Well, a year hasn't made the Shaftsbury Springtime 200 any easier - it's still hillier than you expect, the routesheet is still a little idiosyncratic, and it is still windy (though from the opposite direction this year).
So it only seemed sensible to ride it as an early season ECE 300
. Also, living a rather convenient 104km from The Uts, it would be rude not to.
The ride down was uneventful. There was light rain on and off, but at 5c and something of a tailwind, this felt almost pleasant after weeks and weeks of frost and snow.
I'm not sure why, but Newmarket seems to have a high concentration of night clubs and pubs. Perhaps the stable boys from the various studs just drink a lot. Whenever I've controlled at Early O'Clock there, the council are out in force, swilling down the decks and clearing up takeaway litter, and yesterday was no exception.
South of Newmarket, you leave the billiard table of fenland behind, and climb onto the Newmarket Downs on the B1061/B1052. I like these roads - and since large sections have recently been resurfaced, it's a nice ride south through Balsham, Linton and The Waldens. A final ATM slip at Saffron Walden to prove I hadn't just pounded down the A11 (which would make this section under-distance) and I was soon at the Shaftsbury hut, drinking tea.
Like last year, the ride out to Coggeshall was made all the more entertaining by the puzzling routesheet. Unlike last year, after we turned NE at the info, we were riding into a cold north east wind. The exposed lane across the "Coggeshall desert" was a real grind; I was down on the drops and pegged back to 17/18km/hr.
I usually bounce the control here, but as this was half way for me, and breakfast was a dim and distant memory, I stocked up on grub. I love the smell of beans in the morning. It's the smell of victory.
Tailwind-tastic, the next section, and we were back at HQ before you could say Randonneur.
The next section was also tailwind assisted, but the landscape is decidedly choppy, and as with last year, I just couldn't get a rhythm going. Got it a bit wrong after the info and probably added a couple of km, but soon I was tucking into a plate of chips at the cafe in Baldock.
I knew this next section was going to hurt, and I was dreading it. We would be straight into the wind, on exposed rolling terrain, and I was now well into my third 100 of the day.
And so it was. I was again pegged back to <20km/hr into the block headwind. The climb at Therfield was not as bad as I was fearing, and some tacking helped to keep my heart from exploding from my chest like some John Hurt flashback.
Two things happened on the last section. It got dark, and it got cold. Really cold. I wasn't the only one to mention it at the finish - we were all stumbling into the Arrivee with numb feet and hands.
Despite the wind and latterly the cold, it was a great day out on the bike - largely sunny and dry (after the early overnight rain).
