I finished this ride for the fifth time in 2011 so there must be something that keeps me coming back.
The Kennett Valley Run is a popular Audax held towards the end of February each year, starting from Grazeley, not far from Reading. Its billed as an “early season test of fitness”. It’s close to home, so I can ride to the start.
The first stage winds its way through quiet sheltered Berkshire Lanes. There are no feature hills so groups tend to stick together all the way to the coffee stop in the Tutti Pole café in Hungerford. Last year I ripped a tyre in a pothole and had to wait for the bike shop to open. This year I was heading a strong group and made the briefest of stops in order to stay with them.
The second stage goes through the open country to the north of Salisbury Plain. Once again the hills are gentle, but the roads are much more exposed. I’d had the good fortune to be on gardening leave for a couple of months in the autumn. There wasn’t much gardening to be done so I spent more time in the gym and on the bike and my early season fitness was good. So, I put my head down and towed the group most of the way to Bratton for a bumper helping of baked beans on toast and cake. You can get to know riders’ styles on an event like this; there was a guy in a T-mobile shirt (who turns out to be a doctor) who did short intense bursts on the front, there was a big guy who was keen to his turn but struggled in the strong headwind, a guy in a dark strip who rode economically who you could tell would eventually drop everyone. I used these observations to keep the group together.
The third stage retraces the second stage. This year there was a stonking tail wind, and we had the slightly guilty pleasure of watching the slower rides labour into the wind. These are the true heroes of Audax, getting round at a steady pace, finishing in the dark, somehow managing to scrape in the time limit. (The first year I did this ride the wind was from the east, a bitterly cold headwind. I learnt from that year, and now have a habit of wearing four layers when the temperature drops below zero – base layer, long sleeved jersey, gilet, and rain jacket, thick socks underneath overshoes, and a three-layer glove system). This year it was mild and all I had was a base layer and long-sleeved jersey. My esrtwhile companions carried on when I stopped in Pewsey to top up my water, though I eventually overhauled all of them except the guy in the dark strip.
The last section takes an alternative route back from Hungerford, with some rough, mudstrewn, potholed lanes through Winding Wood, and then the Boxford Alps, a sequence of three short steep hills that would not worry fresh legs but fray the muscles of tired ones. No matter how well I am going this section always sorts me out. However, the long grind to Chieveley was a pleasure; I was blown up it. After these there were more rolling hills and one steep one by Bradfield School, but the finish was not far away. The tailwind kept me going quite swiftly, helping me to sustain momentum. I picked up the speed over the last five miles from Theale back to Grazeley, with a broad smile on my face.
The organiser looked at my time and said “It’s not a race; you’re supposed to enjoy it”
How could I tell him how much I had!
