Up the uts - 14 March

[annie]

I can take you home after, unless you want to stay an extra night?

tempting.  I've decided that the judo competition is out (no way of getting there on time due to train work etc), if I don't feel dead I may stay for the extra km on Sunday, otoh a full Sunday to lounge about work in the garden is also good.
I'll let you know on the day unless you need to know beforehand.

No problem Arabella, just let me know on the day.  Do you want a lift down in the morning?

[Tiger]

Chain is oiled and legs are waxed.  Ready for the off. I see it is mostly downhill which is good.

[Martin]

Until the horrible truth dawned.

he'd done all 3 loops in an hour longer the time it took you to do one?

[arabella]

No problem Arabella, just let me know on the day.  Do you want a lift down in the morning?

no, but thanks.
I'm trying to get a few miles in my legs.  I shall bimble over in a leisurely way from 4pm onwards tomorrow. (feel free to join me!)

When I did this ride in 2007, I was just leaving the 'uts for the second loop when jwo arrived.  I wondered how, as a general GPS guru, he had managed to go so horribly off-route as to be about an hour behind me.
Until the horrible truth dawned.

Same thing happened to me that same year.  This was the time I tried and failed to draft you on your 'bent.  jwo had finished 3 loops in the time I had done 2.

[annie]

No problem Arabella, just let me know on the day.  Do you want a lift down in the morning?

no, but thanks.
I'm trying to get a few miles in my legs.  I shall bimble over in a leisurely way from 4pm onwards tomorrow. (feel free to join me!)

Hmmm. Am tempted.  Let me look at the logistics.

[Mr Larrington]

Until the horrible truth dawned.

he'd done all 3 loops in an hour longer the time it took you to do one?

Not beyond the bounds of possibility, but he was just finishing the second as I left on same, finding myself wondering why I hadn't taken the sneaky option:

• Visit all infos in the second and third loops
• Write on card answers to loop 2 infos only
• Return to 'uts; get card stamped
• Pretend to set off on third loop
• Hide in pub for a couple of hours
• Return to 'uts with answers for third loop infos filled in; smile sweetly

 

[annie]

Does anyone know the official start time of the 200?  One of the sheets of paper says 08.00 and the other 08.30!

[delthebike]

0830 on the AUK site.

[annie]

0830 on the AUK site.

Thank you

That means I get to rest a little longer.  I had thought about cycling up with Arabella tonight and back on Sunday but not up to that for another couple of weeks.  Could do the ride back but that would mean leaving my car at the Uts.  There isn't a train link in the early hours so am reluctantly driving over in the morning..... that is unless I can get Mr A and JC out of bed at the crack of dawn to drive me there.  Hmmmm.

[BornAgainCyclist]

I'm about to load carbo - a large scotch & dry ginger ana packet of crisps. If you see an old bald geezer in a GS Avanti jersey tomorrow- that'll be me, come up and say hello, its always sometimes occasionally good to put names to faces

[iddu]

That means I get to rest a little longer.

masseurs - FRONT AND CENTRE - ppd (petite pretty damsel ) wants mid-ride relief.
c'mon, c'mon; form an orderly queue, you bunch of reprobates...

Select field for the 200 - there's the fast group, and then the rest of us kooks & spooks. Seem to have been running at a pace where I rode solo for most of the day, but it was still enjoyable (even with the cooling breezes).  Lotsa flat bits (with no shelter) and the rest rolling (with no shelter  ) - so a good workout.

Saw a 'wowbaggus velopedius' in the wild, looking resplendent in spring plumage 


It's no use pretending you're 'Schnozzle' Durante - we know who's to blame...


"Riders little helper"


"Toast - am I bovverred?..."


So eager


One dressed for the Artic, One for the day, and One for Summer - that seems to cover all perms...


Inspired desire for bacon butties at the end


Sprung hast Sping


"I am enjoying this. I am enjoying this. I am enjoying this..."


Well, dem Flies can just bug right back out of my business!

Bathed, dusted, and a lot less fragrant; see y'all next time

[annie]

Just home after dropping off Arabella. 

131 windy and rather painful miles, more of that later. 

Great company, very pleased with myself.  No massage at any point so quite disappointed.

More tomorrow when I have bathed and tended to my injuries/wounds.  I am wondering if a trip to A & E might be in order but trying to explain why I need them to look down there might be too much for a Saturday evening, a bit of DIY will have to suffice for tonight.

Will say more later today.

[annie]

Well that was quite a day.

Lots of YACFers at the start, in fact more than I have seen in a long time. 

Best dressed prize goes to Iddu for his most interesting and colourful socks

The weather was interesting, there weren't any toads this year, well perhaps just the one sitting watching from the side lines.  The wind was not our best friend, thoughts of just doing the 100k entered my mind but were soon forgotten after yet another round of apple pie and custard.

Neither Arabella or I had tackled a 200 since November and in my case it felt like November 2 years ago.

We formed a nice little grupetto, myself, Arabella, Andrij and Dave.  We also rode briefly with Roger and Janet minus John.  Andrij left the bosom of the group in favour of riding with the fast guys and girls but we all know it was the sight of the pink bootees that lured him into a false sense of security.  We were to meet again at the lunch stop.

Sadly the cafe at Stisted only had fruit filled cake, I don't do dried fruit in any shape and had to settle for yet more toast, not the best food for a Pixie on a windy day.  Next time I will take my own, if there is a next time.

When the going got tough, Arabella and I were motivated by the sight of Dave's thighs, a girl has to have something to chase and this worked for us.  Sadly they weren't visible in the dark so that is something that we will have to work on for the future.

OK, how many times can a person visit Rickling Green, it isn't as if there is anything worse visiting there, best to just ride like fury and get out the other side.

That reminds me, I didn't get swallowed up by the Henham Triangle this year, just as well as ChrisS wasn't there to rescue me.

We did play silly games, 'eye spy' kept us amused for well over an hour and no we never did see Roger again until the finish so what was that last 'R' all about?  We also played some other games but perhaps they are best left to the iimagination.  A few bad words were had later on when both Dave and I began to suffer the effects of two many bumps and holes.

I had thought of calling a taxi, probably around the fifth time we went through Rickling Green.  The crew kept me going and offered words of wisdom, at least I think that's what they were.
 
Jelly beans were consumed and after that I became a very silly Pixie and was found to wave to anyone and everyone, complete with smile and a wink.

I am sure I have more to write but right now I need to eat my breakfast and consider my future in the saddle.  I don't think I will be sitting down for some time to come.

Thanks to the organisers and for the great company.

On the plus side, I can descend much faster and being unable to sit now means I have done the washing, had my second salt bath, made breakfast and unloaded the car. 

Sadly we said goodbye to Ben at the Stisted cafe due to a rather nasty looking down tube failure/crack.

I apologise to everyone for the sight of me wandering around in a sheet at the Arrivee.

Thanks to the kind gentleman at the lunch stop, who after 47km of his 100km decided to call it a day.  We were offered his bananas and didn't waste time in snapping them up, there was one for both Arabella and myself and a third for emergency 'between the cheeks' therapeutic application, instead it went to Andrij.

[mike]

Tsk.  My fault enirely, I should have put my yacf shirt on a flagpole outside the house and you could all have popped in for tea and cake...   We're just before the info control in Chrishall.

Sorry all - next time!

[Tiger]

Lovely day out. Smashing morning, lovely lanes, bread pudding at the cafe stop, soup at lunch - what could be better?
Just after setting off from the HQ after lunch passed some returnees in raceface - they must have caned it all the way.  Then a few k on - discovered I had left my new phone 'somewhere' so had to retyrn to HQ to find it under a table. The energy just seemed to drain away at that point so I decided to make my way home while still happy.
Chiltern Cotswolds nest week! wind. wind. and more wind.

[Rob]

Chatted to a few acquaintances at the start.   Met Andrij for the first time even though, it transpires, we have a exchanged mails several times professionally.

I had a fast run to Stisted in the company of Mick and Matt Cant and Lucy and Dick, down South for a few days.   We turned into the wind and I remembered that I had had a busy week and still wasn't very fit, so it was a steady plug into the wind back to the HQ.   Found Malcolm from the Suffolk DA stuck at the roadside with a seized rear wheel.   When we got it out the rear tube exploded.   The hub turned out to be fine and it looked like the rear tyre had popped off and seized against the chainstays.   Could have been a lot worse.

Back at the HQ, I had a quick sandwich and cake and got straight back into the wind which became more of a struggle.   I knew I would be on my own for a while so plugged into the i-Pod which helped the morale.

I got back to the HQ at 4.45 and had another sandwich and apple pie.   The first bit of the last loop was steady due to the wind and a few lumps, but I finally turned for a wind assisted 20k back to the finish.   It had just got dark on a fast B-road and I started to enjoy myself, singing along to the i-Pod.   I'm glad the road was deserted at that point.

Rolled into the finish in just under 11 hours which I'm quite happy with for the time of year.   Bit sore today, but nothing too bad.   First 300k of the year in just under 2 weeks.

[iddu]

Best dressed prize goes to Iddu for his most interesting and colourful socks

Yerzzz - rather retching, wern't they 

[damerell]

More tomorrow when I have bathed and tended to my injuries/wounds.  I am wondering if a trip to A & E might be in order but trying to explain why I need them to look down there might be too much for a Saturday evening, a bit of DIY will have to suffice for tonight.

I was half wondering if I had actually done you a favour by fixing your headlight at 160k and enabling you to collect an extra 50k worth of injury.

Quite a pleasant ride for me apart from the left hand - I stabbed myself in it two days ago with the end of a rivet and it was quite painful.

[annie]

More tomorrow when I have bathed and tended to my injuries/wounds.  I am wondering if a trip to A & E might be in order but trying to explain why I need them to look down there might be too much for a Saturday evening, a bit of DIY will have to suffice for tonight.

I was half wondering if I had actually done you a favour by fixing your headlight at 160k and enabling you to collect an extra 50k worth of injury.

Quite a pleasant ride for me apart from the left hand - I stabbed myself in it two days ago with the end of a rivet and it was quite painful.

You did, I am not one to give up easily.

The damage had already been done and I had every intention of getting to the end come hell or high water.

Hope your hand is a little less sore today.  Give it a clean as it looked a little bit nasty.

[LiamFitz]

I ended the final section of the 200 in much better spirits than expected.  A nice start with Werner, Peter T and some bloke on a recumbent who seemed blessed with an uncanny ability to miss the worst lumps!

But the post lunch grovel in the wind had me wondering if I'd bother with loops 2 and 3 - I think if i'd had to go back for my phone I know i'd have ended up in my car on the way home.  Not helped by seeing during the first visit to Rickiling Green a fast group finishing that stage (anyone remember Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure - or whatever it was called).

Got lost after Chrishill - went right despite clear instruction to go left - but had the fantastic bonus of 1o minutes at 35kph downhill with a tailwind.  This was in fact what made me very happy at the end.  Did last loop with Peter and after the last info there was still enough of a taol breeze to drive us almost all the way through the last 20K. 

After a day of slogging away 20K at speed wipes away all evil memories.

Great organisation - really nice crew working the kitchens and keeping everything cheery all the way through.

Liam

[drossall]

The first part of the 150k event was fine of course with wind assistance. I rode briefly with toontra between Bardfield and Shalford, dropping him easily on one downhill only to get dropped far more decisively as the road turned up. You may draw your own conclusions from that. I only spotted his YACF jersey from the back as he disappeared up the road.

I quite enjoyed the challenge of the windy section back from Stisted, and did bit-and-bit with one Southend rider back into Bardfield, which is where it all went wrong. I didn't handle the handful of miles of rolling countryside into Thaxted at all well, and punctured half way there. That was it really - with a little more time lost, and reduced to a grind, I decided that I wasn't going to make it round the final loop in time for our evening dinner with friends. Shame, as there were still riders coming in behind me as I loaded my bike into the car - and then toontra came down the hill having got an entire loop ahead of me

Good ride as ever though...

[toontra]

Good to meet you drosall.  Punctures can really upset your rhythm and are unwelcome at the best of times, let alone when on a stiff leg into the wind, so sympathies.  I also encountered Andrij outside the Speciality Tearooms, who was wearing the only other YACF jersey I've seen so far.  Wowbagger was omnipresent, patrolling the Essex lanes and making sure they are fit and safe for forum members.

I was theoretically with a group including three Ironman women (if that isn't tautologous) who were doing their first audax, which they enjoyed and promised to do more.  Very pleasant day all round, if a little windy.

[arabella]

I cycled over on the Friday - all roads lead to Thaxted, the only road leading away was the wrong one, a few extra km, never mind.  I stuffed my sarnies and rice pud and off the bed.  Thinking the ride started at 8:00 I got up in plenty of time, to discover I could have had 30 mins more sleep, oh well.

I failed to recognise iddu until I noticed tigger-onna-bike and connected that with the socks.  Having failed to change shoes before I left my paltry attempt at jolly socks stayed hidden in my cat boots.  My feet were comfy nonetheless.

The wind was 'orrible for the first 70km, I never spotted the bit where we should've had a tailwind.  Luckily each subsequent loop was shorter.  We spotted jwo (young-looking chap, still, but then I have 5 months on him age-wise, alas I feel far more than that older than he looks)  finishing his second loop as we finished our first, and then off to the station as we finished our second.  Alas Annie and I never got around to attaching ourselves troika fashion behind him with a handy bungy.

Eventually the wind dropped.  We ribbed those spendthrifts who'd not got such good value for money.  The most popular 1-spy item was 'r' for road as we never caught Roger who for some reason didn't spend ages at the controls.  There was only one Richard Phipps and we saw him but at the start and end of the ride. (Ditto most other people).

I wimped out of cycling back today and caught a life*t with Annie.
*strange typo

Nice day out in the compny of Annie, Dave, Andrij, Janet, Ben etc.

[Rob]

Did last loop with Peter and after the last info there was still enough of a taol breeze to drive us almost all the way through the last 20K. 

Ah.   It was me that rode with you on and off (actually mostly off) for the last loop.

Rob

[damerell]

Hope your hand is a little less sore today.  Give it a clean as it looked a little bit nasty.

It's fine, actually, I think yesterday it was just leaking a bit of claret which looked like dirt when dried.

Nice ride overall but the headwind on the first loop was a bit stiff. Why are headwind legs always on the dead flat exposed bits of the course, eh?