"Up the Uts" 100/200 from Henham on 16/03/2013

[αdαmsκι]

I don't suppose your plotted a .gps for the 100 have you adamski?

Loop 1

Loop 2

[cygnet]

Another thanks to αdαmsκι for these. The wind in the second half dried out nearly all of me that got wet from the first half except for my feet. It didn't do much for the face paintmud I collected though - must fit longer mud flaps. Three of us got round just not quick enough to catch the next train this time, but fortunately there was apple pie to fill the next 55 minutes.

Cheers. However, the 200 km ride seems to only use one of those loops. This is my interpretation of the routesheet.

• Loop 1
• Loop 2
• Loop 3

[alotronic]

After last weeks dismal Shaftesbury failure this week was so much easier. Had the excuse of taking a couple of friends on their first Audax to do the 100 and slowly at that. A bit too slow. Love some of those roads, the section from Arkesdon to Inckelton I always really like.

Managed to fall off though. A man-sized pothole cunningly concealed in a shallow puddle. Cut up my leg but not too bad. First time I have fallen off my road bike in about twenty years I think.

The guys I took along really enjoyed themselves despite the weather, they were VERY impressed with the catering and the guys doing it, felt is was very generous of them. Couldn't agree more!

Now I really need to do some training for Green and Yellow fields in a months time...

[L CC]

I had almost exactly as much fun as predicted.

Just for you Lars:



VAM: 344. Rubbish.

[Lars]

I had almost exactly as much fun as predicted.

Just for you Lars:



VAM: 344. Rubbish.

Nice! 

Thinking I must visit T-town off bike sometimes and do the town! Enter this impressive church and take pics! Visit the pubs! Visit the cafes (if there are other ones apart from the one where the St Evenage 200 controls twice!

Tough ride today. Esp loop 2. The section after info 3 into the wind up towards Gt Chishill must have been the mother of all slog-fests.  And most of the following descent was straight into the wind so no even out of hardship, really.

Epic fail post-finish - thought for some reason train departed from Elsenham at 8.40. Got there 8.25 only to see the train leaving. Turns out the actual departure time was 8.22. Rode back to the Ut to stay warm. For some reason thought I would b able to stay there quite some time. But realised soon I could only stay 7 mins before I had to ride back to the station again to have margin enough to not risk repeating the mistake an hour later. Must have been delusional from the hard day!

As usual great cheerful organisation and helpers! One of my favourite events!

[Lars]

A question - on the 200, how much ascending did riders' GPS's record? The altimeter on my Garmin 705 seems to be falling apart. It stopped updating on the altitude screen after 736m accumulated ascending towards end of lap 1. It seems to have continued recording after that and showing the max altitude in the Chishills at 200m, and the total ascending at a whopping 2,700m. Which of course is rubbish since that would put it in AAA territory which can't be true in Essex. I'd guess 1,900 or so might be reasonable...

[cygnet]

2429m from my clubmate; 2284m ascent and 2429m descent from mine (the difference all occured during the first loop - probably due to the front passing over since it's based on barometric data) The second and third loops had 1100m ascent/descent.

[MattH]

We DNFed 
Adam started having bad knee problems after the café stop, and we ended up soft pedalling back to HQ. We got there with time in hand, but it really wasn't going to be sensible for him to continue as he was hobbling despite the drugs - a shame as the weather had cleared up. Still, it got us out for 108km.

[bloomers100]

A tough day. Our arrow team rode it together, some meeting for the first time. I tried to teach our road racing member the finer points of audax; look at the scenery, engage in banter and eat caik, neither of which he has done in a while. A tough first loop, bad weather and a headwind had my bottom lip firmly out by the time I reached the hut for the first time. Still, things dried up after lunch and we ventured to parts I'd not been to before. Just three of us for the last loop, kept it steady and got done in 10h45m. Same time as last week but it was slightly longer and I had 400m more of climbing on the gps than last week so I guess we rode better.

We all commented on the long day's work put in by the helpers, all served with a smile and very good value.

Caught up with some yacfers too, Boab and Chris going well on the tandem, and Chuck Norris Tomsk metronomic on fixed. Tomsk remained clean all day whereas we were filthy, something about mudflaps apparently.

See you all in York!

[JonBuoy]

Meanwhile in a parallel universe just up the road at Huntingdon the 80 mile version of a sportive was cancelled because of 'safety issues on course'.  I am told that the safety issues were that it was a bit wet and windy.

And the name of the event  -  the Wiggle No Excuses Sportive.

[L CC]

A question - on the 200, how much ascending did riders' GPS's record?

1840 on mine, (recorded by Endomondo on my phone as I left the generous garmin at home and then uploaded to RideWithGPS) and Chris got nowt as his died for a section. It felt tougher than last year (by about an hour ) but I think that was just wind and rain.

[rob]

That was a tough day.   Rain, wind and a fairy visit to the front wheel on the first lap left me tetchy.   

2nd and 3rd laps were taken on with much better morale as it was drier and the wind seemed a bit easier.   I couldn't seem to get much pace out of my legs for the 2nd half of the ride and couldn't really work out the cause.

Finished in just over 11hrs but I feel pretty rough today.   Made it to the quiz night I promised to attend just after 9.   I contributed little.

Just got the bike out the car.   Rear tyre is flat.

[wilkyboy]

We DNFed 
Adam started having bad knee problems after the café stop, and we ended up soft pedalling back to HQ. We got there with time in hand, but it really wasn't going to be sensible for him to continue as he was hobbling despite the drugs - a shame as the weather had cleared up. Still, it got us out for 108km.

Same here: same issue as last time out on one side of the knee plus new pain on the other, made worse by the heavy pedalling into the wind.  My first DNF, but still a worthy (for me) 108km training ride.

I enjoyed the experience for what I expected it to be: wet, windy, slog-fest -- good for checking out which gear's waterproof and which isn't.  Turns out that not much of it is, not after 4 hours or so.  It was also good experience for how to choose whose wheel to follow in the wet: whereas Tomsk may have come back in clean as the driven snow, I came back looking like I'd just done Tough Mudder -- strange looks on the train!  I guess one-up to those whose wheels I sucked for a bit ... anyway, done that now: please can we have sun and a cool breeze on the rest of this year's rides, would that be too much to ask?

The route was very Essex: lumpy, not big enough for a long descent the other side to recover, but big enough to notice.  It was interesting enough, but sometimes I feel that I'd like more of a commentary on the places we're riding through: a bit of potted history and trivia to appreciate and take away, particularly Thaxted. [Edit: just discovered that Terling hosts the International Trifle Festival, if only I'd known that yesterday! ]

I would like to thank Chris and Boab for shielding me from some of the worst of the head wind on the opening leg: however, this was intermittent because when they decide to get going then there's no keeping up and only the climbs afforded any opportunity to re-attach.  Unfortunately a missed turn (for them) meant they had to turn the juggernaut around in the road (not as easy, it would seem, as a solo) and I didn't see them again until back at the 'Ut.  I did 15km on my own into the wind, which warmed the legs up a bit, until I was eventually caught by a group with an ironman-athlete in it.  Hung with those guys for much of the way back to the 'Ut (not doing ironman speeds, I hasten to add).  My knee started to go around 80km and I dropped off the back around 90km and rode in slowly.

Smashing organisation and service -- thank you guys, much appreciated!

For reference I got +1225/-1230m on my Garmin 800 for the first loop.

[L CC]

I came back looking like I'd just done Tough Mudder -- strange looks on the train!

Nice.

It wasn't from us, we have Audax-grade super-flaps. 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Indeed, LWaB-approved flaps and I commend them to the House.

[wilkyboy]

It wasn't from us, we have Audax-grade super-flaps. 

Haha!  You are correct, I think most of it was from the ironman, whose race blades kept the squit off him, but not the faces of following 'suckers:



However, for a good while your very long and flappy mudflap had become curled up and tangled in a patch of crosswind and was therefore not doing much, Audax-grade or no, and it became a game of dodge the spatter with you too (I didn't want to mention it at the time, because I didn't think you'd noticed me hiding behind you ).

[wilkyboy]

VAM: 344. Rubbish.

Out of interest, what do you think is good?

[Chris S]

VAM: 344. Rubbish.

Out of interest, what do you think is good?

Well, we did 526 on the same ride last year (albeit slightly different route) in much much better conditions. We climb pretty slowly, but in common with most tandems we cruise/descend reasonably well.

The state of the lanes, strong wind, cold and rain did it for any pace yesterday. We were pleased enough to get around in 9.5 hours, given the conditions. Essex lanes may well be picturesque on a sunny summer's day, but they're never tandem-friendly and on a day like yesterday, they're tricky, slimy and grim.

IMHO, 1000m of relentless up 20m/down 20m choppiness is much harder than 1000m of 100m ascents/descents. Of course, with The Dean next week, I might be eating my words.

[drossall]

Essex 3 - trikes 0.

So I ended up disappointed and frustrated, with a broken trike

I'd changed to the 100km to join some Tricycle Association members on that event. Not sure I'm up to taking a trike round 200km.

The three of us, and one accompanying bike, set off at the back of the field. We weren't in a hurry, but as things broke up over time I found myself riding on ahead a little, chasing a group on bikes at the back of the field. Having taken it easy, I wasn't really finding the wind a problem.

It all went rather wrong in Upwick Green, after the turn off the road through Gravesend. I was watching the bikes in front, when I should have watched the road, and put my drive wheel down a pot-cavern

That was it. The drive wheel no longer turned freely, and I clearly had a problem. Turns out I'd cracked one of the frame tubes, the axle housing. Here's the rear of the trike, taken a couple of years ago, and now, from the other side (you can just see the maker's name label from the first shot on the other side of the tube in the second):



That's the edge of the damage; from underneath, it looks like this:



I didn't dare ride on, as the tube might crack more, the axle was plainly out of line, and the drum brake was rubbing on the frame, so I started walking. I have to admit to underestimating the distance, but I knew I'd get there before the 200km event finished

Various other riders asked if I was OK, but couldn't do much to help of course, so set off with messages for the HQ that I was OK and walking in. However, my two fellow-trikies turned up by the time I'd made Farnham, after two miles of walking. One asked a resident about taxis, who came up trumps with the loan of a bike - old but very serviceable - so the three of us set off again.

We met the organiser in Bentfield Green. He had very generously come out by car to rescue me, leaving the event in the hands of his team. Once we had ridden back to the HQ, however, he did mutter something about obscure Audax rules forbidding starting an event on three wheels and finishing on two

We saw others setting out again as we arrived, and I did have a mad moment considering doing the second loop on my borrowed steed, but I was well behind time. I settled for lunch and going back by car to retrieve the remains of my trike. I think fboab may have taken a picture as we were loosening the wheels of the borrowed bike to get it into my car?

With the weather improving (a bit), and a ride I was enjoying, I don't know whether to be more fed up about the trike or the missed loop. Still, I've sent an enquiry off to Trykit, and no doubt all will be put right in time.

Hopefully the trike and tandem trike on the 200km event fared better than we did, with three DNFs.

Thanks to all who offered and furnished help so generously

[Tomsk]

Rode with young Alex the Flitch[Mountain]Biker on his first Audax. He's training for 12 hour mtb racing this year and will therefore be the next Chuck Norris 

We took an alteernative route on the third leg, to bypass the Quendon detour and Widdington climb etc, which surprised the returning faster riders coming in from Thaxted and Sampford. Felt very wibbly by the end [see Lars above] despite scoffing fig rolls on the last loop. 'Cos of all that weather, skogg, cautious descending, fairy visitations [one apiece - Alex's was a snakebite from a pothole-in-a-puddle-in-the-dark] - about an hour slower than last week on the Shaftesbury. 157 miles for the day.

Got a 30 mile recovery twiddle in today, inevitably under a heavy shower for much of it 

Commiserations to all the DNFs and big thanks to Terry and the team for the tlc and soup.

[Assasin]

Essex 0 Tandem trikes 1
And an invite to the top table for some fantastic Paella at the finish.
Our thanks to the support crew for looking after us so well.
I hope to return for the next edition.

[Chris S]

We took an alteernative route on the third leg, to bypass the Quendon detour and Widdington climb etc, which surprised the returning faster riders coming in from Thaxted and Sampford. Felt very wibbly by the end [see Lars above] despite scoffing fig rolls on the last loop. 'Cos of all that weather, skogg, cautious descending,

Yes - we were pretty confused by seeing you coming the opposite direction. Boab decided you'd finished already, and you were riding home  .

...fairy visitations [one apiece - Alex's was a snakebite from a pothole-in-a-puddle-in-the-dark] - about an hour slower than last week on the Shaftesbury. 157 miles for the day.

Was that the large puddle on the fast, blind bend - with the booby-trap pothole in the middle? We hit that with a resounding thump too - though thankfully, without any ill effects other than the additional pain in my cold numb hands.

[Jes]

Essex 0 Tandem trikes 1
And an invite to the top table for some fantastic Paella at the finish.
Our thanks to the support crew for looking after us so well.
I hope to return for the next edition.

It doesn't get much better than this....
Top table treatment - that paella



Sunday fry-up feast
Over a dozen eggs consumed at this table.


We were thoroughly spoilt 
Thanks to all for a brilliant end to a hard ride.

[Tomsk]

'That' pothole was somewhere in Great Sampford near the bridge. I survived it too, but Alex thought his tyre may have been going soft anyway....

Mine was approaching Arkesden -  my first p*nct^re on Durano Plusses this winter - a perfect mini-Neolithic-arrowhead!

[alotronic]

My pothole experience!