Up the 'Uts 200km 12th March 2011

[PloddinPedro]

Having left it a bit late to post my entry, I'm not expecting the routesheet back in the post until the eleventh hour, leaving little time to fettle a GPS track. Does anyone who's entered have a 200km routesheet yet and can tell me if it's the same as the 2010 version?

I didn't actually ride it last year but I've picked up a Bikely track for 2010 which I could perhaps use.

[Greenbank]

I can email a PDF of the routesheet if required (I'd have to go scan it first...).

drossall also got an electronic copy of the routesheet from the organiser by emailing them, might be worth PMing him or emailing the organiser.

If you're talking about the route uploaded to bikely by coll_coll then it looks pretty much the same, I've got a minor difference on leg 2. My plot goes straight down Clay Lane to the B1057 after Stebbing rather than joining after Duck End/Lindsell but that may be down to my reading of the routesheet.

Leg 3 is the same.

The only difference on Leg 4 is that I do less of the B1039 after Arkesden by turning left then right down Long Lane to join the B1039.

[PloddinPedro]

Many thanks GB and good suggestions. I'll try an e-mail to Terry Anderson and drossall. It's helpful to know the route is basically the same - I guess all I really need to know is that the controls are in the same places!

[drossall]

There's a generic 'Uts Audaxes thread.

I believe that Greenbank is wrong on the Stebbing question. Whitehouse Road is definitely the minor road as soon as you get into Stebbing, going past Whitehouse Farm, and emerging east of the turning off the B1057 to Lindsell. You don't go back through Stebbing proper. I've done it on loads of Audaxes. I agree about Arkesden though. That said, I haven't looked at Bikely - I'm just commenting on the post above.

[Greenbank]

Yep, a re-read of the routesheet agrees with drossall (and coll_coll's bikely route around Stebbing).

Need to redo my routes just in case...

[Greenbank]

On my own tomorrow, friend pulled out with a chest infection.

Will be on the 6:58 from Liverpool St to Elsenham.

[PloddinPedro]

On my own tomorrow, friend pulled out with a chest infection.

Will be on the 6:58 from Liverpool St to Elsenham.

Bring good weather, please!

[Greenbank]

Morning.

[Greenbank]

Back home.

Finished in 11h20. Not bad given it was 16km over distance and I got a puncture in the middle of nowhere (between Manuden and R*ckl*ng Gr**n, just 5km from the finish). My time passing the 200km mark was 10h09, not too shabby for me, especially in March; my plan had been to faff less, bounce more controls and not get comfy in the 'Ut.

Rode on and off with lots of great people; YACFers, PBP anciens, esteemed organisers and first timers.

Cracking weather, bit of a headwind on the Southerly sections but nice and dry. Bike behaved (despite it's neglect and maltreatment).

Good route (Thaxted and R*ckl*ng Gr**n both visited twice) and absolutely fantastic care and attention at the 'Ut. Many thanks to the organiser and all of the volunteers.

[bazzerp]

"Good route (Thaxted and R*ckl*ng Gr**n both visited twice) and absolutely fantastic care and attention at the 'Ut. Many thanks to the organiser and all of the volunteers."

Only did the 100, but service at the UTS was superb - thanks to all of you.

[dasmoth]

Emily and I made a tandem attempt at the 150 (and Emily's first step up from 100s).  Supposedly, this route only goes to Thaxted once.  However, this clearly caused so much cognitive dissonance that I misread by GPS and made a detour to add an additional visit on the outward part of the first loop.  Said detour added about 20km, and although some hard-ish riding got us to the Stisted with time to spare, it did take its toll and we were both flagging as we returned to the 'ut.

A couple of slices of apple pie restored spirits, but not quite enough that an extra 50k (mostly on very familiar roads) seemed like a good idea, so we packed the bike up and called it a day with 130k ridden.  Nevertheless, a great day on the bike, nice route, and good food on offer both at Stisted and HQ.  We'll finish off the second loop (which passed within a couple of miles of home) some other time.

[MattH]

I rode the 100k with Adam (who is 13). It's his first 100k since doing the London Sightseer about 18 months ago.
We started off badly - having to stop to sort out a rattly rear mudguard (loose bolt on the brake bridge - his bike has cantis so the brakes were fine), then his front derailleur which had somehow got stuck on the big ring (a hard push, it clicked, and started working normally). Both had been fine on a shakedown ride last weekend.

Anyway, we dropped off the back and so started riding mainly alone. It was a good day to be out, except for a bit of a headwind - possibly the first sustained one Adam has ridden into. We did reel in some people, and got back to HQ for the 64km control with 45 minutes in hand (having been overtaken by HK stoking a tandem trike - I think she was on the 150). It took longer there than I'd hoped, as they managed to forget our bacon butties 

The second loop had several roads we'd ridden on earlier Uts rides, so was fairly familiar to both of us. We rode alone again round this, but did occasionally run into people doing the 200k. We finished off with 30 minutes in hand, so quite a leisurely ride, and saw a few people at the finish (Greenbank, Mr & Mrs Blacksheep etc.).

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Sorry MattH, HK's brevets are generally measured in multiples of 200 km (except for those pesky 300s). Assasin and HK got rather close to full value on their ride.

[MattH]

HK's distance was a pure guess based on who else seemed to be around at the time. I know she usually rides longer than that (I think the KVR is the first time I've seen her on anything shorter than a 600), but this was the first time I'd seen her on the back of a tandem trike. In fact, I didn't actually realise who it was until she'd gone past, and didn't have a chat.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

No dramas. I'm not surprised you'd not seen her on a tandem trike, it was her first spin on one for about 15 years.

[Bendy Bianchi]

Well the sun was out, the sky was blue, the roads were clean and I watched one of the 150km riders have the last slice of apple pie just as I got in, grrr.  Apparently they made 80 portions but were sold out by 5pm. By far my quickest 200 for many months, a shade over 8.5 hours.

The half time entertainment was provided by the groupette of club riders who latched on to us for the first 50km (I won't comment that it would have been nice for more than just a couple of them to have been so willing to share the work) - they bounced through the first control (lovely bread pudding, I can never resist stopping there) and quickly realised that not one of them had a routesheet - there were sightings of them going in varous random directions for hours afterwards...

Does anyone know Terrys email, I was going to email him with some suggestions for making the route a little less overdistance (not that it bothers me personally, though I did slice a few km off the route by using local knowledge to pick both a nicer and shorter route after the airfield).

[BlackSheep]

As fate (the kitchen calendar) would have it, Mrs BlacSeep and I were in that part of the world.

So we did the 200, it was Lou's first ride of this distance since last July and as it was a looping ride, there was always the option of a bale-out should things prove too much. I was helped around by Lucy and Dick McTaggart, and Lou's faultless navigation.

I really enjoy enjoy this part of Essex - having spent a week's holiday there last year, the pretty rolling scenery lived-up to expectation.

Good to see Matt H, Greenbank and other YACfs there also.

A big thank you to Terry and his team of helpers - they were on the go from Friday evening to Sunday morning breakfast. Relentlessly supporting the riders - above and beyond the call of duty.

I struggled from about 180km, a combination of over-stretching myself on the previous 200k and a change in water.

[drossall]

I enjoyed my ride but abandoned the 200 at half distance

My first puncture was approaching Fairstead church. I had just linked up with some other riders, but lost them again while I stopped. Various others came past as well, Greenbank included. I didn't lose that much time but, by the time I got to Stisted, I was with the tail enders and the 150 riders were beginning to catch us. (Oh, and I got stopped at the level crossing with another rider as well.)

From Stisted to Great Bardfield, I was chasing a group of six and having a good ride.

The second puncture was approaching Thaxted. I stopped to change it part way down the hill into the town. Various people passed saying "Not again?!"

Again the delay was not long, but I found myself barely moving from there back to the HQ. Probably overdid it earlier...

Now I have to decide whether to enter the Stevenage 200 or drop back to the 100.