24/09/11 Chris Negus Memorial Rides from Henham, Essex

[red marley]

If anyone intends getting back to London by train, all trains have been cancelled north of Roydon. Best bet is to ride to Bishops Stortford and get bus replacement to Broxbourne. They are saying the will time bikes on the coach. I may see you there.

[nmcgann]

That was pleasant (the 160). Longest ride I've done for the last few years so I was glad I didn't have to go back out for the 3rd loop 

[simonp]

Great day out. Now home, bathed and out in Cambridge with Feline eating sushi and other Japanese foods.

[Mike Conway]

Completed the 200k while it was still light - did the first 2 laps way too quick and ended up suffering on the last. Bonus was that the last lap took in the best scenery IMO. Excellent audax put on by Mick and his team - very welcoming and well organised.

No problems with the train out to Bishops Stortford but was caught out on the way back with cancelled trains - ended up catching a £40 taxi from Stansted to Hertford East station and getting a train back to London that way....

[Feline]

After a month off the bike I wondered if my legs would play ball on the 200k, but no problems and Simon and I got in before dark. As always it was nice to see an unfamiliar part of the country by bike. Either this was the easiest 200k I've ever done or it's getting easier now I've done longer distances because I found myself riding without really looking at the clock or control closing times and feeling very laid back about it. A great day out, thanks Mick and helpers 

[L CC]

Entirely the opposite for me.

I hate being this slow. Last time I did this ride (2009, geared) it took me 9.5 hours.
This time I stopped having fun at almost exactly 111 km & the lurgy I've been carrying for the last week manifested itself in a stinking headache that still hasn't left me.
My feet hurt, my hands hurt and my backside is sore.

I did claim that Chris S & I were going for the Society Adrian Mole and it's commemorative fugly teapot which required us to finish in the last 20 minutes, so would be pausing at the roadside for sex on the last loop. In the end, feeling lousy over-rode the joke and I crawled in long before then.
Ugh. I'm not taking that bike out for a calendar ride again till I can ride it as fast as I ride geared.

[L CC]

Before my sense of humour failure I did notice that my wheelman had the full house of randonneur stereotypes:
Beard
Sandals (with socks!)
Yacf clothing
Fixed gear bicycle
Carradice
incipient beer gut

He was only missing the Aspergers for a full house.

[Pippa]

A fantastic route and pretty much perfect conditions. But I still DNF'd. The first loop was fab, but after pushing it faster than i normally would, my feet, back and knees were hurting and by the time we got back to the hut i was having heart palpitations and almost blacked out at one point. I don't think I'm getting my food quite right on these things.

I decided then that if i continued i would have to slow down a lot. And if I did that, I'd probably finish just within time, despite having over 7 hours left to do 60 odd miles. I didn't fancy getting back home close to midnight so instead, jane and I went for a pootly 20 miles with a refeshment stop. That was still hard work and i had to stop and have a lie down at one point. But the aches and pains went away.

On reflection, I'm not sure audaxing is really for me TBH. I hate the time pressure, even though i know i can finish on time. But it plays on my mind and forces me to cycle faster than i really want to in order to be comfortably within time. I get to controls and all i can think is eat fast and get out of there, whereas what i actually want to do is have a more leisurely break. The cycling faster means I end up in pain, still worried about the time and not really enjoying the ride. And therein lies the rub. I like cycling to destress and get away from the mon-fri pressures whereas I find audax stressful and pressurised. I don't want to end up hating cycling so will have to think about this some more over winter...   

[Chris S]

A crisp, misty autumn morning - perfect for a final visit for the season, to our favourite Essex town:


P1010245 by Pelotonhound, on Flickr

I thought it was a nice day out - right back at the fashionable end of the ride, which was an interesting contrast to the Garboldisham 200, what I won  .

Huge amounts of control cafe time, dithering at the (many) infos and impromptu stops to sort out a wasp sting, and resulting drug induced malaise ensured a full-dark finish (hell, we didn't even start the final loop until a good few had already finished).

More piccies here: Clicky

[roddo]

Hi folks,

least successful audax ever!  I am attempting to introduce a friend to the pleasures/joys of audax and i thought after some training rides the combination of weather, lack of elevation, solid organisation (shaftsbury cc always produce the goods) proximity to my house, local knowledge and possibility of riding in a group (due to large turn out) made this perfect.

My buddy seems to have strained a hip flexor on first uphill bit (2km in).  we took an hour to get past thaxted before packing and turning back.

poor bloke could barely walk by return to the start.

makes me remember how hard audaxing can be when starting out and the randomness of it all.

oh well, let's see what happens next month - a cold wet one with a possiblility of a dark finish should do the trick!!!

sounds like it was a beauty in the end.  I ended up in a school hall at my daughter's first disco.....  so not all lost ??

[Mike Conway]

Great pic there Chris - I remember coming up that hill with the church spire appearing in the mist and thinking I really needed a camera! Hope you managed to get that wasp sting sorted (I remember having a look at your ear at the Coggeshall control but seeing no stinger...)

Pippa, wish I could convince you to keep it up - audaxing is a brilliant form of cycling. Remember there are huge differences in ability with those that ride them - the guys and gals who finish quickly have usually been riding for many years, so it does take a while to build up your strength. Perhaps just do the 50k and 100k rides until you're more confident to do longer distances?

[αdαmsκι]

Loop #1. Rode with Pippa & Jane & had a lovely time in the morning sun & mist. Enjoyed catching up with Russ P. After the caff we caught up Chris S & fboab & enjoyed their company.

Loop #2. Pippa & Jane went to the pub. I went off solo and esp. enjoyed the section around Heydon. Got stung by a wasp 1 km before the HQ and wondered if I may end up DNF-ing (neck is still sore). Sat around at HQ & decided to head out again.

Loop #3. Amazing that a loop of an airport can be so nice. However, I lost a cleat bolt about 20 km into the loop & had to remove the whole cleat, which meant I couldn't spin beyond 30 kph. Going downhill was interesting, going uphill was tough. So instead I went into social mode and rode to the finish with Tomsk and Deniece.

A good day. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

[jane]

Loop #2. Pippa & Jane went to the pub. I went off solo and esp. enjoyed the section around Heydon. Got stung by a wasp 1 km before the HQ and wondered if I may end up DNF-ing (neck is still sore). Sat around at HQ & decided to head out.

A good day. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

Pippa and Jane did manage about 20 miles either side of the pub. And a very nice pub too. And we also managed to find a huge hill on our self-made little route somewhere between Furneaux Pelham and Manuden, I think, at least, what might pass for a hill in Essex.
Thanks, indeed, to those who organised and served the copious amounts of tea, cake, beans etc I helped to consume.  Very welcome.
The hardest part of my day was the journey home. Rode back to bishops stortford,  the long way (don't ask) only to find overhead cable problems ( is this railway speak for nasty bxxxtards nicking copper wire again) had rendered the trains inoperable this side of Broxbourne. Long wait for a coach, bike laid in the luggage hold looking very lonely and lost in  that dark empty space.  Then an hour's drive followed by another long wait for a train that stopped at EVERY bxxxxy station on the way to Livpoo St.  Then ride home. En route through Peckham late, late now, I spied a rather large group of raucous youth hanging around the junction of Nunhead Lane and Peckham Rye.  Normally, this wouldn't bother me, but I was tired and even a group in party mode seemed like hassle so I took the quiet option and headed up the other side of the Rye, just in case.  Forgetting of course that this entails a steep hill. But at least the descent down Honor Oak Park woke me up enough to find my keys and stumble in the door.
Great day.

[red marley]

[...]and impromptu stops to sort out a wasp sting

Got stung by a wasp 1 km before the HQ [...]

I saw someone else who was stung by a wasp too. Anyone else? I wonder if the wasp responsible is like the buzzard that used to haunt audaxers in Devon. Maybe it just prefers sportives to audaxes.

[Feline]

[...]and impromptu stops to sort out a wasp sting

Got stung by a wasp 1 km before the HQ [...]

I saw someone else who was stung by a wasp too. Anyone else? I wonder if the wasp responsible is like the buzzard that used to haunt audaxers in Devon. Maybe it just prefers sportives to audaxes.

Im treating a lot of wasp stings at work at the moment, they are dosy as they are dying and mucho more likely to get caught up and sting you. In the case of my patients they are dosy and slow enough to get caught and scoffed and therefore often sting the inside of their mouth. They come in with swollen lips, faces and sometimes whole heads!

[Simonb]

our favourite Essex town

It was indeed lovely. What's its name?

[Greenbank]

At a guess: Thaxted.

Every Henham/Ugley Audax tends to visit it (sometimes multiple times).

[red marley]

It was indeed Thaxted. Along with Rickling Green, the various 'Uts audaxes have have visted those two spots by at least 8 difference roads that I can recall. The one in the photo is probably my favourite way in to Thaxted.

[dasmoth]

A very nice day out.

Did anyone else spot this:



...and if so, any ideas what's going on there (ad hoc community library?)

[Chris S]

Tracklog uploaded for anyone remotely interested:



In keeping with these rides, the profile looks flat as, but total climbing of >2100m gives a better idea of the restless nature of the terrain; there really weren't many points in the ride where it was totally flat.

[L CC]

A very nice day out.

Did anyone else spot this:



...and if so, any ideas what's going on there (ad hoc community library?)

I didn't spot it. But we have one in the next village: it's a book exchange.

[dasmoth]

I didn't spot it. But we have one in the next village: it's a book exchange.

So "ad hoc library" wasn't too far off.

Would have enjoyed one of those in the village where I grew up!

[L CC]

It was indeed Thaxted. Along with Rickling Green, the various 'Uts audaxes have have visted those two spots by at least 8 difference roads that I can recall. The one in the photo is probably my favourite way in to Thaxted.

Although one does rather start to get deja vu about going through Thaxted

I'm not doing any Uts rides this year because of Thaxted overdose last year. There's the Hauxton ride and the start of Summertime though so I may not get away from it completely.

I visited Finchingfield and Thaxted for the 4th time in 5 weeks. I feel cursed, and curiously magnetically drawn to these North Essex villages. It must stop!

[Uncle Eric]

The one in the photo is probably my favourite way in to Thaxted.

My reviews of ways into Thaxted:

- From Debden: Nice with church looming in the distance. Nice uphill one can tackle by gaining good speed before it starts. R@T after church can be a nuisance though if RS has that.

- Downhill from Bardfields: Sucks. Road really crappy, annoying speed bumps and generally unpleasant. And annoying if R@T at bottom of hill.

- B184 from Dunmow: Not bad. Straightforward access to bonk rescue gas station on left-hand side before enetering town. And no give-way intersections.

- B1051 from Elsenham: Nice flat entry. Neat houses passed on the outskirts of Thaxted. R@T B184 can be a nuisance though.

- B14 from Saffron Walden: Don't like it. N/NE Thaxted seems quite dull. No scenery.

[simonp]

Entirely the opposite for me.

I hate being this slow. Last time I did this ride (2009, geared) it took me 9.5 hours.
This time I stopped having fun at almost exactly 111 km & the lurgy I've been carrying for the last week manifested itself in a stinking headache that still hasn't left me.
My feet hurt, my hands hurt and my backside is sore.

I did claim that Chris S & I were going for the Society Adrian Mole and it's commemorative fugly teapot which required us to finish in the last 20 minutes, so would be pausing at the roadside for sex on the last loop. In the end, feeling lousy over-rode the joke and I crawled in long before then.
Ugh. I'm not taking that bike out for a calendar ride again till I can ride it as fast as I ride geared.

It would have been better to have stopped on the second loop, at Shaftenhoe End.