Well. How time erodes pain and distorts memory.
It's only half way round that you suddenly remember what you thought the first time you did it - this ride is a brute, but a brute with plenty of beauty in it.
Not having done anythng since a 100k in January [no commutes, nothing] I knew this was going to
be tough. In fact I had serious doubts whether it was a good idea at all. But the lure was too great to yield to those kind of reservations. My only aim was to get round in the time, and in so doing hopefully beat my time of last year of 2.40am, 20 mins inside the cutoff time
Many made the comment that hauling a recumbent round this one is probably not the best way to help yourself in that respect, but, well....I just can't help it.
Nice to put more faces to names, and this time for me was the turn of Chris N. He introduced himself, and I got the distinct feeling straight away that I probably wouldn't be seeing a great deal of him throughout the day
For the most part we had cold, clear, sunny beautiful weather. After dusk, things changed a bit. For the first 200km, up to Rhayader I was going well, or as well as could be expected. Bizarrely I kept dumping in to Maladict & Co at the controls, and expecting to be passed at any moment, but they never showed up until much later. [See, contrary to popular wisdom recumbents reign supreme in the mountains:-). Last year I got to Tregarron at 5 pm, with not a sole in sight, well and truly holding up the rear end, but this year I was there at 4pm and not alone! And I arrived at Rhayader at 7.pm, over an hour fro last year, so things were looking good. Wow, I could be on to knock maybe 1 1/2 hrs off last years time.
But then the wheels came off somewhat, or rather the chain did - snapping three times in the last 100km! shortened chains start to get prety tight when they've been repaired them 3 times. In the end it was almost a fixed-wheel recumbent [sounds more like an old Saddam Hussain torture]. On setting out to repair it first time at about 70km from base I found my head torch batteries where dying. I couldn't see a damn thing. Broken chain, no light, pitch blackness and then the sleet started. Nice. However I was rescued, temporarily by a couple walking through the lanes to a nearby pub after being at a wedding all day. Or so I thought. They crouched down beside me using the night light from their mobile phones to give me assistance, but their alcoholic in take was preventing them keeping still. First you see it, then you don't. So I still couldn't see a bloody thing! Alas, enter sober veteran campaigner John Spooner and his riding mate Andy Utley to the rescue. Experienced and prepared as ever, John had a spare head torch which he leant me. Good old boy. They stayed around for 10 mins or so to see my fix the chain, only to see I'd mended it in reverse! roll eyes What a dumbo. I thought I'd have the bright idea of pedalling backwards, but wise man Utley assured me, 'Nah, you'll never do that'. No, sure enough, I was going nowhere like that.
I gave myself a hard time after they'd left for holding them up a while. One is always grateful for help, but really help like that should only be necessary when you can do nothing for yourself and not because of bad preparation. A fully charged head torch = essential night time riding. What with forgetting my leggings and having to do the whole thing in a pair of Primark jogging bottoms I think in the future I'm going to have an 'Audax check list' to make sure everything's on board before I leave for the event - including spare batteries for a head torch! I'd be lax preparing for this and paid the price.
Another break after the last control and again some 15k down the road saw me lose all my precious time I'd worked so hard to bank. Now my bottle dynamo gave up, so had zero front lights, and it was raining and sleeting and I couldn't see a thing. What's he using a old clapped out bottle dynamo for? Yes, I know. The rim on my SON wheel has split [again!], so I hadn't had the time to lace a new rim. Actually, truth is, I had had the time but couldn't be bothered. No sympathy there then. At this point decent bloke Tonyh turned up and he guided me back for the last 30k or so. At this point I was really, really shot to bits. And I started to feel the bonk encroaching.
One odd and amusing moment happened in Tenbury Wells, 30km from base. I'd stopped to mess with the chain line [yet again], when I caught sight of this chap who came strolling over, looking rather Santaesque with his white beard and hair sticking out from under his bobble hat.
"That's a strange looking bike"
"It's called a recumbent bike" I said, being civil but really wanting to get going.
"And I can tell ya exactly where it's made", as he points knowingly
"Oh yeah"
"Yeah, that is a Pashley bike"
"It is?"
"Yeah, that's a Pashley bike. And you know how I know that? [He pauses] Because I used to work there", as he nods his head, again knowingly
"Right"
"We used to make all the Post Office bikes, and I recognised it immediately"
Oh boy, this has only gone on for 10secs, and I can't take much more already.
"Ok mate, must get going. See ya"
As I engaged gear, pulled away I could still here him telling me, "Yeah, recognised it straight away, It's a Pashley".
I just had to leave that place. I just wasn't in this part of the world to discuss how one might easily mistake
this for
this.
Anyway...
There are some who can conquer this ride with aplomb. How do these people get back at 19.30pm? [those riders were an hour last this year. Still unbelievable to me though] but I think for many this ride is a difficult ride to get the psychological upper hand, and I think just getting round is a good achievement. It's a toughie. Such a feat can easily get lost sometimes. The Elenith has a quality about it that tempts you back. Once is enough for some rides, but this is different somehow.
Can I get round a bit quicker? Can I beat my last time? Can I get round at all? Well, this year I was up by 1 1/2, well on course to crush last year's attempt of 2.40am, but alas, after all that, I ended up rolling in at 2.50am
In the end I was just grateful to just
get home. Sociable gathering at the end. Greenback still looked as fresh as when he started. And Blade, you must have been there too I guess, I didn't get the chance. Maybe next time.
Still, many thanks to Dave Pountney and the team. It's a great ride.