of fruit (qv my Fenland Friends mutter) - this time around I got the food about right, I should probably have drunk more on the leg to Wells, it was lucky I found the pasta before the sandwiches as that was what I needed but I didn't know it.

*I now have a copy, it was fine.  Though my little dears require therapy after I copied the photo to them with their favourite mum in actual cycling kit.

[John Stonebridge]

That was a most enjoyable 400.  Mrs S joined me for a long weekend with London as our base – she visiting family in Berkhamstead Saturday.  Down from Edinburgh Friday then up with the lark for the 0630 train from Liverpool St and blethered with the earliest Manningtree Station arrival in the shape of Tomsk and then others as they arrived as I devoured a huge breakfast (several yoghurts which seemed to serve me well).  Al fresco card distribution from Adamski and we were off. 
 
My heart sank as the police flew past me en route to the road smash – I was pleased that no cyclists were involved and that everybody involved looked ok.  Clearly at least one driver going too fast though by the nick of the wreckage.

Both 750at ml bottles were drained by Ixworth (grateful thanks for the refills), ditto by Halesworth.  I was honoured to get a lead out from Mel Kirkland and partner to the Reedham Ferry only to find the ramp going up as we arrived.  The ferryman took pity on us and put it back down much to the [mock?] chagrin of riders already on board.

Acle Co-op was a test of my patience in the heat – there were large queues, not all cyclists, so I made a beeline for the manual check out that was opening up.  My contactless card seemed to screw up their system and after much faffing my shopping had to be taken to a different check out and scanned all over again – almost forgot my receipt in the process. I get the impression that life is kind of slow in Acle. 

Wroxham was busy, as was Horstead with its parking problems.  It was past the heat of the day now but I was reminded that it hadn't gone completely when heading up the drag out of Melton Constable.  I had it in my head that Wells was 213km so was getting a bit tetchy, musing that it always seems that the last 10km to seaside towns always seems like double (I think it’s the psychological effect of not actually seeing the sea).

Quick turnaround and back down towards Barton Mills.  My puny front light wasn’t really needed.  Out of McDs past the guy lying on the ground (or the floor as they often say in England) and onwards to my pre booked bed at the Prem Inn Newmarket via M&S food. 

Wash – eat – sleep and back up and away about 0430.  Wait there what's that wet stuff – rain - but only for about 30 seconds.  The group off yoofs ^ were still kicking about in Newmarket but weren’t an issue.  I saw a couple of rear lights in the distance and speculated that I might be catching them up, but no.    Surprised not to see anybody in Bus shelters / church porches before Saffron Walden but saw one rider having his breakfast in the square and said hello.  I guess that the rest of the field had passed me while I’d been sleeping at Newmarket.

Over the bumps and it got really hot – Id wanted to keep my arm and leg warmers on as long as possible to stop insect bites (I tend to be plagued no matter what) but I bowed to the inevitable as early as 8am.  My climbing was a plod, I told myself to go at tandem speed and to smile!  One guy outside his house after one of the near final drags near Boxted asked me if I had walked the hill to which I confirmed “nae chance”.

Saw the 10k signs but no runners or orgs so I sailed onto finish around 0930.  The gent on the recumbent with the snazzy arm warmers offered to buy my beer and I ungraciously declined on the basis that I needed a receipt.  The buffet staff said they could provide two receipts so the beer was most welcome and enjoyed.  Flatlander came in and we had chatted briefly about his ECE before I made haste for the train back to London.   

Chatted on the train into London with an Aussie lass who has a friend doing her first PBP this year so she plied me for information on the subject.  Back to the Premier Inn at Old Street for a shower and zzz’s then out at night to meet up with old friends for a dinner at the Oxo Tower to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.  Managed not to face plant into my dessert which is always a triumph.

After a day working remotely a Londres we’re now speeding back to Edinburgh on the LNER. 

Great trip – and keeps me in the game for the necessary BRM SR for PBP so a crossroads looms large in the next week or so.  I’d definitely book accommodation for this one again as it makes life so much more straightforward – and in particular made the last 70km really enjoyable.  Barton Mills would probably be better than Newmarket but either is way better than nowt. 

[Ribena75]

Saw a couple of riders in the square at Saffron walden, and then past 4 bikes outside a cafe in Sible Hedingham(?), then I had a puncture and three of the four went straight past the turning I had taken and on into Great Maplestead, while the fourth trying to catch them up took my turning and also flew past me. The route I and rider 4 were on 0.7km between junctions, while the great maplestead route is 1.6km. After dealing with the puncture with unsatisfactory equipment (always check new stuff at home before setting out on a ride, my learning point for this weekend) I managed to get enough air into the front tyre to ride on it, but not enough to be completely happy. Sure I was one pothole away from a pinch flat I proceeded with caution, luckily the surfaces from here on were mostly good. Shortly after this point I found the 3 riders waiting for the 4th to catch up, I told them she was definitely ahead of me, and pressed on, she had obviously overtaken them on the 1km shorter route, but they were not convinced.

Came across the marshalls setting up for the 10k run and was glad i got through before the run arrived, and also glad I wasn't doing a 10k run in those hills in that heat. Finally caught up missing rider 4 just before Manningtree.

Going by strava flybys it seems that about 75% of the field visited Great Maplestead, and 25% took the shorter Toldish Hall road. Digging further into this, anyone who downloaded A&S full would be on the short track, while anyone using A&S to Arrivee, A&S part 2 or the paper route sheet would visit great maplestead. which explains why people were taking a different routes. Diversion was mentioned in the email, ironically I picked up my puncture just before turning in Toldish Hall Road, I didn't notice the surface being particularly bad.

Ah yes, that was us Ofc the most logical explanation but it didn’t seem so at the time! We were quite addled tho. But yes we were using pt2 and Disappearing Amy had the full track. It was nice chatting to you on and off.

[Lightning Phil]

That road was bloody awful back in March. Has it been repaired then?

[Wycombewheeler]

That road was bloody awful back in March. Has it been repaired then?

Didn't look like a fresh surface, maybe my tolerance levels may be different based on the Chilterns (Buckinghamshire) and also Wessex,  I worry less about a poor surface on a climb as there is more time to dodge around the rubbish and consequences of hitting a pothole are not so extreme.

[αdαmsκι]

I came across the police on the B1070 after sending you all on my way and prayed it wasn't involving any cyclists. A quick chat with one of the police confirmed it was car + car, phew.

That road was bloody awful back in March. Has it been repaired then?

If you are asking about Toldish Hall Road, then no it hasn't been repaired. I went over it on the A&S400 routecheck in the dark just to be sure, before reporting to Huggy to divert everyone via Great Maplestead.

I’d definitely book accommodation for this one again as it makes life so much more straightforward – and in particular made the last 70km really enjoyable.  Barton Mills would probably be better than Newmarket but either is way better than nowt. 

If getting the train from Manningtree then accommodation makes even more sense because otherwise you may end up just waiting around at Manningtree for the first train. Stopping in Newmarket has the benefit of allowing you to pick up food from the M&S, which IMO is better than the McDonald's & garages at Barton Mills. One year I stopped at the Cambridge Fourwentways travelodge. It's off route but only adds a few km and can be better priced than Barton Mills or Newmarket.

[Wycombewheeler]

I came across the police on the B1070 after sending you all on my way and prayed it wasn't involving any cyclists. A quick chat with one of the police confirmed it was car + car, phew.

That road was bloody awful back in March. Has it been repaired then?

If you are asking about Toldish Hall Road, then no it hasn't been repaired. I went over it on the A&S400 routecheck in the dark just to be sure, before reporting to Huggy to divert everyone via Great Maplestead.

I’d definitely book accommodation for this one again as it makes life so much more straightforward – and in particular made the last 70km really enjoyable.  Barton Mills would probably be better than Newmarket but either is way better than nowt. 

If getting the train from Manningtree then accommodation makes even more sense because otherwise you may end up just waiting around at Manningtree for the first train. Stopping in Newmarket has the benefit of allowing you to pick up food from the M&S, which IMO is better than the McDonald's & garages at Barton Mills. One year I stopped at the Cambridge Fourwentways travelodge. It's off route but only adds a few km and can be better priced than Barton Mills or Newmarket.

but stopping in Barton Mills means you can get breakfast at M&S, without retracing, and that would definitely be better than breakfast from costcutter at SW. I'll look out for fourwentways in future though.

of course the condition of roads in the dark is also more important than broad daylight

[Pepe]

FWIW,

1st riders arrived in Ixworth at approx 10.40 am and last rider approx 11.30am having started 30min behind the others.

No my good sir. The last rider arrived in Ixworth about an hour later, due to puncture repairs at 7km + 25km 

[the straggler]

Sorry to learn of your mis-fortune, I left the control at 12.25pm. Must have been 5-10 minutes difference. Although I had just run out water by then, you could have made the use of a floor pump I had brought along.

Hope your spirits soon lifted after Ixworth and completed the ride ok.

[John Stonebridge]

I can see pros and cons of booking a bed at Barton Mills v Newmarket.  The former strikes me as being nearer the sweet spot for distance & daylight and the latter is better for supper / breakfast.  Id be reluctant to contemplate a sleep option that adds significant distance to an already fairly over distance event eg C'bridge Fourwentways (unless I was ECE-ing it where every km can be an event km).   

With hindsight I probably left Newmarket too early at 0430.  In the end I managed a pleasing (for me) 19.3kph for the final leg from Saffron Walden so I could have left Newmarket around 0600 and still have had around an hour or so in hand at the finish.  In my defence Im a cautious soul and I have found the going quite difficult this year especially on the hills so wanted to provide the maximum possible time for tired legs + contingency.

Last time I rode this one in 2019 I tried to snooze at McDs and failed, and the rest of the ride was an unenjoyable sleepy slog with no zip in the legs.  I'll not do that again, even it means using an audax hotel.  I noticed on Saturday night that the air outdoors was actually warmer than inside McDonalds.   

[Dai P]

I have never yet had the confidence to book an hotel on a 400 (or 600), this I must try next year.  Newmarket would make sense and a comfortable second leg.  I got back at around 0800, I should be able to have three hours sleep and still be 8n time.  BUT, is not the pull to turn over in bed and not get up too strong?  Is it easy to get out of a nice bed to get back on the bike when still tired?  At least with Audax hotels, they are uncomfortable and usually not very warm so getting on the bike is a pleasure!  Great ride and thanks to all for organisers…. And quals done!

[Wycombewheeler]

I have never yet had the confidence to book an hotel on a 400 (or 600), this I must try next year.  Newmarket would make sense and a comfortable second leg.  I got back at around 0800, I should be able to have three hours sleep and still be 8n time.  BUT, is not the pull to turn over in bed and not get up too strong?  Is it easy to get out of a nice bed to get back on the bike when still tired?  At least with Audax hotels, they are uncomfortable and usually not very warm so getting on the bike is a pleasure!  Great ride and thanks to all for organisers…. And quals done!

i'd want least 4 hours sleep before paying for a bed, so the question is whether your 8am finish was pushing through as quickly as possible, or if you deliberately stalled to ride less at night, or so you wouldn't arrive before 6am

did you get to Saffron Walden before 4:30? as it is only bout making the finish on time.

Only you can know whether you have the willpower to get out of bed to finish, if the ride means enough to you to leave the comfort.