Upper Thames 5th November 2022

[Steve Orchard]

Just over 8 and a half hours until my alarm goes off!

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[P.P.]

Just over 8 and a half hours until my alarm goes off!

And just over 10 hours untill we all get wet!

[Chris S]

Just over 8 and a half hours until my alarm goes off!

And just over 10 hours untill we all get wet!

Time for another round! 

(Big fan of this ride. We've been soaked on many occasion on this one)

[bludger]

Always a bit ominous when you get on the main train to the start from london and there's just one other cyclist on board...

[Manotea]

Anybody on the start line this morning has a good claim on some bragging rights!

[Steve Orchard]

First time riding this. Nice route shame about the weather.
First 3rd was wet and windy.
Second third was just windy. Some good views from the tops.
Third third was wet. Saw a few fireworks.
Lots of potholes hiding in puddles.

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[bludger]

I had a great ride. Knobbled 33s were actually pretty good on the roads, warbling noise aside. What a great route, I bet it's a hoot in the summer time (might be a promising DIY...). Yeah it's a shame about the weather on one hand, but it's good flahute training, and the ride was flat enough that I found a happy Goldilocks zone with the amount of kit to wear. Train connections were good and the HQ hospitality was excellent. Met some cool people and saw some cool bikes, a cracking day out

[Martin]

It was certainly character building, the wind and rain before the first info were so hard they actually made my bell ring!

but nice to have a functional (Left; also my front braking) thumb this time! although after Christmas Common I didn't have any functional brakes as the skoggy downhill after Bix used them up!

managed to fit new pads in Bicester Halfords which was also where it started raining again and didn't stop after that.

The dull weather didn't stop the fab views and autunm colours though; and the fireworks at nearby Wallingford were in full swing as I climbed the last hill

Thanks Phil Mary Brian and others 

re DIYing I think this is one of those rides that should just be a calendar event; the time if year is usually petfect, the catering is superb and usually there is a huge field so a real sense of an event rather than just a ride.

[P.P.]

If anyone wants a couple of gallons of Oxfordshires finest rainwater let me know as I've still got plenty sat in my boots that I'm more than happy to share.
I think everyone else has summed the day up pretty well, wet, windy, character building stuff.
Many thanks to all involved for making what could have been a miserable day out a thoroughly enjoyable one.

[kegere]

Well the roads were less flooded than my last 200, however this was definitely wetter. The welcome & bread pudding was up to the usual high standard.

Probably the wettest and windiest edition I've ridden however it is still a great route, now just to unload the car and clean a bike which was spotless just 24 hours ago.

Thanks to all who put the event on.

[phil d]

Indeed, not the best weather we've had for this event! 49 stalwarts came to the start, and 43 finished; my smallest field ever for this event. All the DNFs were in the first section, over the Chilterns, where the flints on the wet roads are notorious. The event results have been submitted, and will doubtless appear on the AUK website once 2018/19 has been put to bed.

Thanks to everyone that entered, and my admiration to all who started. I'll try and get better weather next time (7/11/2020, by the way).

Yet again there was more than one rider for whom this was their first 200 - chapeau. I must admit that a winter event when finishing in the dark is a certainty, and when the forecast was a reasonably accurate "wet and windy", wouldn't be my choice.

As ever, the event couldn't happen without the support of a number of people, and this year my thanks are to Mary, Ian Doyle, Brian Mann, Martin Tillin, Mick Simmons and Peter Cowan, and of course the management and staff of Waterperry Tearooms and Old Mill Cafe who are always supportive.

The surplus on the event (a bit lower this year, probably about £200) will as usual be going to the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Thanks to those who made an additional donation on the day.

[bludger]

It was a terrific day out,how many people were there signed up to ride?

[Genosse Brymbo]

My 6th Upper Thames in 7 years of audaxing.  Not the windiest - that was 2013 when I had to stop a couple of times to steady myself on the hill between South Moreton and Cholsey and was almost blown into a field on the open section between Moulsford and Streatley on the ride home.  However, certainly the wettest.

The ride has a great section breakdown - 70km to Waterperry, another 70 to Chippy, then 70 to Cholsey.  By Sonning Common the rain was stinging my face.  I then punctured just outside the Loddon Brewery at Dunsden Green (tempted to pack there and take a few beers home).  Got very cold faffing about trying to put a new tube in, but warmed up once on the road again.  I was one of several riders to take advantage of Phil's track pump at Waterperry.

I thought the predicted 60/70mph winds were going to start as I was buffetted by some very strong side winds on the (normally very fast) descent before the Ashendon info control, but they didn't materialise.  Instead I was treated to the standard headwinds between Bicester and Chippy.  As at Waterperry, there wasn't a queue at the Old Mill and I was served very quickly; it appeared that the weather forecast had put the locals off venturing out.

Soon after Chippy it began to rain and didn't stop, not hard but constant.  This slowed my progress as I tried to avoid sunken potholes.  I stopped and made use of the outside light at Hanney Spice to augment both front and rear lights, then rode steadily back to Cholsey.

Type-2 fun, but a good day out nevertheless.  Many thanks to Phil and helpers.  See you next year.

[Redlight]

Anybody on the start line this morning has a good claim on some bragging rights!

And this who made it back to the finish can claim even more. I was in the area (in the car) late yesterday afternoon and would not have fancied being out on the bike, especially as my only experience of this ride provides the happy memory of riding it in shorts and short sleeves in 2014.

[Martin]

Anybody on the start line this morning has a good claim on some bragging rights!

well looking at the other 200 I have planned this month I thought better to bank this one!

re fireworks, the very first edition was on the 6th and there were loads of displays so there should quite a few on the 7th next year. Last night there were very few of the small local ones going and even peeps' own back gardens

also sad to see Didcot chimney for probably the last time

[andyoxon]

... happy memory of riding it in shorts and short sleeves in 2014.

Yes! 16C as I remember.   

UT 2014 Ashendon Hill by ao, on Flickr

Well done to all those who rode on Saturday (I didn't enter this year)

[phil d]

It was a terrific day out,how many people were there signed up to ride?

About 120 entered.

[bludger]

It was a terrific day out,how many people were there signed up to ride?

About 120 entered.

Blimey...

cheers 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I found it quite windy at times but it certainly wasn’t the wettest brevet I’ve ridden. There was quite a bit of blue sky in the middle and I’m a little surprised that so many folk stayed at home.

[Von Broad]

and I’m a little surprised that so many folk stayed at home.

I must say, a big chapeau to those folk that made it round for their first 200.  That was fine grounding indeed.
Hopefully, all being well, I'll be back next year.

To have a total of 49 as the lowest ever start to a regular event is quite a compliment really, and goes to show how successful the event has been over the years.

[Neil C]

It was wet. It was windy. But not as bad as some of the forecasts and there were some dry and sunny bits.

Four years of audaxing and my fourth Upper Thames. Took two hours longer than last year but the welcome at all the controls and the people I met made it all worthwhile.

Worst aspect was all the potholes hiding in puddles, especially in the dark. Despite choosing my lines carefully I hit more than I could count, and finally about 30km from the end a really large one had me shouting out, much to the amusement to the locals huddling in the bus shelter. I knew straight away that the bike had sustained some damage from the rhythmic thump. Luckily the tyre didn't deflate but there was a pulsing under braking. It was too wet and dark to stop so I just limped to the end.

Thanks to Phil and all his team - being last back does have its compensations as I was encouraged to finish off all the food, but failed.

(Yesterday, on closer inspection, I could see one spoke loose enough to rattle and a rim that needs replacing. So now is as good a time as any to start my wheelbuilding adventures!)

[De Sisti]

I’m a little surprised that so many folk stayed at home.

Perhaps some folk don't like riding in the wind and rain.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

It is a November 200. The chances of wind and rain are fairly high, which is why AUKs in the old days used to stop riding brevets from October till the following Spring.

[Danu]

Not sure that statement is entirely correct LWaB.
Very few Permanents, definitely no diy,s so options minimal.
Guess we just caught up with what our club was doing or long rides with no brevet cards.
Southern reunion etc

[bludger]

Wrote up a blog post about the ride.

https://calumonwheels.wordpress.com/2019/11/04/how-far-riding-the-upper-thames-audax/

Thanks again Phil it was a corker.