Author Topic: Wye Wednesday  (Read 13397 times)

mmmmartin

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Wye Wednesday
« on: 16 February, 2011, 03:01:02 pm »
Does anyone have a GPX for the route?
I am assuming I'll be seeing The Usual Suspects at the start (but probably not after that..........)
Besides, it wouldn't be audacious if success were guaranteed.

Martin

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #1 on: 16 February, 2011, 08:19:04 pm »
no but working on it right now; will post when I've sent it to Tom and he can put it up on the calendar page

usual disclaimers  ;)

mmmmartin

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Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #2 on: 16 February, 2011, 08:58:26 pm »
Tom has sent me one he found on bikely, i have put it into memory map and looked at it - it seems to follow the route 100 per cent apart from a slight wiggle near biddenden for 100 yards. I have put it on to paper and will use maps, i haven't yet got round to playing with the GPS
I can send it to you if you wish..........
Besides, it wouldn't be audacious if success were guaranteed.

Martin

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #3 on: 16 February, 2011, 09:28:26 pm »
converted it on Mapsource; bit over the Medway is cobblers as it tries to stay on road by going via the A2 but ok if you ignore it

the AUK app makes it

Distance = 211km
Climbing = 1,552m

Alexander Turner

  • Enough is plenty. Good enough will do.
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #4 on: 03 February, 2015, 12:18:36 pm »
Looking forward to this mid week ride on the 18th February. I heard it's on only once every four years. This is just my third year randonneuring so the first chance I've had to have a go. Starting about 8 miles or so from my home in Medway. Nice and local. At least the start and finish is anyway! 

Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #5 on: 03 February, 2015, 01:09:41 pm »
I might be missing something here but the http://ridewithgps.com/routes/6917527 is a copy of the one provided by the org.?
Les
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

Alexander Turner

  • Enough is plenty. Good enough will do.
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #6 on: 03 February, 2015, 08:09:22 pm »
@Les - the posts previous to mine date back to 2011.  The comments about the gpx files are now obsolete given what you have noted here and no doubt have received.   

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #7 on: 03 February, 2015, 10:46:31 pm »
I made this one myself based on the routesheet Tom sent out recently - usual caveats apply:
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/6834160
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #8 on: 04 February, 2015, 08:36:48 pm »
Hope the weather is a bit warmer! I suspect my main adventure may be getting to and from the start, it's only close, but the other side of the river, so ferry there and almost certainly the tunnel back.

Are there any areas / problems to watch for on the route?

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #9 on: 05 February, 2015, 01:21:24 pm »
Are there any areas / problems to watch for on the route?

Try to avoid dying of boredom on the Romney Marsh section.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #10 on: 05 February, 2015, 03:13:39 pm »
I just tried riding to the start and back to test the route, I didn't make it all the way as when I got about 3 miles from the Gravesend Cyclopark it started to snow and I decided I'd tested the route enough :)

Piece of info I wasn't aware of regarding the Dartford crossing, the cars that shuttle bikes through the crossing don't run between 8:45am and 10:30am and also 8:45pm and 10:30pm, so the drivers can have breaks. Anyone riding from my side of the river might want to bear that in mind, depending on your finishing time, eating in Gravesend could save you a lot of sitting about at the crossing.

On an amusing note, as the car to carry me over the bridge arrived, it backed up to get into position and managed to destroy it's bike rack by crashing it into a railing! For the next few days expect to have to put your bike in the back of a van during the crossing  ;D

Try to avoid dying of boredom on the Romney Marsh section.

Fens, Marshes, Cold, Rain and Wind - the things that we all got into Audax for in the first place!  ::-)

Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #11 on: 05 February, 2015, 10:03:11 pm »
Curses to Michael O' Leary and his winter time table for not flying in on a Tuesday and making me miss this.  >:(

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #12 on: 11 February, 2015, 01:44:48 pm »
With 80 signed up, even allowing for the usual number of no shows, it should be a fun day. I just hope the ferry doesn't let me down, it's been a long time since I tried to use it that early in the morning. Fingers crossed on the weather  :)

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #13 on: 16 February, 2015, 03:11:25 pm »
Far as I can see, it ought to be possible to travel down from London to Gravesend on Wed from Stratford International (15 min journey) I've scanned the South Eastern site and their restrictions are confined to "inbound" trains.
However, as I'd be up sh1t creek if they decide otherwise, does anyone have any experience of South Eastern out of Stratford ???
Alistair (pieeater) Dulwich Paragon

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #14 on: 16 February, 2015, 03:31:04 pm »
With the caveat that I've never actually tried to take my bike on an outbound train from St Pancras at that time of morning, I think you'll be fine. However, if you don't want to take a chance, you can get the train from Charing Cross instead - it'll take a bit longer, so you'll have to set off that bit earlier, but they're much less likely to be arsey at the ticket barrier when you turn up with a bike.

And even if they don't let you through, it's only 25 miles or so to Gravesend. ;)

I'm thinking of getting the train to Gravesend myself but I'm coming from the opposite direction.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Bernster

  • ACME (Herts Branch)
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #15 on: 16 February, 2015, 05:49:03 pm »
I'm planning to cycle the 30 or so miles from North London to Gravesend, which sounds like a great plan now, but I'm sure I'll regret it both when the alarm goes off at 4am, and during the last 50k or so of the 200... I've always got the option of a train back should I need it (I probably will).

bikey-mikey

  • AUK 6372
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Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #16 on: 17 February, 2015, 07:46:35 pm »
I'm esconced in the Premier Inn up the road from the cycle park...

Weather looks good enough for sunglasses

 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
I’ve decided I’m not old. I’m 25 .....plus shipping and handling.

Cycling heatmap
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Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #17 on: 17 February, 2015, 09:14:16 pm »
I'm just hoping to have fewer punctures than on the Sam Wellers ride.

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #18 on: 18 February, 2015, 06:05:24 am »
Looks like the (what I think is) SouthEastern service due in at 07.06 has been cancelled. I'm on the one that gets in half an hour earlier.
One Man and LEJOG : End-to-End on Two Wheels in Two Weeks (Buy the book; or Kindle it)

cygnet

  • I'm part of the association
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #19 on: 18 February, 2015, 08:10:40 pm »
As I was riding in to work (to cover for my boss being ill) this morning I thought: This looks like a lovely day to be out -  instead of being a DNS. Was it?
I Said, I've Got A Big Stick

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #20 on: 18 February, 2015, 08:23:17 pm »
Well, that was fun. Got off to a slightly shaky start but ended up having a fab day out.

The problems started when I tried to load up the course on my Garmin - for some reason it just wouldn't load. I suspect the file was too large (I'd made a track in ridewithgps.com and it came out as 2.5mb for some reason but I went with it anyway. Foolish.)

Luckily jsabine was on hand to point out that they had spare printed routesheets at the check-in desk. Phew!

So, I finally got going about 20 minutes late. Fortunately I wasn't alone, I tagged along with another group for a while, but as soon as we got to the first hill... disaster struck.

Well, perhaps disaster is overstating it but the facts are these: yesterday I fitted a new chain and cassette. It turns out I should have fitted a new small chainring too. The new chain just did not want to play with the rather worn out specimen that hadn't been changed since I bought the bike seven years ago. Ok, so I'm doing the whole ride sur la plaque. Lucky there were no big hills on the route.

However, the chain problems meant I was dropped by the group and soon after I compounded my misery by going off piste - the road veered left, I went straight on. It was about two downhill miles later that I twigged something was up.

Anyway, I got back on route eventually and then promptly missed another turning - not my fault this time. "$ Ightham" was only visible if you happened to look back over your shoulder after passing the turning.

The upshot was that by the time I got to the cafe at the first control in Headcorn, I was 8km over distance and at the back of a long queue for beans on toast...

Next stage went much better - mostly flat and with a welcome tailwind on the stretch across Rodney Marsh. However, despite passing at least 15 people on that leg, there was still a massive queue at the RHDR cafe, which clearly wasn't expecting a blitz of cyclists on a chilly Wednesday in February. After 10 minutes in the queue and no closer to being served, I sodded that for a game of soldiers and went to the Sainsburys round the corner (local knowledge) for a Picnic, two bananas and two chicken fajita pasties, washed down with a litre of Ribena.

Next leg was a bit lumpier and headwindy in places but again I made reasonable progress, making it as far as the Bluebell Hill services (188km) before needing to put my lights on. By that point, though, I was without navigational aids, having lost my routesheet on a descent and not inclined to go back and rescue it. Luckily I was able to tag along with someone who seemed to know where he was going. After a quick glug of something that superficially resembled coffee, I pressed on for the last 20km, finishing in the company of a couple of sterling fellows (though I suspect one of them may have been a lady cyclist) of the Dulwich Paragon. Slightly surprised to discover that only a few riders had finished before us - suspect a number of riders were still waiting to be served in Hythe.

Only slight downer on an otherwise fab day out was the poor chap I encountered in Hadlow, hobbling along and feeling the effects of a fall - his companion had come off on ice and taken him down with him, though the companion was apparently unscathed. Hope he's ok.

I don't think the temperature ever got into double figures for long but he combination of wind proof jersey plus gilet was adequate to keep the chills out. And the sun stayed out pretty much all day. Which was nice.

Also the route was much more pleasant than I'd anticipated. I've done a few of Tom's rides before though, so I shouldn't be surprised. There were a few less than lovely main road sections but it was mostly very enjoyable rolling lanes. 

Finished with 218km on the clock so I'm pretty pleased to have taken not much over 10 hours to complete the ride.

"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

LMT

Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #21 on: 18 February, 2015, 10:42:19 pm »
That was a nice day out and a very enjoyable ride. I ECE'd the ride so a little over 315k's. Many thanks for the organisation.

bikey-mikey

  • AUK 6372
  • Yes, I am completely mad ! a.k.a. 333
Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #22 on: 19 February, 2015, 12:06:26 am »
Yeh, great fun, though I had to walk for about 20 minutes on an early icy stretch - once I start walking, it kinda takes over....

I stepped on one bit and my foot went through into a four inch puddle - maybe a pothole hidden underneath??

A great route with lots of new sights for me.. not too hilly, not too flat - just Cinderella  ;D

Only extremely slight negative was that the controls were just too busy for that many cyclists (a nice problem to have, thinking that lots of audaxers is indeed a good thing)  It would have been nice to know whether we could have just gone 'round the corner' and got receipts, but not knowing that I braved the queues...

My first Kent audax - I shall go again   :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I’ve decided I’m not old. I’m 25 .....plus shipping and handling.

Cycling heatmap
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Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #23 on: 19 February, 2015, 09:59:48 am »
An excellent ride.  Very sunny day.  But cold air meant that the riding temperature was way below what you might have expected from the sunshine.  The first 20k of the ride were quite interesting due to the number of icy patches.  At one stage, where the ice covered a whole section of downhill, it was quite entertaining watching riders gingerly waddle down the hill.

No revisitations of the tyre chomper or p* fairy for me so despite being loaded up with enough inner tubes and patches to remobilise an army I had an uneventful ride.

Riding across Romney Marshes in the sunshine with a tailwind was a very pleasant experience.

For the controls it would have been helpful to have known that receipts from other shops would have been acceptable which would have avoided the queues.  For do's to both cafes as once you had ordered food was delivered very quickly.

For me the part that could do with significant rethinking was the section from where we crossed over the A2/M2 using a ridable footbridge to the Service station.  I did this section in the dark and found that narrow, potholed roads with debris up the middle and lots of oncoming vehicles was not conducive to feeling like I was on a safe ride.

All in all though it was a jolly good ride so thanks to the organisers for the organisation.


Re: Wye Wednesday
« Reply #24 on: 19 February, 2015, 10:04:34 am »
All things considered (in that I was laid-up with flu-ey symptoms the day before) it was a cracking day out. Promised myself that, if the bones stopped aching, then I'd go and "see what happened" (glad I did).
Early icy tip-toeing aside, the Sun made a prolonged appearance, and was very welcome too.
Delved deeper into Kent than before and what delightful lanes they were.
Also met Andy (a young man embarking on a "Flanders to Istanbul" ride later this year and on his first training ride (impressed !) Good luck on that ! Thanks Tom (and crew) for an excellent way of "not going to work" !!
Alistair (pieeater) Dulwich Paragon