Thursday - half term and a couple of days off work I suggested to Andro Jnr. that as he had recently done the Chuffing 50 and helped me to route check the new parts of the Sleepy North Notts Villages 150 he might like to up his distance to 100km. It was decided that we would do the "In Memory of Tommy 100" as a permanent. This goes from Alfreton to Harworth to the Tommy Simpson memorial and will be run as a calendar event on the anniversary of Tommy's death (13th July).
We finally got away at 9:30, a bit later than planned, but by the time we got to the start control it was apparent that something was amiss with Jnr's bike which was squeaking alarmingly. A quick return home (we were starting about 1k from our front door), and a disassembly and cleaning of the tension wheel on his rear mech, and we were off again. The first leg of 44k took us along familiar (to me) audaxing roads up to and through Clumber Park to the cafe control where sausage cobs and tea provided much needed sustenance. I had forgotten just how big Clumber Park is and how long it takes to ride through it. The next leg was rather shorter and had a couple of main road stretches, but soon enough we were at Harworth and Bircotes Sports Club where we saw Tommy's Paris-Nice bike and other memorabilia, signed the visitor book and sat outside eating sandwiches and having a cool drink. It was by now getting quite warm.
Me next to Tommy's memorial
After leaving Harworth and starting to head for home through Styrrup, Jnr (for some "unknown" reason) found himself off his bike and in a patch of nettles. I established that he was OK to continue, dock leaves were applied and we set off. I thought that it was inappropriate at that point to ask about the welfare of the bike although I wish I had because a while later I realised that his back light had come adrift. The nettle rash was causing him quite a bit of discomfort at this stage, and scratching each arm in turn was compromising his directional stability and threatening to cause another crash. An unplanned stop was made in Dinnington where we located a pharmacy and obtained a tube of antihistamine cream, a large proportion of which was liberally applied to both arms.
It was round about this time that we had the obligatory conversation about the route profile, it went something like this:
Him: "You said this ride was flat"
Me: "It is flat"
Him: "Why are we going up a hill then?"
Me: "It's only a small hill, this route is flatter than most"
Him: "Well, if we're going up a hill it
can't be flat, can it"
With that I muttered something about the Tramway and changed the subject.
With the delays on the third leg we were out of time leaving the last control at Clowne, but I was impressed with the way he set about the task of making the time up, no heroics but just a steady pace, and I thought that give a bit more experience and a faster bike (his Islabike is adjusted to the limit and even then is really a bit small for him) he's going to make quite a useful audaxer. We finished with 20 minutes in hand, tired, happy and just a bit sunburned. With the route checking which we did on the previous Sunday he had ridden just over 100 old fashioned miles in 5 days - I'm really proud of what he's achieved this week and I don't think that he needs to take too much notice of his P.E. grades from school......
Today (Saturday) Tramway 100The name of this ride is taken from its start point; the National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire. The route goes to Hathersage, then to Hollinsclough via Tideswell, Millers Dale and Glutton Bridge, returning to Alfreton by way of Crowdicote and Cromford. This route is not flat (see above).
I rode with Mr & Mrs Dasmi and a sizeable contingent of the Alfreton CTC. Again the weather was warm (the last 6 Tramways have had good weather) and good progress was made to Hathersage culminating in a glorious descent into the village down sweeping bends with superb views.
Climbing to Owler Bar
The second stage is very much up and down, the first climb up through Abney and past the Derbys & Lancs Gliding Club at Camphill where I was able to reminisce a little about my days as a glider pilot and wonder if after all these years I could still fly - must try one day. The Methodist Chapel at Hollinsclough did us proud (as usual) for tea and cake and it was onwards (and upwards) to Crowdicote Bank. A short section of the High Peak Trail between Parsley Hay and Pikehall was followed by the long descent of the Via Gellia to Cromford where the last climb (a real pig) up through Lea and Holloway led to the finish at the Cliff Inn at Crich. Brevet card was exchanged for a ticket entitling the bearer to One Free Pint at the bar - a really nice touch.
I'm pleased to have done a couple of 100s this week with no particular trauma to get me back on track after the Moors and Wolds Apocalypse of two weeks ago. I'm not doing PBP, not too bothered about an SR this year and think that I'll just do whatever rides take my fancy with without being on any particular treadmill.
