Longer-form write up:
Excellent boutique hotel accommodation as usual. It seems some line dancers were in the main hall (which is my preferred spot) so I wiled away time down at the rub a dub. Just me and another chap (I'm bad with names, sorry) in the big hall. I was using two cheapo Decathlon sleeping bags (I find it easier to cycle with 2 small ones instead of a biggun), a 3/4 length mat and a travel pillow which was perfectly comfy, though I did need to put on a layer as the heating was (quite rightly) off and it was a chilly night.
Up in the morning - treated myself to a PB and J sandwich and did my bit to grease the event's rails by doing teas and coffees for the riders. It seems there was a big rush around 0835, but it tailed off at 0900 so I jumped on the bike and got going. What a terrific frosty morning for a ride, thankfully I didn't find the roads slippery.
Caught a bit of road rage near Marlow but that was it for the rest of the day for me, thankfully. The first control was very welcome, I just had the coffee and a nice chat with some riders and then scooted on. The route was ideal for winter riding - obviously not pancake flat but I didn't have any issues managing my temperature. You can see from my cassette on the Sunday clean that the lower upper gears got barely any aggro on my 11-34.
The halfway tutti pole control was heaving - the chips looked good but I was warned by other riders that baked potato waits would be quite long. If it were a summer event I might be minded to wait but in winter rides I'd rather have my skates on to minimise my nighttime riding. Popped up the road to the co op, and got lunch and some snacks to keep me going. A kind audaxer taking her sandwiches kept an eye on my bike while I was in.
The second half had some lovely roads, and the red sky lent a lot of charm. At about 145 I happened across a farm shop, which I find is always worth dropping in on. For my troubles I picked up an excellent game and pork pie and scotch egg, plus an OK double espresso. It is the 'winter warmer' after all. The scotch egg really paid its own way later in the ride.
Unfortunately after nightfall I had a visit from the fairy, and since I wasn't running tubeless (unfortunately I'd bought some non-TLE tyres) the deflating was pretty rapid. Thankfully I wasn't going fast and/or down a hill.
The next control was just up the road - I didn't stop as I'd lost some time fannying around with the tyres, making sure I'd picked all the flints out with a knife, and did the rear one at the same time. Fortunately this was the only bike mishap on the ride.
The last 25 km of the ride is always the hardest in a 200 for me - I don't have the best seeing lights in the world, so I do slow down a bit to keep myself from plowing into a pothole and blowing out the tyres. The need to be constantly scanning the road surfaces really takes much of the fun out for me. But in any case nothing bad happened and I got in for a bowl of Paul's famous vegan chili. It was really good to see a big women's contingent from Bella Velo who had clearly had a great day out. Many thanks for the advice (whoever gave it) about getting the Chalfont and Latimer metropolitan line train home, which made things very easy for me. My end time was 11h20.
Thanks to Paul, the controllers and volunteers for putting on a great event. I look forward to the Winter Boat Ride