Notes on Kernow & South West 600km audax, 28-9 May 2011
And an attempt to answer the question: why do we do these rides?
[Warning – quite long – like the ride]
Train to Exeter Friday afternoon, bought a pastie in city centre and ate it on the green by the cathedral in late afternoon sun, glorious start. Then rode out past the start of the ride in Whipton to familiarise myself with its whereabouts. Then failed to find Travelodge… had looked up the postcode on google maps which sent me down a small country lane where I began to think it was an odd place for a Travelodge, usually they put them a bit nearer the motorway. So rode back to the M5 junction and there it was, exactly where I had ridden past it 30 mins earlier. D'oh! Was this an early warning?
Travelodge room was smelly… musty… not been aired perhaps for a year or so? Dead body in the wardrobe perhaps? Opened window… about an inch… that's as far as it goes – is that because the inmates in these places get suicidal? I wonder why?
Marvellous fish and chips at Harry Ramsdens, met up briefly with Greenbank. Feeling better now.
Watched HIGNFY on the telly. Even better. Then a loud knock – it's my room mate, Bianchi Boy! Talked about spokes etc. way too late then decided it would be sensible to get a spot of shut-eye.
3.30am. BB's alarm goes off. An hour too early. He's keen.
4.30am we get up. Coffee, banana, cereal bar. In a smelly Travelodge. The glamour of audax!
5am we're sat on the wall outside what looks remarkably like a church but the noticeboard reassuringly says Whipton Community Centre. BB phones Ian H at 5.15 to check we are in the right place – yes don't panic. 5.30am others begin to arrive including our host Ian, all very laid-back, no sense of urgency. Marvellous! Teas and coffees, more bananas and cereal bars, and then 6am! We're off… into the wind… for 250km.
Easy 3h15 to the first control at Bude (80km), just like it said on the routesheet, mainly because our little grupetto of six is tightly tucked in behind Toby who will go on to complete the distance in 28 hours, smashing the KSW record by some 5 hours… Toby looked completely at ease, going off the front without trying – when he realised he would ease off a bit for us to get back on. A gent on a bike. Effortless mastery.
A full English at Bude was the order of the day. When I set off at around 10am by myself Toby had long gone, having consumed just a coke and a flapjack. How do these whippets do it? I was caught by Mike Plumstead shortly into the lumpy section to Looe and we were to remain joined practically at the hip for the rest of the ride.
At Liskeard we were peckish, I couldn't wait till Looe, so we found a marvellous sandwich shop. They had all manner of deliciously moist fillings, but Mike ordered a dry grated cheese sandwich and promptly emptied half its contents all over the pavement outside the shop. So he went back inside to ask for more cheese and, in order to demonstrate there was not much cheese left in his sandwich, he opened it and emptied the rest of the contents all over their floor. They looked somewhat askance but nonetheless obligingly re-filled his sandwich. After he had finished he went back in to ask them to refill his water bottles. Brazen. I admired more effortless mastery.
We arrived in Looe (142km) at around 1pm I think, it was raining. Had been on and off since Bude. Cornish drizzle. And a stiff headwind, did I mention that? Got an ATM statement for control purposes, then ate fantastic home-made pasties from the local bakery while our bikes blocked the pavement and we blocked the bakery doorway as we tried to shelter from the rain… and the wind.
Mike, BB and I set off together to tackle the next bit. Another hilly wet and windy bit. The routesheet said follow signs to Polruan pedestrian & cycle ferry. Mike and I don't have GPS, so we did just that. BB has GPS (is GPS cheating? Maybe a question for another thread). A junction appears, no signpost. So Mike and I stay on the main road (well, main little lane really) while BB strikes off down even littler lane, slavishly following his GPS. Let's see who gets to the ferry first!
Mike and I arrive at Polruan 10 mins later just in time to wave goodbye to BB as he and bike steam out across the harbour. Never mind, we can have an ice cream while we wait for the next ferry. Standing in the rain. And the wind.
The next bit was quite hilly. And windy. And wet. But great views as we passed St Michael's Mount on the left, in a brief moment of clear skies. Then, before we knew it, but in fact around 7pm, we were in Penzance (240km) at Don's delicious diner! What a fantastic control. This is why we do these rides! Thanks Don and crew, you were brilliant. I think I ate 4 bananas, cakes, two plates of pasta, rice pudding and peaches, and quite possibly 3 eggs and beans on toast as well. Phoned dad to say happy birthday. Phoned Mike Bridgeland who's doing the Didcot 400k this w/e and is in for a shock – he thought it was going to be flat
Phoned wife to check in, as you do. She's been doing useful stuff in the garden. While I am out doing useless stuff on my bike. Top missus!
Set off at around 8pm with Mike P and Justin Chapman for the long night ride back to Bude. At last we have a tail-wind… and it's stopped raining! This is why we do these rides! We flew to Newquay by 10pm, just in time to get to the garage before it shut for the night and buy various comestibles and substantially delay the staff getting home who foolishly asked where we'd been and were going…
Mike and Justin were still strong but by around midnight I was flagging on the climbs. And it was raining again. Proper rain now, the wet stuff. Why do we do these rides? Dark thoughts. Never again! Clearly I need to refer to rule 5
http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/#5 I got back to Bude (370km) at bang on 1am, and by 1.02am my dinner was served and I remember exactly why I do these rides. Thanks Feline, you beauty! XXX
Slept like log despite the drunken attempted bike theft commotion, I did not hear a thing. Gentle wake-up call from Ian at 5am, brekky and ablutions and back out on the road at 6. A long section to Taunton, but no vicious hills and good tailwind, and no rain! This is why we do these rides! Quick garage stop at Tiverton (450km) for sandwiches, chocolate and a pint of milk, then pressed onto Taunton Deane M5 service station, oh the glamour! Arriving at around 11am (480km). Ate burger and drank coke. I NEVER normally let such rubbish pass my lips. Needs must.
The next bit of the routesheet warned of tricky navigation on the lanes around Taunton. Mike and I got lost twice. Apparently people with GPS didn't get lost. Mike and I talked quite a lot about buying GPS. But that would be cheating. Wouldn't it? [start new thread]
We arrived at the most easterly point of the ride, a BP garage somewhere near Yeovil, at around 3pm (530km). I bought and consumed a pint of milk, sandwiches, bananas, ginger beer and packet of mentos. On the garage forecourt, oh the tradition! Oh the glamour! Oh the smell of petrol! This is why we do these rides!
Back on the road for the penultimate section, across the Blackdown Hills to Seaton. Quite a hilly bit this, and finished by the sea. Now we're riding with Andy H who has to stop behind a hedge half-way to change his bib-shorts which are rather too new to be wearing on a 600. He had nearly packed last night on account of the wind and the rain, then phoned the missus who referred him to rule 5. Top missus!
Sun's out now, and the expected headwind since we changed course and struck off southwards has not materialised. So all's good with the world, and we are but a few short kms from completing the legendary KSW and getting qualified for PBP... so we can ride twice as far! Arrive Seaton at about 6pm (575km). ATM receipt.
We had been warned about the last lumpy section, just 30km to finish, but what spectacular scenery awaited, a veritable eye candy feast of scenery, just the ticket to finish a 600. No doubt others equipped with the latest wizardry and gadgetry can tell me to the nearest metre just how scenic this bit was, but it felt like roughly half the climbing of the entire event was squeezed into this 30kms. After we popped out onto the main road (A3052) for a few kms I thought that would be an end to the hills… but it wasn't... the roller-coaster went on, top value! This is why we do these rides!
Then suddenly we're off the main road and on the lanes back into Exeter, past the airport, on a Dr Beeching cycle route (I suspect?) and back at Whipton Community Centre for 8.15pm. 610km. And the hero's welcome that the routesheet had promised. Beans on Toast fit for heroes! And eggs. And pizza. And pasta. And rice pudding and peaches. And coffee. And 5 mugs of black tea for Mike P. And then Greenbank arrives clutching cans of beer, it's his birthday! This is why we do these rides!
I'm never doing it again though. Probably.
Thanks Ian and all your helpers for brilliant ride. I will be back. Probably.
PS. Sunday night I did not have to go back to the Travelodge, oh no! Andy H and I shared a room here:
http://www.culmvaleaccommodation.co.uk/ Quite possibly the best B&B I have ever had the joy to use. Shhh! Don't tell everyone!
PPS. Gratuitous plug for marvellous twitter feed nothing whatever to do with audax or cycling, oh joy!
http://twitter.com/#!/Queen_UK