Author Topic: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday CANCELLED  (Read 65534 times)

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #75 on: 29 March, 2013, 11:47:28 am »
There are 3 of us coming over from Northants for this as our first Audax, looking forward to a pleasant day out in the fens, last time I rode out via these roads to Hunstanton we had a stiff headwind for the entire 85 miles home, looks like it'll be the other way round tomorrow.

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Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #76 on: 29 March, 2013, 11:54:14 am »
current plan is The George in Huntingdon (last but one instruction on the route sheet) assuming my trusty helper turns up

Ah, yes. I see. I misinterpreted that bit on the routesheet :-[.

My route can be viewed on bikehike. Feel free to take the .gpx if you wish (but don't complain if you get lost using it!).
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

Martin

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #77 on: 29 March, 2013, 12:31:05 pm »
NB; the Kings Lynn ferry can only take about 8 bikes at a time

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #78 on: 29 March, 2013, 01:02:22 pm »
Just got permission to do a ride tomorrow, if not too late to book on.

Anyone doing this from a Milton Keynes direction (I may not have use of our car)?

Just booked on via paypal (hopefully). Looking forward to a flat ride!
Bikes are for riding, not cleaning!

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #79 on: 29 March, 2013, 09:31:09 pm »
I'd have loved to do this but got to work tomorrow. Better planning on my part for next year I hope. Good luck to all.

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #80 on: 30 March, 2013, 09:27:10 pm »
Had a really good day out for my first Audax, loved the ferry crossing and the driving snow and sleet was fun :-D

Martin

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #81 on: 31 March, 2013, 12:11:07 am »
thanks everyone for showing up in such harsh conditions  :) I think this ride shows that just because a 200 is flat does not make it easy but it looks like most people who fought through to Kings Lynn had the wind mostly behind after that (although every so often a turn would remind you just how raw it was)

glad you enjoyed the ferry; didn't see anyone else on mine but the operator assured me it had been busy with riders

looks like about 50 finishers although many seem to have opted for the post-card option so will await the Postman's Knock

sorry you were not able to enjoy the usual spectacular colours of the bulbfields but fingers crossed for next year (which will be Apr 18th as Easter Saturday seems a good choice) there may be some TULIPS

and a massive thanks to Canardly of This Parish again for manning the finish control   :thumbsup:

αdαmsκι

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Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #82 on: 31 March, 2013, 08:24:58 am »
Flat ≠ easy, but I already knew that and therefore wasn't surprised to discover a biting headwind once past March. What did surprise me were all the snow / sleet squalls that I rode through between March & Holbeach St Matthew. I know the past few months have been cold, but still I wasn't really expecting to be cycling in snow at the end of March. Once in Kings Lynn I thought I'd partake of the burger van, as a number of other riders were doing, only to me told there were no more eggs :(. Oh well, I quickly grabbed a receipt from the newsagents and rushed off for the ferry, which having check the ferry times before leaving home I knew was due imminently. The short ferry ride between Kings Lynn & West Lynn was a novelty and very much enjoyed, esp. as it meant I didn't have to backtrack to cross the Great Ouse. Riding across to Holbeach St Matthew was the bleakest part of the ride in terms of scenery and I was happy to turn around and start heading to Spalding. Huge fields of daffs were spotted before Spalding, and it was good to see some things were trying to grow, despite the coldness of the past few months.

The section after Spalding along the River Welland felt very much like riding in The Netherlands, especially so when the road is on top of the dyke. The Thorny road wasn't too bad as the wind was favorable, but it was still soul destroying. I also had to stop after Whittlesey to remove my little neoprene toe warmers as the constriction they were placing on my feet meant I was getting hot foot :demon:. However, I was in no rush as I knew I wouldn't make the 17h00 train from Huntingdon and so leisurely rode along enjoying the sun.

Thanks go to Martin for organizing, and keeping entries open until the last minute as I only decided to ride a couple of days before the event. Canardly was on hand at the finish to take the cards and being able to sit & chat with a few other rides in The George is a much more preferable way to finish than just posting the card back to Martin as it makes it feel more like a calendar event than a perm or DIY.
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

https://tyredandhungry.wordpress.com/

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #83 on: 31 March, 2013, 09:02:03 am »
Drat. I didn't notice any bikes as I cycled past the pub, and I could have done with a beer (had one at home, but not the same). Enjoyed the ride, but not the head/ cross winds!
Bikes are for riding, not cleaning!

Martin

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #84 on: 31 March, 2013, 09:47:08 am »
Drat. I didn't notice any bikes as I cycled past the pub, and I could have done with a beer (had one at home, but not the same). Enjoyed the ride, but not the head/ cross winds!

as you go round the corner there's a car park and an arch through to a courtyard where all the bikes were

will hope to make the same finish next year  :)

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #85 on: 31 March, 2013, 10:32:50 am »
Doh me! At least I got home in time to watched the recorded Doctor Who with the kids before falling asleep!
Bikes are for riding, not cleaning!

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #86 on: 31 March, 2013, 10:37:46 am »
I too missed the pub at the end, one of our 3 struggled after Kings Lynn but we worked together & all got round, I'll definitely be back another year.

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #87 on: 31 March, 2013, 10:48:51 am »
I too missed the pub at the end, one of our 3 struggled after Kings Lynn but we worked together & all got round, I'll definitely be back another year.
Were you the ones waiting for a tow, who dropped me in the crosswind in the outbound 10 strong group (I didn't mind)?
Bikes are for riding, not cleaning!

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #88 on: 31 March, 2013, 11:07:11 am »
Yep, that was us. Howard went with a "stop every 10 mile" strategy after Spalding and that was one of those stops. It got him home which at one point he didn't think would happen.

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #89 on: 31 March, 2013, 11:11:40 am »
Yep, that was us. Howard went with a "stop every 10 mile" strategy after Spalding and that was one of those stops. It got him home which at one point he didn't think would happen.
I thought I saw one of you knocking back a gel. I'd so, you could have had the out of date one I carry for emergencies. If you spotted the half snickers bar on the road, I still have the wrapper it fell out of  >:(
Bikes are for riding, not cleaning!

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #90 on: 31 March, 2013, 12:02:47 pm »
I too missed the pub at the end...

Me too, I could have murdered a pint  :(  Brevet card will be in the post.  Thanks Martin but please sort the weather out for next year  ;)

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #91 on: 31 March, 2013, 12:12:24 pm »
Tough day for me - pushed too hard on the section from March to Kings Lynn and I never really recovered from that.

On a warm and windfree day I think that would be a really nice easy route.
With snow coming down and a strong headwind with no cover for four miles in every direction, it's a different story.

The views are great in some places, it's worth seeing if you don't know that area (I didn't) and the traffic is really quiet. However, the best part of the event for me was that everyone got thrown together as they realised that going in a group was much easier. So I got speaking to a lot more people than usual and there was a definate sense of shared pain in the air  :)

Didn't realise the pub was available so I'll be another postal finisher - thanks for organising  :)

Martin

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #92 on: 31 March, 2013, 12:45:13 pm »
Tough day for me - pushed too hard on the section from March to Kings Lynn and I never really recovered from that.

On a warm and windfree day I think that would be a really nice easy route.

it's the 7th time I've ridden the route, the first 2 were DIYs. So far I've had Sun and tailwind followed by rain and headwind for the last 90km (when it went to Boston) and 5 times more or less exactly like yesterday but with higher temperatures. The easiest time was actually a month ago with a gentle 5mph wind all day

feel free to ride it as a DIY anytime; I sadly can't offer it as a perm without receipt potential in Nordelph and Holbeach St Matthew (but you can go to Boston to make 228km in all)

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #93 on: 31 March, 2013, 05:53:02 pm »
Toughest one i have done so far with headwinds and crosswinds, but totally enjoyed it thanks to Jonahon who i linked up with just before March, and Paul who joined us after Kings lynne they really help me get around it. Also enjoyed the pint at the end.

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #94 on: 31 March, 2013, 09:16:28 pm »
Thanks Martin, a great day out, and if you are going to have a headwind better on the outward leg than the return. Nice sunny afternoon, and with a tailwind it almost felt like spring, until you came to the next partch of snow. Thanks also to Geoff for the company throughout. Will probably go back to explore a bit more without Audax time pressures.

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #95 on: 01 April, 2013, 12:24:57 am »
One of those days, managed to complete 8x 200k this winter and looked to add a couple more points as part of LEL training. Nice flat course which suits my 104k frame! Unfortunately, I found to my cost that tendonitis in the wrist does not improve the more you ride, so caught the train at Kings Lynn to Ely and rode 40k from there, still 125k for the day so a good workout.

Last week I bailed to save a vulnerable rider on the End of Hibernation ride so it would be nice to complete next time out.

Certainly worth considering for next year, along with the Old Squit I can manage it in daytime this time of the year.




Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #96 on: 01 April, 2013, 12:46:28 am »
Bad luck, you must be getting fed up of visiting Ely station which was quite a way off both routes. Hopefully the Start of Summertime will be somewhat less eventful. Have you got that new bike yet?

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #97 on: 01 April, 2013, 10:52:55 am »
Crossing my fingers for this week, if any injury doubts will pass on the 3 Down on Saturday and aim for SOS on Sunday.

The new Genesis Equilibrium is arriving this week, World Traveller saddle is waiting for it in the shop. For the moment I have converted my EMX 1 to an Audax bike as a temporary measure and decommissioned the Scott . Hope to see you at Stevenage.

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #98 on: 23 June, 2013, 08:23:53 pm »
Having enjoyed this route back in March I used it as the basis for a Solstice double century yesterday, by the time we'd ridden from home to Huntingdon and extended the route to include Boston and Market Deeping we got just over 200 miles or 324 km for the day,  full write up here: http://rodewarrior.wordpress.com/

Martin

Re: Double Dutch 200 Easter Saturday
« Reply #99 on: 31 January, 2014, 10:07:01 pm »
yes it's on again, same day (although 3 weeks later 19th Apr due to the vaguries of the moon I think) same format assuming I can find a willing helper at the finish otherwise it's SAE's handed out at the start. Ferry crossing at Kings Lynn highly recommended  :)

make a date before you decide to ride silly00km to York; they have no bulbfields either