Ouch! Picking this ride as my first Audax with any AAA points at all was in retrospect a bit ambitious! But the fabulous countryside and the excellent facilities and welcome at Upton Magna village hall really won me over. I was tempted only briefly by the option of switching to the "real" ride but luckily common sense and funk prevented such folly and I watched the gang of Audax 'ard men set off at 5.00 a.m. whilst still munching my brekkie. My gang got away an hour later and as usual quickly split onto various groups. I gradually filtered gently backwards through the field until I was, I thought, at the back and settled down to plod my way up and down - mostly up it seemed - through Hay to Chepstow and on to Eardisley where having gradually accumulated time in hand, I spent rather too much of it waiting for lasagne and chips. This, coupled with a declining pace and some aggravation from the front mech, which had a fit of the temperamentals and starting throwing the chain inside the granny ring as soon as it got dark, caused me to arrive at Upton Magna with only an hour in hand.
My stop at the hall ate up all my spare time but rather surprisingly, I managed to resist the temptation to pack and got started again despite the fact that I now had to do the remaining 230k, including a lot more climbing, at the full 15kph. The run to the info however wasn't too bad, hills-wise and I was therefore able to "get a run-up" for the first climb to the Ponderosa. What a bl**dy awful road! Tackled earlier in the morning and without the strafing from the incessant motorcycle gangs it might have been enjoyable, but the traffic and the appalling road surface really got to me and I was in a foul mood by the time I hit the cafe. Luckily, I met up here with Alan, with whom I'd ridden the latter stages of the Severn Across, and we teamed up again to give mutual encouragement for the rest of the ride. Prestatyn was dealt with as promptly as possible, as the wind was now in our faces and we had only 30 minutes in hand. This was eaten up by the ascents back up to the Ponderosa which we gained bang on the closing time. The descent to Llangollen wasn't as much fun as it should have been as it showered just as we set off and only the strange farting sound made by an oncoming car as it drove over it reminded me that there was a cattle grid to cross where I would otherwise have been doing about 40 mph in the wet! Fortunately the final run home flattened out (a bit!) and we finally pottered into the finish in the company of two other riders who caught us with 4k to go (sorry, didn't get any names!) about 50 minutes ahead of the deadline.
Some welcome scoff and chat at the hall preceded a good night's kip and a steady drive home in the morning with that satisfied smug feeling you get when you feel you've done a good ride. Despite the usual promise to self made in the rain at God-only-knows o'clock in the middle of the night, struggling for the fourth time to replace the chain, that I'm never ever going to do one these rides again, no doubt I'll be back for more in 2011. Next time, perhaps I'll try the "proper" ride!
