My son's apprenticeship in all things audax continues.
Yesterday we did the Charnwood Challenge 100k out of Tamworth. This was only his second ride on his "new" bike; a Mercian which had recently been retired from the fleet of a clubmate, so I was a bit apprehensive on his behalf. I shouldn't have been as, certainly on the outward leg, he was pressing on and leaving me behind on some of the hills. We spent the ride in our accustomed position of Lanterne Rouge due to a rather deflating experience after about 4 miles which cost 20 minutes or so to fix.
The cafe at Mountsorrel was a welcome stop and soon we were off on the second and shortest leg to Diseworth. Just out of Quorn there was the little matter of Beacon Hill to contend with. I explained the use of the little button on the left hand brake lever and the fact that in the low gear range it was good practice to ride slowly and steadily. We had to stop a couple of times on the way up as the relentless nature of the climb was getting to him. Experience tells that all hills come to an end (eventually) and there would probably be some good descending on the other side, but all he could see was the road going up for ever.
The last leg from Diseworth back to Tamworth served up another lesson in audax suffering - the headwind. The wind had been freshening during the afternoon and was now pretty brisk, enough to demonstrate that it's not always possible to freewheel downhill. At least he didn't lose his sense of humour: when I explained about drafting he said "Is that where you ride in front and break the wind for me?", and, after a period of steady climbing - "At last, an oasis of down in the desert of up".
He looked pretty drained by the time we got back to the Pretty Pigs where Datameister, the organiser, reminded us that the "Challenge" was in the name for a reason. I found the ride more difficult than I expected - the late summer activities of Not Doing PBP, Not Getting an SR, and Not Riding My Bike Much At All have taken their toll.
Anyhow, the apprenticeship is going well - 2x50 and 3x100 are now under the belt and we have an eye on the Darley Abbey 150 at the beginning of October and I expect graduation to full Randonneur status next spring.
