Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => Topic started by: aidan.f on 05 March, 2011, 03:44:53 pm
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Hi all,
Got the route sheet today and renewed my knowledge of the ride, below link to bike hike I like to share...
FWIW I won't be going through Coxhoe, no need to visit the paper shop. :)
bikehike.co.uk - Course Creator (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?lnk=http://www.gremlyn.f9.co.uk/ah_files/Gilpins_Gallop.gpx)
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Doesn't look like many takers for this.I'm hoping to start at B'bridge end. Where are you starting ,Sleepy?Any one else partaking?
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Sleepy (I imagine) will be starting at the Houghton le Spring end, same as me.
Joe reckons there are 30 people doing the 200 from HLS, 20 from BB, and 20 more riding the 100 from HLS.
I'll wave to you again as we pass on the A167.
There was a but of discussion on the My First Audax thread, but I don't think anyone mentioned riding the 200 - probably Flat Eart Bob and AndyC will be there, though.
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Davey Babey and Les are riding from BB.
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Of course they are. I shouldn't have forgotten them..
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and Stevie Wonder
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I think David Tennant is more appropriate for him.
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Hello all,
This is my first posting here & Gilpins Gallop 200 will be my first Audax.. Just getting my bike ready etc.
I have a few daft questions for you, if any of you have a mo to share your wisdom...
How much do people usually carry on a 200 Audax? Carradice saddle bag or just everything stuffed into jersey pockets?
How much food do you carry? Do you pick up a lot on the way?
I'm running 20mm tyres at the moment. Too skinny?
Do you bother carrying bike locks, I never bother on club runs, any need whilst doing a 200 audax?
I got no mudguards - bad move? bad etiquette?
Ta
Ian
BTW I'm riding a steel Joe Waugh with Campag 8 speed, compact 50-34, 13-26, upgrades include rust spots, paint chips, gaffer tape
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You shoud carry what you are comfortable with. If you'd ridden for 8 or more hours before you'll know what you need to take. You can stop to buy food if you need more, or you may prefer to pedal on and eat on the hoof. I tend to do both as I like to have a breather every few hours.
Take a lock, the Boroughbridge control is at Morrisons so it'll be far too easy for someone to load a bike into a car and drive off. No mudguards ? OK if it's dry, bad form if it's wet.
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Evening p&l!
I rode Gilpin's Gallop as my first audax a couple of years ago - among the bikes parked outside were skinny-wheeled full carbon Colnagos, so I don't think your 20mm tyres will be an issue. However, for comfort you might prefer to fit something a bit wider. It's all about personal preference, comfort and what you're used to - I'll have 23mm tyres on mine.
I'd recommend carrying the same tools you'd usually have on a club run, i.e. at least enough to fix a puncture. I'll probably take my Carradice, but I rode it last year with just a wee saddlepack.
I'd recommend a wee cafe lock, for fastening your bike outside the controls in Boroughbridge and especially Middleton-St-George. You might be OK leaving it, but there'll be plenty of non-cycling people about, so I wouldn't take the chance myself.
For food, you may need nowt along the way, as this year there'll be a feed stop at Girsby with bacon sarnies and cake, as well as the Morrison's at Boroughbridge. Most people carry an emergency something, e.g. a gel or flapjack.
No mudguards - no problem, really. People will probably take the piss if it rains ;)
I'll be on a red (fixed) Dave Yates. See you there.
ETA: Gah. MSeries has beaten me to most of this.
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No card or routesheet here yet.
Presumably Snipling Pollag will go to the wire in this area as until the cards arrive in Newbottle they and the route sheets cannot be posted to us down south. I guess it's only Tuesday, four more days to go.
AC
I can send you the upside down version of mine, Andy (which arrived on Saturday).
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Sniplig card & Route sheet arrived this pm :thumbsup:
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Thanks for the tips Mseries & Deano.. Bacon sarnies and cake? Spoilt rotten we are! Looking forward to it.. see you on Sunday
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Andy C, my card arrived today and I am 100k south of Joe. 5k from B'bridge.
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Hello there madcow! I'm not riding this but it would be good to ride with you again. Are you doing the Wiggy 300 or the Lincoln this year?
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Funny you should mention it, I have just printed the forms for both this evening.Just waiting for an appropriate time to mention it in conversation. I can get out for Pollag ride as its on my doorstep and it would be rude not to ride it.
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I may be helping on one of the controls, so say hello if you see me!
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I may be helping on one of the controls, so say hello if you see me!
Excellent :thumbsup:
Nigel did put out the batsignal. Mine's a bacon sarnie, and I aim to be the first one there ;)
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Twas heavy rain in '07 on the way back wasn't it ? Nigel had the towels ready. Me ? no you'll not be seeing me.
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It was heavy rain but crucially the wind was behind us going back from B'Bridge.It was cold though ,one guy wearing racing gear (ie lightweight rain jacket) came into Girsby almost on the brink of hypothermia. I dont think he was fit enough to finish. forecat at mo is cloudy with outbreaks of rain. Typical for March.
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It was heavy rain but crucially the wind was behind us going back from B'Bridge.It was cold though ,one guy wearing racing gear (ie lightweight rain jacket) came into Girsby almost on the brink of hypothermia. I dont think he was fit enough to finish. forecat at mo is cloudy with outbreaks of rain. Typical for March.
Nigel came round for a cuppa today and told me about that chap. No, he didn't finish.
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Weather - acceptable. A bit wet going south, but it was clearing after Northallerton, dry by Topcliffe and sunny by the time I was in Boroughbridge.
Route: same as ever. The surfaces were a bit..grumbly, and the A167 around Topcliffe won't be anyone's favourite road, but daffs were just starting to perk up around the lovely crossing of the Tees at Dinsdale, and the lanes between Topcliffe and Boroughbridge are rather pleasant, with skylarks and lapwings and buzzards darting and circling.
Controls - excellent. The double stop at Girsby made the ride for me, as it was a chance to catch up with the Boroughbridge starters, it came at about the right time in the ride to break up the legs, bacon sandwiches on the way south, quiche, fruitcake and teacake on the way north. It was a real surprise to people who'd only ridden £25 sportives before (and been too far down the field to get any food at the controls) that this sort of thing was possible for £6 a head. Beautiful helpers as well :-*
I wound up riding on my own for much of it, as I got a bit carried away at the start and tried to keep up with the tandems. Ah well, I had a good chatter with some new and some familar faces at the controls, and at the end. I must have looked more knackered than I felt, as Joe offered me beans on toast back at Newbottle :thumbsup:
Good to see everyone again, and a pleasure to meet partsandlabour. First qualifer done.
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Well thats my first Audax all done and dusted.
First 20k were rubbish riding in a group of five we had three p**ctur**s and some fool manged to topple over at a set of traffic lights (that would be me :facepalm:)
Oh and it was raining.
Once we got all of that out of the way and the rain stopped it became an excellent ride, other than the bunch sprint that was required to get us to the mid point control in time.
However once there I have to say I was mighty impressed; soup, bacon sarnies, quiche, cake, flapjack and tea who could ask for more. (Thanks to Mike for lending us the spare Inner Tubes)
For the return journey the the sun came out and everthing was grand. Got back to the finish well within time to be greated with more tea and cake.
I have to say everyone we met in the controls and everyone who passed us on the road were ultra friendly and it made the experience really great. I am still not sure about one of our group having his feet in the armpits of one of the helpers at the Newbottle control, it however it did warm them up......... ;)
Am I hooked yet, well I am not sure will I back, definetely.
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Sleepy went and bought new socks at Morrison's, his feet were that cold. He seems to have a thing for socks. Mind you, my toes were pretty numb by that point too. The only regret I had was not putting on the overshoes which I took with me, but left at Newbottle.
Glad you had a good first ride, K10. Hopefully I'll see you on the Chevy.
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Well that was my first audax as well. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I got the routesheet I realised that route finding was not going to be an issue. The section from Newbottle to Sedgefield was all part of my regular tootle from home routes for summer evenings. I rode the entire time with Crusty who kept me on the straight and narrow, persuading me not to take the flat railway line shortcut which avoids Black Boy Bank at Moorsley on the way home (and its not me who is being un-PC here - The Black Boy is the name of the pub half way up...). Crusty knew the southern half of the 100k route that I was unfamiliar with. Our route finding abilities were somewhat complementary.
The food and support were excellent. It was good to see Lindagordinho again at Girsley. Her bacon butties can't be surpassed. However, I have to admit, I think the highlight of the trip was probably the decadent diversion to No. 4 in Sedgefield for cream cakes and afternoon tea on the way back to Newbottle. I've never actually done a sportive, but I suspect that sort of activity en-route might be frowned upon.
What did feel strange after was re-riding the part of the route to get back home (I live within 2 miles of the route. As Crusty wasn't with me - I cheated and took the railway line home. I couldn't see any point in gratuitously wandering up Black Boy Bank for the 3rd time when there is an alternative route which is not only shorter but also totally flat...
At the end of the day - I think I can say that I'm definitely up for more, but it may be a little time before I progress from 100km. I'll need to get a few more miles in first. So the count down starts now for my second audax - Fountains' Monky-business. I also need to start looking for the audax after that (and no, Deano - I'm not available this year for the Kilhope Grimpeur - just give me time to think of an excuse).
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Rode all the way with Lanternrouge and saw you, deano between Sadberge and Sedgefield.Surface on the stretch from Smeaton to Busby stoop was rough enough to slow us down a bit as was the head/side wind .At least the stretch to Topcliffe was smooth.
Had to put tail lights on just before B'bridge just to be safe but pleased with my time.Great food at controls.Thanks to all at Girsby esp lindagordino of this parish, Nigel and also those at Newbottle who must have had quite a long day.
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Slowcoach, could I interest you in a nice little ride through northern France in late August? Otherwise there's what could be the Dales Grimpeur's last year.
More seriously, there's the Wiggy 200 coming up and the Wiggy 100 and 300 shortly after that. Interested?
[EDIT: Actually, the Dales Grimpeur has a 140km option as well as the 180 and 200km rides. That would suit you, no?]
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Or a nice 160 km:
event detail (http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/11-197/)
A bit hilly for a while, but an easy finish from Ripon to Richmond. You'd enjoy the Killhope, though...
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Beautiful helpers as well :-*
Thanks to all at Girsby esp lindagordino of this parish, Nigel and also those at Newbottle who must have had quite a long day.
Full marks to Nigel Hall & Lindagordinho for the food and Mike McGeever for the paperwork @ Girsby.
The food and support were excellent. It was good to see Lindagordinho again at Girsley. Her bacon butties can't be surpassed.
Awww, thanks you guys. It was lovely to see everyone.
It was good fun helping out. I accidentally took all the leftover cake home. Never mind eh?
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I spent the end of last week trying to work out whether I'd entered this or not! I coulndt find my cheque book , but thought I had entered. Was away on Thursday and Friday and didnt check with organiser ( which I should have done really) because was really busy. As it got to the end of the week and no card or routesheet or anything had turned up I assumed I hadnt entered.
Guess what turned up 5 minutes ago in the post :(
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I heartilly second all of the praise that has been heaped so far! Yesterday's 200 was great.. my first audax.
Great to meet some new folk. Thanks to all who organised and manned the controls. The bacon sarnie at Girsby was the best I've had in a while.
Thanks to the NE31 tri club lads for the pace coming back from Girsby which helped me spin my heavy legs.
I'll be back for more - a great day with great people! :thumbsup:
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This was my opening ride for the season. Despite Goretex lined boots my feet were quickly soaked and frozen. Should have worn the Sealskins. At Girsby I wrung out my socks which improved things.
Early season cockups. Forgot to fill waterbottle at the half way turn. Worse still bought a sarnie at the finish to get a receipt and promptly forgot my receipt. Fortunately had to buy petrol before the journey home, so used that receipt to prove my finish. It was about 30 minutes after I'd finished but no matter.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and echo the praise for the organisers and helpers without whom there'd be no event.
Thanks to Madcow for his company throughout the day.
Knees are a bit rough today and I have a strange clicking sensation in my ankle. Suggested cure? Deano's DIY 300k next week ;D
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Many thanks to all who made Sniplig a brilliant audax. Superb controls! I'll definitely be back for more (cake). :thumbsup:
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A great ride, good weather and even better controls. Thanks to the organiser and the helpers at Girsby who provided a production line of excellent cycling type scran at just the right times.
I tried my first sportive a couple of weeks ago - the Christmas Cracker, from Grasmere. Cost a lot more, there wasn't the same socialising maybe because numbers were much bigger, and the only difference seemed to be that riders didn't need to navigate because there were signs at all the junctions and marshalls at a couple of main road crossings.
So why do people pay so much to do sportives when there are so many good audax rides available ?
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People ride sportives are heavily promoted as there is money to be made!
Some people also think if it's free or cheap it may not be as good - full carbon/titanium and the law of diminishing returns all applies.
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And how many sportives have their own beer?
Mmmm, beer. (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=109463)
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And how many sportives have their own beer?
Mmmm, beer. (http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=109463)
I used to know someone else's Church Times login but it appears he's stopped subscribing or changed his password. You'll have to tell the rest of us what's in that article.
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Ah.
I forgot my permanent login. Sorry. ::-)
Someone has commissioned a Gilpin's Ale from the Durham Brewery to commemorate Bernard Gilpin, rector of Houghton-le-Spring, in 1557 (ie nearly four o'clock, which is beer time).
Which is nice.
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So why do people pay so much to do sportives when there are so many good audax rides available ?
Sshhhh! Don't want too many Sportivo Types catching on - it would be no fun when the occasional audax overlaps with a Sportive!
2 years ago, the Chirk 200 clashed with the route of The Cheshire Cat. There were a load of Dulwich Paragoners on their whayte caarbon blingery who we caught. Fine, until Chris Wilby from Huddersfield parish had the audaxity to pass them on his Airnimal, with rear panniers. :smug:
"Strewth mate - we've just been taken out by a club run and a blorke on a shoppa! Can't 'ave that."
They gave chase and got ahead for about 400 yds, until the unrelenting endurance of an 'ardened randonnuer saw them off.
Such joy! :thumbsup:
T'was the same on Hartside 200 a few years back, overhauling the Etape Du Dales. I recall odd expressions from a chap on a carbon Wilier, as Tigger's Taxi, replete with rack-pack and nodding Tigger, and my goodself saw them off on a long climb before our routes parted, near Appleby.
Besides, there are enough Audax riders without muddies these days. ::-)
Don't want any more if we can avoid it, if we are to keep getting wet rides in 2011. (This was the 3rd on the trot). :'(
Sadly, I haven't got the legs to get ahead (never mind stay ahead) of Flat Earth Bob, so am otherwise perpetually at risk of riding in a private rainstorm, or on my own, just off the back...
That said, forecast looking good for "Rosies to Wrags" and "the Red Rose" 200s this weak-end. :thumbsup: