Dauntsey Dawdle 400 - 19th May

[Tillapaw]

Downton Abbey fans may be able to spot Highclere Castle as they head along the ridge from Ashmansworth to East Woodhay. 

Does the route still go through Bampton??

There are loads of bus shelters between Cirencester and Lechlade but there are only 3 bus shelters between Oxford and Stadhampton and nothing after than until Henley. The garage in Henley has seating for 10 inside and has hot drinks.

I don't know the exact road you're sending riders on to Henley [although I can guess!], but as PhilW said upthread, it's quite a good area for bivvying, even sans bus shelters; lots of shelter in the woods, and you can probably find some partial cover from a building somewhere.

The route does still go through Bampton.  I've not seen the show so if there's some connection between Bampton and Downton Abbey, you'll have to explain that one a bit more for me.  We stay on the B480 from Oxford to just before Henley. It was 4 degrees coming down the hill into Henley on Saturday night so if anyone is going to bivy out in the open hopefully they'll take enough kit to stay warm.  I'd hate to lug that kit up the hills on the 1st half though which is why I was looking for shelter that was already in place and had a bench to keep the prospective tenants off the ground.

[halhorner]

Does anyone know what the parking is like near the start? Likely to find on road parking at about 5.30? Will be driving over from Oxford leaving Headington about 4am if anyone wants a lift.

[mattc]

The route does still go through Bampton.  I've not seen the show so if there's some connection between Bampton and Downton Abbey, you'll have to explain that one a bit more for me.  We stay on the B480 from Oxford to just before Henley. It was 4 degrees coming down the hill into Henley on Saturday night so if anyone is going to bivy out in the open hopefully they'll take enough kit to stay warm.  I'd hate to lug that kit up the hills on the 1st half though which is why I was looking for shelter that was already in place and had a bench to keep the prospective tenants off the ground.

Yes, you're right about shelter - I was just thinking that the forecast for this weekend is significantly closer to May average than LWL/BC had!

Bampton is where they film most of Downton, I believe. Not in the centre though - I've been thru a 100 times without seeing any activity. But I'm sure the hardcore fans could make a small diversion.

[Tillapaw]

There should be plenty of parking at that time of the morning, most of the houses have driveways so the street is usually empty when we turn up at 5am.

[halhorner]

There should be plenty of parking at that time of the morning, most of the houses have driveways so the street is usually empty when we turn up at 5am.

Thank you 

[Phil W]

<whisper> The forecast looks okay </whisper>

[halhorner]

<whisper> The forecast looks okay </whisper>

http://www.weatherbagel.com/f/b390182e-7a8f-453d-a4d8-f8550f4bd9e7

[TigaSefi]

Epic ride weather says same. Just a southerly wind the whole way round...echelon time..

[Phil W]

More importantly the forecast winds look benign. After strong winds on my last two Audax outings I am looking forward to something a bit more amenable. As for forecast temps I'm assuming it will be somewhat colder (than forecast) at night and will be packing suitable warm stuff.

[Tillapaw]

That's good about the winds, there aren't any hedges on the section between Pewsey and Calne, we had a headwind on last year's route check and that was no fun.

[marcusjb]

Great day out.

Lovely route - some of it known to me (but some of that only the other way around; for example the climb before Easebourne - I'd always thought it looked like a tough climb the other way around (to how I have done it previously) - I was definitely right! 17% and pretty relentless).

Those lanes after the first control though?!?  There must have been sand an inch or more deep in parts of those - pretty sketchy.

Pretty good weather all day - not too warm, not too much wind - did ride on some wet roads, but I did not get a drop of rain (suspect some ahead may have done).  Night was colder than expected - but the mist and the light of the full moon was pretty cool!

Really great event and massive thanks to Sarah and team.

Oh - and it was funny seeing another event going the other way at 2am or whatever it was - I believe the Bristol-London-Bristol event. I did think it very odd when I saw my third or fourth group of riders coming towards me as I couldn't think why there would be so many riders out in the middle of the night as that's something that only daft audaxers would do.

Looking forward to the 600!

[James O]

Oh - and it was funny seeing another event going the other way at 2am or whatever it was - I believe the Bristol-London-Bristol event. I did think it very odd when I saw my third or fourth group of riders coming towards me as I couldn't think why there would be so many riders out in the middle of the night as that's something that only daft audaxers would do.

Made us chuckle going the other direction, bloody weirdos out at 2 am.  Fantastic moon though, even if the misty fog was freezing.

[Phil W]

They were still going by at 3:30am. Whether it was by design or accident what a brilliant twist.

Echo Marcus' words well organised and excecuted by Sarah and the gang.  Beer the night before was a nice touch. What a brilliant route;though my riding partner through the night, Zumzum , was wishing for some more hills on the middle bit to get warm on. We'd seen each other from Coombe Gibbet onwards and when he came into the same Chinese as me in Cirencester it seemed a no brainer to do the night section together.

Loved the optional off road bit to Coombe Gibbet, as did the couple (who followed me) on the event. Well she did, I am not so sure her partner did. She asked if I was a mountain biker, yes, I thought so she said. Gave Neil a surprise when he saw me approaching the info from an alternate direction.

[toontra]

That wasn't just any full moon - that was a blue moon!  No wonder it looked fantastic, first peeking out through the clouds and finally revealed in full, shining through the mist and illuminating the roads like floodlight.

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

There were also some really beautiful cloud formations pre-sunset, including one spectacular vertical cone shape that looked like a static tornado.  I was having problems charging the mobile so didn't stop to take any pictures, sadly.

We were lucky with the weather.  There were sections both out and back that could have been pretty taxing with a significant wind.  It did get cold but not as bad as recent weekend overnight temperatures.

I agree with what others have said about the route.  Very pretty and plenty of variety, and I personally liked the flat return section (apart from the final hill looming out of the darkness).  Very welcome with 250k already in the legs.

Many thanks to Sarah & team.  It's great to have an SR series on the doorstep for us Londoners. 

[Neil C]

Many thanks to Sarah and the Kingston Wheelers team for a memorable day (and night) out. It's great to have an SR series on the doorstep for us Raynes Park people!

I agree with Marcus about the hills, the sand, the weather and the surreal sight of all the bikes coming the other way at 2.30am. Strava flyby shows I passed someone I follow just as we crossed the M4 bridge. They were on The Paddington Express starting from Bristol at 3pm so I am surprised they were so closely grouped 12 hours into the ride.

I was most impressed with Phil's off road route at Coombe Gibbet - why go down the hill and up another steep one when you can just go straight across on the level?  If only that manoeuver could be used on Bexley Hill and Howe Hill.

600 here we come!

[willpom gwraudax]

They were still going by at 3:30am. Whether it was by design or accident what a brilliant twist.

Once in a Blue Moon perhaps?