Author Topic: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat  (Read 2791 times)

Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« on: 25 April, 2019, 12:04:30 pm »
Looks like it is going to be very windy early on and wet.
40+mph Westerlys forecast.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #1 on: 25 April, 2019, 12:22:14 pm »
Looks like it is going to be very windy early on and wet.
40+mph Westerlys forecast.

After The Dean I was hoping for more pleasant conditions this weekend, at least it is not a Northerly.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #2 on: 26 April, 2019, 09:30:28 am »
The forecast is not quite so bad now. Still strong westerly but drier. Wind not so strong inland so should avoid the worst of it.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #3 on: 27 April, 2019, 03:13:33 pm »
49 riders went up the road this morning( out of a entry of 90!)  wind seems to be dying and the sun is out now......
2 riders packed early on....... I guess the rest are still battling northwards.

Opening the finish at 10pm ,going to be a long shift through the night.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #4 on: 27 April, 2019, 05:21:46 pm »
I'm out. Home now, wasn't feeling great and after being blown into the middle of the road - lots - and one clipless moment decided enough was enough. Bon courage to those of you left out there. You should fly after the turn.

Julia
Reine de la Fauche


Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #5 on: 29 April, 2019, 12:47:13 pm »
The wind was brutal and cold.  Bailed out at 230km when I ran out of inner tubes. It was too dark and cold to attempt a repair on the roadside. A Good Samaritan farmer stopped to help but could not get the bike in his car. So he went home and came back with his pick up truck and then helped me find a hotel. He also offered to put me up in one of his holiday cottages, free of charge, if I could not find a hotel room. What a gent. Found a hotel in  Buckingham.  After a nights rest, breakfast and 2 repaired inner tubes  I had a 170km ride to get back to my car.  Met my wife on route for 2 new inner tubes and a battery pack.  Arrived at Rowlands Castle 13hrs later than planned.  Some of the down hills on the return must have tricky at night.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #6 on: 29 April, 2019, 01:22:37 pm »
That was a long, tough day. Having a large crosswind for nearly the full length of a 400k was a new experience,  it only eased in the last few hours.

Pretty lonely for large parts of the ride, one ride passed me shortly after Thame (128km remaining). I seemed to fall neatly into a gap between faster riders and the others I passed who were still heading for the turning point.

Luckily I found a bus shelter with around 30km to go and had a 5min nap, enough for me to feel much refreshed. Very glad I'd packed a down jacket, wished I'd stopped and put it on earlier rather than at Kingsclere.

If anyone wants to know when the next storm is due a worrying trend is forming:

Storm Erik: 200
Storm Gareth: 300
Storm Hannah: 400

Thanks to Paul and the helpers who were waiting to greet us in Arrivee.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #7 on: 29 April, 2019, 02:25:52 pm »

If anyone wants to know when the next storm is due a worrying trend is forming:

Storm Erik: 200
Storm Gareth: 300
Storm Hannah: 400

You're not doing BCM are you?
Thanks too from me to the team at Rowlands Castle. It was great to arrive back to some hot food.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #8 on: 08 May, 2019, 07:15:15 am »
Result's. Now on the auk website ( provisional)  :thumbsup: well done to all that rode and thanks for the good feed back about the route.

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #9 on: 23 April, 2023, 06:39:50 pm »
Did the 2023 edition of the TotSS 400 yesterday. It started at 10pm on Friday, which was a novelty (for me at least), and about 40 riders headed off into the dark. Right from the off it was pretty hilly, as it crossed all the downs west of Winchester. On the way in to Whitchurch I passed a hedgehog that was crossing the road, then on the way out three women cheered me on.

The first control was at a 24hr services at Hungerford at about 3am, although disappointingly only the night payment bit was open, so you had to send the bloke on the till off to try and find stuff for you, rather than looking about for stuff you fancy. After Hungerford it got quite cold, all the verges were covered in frost, which glistened in your bike lights, and according to my GPS it spent quite a bit of time at -1. Next was a manned control in a lay-by at 145k, near Charlbury, where there was a gazebo and folding chairs, and they were making bacon butties for the riders. Some riders were complaining about how cold it was. I passed on the bacon butty, but had a couple of apple pies and a cup of tea.

After Charlbury, there was a damp mist that settled over everything, and took ages to burn off. Eventually though it turned into a nice day, with some sunshine. Daventry was the turnaround point at 207k, at a 24hr services with a Subway, which I reached mid-morning. Some riders had adjourned to the Subway, but I got a chickpea curry naan and a veg samosa, and a mango flavoured red bull. Heading south again, we passed through pleasant countryside, mainly on quiet roads. After Goring I passed a tiny baby deer standing at the side of the road.

I still felt fairly good at the final control at Kingsclere at 340k, but then I struggled in the last few hours, crossing back over the downs west of Winchester, which felt like a never-ending succession of steep hills, on narrow roads in the dark, and it started drizzling. Somewhere along here, on a steep downhill, my handlebar started slipping where it fastens to the stem, the first time this has ever happened. It only took 15 mins to get the tools out and put it back in position and tighten it up, but standing there in the drizzle fixing it by bike light increased the feeling that my ride was unravelling a bit. I was cheered up briefly by coming across two badgers having a chat in the middle of the road, who seemed surprised to see me, and it took them a little while to size me up and disappear into the undergrowth. I was very glad to finally see the finish, and ended up not having that much time in hand!

RWGPS is telling me that it totalled just over 5000m of height gain, which (even with a degree of over-reading) explains how my legs and knees are feeling today! Thanks to Paul and all the helpers, for what feels like quite a demanding ride.

P.P.

  • Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey!
    • Paul's blog
Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #10 on: 23 April, 2023, 09:17:50 pm »
A great day out at the Southern Shires yesterday. Although, I might not have said that last night after what was a hard day out.

I'm quite happy to admit that I struggled with this one, both mentally and physically. The 22:00 start was different, but worked quite well for me. Getting me back to the finish in time for bed and leaving today free for pottering around. Although I'm pretty sure that I shouldn't have driven home last night in my tired state.

By the time we set off the afternoons rain had cleared, leaving a dry, but cold night. The climbs through the South Downs seemed quite benign on the way out, and I made good time to Hungerford where an ATM reciept provided proof of passage.

More climbing in the dark along narrow, gravelly, country lanes, during the next section required a bit of extra concentration, and a number of people apparently punctured on some serious potholes on the way out of Lambourne, which I luckily managed to avoid.

The smell of bacon heralded the second control long before it was visible. But eventually, like some alien spaceship dropped randomly into the misty night it hove into view. Parked neatly on the roadside engulfed in the damp mist. The offer of a brew and bacon butty was very welcome and provided a massive morale boost, whilst reviving a bit of feeling in my cold fingers and filling my empty belly. (Thank you guys, your efforts were much appreciated on a long, cold, dark night).

With the coming dawn, so the mist descended. Replacing the cold with the damp, but raising the temperature a bit, (which was nice), and the next few miles rolled by uneventfully, apart from having to dismount and push the last few meters of the endlessly steep hill which heralds Daventry (I'm not proud).

Disappointingly, the Subway was closed which thwarted my breakfast plans. Crisps and a Wispa provided a healthy alternative though, and I was soon on my way again, passing a few riders still heading North as I headed South.

By mid morning the mist had burned off and the sun was trying valiantly to make an appearance. I was starting to feel the effects of the lack of sleep though, and by the time I reached Thame my day was becoming a bit of a slog.

Sausage and chips sitting in the sun at Thame revived my spirits a bit and provided some much needed sustenance. But I wasn't really enjoying myself and my heart wasn't really in it either.

Refreshed and revived I pushed on through the afternoon, but, as the day wore on I was starting to struggle. The rough road surface was constantly rattling my fillings and battering my hands and wrists, and I've got the feeling that somehow the route only went uphill, or at least I don't remember ever descending.

In fact, by the time I got to Kingsclere and the final control, I'd really had enough.

Wandering round the shop looking for something to eat and provide a reciept, the only thing that appealed was chocolate Hobnobs, and having wandered round the meagre isles at least a dozen times looking for something healthy and nutritious I gave in to temptation (please don't look badly at me, I know Hobnobs aren't a healthy option for my tea, but sometimes......well).

I spent the final 40 miles feeling sorry for myself, whilst bemoaning the awful chip seal road surface, cursing the endless climbing, and hating bike riding with every ounce of fury I could muster. Oh, and then it rained, adding to my misery!

Eventually though, cold, wet, miserable and tired, I made it back to the start and a strange thing happened.

I parked my bike, I took off my wet jacket, I handed in my brevet, and I instantly forgot all those hard moments. I forgot all those vicious hills that I'd pushed my stupid bike up because I was too tired and demoralised to ride up, I forgot that my hands hurt from the endless jarring potholes, and I forgot that I was wet and cold.

I just rememberd the joy of riding through the dark, the underlying excitement as we all stood ready to depart in the dark, and the shared, often unspoken moments with other riders as we passed on the road. I remembered the first glow of dawn and the birdsong that accompanied it, and the odd glimpse of sunshine. I remembered rolling down the hills with the wind in my face, and I remembered the far reaching views from the hill tops.

Yes it was a hard day out. Probably one of the hardest I've had. But, as my Mum used to say "With struggle comes reward and the bigger the struggle the bigger the reward". Granted in this case the reward was only a warm welcome, a bowl of amazing chilli, and a hot brew, but that was more than enough!

Many thanks to Paul and all his helpers for organising, and to all those of you who I crossed paths with out on the road. It would seem that I had a great day out, despite not realising it at the time.


Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #11 on: 23 April, 2023, 09:26:31 pm »
Well done - and lovely write up  :thumbsup:

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #12 on: 27 April, 2023, 08:59:39 pm »
Nice write up P.P. I now feel slightly reassured that it wasn't just me who descended into the depths of despair on the endless steep hills after Kingsclere!

Re: Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat
« Reply #13 on: 28 April, 2023, 10:25:19 am »
I'll echo that - very well summarised PP.  As far as the highs and lows go, the lows on this ride went pretty deep for me.  But looking back, there were highlights like the late night club-run to start and being deafened by the dawn chorus

Be interested to learn if this would qualify for AAA points (not something i've ever bothered with in the past)

Many thanks to Paul and helpers