Revisited - Hellfire 600 Perm: 19th & 20th September

[LEE]

huge congratulations Hummers ...what a perfect finale to a superb year of cycling  . 

Cheers m'dear.

You know you and the Faccombe collective really ought to give this series some consideration...

H

we'll certainly throw these rides into the mix when we sit down soon and plan our 2009-2010 campaign 

Make sure you throw them a long way, over a hedge maybe.

[Hummers]

huge congratulations Hummers ...what a perfect finale to a superb year of cycling  . 

Cheers m'dear.

You know you and the Faccombe collective really ought to give this series some consideration...

H

we'll certainly throw these rides into the mix when we sit down soon and plan our 2009-2010 campaign 

Make sure you throw them a long way, over a hedge maybe.

Come, come now Lee.

The Hellfire took on some of the same lanes and glorious countryside you visited only last weeked.

All joking aside, each one of the series is a classic in it's own right and whilst there is a sprinkling of gratuitous climbs, the views from the top are always glorious (unless 'the top' was another false summit or goes vertical around the next bend).

I guess a clue to the nature of the rides is in this quote from Shawn's site:

Audax events had taken me to unfamiliar parts of the British Isles and through the intimate knowledge of each organiser I had been treated to the most enjoyable parts of their locale; parts that I could only find by an accident of good fortune or by getting lost. I am indebted to and imbued with the attitude that prevailed in my early Audax days as expressed in the events organised by Nick Peregrine and Dave Pountney; an attitude that says 'It's not a climb, it's just a road with nice views'. In this vein I offer you a few favourite corners of my 'backyard': the Blackdown Hills: the Mendips and the Cotswolds: with Bulbarrow and Blackmore Vale: with Salisbury Plain and the Somerset Levels: with the Wylye, Nadder and Ebble Valleys: with the North Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase.

...and on your doorstep too.

H

[teethgrinder]

That was a bit harder than I expected

I got cramp and my stomach didn't seem to work. The stomach trouble meant that I had empty legs, so ended up walking some hills I could have probably ridden up. I never felt in pain though, except for when the cramp kicked in on the climbs.
Cramp was mostly solved by Hummers magic bag of crisps which got me to Exmouth, then 2 litres of tomato juice. It never entirely went away though.
The stomach was made better by 3 hours on a bench 3 miles before Cheddar.

I decided to pack before I slept near Cheddar. Before that I was going very slowly and even slight hills were a struggle, so when I saw the bench, I thought I'd stay there, then get a breakfast in Cheddar before thinking about how I would get home. I was still a bit reluctant to pack though. I had a leisurely 3 hours sleep and my stomach seemed a lot beter. I felt hungry which was a good sign. I id a few sums and realised that reaching Malmesbury before the control closed was possible if I could get moving.
I managed to ride up Cheddar Gorge OK and reckoned that I could make Malmesbury before the control shut, which I did. I was very surprised to see the others still there. I thought they'd be long gone.
I didn't know whether to finish the ride or not from Malmesbury. I knew that I could, it's just that I was worried that the train wouldn't get me home afterwards. I had less miles to do to get home than I did to finish.
But I reckoned that I would be OK with the trains if I finished before 2000 and the ride home was a bit tedious. The ride to the finish was much more interesting and I wasn't keen on the idea of packing, so I carried on.
I caught the gang again at Nunney Catch services and we left sort of together but I ended up leaving them. I would have prefered to finish with the gang but had to be unsociable because of the trains.
I eventualy finished at 1915ish watching the sun start to set as I rode into Poole and was on the train eating my BP Meal Deal at 1932.
If I'd known which platform to go to for my connection at Clapham Junction, I wouldn't have missed my connection by a minute. The next train for my connection was the very last one, so that was a very close thing!
I eventualy arrived home after midnight.


Sorry I couldn't be a bit more sociable on the ride and ended up on my own or quite a lot of it.

Well done Hummers on your Wessex SR and also to Matt H.

I had missgivings about this ride. It was expensive with the train fare and accommodation adding up to over £120. I've ridden the calendar event 6 times and stopped because it started to become tiresome. But now I'm very glad that I rode it. I forgot what the Wessex experience was. These are very special rides and well worth doing. I'd go as far as to say that this was my favourite ride of the year so far.
I might even do it again next year.

[MattH]

You know you and the Faccombe collective really ought to give this series some consideration...

we'll certainly throw these rides into the mix when we sit down soon and plan our 2009-2010 campaign  

Make sure you throw them a long way, over a hedge maybe.

Come, come now Lee.

The Hellfire took on some of the same lanes and glorious countryside you visited only last weeked.

All joking aside, each one of the series is a classic in it's own right and whilst there is a sprinkling of gratuitous climbs, the views from the top are always glorious (unless 'the top' was another false summit or goes vertical around the next bend).

I have to say that I was having a minor sense of humour failure yesterday. The route sheet was irritating me (having got used to being spoon fed with precise instructions). I'm sure that at one point "3rd right" didn't count a road that joined immediately, whereas later "2nd left" did. We certainly spent a fair amount of time comparing maps, GPS and instructions. I'm also not the best climber in the world.
Having said that, today I'm looking back on it with a certain, rather worrying, fondness  

Next time around (a phrase I didn't think I'd be uttering yesterday!)

• I'll get more than 3 hours in bed the night before.
• I won't slide my bike under the front of a large tractor approaching us on a narrow lane. Though I did shed less blood than Hummers, who took the make-a-path-through-the-thorny-hedge alternative escape option.
• I'll take sunglasses (I managed to lose mine at work on Thursday, couldn't find them on Friday either, found them this morning in my locked desk drawer...) so I don't spend the weekend pulling flies out my eyes.
• I will have a fried breakfast somewhere. This is the first long Audax in ages where I haven't had a fry up at some point.

The company was great, and we didn't finish that long after TG - we'd probably have met at the garage if Ian hadn't wanted to try out his horse whispering  

[Pip]

Well done chaps. Seductive ride reports!

[thing1]

• I won't slide my bike under the front of a large tractor approaching us on a narrow lane. Though I did shed less blood than Hummers, who took the make-a-path-through-the-thorny-hedge alternative escape option.

 

Poor tractor driver! (said Emma)

Well done all, sounds an awesome series.

[border-rider]

I have to say that I was having a minor sense of humour failure yesterday. The route sheet was irritating me (having got used to being spoon fed with precise instructions). I'm sure that at one point "3rd right" didn't count a road that joined immediately, whereas later "2nd left" did. We certainly spent a fair amount of time comparing maps, GPS and instructions.

This is a specific feature of those rides - the routesheet is at best a guide and at worst a liability.

[Hummers]

I managed to ride up Cheddar Gorge OK and reckoned that I could make Malmesbury before the control shut, which I did. I was very surprised to see the others still there. I thought they'd be long gone.

Glad you managed to get home OK Steve and take some consolation from this: seeing you struggle made me feel a whole lot better. 

We had been lanquishing at Malmesbury for an hour and a series of events left us with an expectation that you would probably get there before us. 

Firstly, we noticed that the Teethgrinder laser light show had slipped off our wheel at the turn off for Pedwell Hill. After waiting for a bit for the tell tale blazing LEDs, we decided that you'd probably kipped down somewhere.  At Cheddar, we too had an unscheduled stop in preparation for the assault on the Gorge and squatted at the curious shaped square thingy for some early morning scran.

The climb up through to the Mendips was superb but all three of us were struggling with the dozies and missed the Castle of Comfort turn off completely. Of course, we only realised this after we'd dropped most of our height and ended up about 10k west of where we should have been. This offered the opportunity for Matt to deal with a split in his tyre side wall,  me to consult the map as to how we could get back on route and Gramps Ian to have a nap.   

More confusion was encountered in Queen Charlton after not counting the first (immediate) left and in fact, taking the 3rd instead of the second left. This time, the map not only suggested that there were two Keyneshams but that a road existed linking it directly to Queen Charlton, which of course is complete and utter bollocks.

So this begs the question, what took you so long?

 

H

[teethgrinder]

I was going very slow on the way to Pedwell. I dropped off the back of you a few miles after Taunton. I know you weren't rushing, but I couldn't keep up, at least it would have been a bad idea to try. My legs just didn't have anything in them. I crawled along for miles, then I stopped for a doze in a shop window. Then I stopped again for at least 3 hours before Cheddar. I probably spent 3.5 hours asleep, as well as going very slow from Taunton to Cheddar. The sleep revived me and I could ride steady again. I left Cheddar after 0800.
I thought you'd all be long gone when I got to Malmesbury. I was surprised to see you still there.
I never had any navigational trouble though

[Hummers]

I have to say that I was having a minor sense of humour failure yesterday.

Really?




H

[mattc]

I managed to ride up Cheddar Gorge OK and reckoned that I could make Malmesbury before the control shut, which I did. I was very surprised to see the others still there. I thought they'd be long gone.

...
about 10k west of where we should have been. This offered the opportunity for Matt to deal with a split in his tyre side wall,  me to consult the map as to how we could get back on route and Gramps Ian to have a nap.   

More confusion was encountered in Queen Charlton after not counting the first (immediate) left and in fact, taking the 3rd instead of the second left. This time, the map not only suggested that there were two Keyneshams but that a road existed linking it directly to Queen Charlton, which of course is complete and utter bollocks.

The CG300 takes a nice route from Cheddar to Malmesbury, free of navving problems (assuming you didn't need to drop by Tor Hole).

Hope this helps.

[MattH]

I have to say that I was having a minor sense of humour failure yesterday.

Really?




H

Actually, by then I was OK. It was the bit around Queen Charlton and Keynesham that was getting to me.  Although you did take that photo it was because we'd gone backwards and forwards over about a mile of road failing to find an info control.
TG - did you find it?

[Hummers]

Actually, by then I was OK. It was the bit around Queen Charlton and Keynesham that was getting to me.  Although you did take that photo it was because we'd gone backwards and forwards over about a mile of road failing to find an info control.
TG - did you find it?

Nope, he didn't find it either.

H

[teethgrinder]

The CG300 takes a nice route from Cheddar to Malmesbury, free of navving problems (assuming you didn't need to drop by Tor Hole).

Hope this helps.

Nope.
The Hellfire goes north through Chew Magna and on to Malmesbury via an info control.

Actually, by then I was OK. It was the bit around Queen Charlton and Keynesham that was getting to me.  Although you did take that photo it was because we'd gone backwards and forwards over about a mile of road failing to find an info control.
TG - did you find it?

Nope, he didn't find it either.

H

If that was the mythical blue sign, then no, I didn't get that one either. 

[Ian H]

If that was the mythical blue sign, then no, I didn't get that one either. 

Mr Shaw has sent me a photo of it.

[Hummers]

If that was the mythical blue sign, then no, I didn't get that one either. 

Mr Shaw has sent me a photo of it.

I remember seeing it.

 

H

[Justin(e)]

As I only pop in occasionally, I was unaware of this ride.  It is reassuring to know that the bold traditions of Auk are being kept alive.

I have never done this ride, but many audacious stories are told from the days when it was still a calendar event. 

Well done to all.   Hopefully there is an organiser who can put this back on the calendar one day.

[GrandMaster Flash]

• An unexpected Wessex SR badge presentation in the parlour of 22 Shaftesbury Avenue.

Was there cake as well ?

[Hummers]

• An unexpected Wessex SR badge presentation in the parlour of 22 Shaftesbury Avenue.

Was there cake as well ?

Yes, there was but I was so sick of eating sweet things that I couldn't face it.

 
H

[MattH]

Yes, there was but I was so sick of eating sweet things that I couldn't face it.

I thought you said you'd never use your pet name for me in public?