Tour of the Southern Shires 400 - Sat

[Bagman]

Looks like it is going to be very windy early on and wet.
40+mph Westerlys forecast.

[kegere]

Looks like it is going to be very windy early on and wet.
40+mph Westerlys forecast.

After The Dean I was hoping for more pleasant conditions this weekend, at least it is not a Northerly.

[iscunonove]

The forecast is not quite so bad now. Still strong westerly but drier. Wind not so strong inland so should avoid the worst of it.

[postie]

49 riders went up the road this morning( out of a entry of 90!)  wind seems to be dying and the sun is out now......
2 riders packed early on....... I guess the rest are still battling northwards.

Opening the finish at 10pm ,going to be a long shift through the night.

[JBB]

I'm out. Home now, wasn't feeling great and after being blown into the middle of the road - lots - and one clipless moment decided enough was enough. Bon courage to those of you left out there. You should fly after the turn.

Julia

[Bagman]

The wind was brutal and cold.  Bailed out at 230km when I ran out of inner tubes. It was too dark and cold to attempt a repair on the roadside. A Good Samaritan farmer stopped to help but could not get the bike in his car. So he went home and came back with his pick up truck and then helped me find a hotel. He also offered to put me up in one of his holiday cottages, free of charge, if I could not find a hotel room. What a gent. Found a hotel in  Buckingham.  After a nights rest, breakfast and 2 repaired inner tubes  I had a 170km ride to get back to my car.  Met my wife on route for 2 new inner tubes and a battery pack.  Arrived at Rowlands Castle 13hrs later than planned.  Some of the down hills on the return must have tricky at night.

[kegere]

That was a long, tough day. Having a large crosswind for nearly the full length of a 400k was a new experience,  it only eased in the last few hours.

Pretty lonely for large parts of the ride, one ride passed me shortly after Thame (128km remaining). I seemed to fall neatly into a gap between faster riders and the others I passed who were still heading for the turning point.

Luckily I found a bus shelter with around 30km to go and had a 5min nap, enough for me to feel much refreshed. Very glad I'd packed a down jacket, wished I'd stopped and put it on earlier rather than at Kingsclere.

If anyone wants to know when the next storm is due a worrying trend is forming:

Storm Erik: 200
Storm Gareth: 300
Storm Hannah: 400

Thanks to Paul and the helpers who were waiting to greet us in Arrivee.

[iscunonove]

If anyone wants to know when the next storm is due a worrying trend is forming:

Storm Erik: 200
Storm Gareth: 300
Storm Hannah: 400

You're not doing BCM are you?
Thanks too from me to the team at Rowlands Castle. It was great to arrive back to some hot food.

[postie]

Result's. Now on the auk website ( provisional)  well done to all that rode and thanks for the good feed back about the route.