Alan Furley's Up the Downs Sep 8th

[bikey-mikey]

A very pleasant day, apart from when I proved my memory problems by leaving the arrivee and riding to the station, only to realise I didn't pick up my rucksack ...

So back to the arrivee a second time and back to the station a second time....

[Bledlow]

Mrs B & I cycled to & from the start with a friend who lives round the corner, making the distance 185 km door to door.

Shouldn't be hard to talk her into another 15km then 

Already mooted. The reaction was decidedly negative. Best not mentioned for a while.

[phil d]

There have not been many days better than today.  A fantastic day out.  High point - the view of the Oxford plain as we descended towards Ashbury - looked like a temperature inversion, but given the time I don't think it could have been.  Low point - utterly crap service at the PoW in Shrivenham.  Three people behind the bar.  One person paying his bill by credit card, three people waiting to be served.  I waited just under five minutes (until the person dealing with the CC sale finished, and decided it was more important to chat with her husband than serve anyone else) and left.  Grrrr.  (I enjoyed my Co-op sandwich beside the pond in Aldbourne)

Thanks to Allan and team for putting on the event and feeding us at the end.  Nice to see Ros Furley at the arrivee (Alan Furley's widow.  Doesn't live in the area any longer, so quite an effort to be there)

[phil d]

Mrs B & I cycled to & from the start with a friend who lives round the corner, making the distance 185 km door to door.

Shouldn't be hard to talk her into another 15km then 

Already mooted. The reaction was decidedly negative. Best not mentioned for a while.

I think (though I have not measured it so could be wrong) that the climbing is considerably less on the Upper Thames.  UT has less than 2000m of ascent, which is decidedly benign.

[red marley]

Low point - utterly crap service at the PoW in Shrivenham.  Three people behind the bar.  One person paying his bill by credit card, three people waiting to be served.  I waited just under five minutes (until the person dealing with the CC sale finished, and decided it was more important to chat with her husband than serve anyone else) and left.  Grrrr.

That's a real shame. Two years ago, this was one of the best pub receptions for an Audax control. They made a special printed up Audax menu and seemed genuinely excited to serve us. Last year (with a change of management I seem to recall), they were still enthusiastic and friendly if perhaps not quite as speedy or knowledgable about what hungry cyclists in need of a quick food stop might want.

Let's hope it was just a blip today.

[bikey-mikey]

The PoW had made a special 'cyclists' meal. It was pasta and chicken with a creamy sauce and I think maybe some herbs, though I'm not a herbexpert.

Only thing was it was £9-50 which seemed a bit steep, until they brought it out...... Size of an elephant !!! A huge bowl and I only eat about half... They were trying but perhaps need 'edukatin' ......

[scottlington]

Great day out. You couldn't ask for a better day weather wise and the route was just fantastic. Started a little late, as realised my GPS* only had the last stage route programmed in as I set off with the bunch. This necessitated a quick dive back to control to pick up a copy of the route sheet. This meant I was off the back immediately... 

Took it nice and easy for the first leg whilst the day warmed up a bit. Bounced the first control and set off on the relatively benign second leg to Shrivenam. This was the highlight of the day to me as I climbed gently through the Valley of the Horses after Lambourn, paced by a 'relatively' slow moving Bikey Mikey (he later explained he was taking it easy on account of his Cambrian 3A exploits earlier in the week and a 200k ride tomorrow. The term 'easy' to Bikey Mikey is obviously relative as he shot past me shortly after Shrivenam control never to be seen again!  )

Didn't fancy the pasta at the PoW - not least because it was £9.50 when everyting else on the menu was way less than that... so settled for a kitkat and a snickers for the journey (this was to be my only food on the entire ride - not ideal).

Suffered a little on the last 20k of the stage into Faccombe as I'd run out of water and it;s pretty lumpy round them ther parts. Not least with the climb up Walbury Hill - er....twice? Anyway, got to Faccombe and just filled my water bottle and carried on. Nice run up to Watership Down and then an easy and quick run in to the finish. Bit diappointed not to clock under 10 hours (missed out by 3 minutes) but nevertheless, really enjoyed the day out. Some fantastic swoopy descents to get some real good speed up! 

Many thanks to the organisers and helpers for a great route. Many thanks to the weather gods for the great weather. One of my favourite 200s.

* As normal I created a route for each stage and named them incrementally. However, the Garmin only likes routes of a realtively short name and I'd named each route Up The Downs 200 1 etc. So the GPS decided to truncate this as I loaded them in to Up The Downs. So clearly, each route got overwritten as I loaded it on, leaving me with just the last route.... you'd think I'd know by now....

[phil d]

Did anyone on the 200 yesterday with a GPS record a total ascent figure?  It's nowhere near AAA territory (I calculate somewhere around 1800-1850m from a study of the OS map) but I would be interested to know.

[PeterM]

Did anyone on the 200 yesterday with a GPS record a total ascent figure?

2100m, according to my Etrex 30.  It's one of those rides that always feels hillier than it is, for some reason.

Landlord at Prince of Wales had been told not to expect riders before 11.30, and was initially stumped by the early arrivals.  By the time I arrived at around 11.30, service was friendly and near-instantaneous, and the food was excellent (if expensive).

A cracking route and perfect weather.

[LadyVet]

Did anyone on the 200 yesterday with a GPS record a total ascent figure?

2100m, according to my Etrex 30.  It's one of those rides that always feels hillier than it is, for some reason. Certainly felt hilly to me 

Landlord at Prince of Wales had been told not to expect riders before 11.30, and was initially stumped by the early arrivals.  By the time I arrived at around 11.30, service was friendly and near-instantaneous, and the food was excellent (if expensive). He was very friendly with us too - even though we didn't eat. Prompt service and with a smile too

A cracking route and perfect weather.  And lots of super helpers too 

[bikey-mikey]

I have a Garmin file but it's up in my hotel bedroom on the Garmin on the bike, and I'm downstairs using the free Wi-Fi, and eating lots..... 

I'll post the total ascent figure later.

[PAC]

Did anyone on the 200 yesterday with a GPS record a total ascent figure?  It's nowhere near AAA territory (I calculate somewhere around 1800-1850m from a study of the OS map) but I would be interested to know.

My Garmin recorded 2400, but that included coming from the other side of Tilehust & back, so I reckon it must be close to AAA....it certainly felt like it, especially after Shrivenham:P A fantastic day out, though, in great company...spent a bit of time having a good catch up with Bikey Mikey on the way to Compton and had a bit of time on my own to Lambourne and then paired up with a chap called Mark who put a great effort in to get us back in a shade over 8.5hrs Thanks to all who organised and helped on this great event

[PAC]

I have a Garmin file but it's up in my hotel bedroom on the Garmin on the bike, and I'm downstairs using the free Wi-Fi, and eating lots..... 

I'll post the total ascent figure later.

By finishing yesterday it must mean you've got your veteran's award and not satisfied with that, just to make sure you put another 200k in today....Well Done Mike

[scottlington]

Did anyone on the 200 yesterday with a GPS record a total ascent figure?  It's nowhere near AAA territory (I calculate somewhere around 1800-1850m from a study of the OS map) but I would be interested to know.

I recorded a gnats whisker over 2000m. It kind of bears out because the first two stages are pretty benign. The third and first half of the fourth make up a lot of the vertical figure and certainly make it feel lumper than it really is.

[bikey-mikey]

I have a Garmin file but it's up in my hotel bedroom on the Garmin on the bike, and I'm downstairs using the free Wi-Fi, and eating lots..... 

I'll post the total ascent figure later.

By finishing yesterday it must mean you've got your veteran's award and not satisfied with that, just to make sure you put another 200k in today....Well Done Mike

Provided recent rides validate, my calculations say I have exceeded the previous Veterans Points record.

Success like this buoys me up, and compensates for the loss of my job in the accident, and indeed also for my reduced memory, tendency to tears, inability to multitask and general mental slowness. Don't get me wrong though - I am a happy chappy !!

My Garmin file shows 2,392 metres total ascent. 

[Bairdy]

I have a Garmin file but it's up in my hotel bedroom on the Garmin on the bike, and I'm downstairs using the free Wi-Fi, and eating lots..... 

I'll post the total ascent figure later.

By finishing yesterday it must mean you've got your veteran's award and not satisfied with that, just to make sure you put another 200k in today....Well Done Mike

Provided recent rides validate, my calculations say I have exceeded the previous Veterans Points record.

Success like this buoys me up, and compensates for the loss of my job in the accident, and indeed also for my reduced memory, tendency to tears, inability to multitask and general mental slowness. Don't get me wrong though - I am a happy chappy !!

My Garmin file shows 2,392 metres total ascent. 

I, like most people here have only known the post accident Mikey.
I would never have guessed that you'd been impeded. Sharper than me mate. 
What you've achieved this year is staggering.
RIDE ON !

[drossall]

Really enjoyed the (June) 2017 edition of the Down the Ups, even though I was definitely a full value rider. Views over the Downs were amazing in the first half. I really like the climb from Ashampstead; even I can get a rhythm going on that.

Around the Cleres, a number of us saw a large number of club groups going the other way. Apparently they were on the Chase the Sun event, which I'd never heard of before; I stopped on the same corner as one group, and asked.

They seemed to be keeping in their groups and evenly spread at intervals of several minutes. Not quite sure how they did that.

[Martin]

Really struggled on Up the Downs 200; mainly from overheating on every climb and having to stop half way up in a shady spot (where there was one) but fantastic views and a great route.

thanks Phil and helpers

[Bobbinogs]

Yes, i thought this was a stunning ride but I also struggled in the heat, specially on that long 3rd section.  I wouldn't normally stop at a control only ~35km from the end but the little village hall appeared like an oasis through a shimmering mirage.  Lovely and cool with plenty of squash.  I still got the hydration completely wrong and had to quaff 4 pints of fluid after the ride before I could check that all parts were still in working order

Rode in a nice small group with Mark and Gary, although finishing just outside of 8 hours showed that this one was a little trickier than planned (my Garmin showed 8,500ft of climbing, which is a little generous but, tbf, I had enough of going uphill in the unbearable heat by the end).

Well organised, so on reflection I am a little surprised there weren't more out given that the 200 really is such a lovely route.  Hopefully see more out next time 

[Neil C]

Lovely ride on Saturday. The route took me to plenty of areas new to me with fantastic views. I felt fine to Shrivenham but the heat and the hills afterwards became a bit of a challenge. I have never drunk so much on a bike ride and stopped for an icecream in Great Bedwyn. The control at Ashmansworth was wonderful and felt more like an arrivee - lots of food and drink was consumed but finally I had to push on to the real finish.

A definite full-value day with most of the 300k riders home before I got there.

Thanks to Phil and all his crew, I'll be back for more and hoping for a cooler day.