Phew - what a ride!! So many good parts, and a few bad bits too that in a way make the good parts even more exquisite. I normally start a ride fairly fast, and build up a time cushion that I squander as I cruise to the arrivee. However that strategy was clobbered by a pothole on a high speed downhill before the first control. I prepared for the ride with a new tyre and tube on my back wheel, but it didn't withstand the impact and I slowed from over 60 kph to 0 rather rapidly on a flat tyre. Not a biggy - I just fitted the replacement tube that had been hanging around in my saddlebag for months. Now what sort of idiot enters a 600+ km ride with some old spare inner tubes of very doubtful provenance? In this case I blew up the tyre put everything back together and got ready to restart ... however the tyre was flat. So repeat the exercise with tube #2 which luckily wasn't pre-punctured. (Here endeth lesson #1.)
Having lost the motivation (not to mention the talent) to build up a time buffer I cruised along making sure I ate well in all the controls. All the control staff were marvellous
(see above, and add my thanks to Danial and all the team for making the controls such a great part of the experience). I chatted with several other riders on the way North including Oscar's Dad riding at a similar pace to me. I think it was somewhere just North of Hartlebury that the nightmare puncture at the pothole to hell came back to haunt me in the form of a lumpy feeling in the back wheel and the mudguard making a noise. Is it a dangling strap? No not that. Something jammed between tyre and mudguard? No not that. Then OD pointed out my tyre was making a bid to escape from the rim. I think the impact had been enough to damage the kevlar bead which slowly shredded over the 100+ km leading to the failure. Oh dear. My ride was saved by Oscar's Dad who happened to be carrying a spare folding tyre which performed faultlessly for the remainder of the ride. What a star that man is!!
(Here endeth lesson #2)
The story of so many riders is about the difference between theory and practice. In my case the only part of my pre-ride plan that survived was having a good feed and relax at all the controls. OD and I arrived at Christleton much later than planned at around 01h30 I think. I had some supper then a couple of hours horizontal time, but my sleep was troubled. Not long before the control I'd done a perfectly normal downchange on the front derailleur and heard a clunk and got that spinny sensation of no drive. OK, put the chain back on ... but in this case the chain had fallen apart at the quicklink thingy which had come apart and was a bit bent, but I managed to force it back together, in the rain. The bike is a new (to me) Condor Fratello fitted with that rare item - a genuine Campagnolo chain. As I was trying to sleep it occured to me that the spare link I was carrying wasn't Campagnolo, and wasn't 10 speed either, and moreover the Park chain tool in my bag wasn't made for 10 speed chains. The chances of getting a replacement link on a Sunday were close to nil. Let's hope the incident doesn't repeat then ... (Here endeth lesson #3)
After a bit of breakfast OD and I set out from Christleton at around 04h20, both a bit sleep-deprived. The dawn didn't have its normal effect of waking me up and I began to feel a bit sleepy. We got as far as Market Drayton when OD pointed to an open Shell garage, and happily they offered the mug of hot chocolate I'd been fantasising about for at least 20 km. We sat there like a pair of zombies, the cheerful and chatty garage staff helping keep us awake. OD bought a sausage in a bap and I had the emergency cheese roll from my saddlebag that I wasn't going to need. Somewhat restored we got going again, but OD was clearly still suffering from the dozies and eventually had to stop for an eyes-closed rest while I took advantage of the p-stop and had some more to eat. OD didn't want to wake up and I rolled on to the Lilleshall control but OD was only a few minutes behind ...
The route was a work of genius. Lovely lanes and glorious views, with the Cotswolds looking very pretty. And moreover the wind was turning in our favour. We got to the top of the long hill after Long Compton and the wind was now definitely from behind
The ride was worth doing just for that tailwind! On the long slight downgrade to the Glympton turning I barely turned a pedal (in view of the chain problem I wasn't changing off the small chainring) and although we were running late, hitting all the controls just before the time limit, things were looking up. Somewhere on that long run to Glymton Oscar's Dad slipped off my wheel and I didn't see him again, but got the news he'd packed when I arrived at Chalgrove - I was really sorry to hear that OD, but I know how you were feeling; I hoped you'd ride through it, but it didn't turn out that way which is very tough. - on another day it might have been different.
I still maintained my strategy of enjoying the food in the controls but got faster and faster as I approached Chalgrove, and realised there was a good chance of actually finishing in time. The final stage to Windsor was again pretty quick, although I took great care in the dark to check my routesheet really carefully as going off course is the worst kind of time-waster. I finally checked in at 23h10 and claim the honour of physical lanterne rouge. (Some of the 06h00 starters may be able to claim the logical lanterne rouge if they were even closer to the cutoff than me
The late finish meant I'd missed my train back to central London, and there were no good alternatives. I briefly considered riding the 50 km or so, but was put off by the thought of late night London drivers, not to mention me being a bit short of sleep. Danial solved my problem by suggesting I bed down in the hall for the night and help Salvatore with the final tidying up in the morning. So thanks again Danial, and sharing some anecdotes with Salvatore was a really good end to the day
It's a good story isn't it ... the support and kindness of so many got me to the finish. Audax really is a great social model. And the controllers really ought to get together to produce a recipe book - I've never been on a ride offering such a good variety of cyclist-friendly food with such wonderful service.
Personally I was very pleased with the ride. My new bike proved to be both fast (enough) and comfortable - I was surprised at how good I felt at the finish, and with no aches or pains I think there is a lot to be said for taking the full-value approach. And next time I will buy new tubes, and carry a spare tyre, and a spare quick-link that actually fits the chain!