Mad March, A river too far (200k)

[dat]

Anyone doing this tomorrow? Looks like it could be raining most of the day with 50mph gusts.

[Paul D]

I'm in. Should be fun up on Exmoor.

[Ian H]

I'm riding.

[Hot Flatus]

I'm out, on the grounds that I don't want another day like today, except colder, wetter and gustier.

[Hot Flatus]

Hope everybody enjoyed the spells of sunshine and the abundance of fresh air

[dat]

Hope everybody enjoyed the spells of sunshine and the abundance of fresh air

It was a good ride. My first fixed Audax ride as well. Got round in around 9.5hrs. Isn't too bad considering the headwind for the first 50k.

[Paul D]

I'm out, on the grounds that I don't want another day like today, except colder, wetter and gustier.

If I'd have had a day like that on Saturday I don't think I could've faced another, but on it's own it wasn't bad. Plenty of sunshine in between the short hail showers Importantly it stayed pretty much dry until near the end.

It was pretty hard though; I was an hour slower than I'd hoped, including an unplanned but necessary 1/2 hour in the pub control at 140k. Along with the wind I got 3500m of climbing, off an advertised figure of 2800m. There was some swearing at the Quantocks.

[dat]

It was the climb between Exmoor and The Quantocks that caught me off guard.

[Paul D]

It was the climb between Exmoor and The Quantocks that caught me off guard.

On fixed that would have caught me off bike. 

[Hot Flatus]

I've done the old version many many times, and always the day after another 200 on the Saturday (either Cheltenham flyer or Tewkesbury Malverns 200). The rout is more or less the same after Watched. It's a great route and I really miss not doing it this time. I came down with a streaming cold yesterday so I know my gut instinct was right.

I don't think I've ever ridden it in 100% decent conditions. It's always been some combination of freezing cold/pelting rain/hail/snow/ high wind.

Granted I've always had 200k in my legs from the day before, but it is a ride I'm always pleased to finish.

[Ian H]

I quickly discovered I had no power in the legs, possibly as a result of Thursday's 30k hilly walk.  So I had to let the faster group disappear up the road and content myself with spinning gently up the hills.  The headwind out to Winkleigh got harder as elevation increased and shelter lessened.  It was nice being blown up on to Exmoor, though an occasional vicious, sideways gust made life interesting on the descents.

By this time, an increasingly sore knee was adding further interest to the ride.

A hailstorm somewhere near Kilve reminded me of certain past Welsh events.  The descent to Crowcombe was dry enough to get 75km/hr (the road surface has deteriorated too much for a total freefall).

The final leg was just a grind back as gently as possible to save the knee.  Sarah bought me a pint.  I had some food.  Then there was the ride home...

[simonp]

Hard day to be out on the bike. I thought about entering but was glad I didn’t. Not because of the weather but because I did a hard rowing effort on Saturday. Worst conditions I’ve rowed in and average HR of 180 for 20 minutes. Enough type 2 fun for one weekend and I was pretty tired yesterday and did no training.

Chapeau to everyone who braved the conditions.

[dat]

I quickly discovered I had no power in the legs, possibly as a result of Thursday's 30k hilly walk.  So I had to let the faster group disappear up the road and content myself with spinning gently up the hills.  The headwind out to Winkleigh got harder as elevation increased and shelter lessened.  It was nice being blown up on to Exmoor, though an occasional vicious, sideways gust made life interesting on the descents.

By this time, an increasingly sore knee was adding further interest to the ride.

A hailstorm somewhere near Kilve reminded me of certain past Welsh events.  The descent to Crowcombe was dry enough to get 75km/hr (the road surface has deteriorated too much for a total freefall).

The final leg was just a grind back as gently as possible to save the knee.  Sarah bought me a pint.  I had some food.  Then there was the ride home...

The pace in the fast group was quite lively. I figured if I kept with them at least we could provide protection from the wind by taking turns up front. I would of found it harder by myself even at the slower pace. Still much better weather than I thought it was going to be.

[James O]

Fantastic route, although the wind certainly made it tough work to get to Winkleigh, but after turning eastward, it felt like a properly nice day (for a while at least) with the sun out and a great tailwind.

Crossing Exmoor and the descent into Withypool was probably the highlight for me, white gold grass highlighted by the sun, with the patterns of wind shifting on it. 

Probably the best weather I've had on a Mad March, and spent the last 10 miles racing the impeding storm clouds.