I thought I'd better complete another SR before PBP year as my only previous 600 was a relative doddle. An X event with a £9 price tag
I drove up to Derby with SimonB for a Travelodge. However not finding it until 0100 and then getting woken up by revellers at 0300 did not make that a good idea.
0530 we drove to the start to find Pete Marshall Dave Larrington Milage monster (I assume) and a few Southern diehards. A late start for Simon and I and quite hard work once we hit Rutland which makes up for sall size with some big hills. As an anorak it was nice to ride under Harringworth viaduct. The outskirts of Huntingdon was the second petrol station stop (there is a limit to how many flavoured Volvic waters and veggie pasties one can stuff down in a weekend )
Then across the fens to Thorney for an info with quite a strong headwind, which continued back to Colsterworth. Then a few lumps over the Vale of Belvoir (where I last saw Dave L) before heading towards Alfreton. I managed to get lost in Annersley and thinking that Alfreton was near Mansfield headed there; (it's not ) and eventually had to ask at the Mansfield Travelodge for directions. Whizzed down the A38 where I met Simon and the others; everything was shut so fished a receipt out of a bin. A big climb up towards Sutton in Ashfield which was the wrong way; so all the way back down and back up towards mansfield for the second time. By Mansfiled Woodhouse at about midnight I'd had enough so Simon and I bade farewell to William Lantry, Joolz, Peter Turnbull etc and crashed in a wheatfield, setting the alarm on Simon's mobile for 0445, me in a moonbag and Simon in a bivvy. I slept like a log but Simon was less lucky. I awoke at 0500, with just over an hout to get to Blyth services by closing time of the control. Simon made it with a minute to spare along the mostly A614/A1; I found a suitbale one in a bin in the services. It was here we met dave Kahn who had started 1 hour late. I foolishly downed 2 bottles of Irn Bru
which was to cause me sever stomach ache all the way through Thorne to Selby. Cafe shut at Selby so another painful and hungry 12km to Howden where a coach party had just pitched up at the Red Beck . So another pasty/paper cup of coffee moment outside the garage. Than a fairly dull but very hot stretch along to the Humber Bridge. They had an event on there and the whole town of Hull was there. The West path was officially shut so I used the East; bad idea. Having cleared all the grockles it was back West through Flixborough via more fizzy pop and Lucozade sports shops (sorry but tepid water was not what was required). Eventually I decided that a pint was called for; the first pub I called at had about 7 other riders there including Simon; nice lager shandy and two bottles of water . And on to Rosie's cafe in real Lawrence of Arabia conditions
(just without the cymbal sound FX); eyeing up every outside tap along the way. Rosie's was shut so had to do with another pasty/ Lucozade. And then it started to get very lumpy through Retford and Shirebrook back to Ripley; riders I thought had passed my ages back started to re-appear. To his credit Alan the organiser had found a very nice route back through the Dukeries avoiding almost all of the Dark Satanic Mills, Eventually it was the last long drag down on a horribly surfaced road past Denby pottery into Derby, where I got completely lost so ended up having to go back to the Travelodge up a big hill in order to find the ring road. Simon had been there an hour, but we waited for Dave Kahn who got in just before closing time; others weren't so lucky and Alan was still giving out directions over the phone to the remaining riders as we left.
Finally got home after dropping Dave off at 0245
Why do we do these things?
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