Ride report here.
Braziers was the 2nd or 3rd audax I rode long before I joined AUK or had heard of PBP and LEL. At the time I was riding both Sportives and Audaxes before I settled on which I preferred. I was looking forward to riding it again after a gap of 5 years.
This time I'd decided to try my first ECE. At first I was having difficulty getting the minimum distances to work nicely with the route I wanted to ride. I almost went for the mandatory routing option now available but in the end found my ECE control points with a little finessing. This meant I wasn't tied down to particular roads if I changed my mind later. The challenge is all the bridleways round here which can quickly shrink your minimum distance, a km here a km there. You'd not want to venture off road, especially this time of year. I'm not particularly a morning person being more of a night owl. So I'd made my ECE uneven, with a 34km inbound and a 68km outbound leg from the event.
The week before I came back to visit my ECE GPS tracks to make sure they visited the submitted controls. I also got hold of the event GPS tracks. The forecast weather was for gales, then it was a breeze, then it was raining, then it was raining heavily, then it wasn't, then it was, then repeat. The only consistent element was the temperature which seemed to be settling between 11-13c, a warm day for February. The last forecast had the gales back but only for a brief period.
The day of the ride I got up shortly after 6:30am. Bacon and tomato butties and two large cups of green tea. By 7:10am I was ready to leave. As I walked up the steps and out the garden I almost didn't turned the GPS on as I didn't need it for the nav. Almost failed the ECE before I'd started pedalling. Luckily I had that Doh moment!
Given the temps and wind I set off with my 3/4 trousers, softshell windproof with my PBP gilet above it for the early light, summer gloves and shoes. After 10km at Cottered I was too hot. I stopped and unzipped the sleeves from my windproof and put them in my saddlebag. I was now heading east proper on a good A road, quiet at that time in the morning. I was rolling fast with a good tailwind. Still warm I rolled up my jersey sleeves, and they would stayed rolled up during the rest of the daylight hours. bare arms and bare legs in Feb indeed! I rolled through Ugley a place of many a comedy picture with friends, down the hill past other riders parked up under the M11 to the huts. It took me 1 hour 7 mins to ride the 34km to the start, some tailwind.
I met up with friends from Stevenage CTC plus Wilkyboy and Tom and Jibberjabber. As the others set off we waited for Nik Brunner who'd been delayed. Whilst I waited I drank tea and had a banana.
Nik made it, and off we went only 15 mins or so after the others. The initial route was the opposite of the way I'd arrived, out through Ugley and Rickling Green before turning north to our first info clue at Wicken Bonhunt. We were trying to remember what the answer would be as I'd passed close to the clue location on the way over.
We turned east and the gales helped us along to Great Sampford the second info clue location. Again we were able to answer the question without needing to stop. This is only possible if the answer is relatively easy to remember. My brain is like a sieve with the mesh taken out.
We then turned south and west on the first loop return to the Uts. The gales made themselves known and I dropped off Tom's pace a little. I then rode side by side with Nik Brunner. As we left Thaxted Nik missed the turn left off the B road but a quick shout and no time lost. I could see from my GPS mapping that the B road would save a couple of km, but we were here to do the distance and so shortcuts just wouldn't do. Nik gained on the flat and I gained on the uphills reflecting our relative strengths. It was relaxed riding together.
Back at the hut for minestrone soup, a ham roll, some tea plus topped up my water bottles. After a brief interlude spent chatting and eating it was time to head out for the second loop. Tom, Nik Brunner and I set off together. The second loop headed south to Elsenham where we tagged on the back of other riders waiting at the level crossing.
After the crossing and before the t junction and turn left a car cut across me blocking me from the back of the large group. I could not get past to the junction and so had to wait. This exposed the cruelty of the brutal wind as I was now riding alone. I could see the others perhaps 400-800m ahead, but it was too high an energy cost to close the gap.
In a way I was a little relieved. I was feeling tired, and could now settle to my own pace. As it turned out, and I quickly began to notice, it was because I was dehydrated. I was a little annoyed with myself. It nearly always happens in winter when it doesn't feel like I'm sweating too much, but I am. Later in the year I'm much more on top of this, and rarely get dehydrated. I slowed and spent the second loop drinking down as much as possible. Fortunately the loop weaved and twisted so you were rarely in a headwind for long. I briefly saw Tom and Nik heading the opposite way at High Easter as I head towards the info clue.
Back at the hut, event finished Tom, Nik, Wilkyboy and other were enjoying the food and chat. Kieron validated my card whilst I grabbed a plateful of calories and a tea with more than the government recommended amount of sugar. Soon enough Tom and Nik left, with Nik keen to get going on his return ECE leg. I went for more tea and sugar. Eventually Wilkyboy prompted me to get going saying "come on we've been here over an hour now". I wasn't in a rush knowing the wind was out there. As long as I'm not pushing time limits I'm more than comfortable taking a nice break.
Eventually we said our goodbyes. I said I might see Wilkyboy going the opposite way, after we'd discovered we were both approaching Chishill via different routes. My ECE first went north then east via lanes to Saffron Walden, then followed a B road over to Littlebury. Here I picked up a lane which climbed steadily, rising 70 metres in a kilometre into the gales. I slowed to a crawl up that hill. Looking at the map now I wonder why I went that way because there was a much flatter more eastern route to get me to Duxford. However, I did get to have thousands of Starling performing their ballet right above my head near Howe Wood. A splendid 15 mins I stopped and watched, and would have missed via any other route.
At Duxford the battle began. I turned directly south west and rode uphill straight into the gales. There was no hiding and it was brutal to say the least. I slowed to crawl with very little shelter. Shortly after Chrishall Grange I spied Wilkyboy coming the other way. Downhill and powered by the gales that were sapping my energy. We stopped and took photos of each other. He then sped off and round the corner out of sight, whilst I ground on.
Great Chishill there's a couple of pubs (Wilkyboy has picked up on the fact I seem to know all the in range village pubs) I took some respite and took on more calories. Back out and past the Windmill to Barley. The Windmill had taken some damage and a few panels were missing, recent storms? At this point I was wondering why I hadn't routed through Shaftenhoe End as it saves a bit of distance but more importantly you don't lose so much height. I reasoned I must have placed a ECE control in Barley and thought no more of it.
Up to Barkway and west to Reed. This section runs along a high ridge that overlooks the flats of Cambridgeshire. At a height of 158m it's higher than anywhere in Essex and Cambridgeshire. There are a couple of transmitters up there. Boy was it catching the wind being very exposed. I got to a turn onto a very minor road through Reed, but my GPS indicated straight on. Straight on meant staying out on the exposed lane rather than the sheltered one through Reed. I stayed out in the wind thinking I had another control point.
Shortly after it was time to put my lights on and plough on into the wind along the ridge. Finally off the ridge I gained some shelter in he lane to Sandon. Sandon I took a break on a bench by a duck pond in the dark. Then I continued on and found I'd routed through Redhill, again thinking I must have a control point there.
The battle lasted another hour before I rolled home about 07:30pm. A good 12 hours 20 mins since I'd left. I'd taken a battering from the wind on the final leg home. shower, pizza and beer. I only had one beer I was so tired, preferring instead to drink tea. Again I'd got dehydrated fighting the wind.
As to the routing choices I questioned on the way home. I was right, I had no ECE controls there. I must have had them there originally when trying tog et get Google to meet the minimum distance. Lesson learnt, double check the final controls you submit for an ECE, and don't make it harder than it needs to be when fighting gales.
A hard but good day out. It also highlighted I'm less fit than my Easter arrow companions right now, probably as this is my first 200 after PBP in the summer. I hope my planned rides over the next month are enough to bump up the fitness to where it needs to be. summer fitness is a distant memory right now.