Marlborough Connection 200

On Monday, I decided I would ride the ‘Marlborough Connection 200’. This was a 205k permanent audax event organised by Nik Windle. I had hoped to cycle this same event last week. I was excited about cycling this event, as I’m sure I had read that the route passed one of the famous Wiltshire White Horses and passed Sibury Hill too – am not sure where I read this and could not find a source to confirm same. Guessed the best thing to do was ride it and find out for myself!

The ride started from Woodstock, a pretty area that I had cycled to recently during the ‘Banbury Cross’ and ‘Cotswold and Thames’ events. I started a little later than I had wanted to as the M40 traffic (to get to start) was horrific. The roads were lovely from the start and remained that way till the end. This really was a lovely route. A map of my route is presented below, and as you can see it forms the shape of a heart.

I told my wife SJ, that the route was this heart-shape as I was thinking about her the whole time. I saw lots of ‘white horses’ early on during this first stage. These white horses were pointing to bridleways. Horses for courses – I sped down this valley called ‘Race Horse Valley’ and even with a head wind reached speeds of about 60kph!

The first control was in Hungerford. I stopped to get a bank statement for POP and eat a bag of nuts. Whilst I was munching away, a random guy asked if he could take my photo. This ‘random guy’, was a photographer called Geoff Hawkins. Geoff explained to me he was doing a project where he would photograph a stranger each day for 365 days. He gave me a card with details of his website and said to check there later and see my picture. His website can be found here: www.365strangers.co.uk I checked (once at home) and my picture was not there, it appears Geoff prefers to publish pictures of the ladies… Engaged in conversation for a short while with Geoff about bike related stuff. I told him my next stop would be Wootton Bassett – he informed me that it is now called ‘Royal’ Wootton Bassett. Without further ado, I left for Royal Wootton Bassett.

Beautiful roads took me from Hungerford all the way to the next control. Despite not being an overly hilly route, undulations were frequently encountered. A representation of the profile is shown below:

Whilst cycling on top of one valley, I’m sure I could see what looked like West Kennet Avenue – a series of standing stones all in a row. The stones (if indeed that’s what they were) were too far out to really see or photograph, but it really did make me wonder. After reaching the top of this valley, whoosh - it sure enough descended big time. 

As I flew down the hill, something made me turn around. Not sure what made me turn my head, but I’m so gald I did because I spotted what must be the Marlborough White Horse. Yay! I found the horse but did not spot Silbury Hill at all.

After cycling about a further 10k, I reached the control. Geoff was right, I had reached ‘Royal’ Wootton Bassett. Wootto Bassett deserved it’s royal status as it was such a pretty area. I stopped at a café for lunch – beans and scrambled eggs on toast on this occasion.

Leaving Royal Wootton Bassett I headed for Lechlade. The previous headwind was now a lovely tailwind. This ride just kept improving all the while! Stopped in Calmsden just to answer the info control. Last post Monday to Friday was 4.15 p.m!

Just before reaching control in Lechlade, I met Bill at Hatherop. Or was it Ben? I don’t know, perhaps I’ll meet him again?!

Left Lechlade and had thoughts of previous events again as have now cycled much around these parts. During this stage, I stopped on 3 occasions to take photographs. I stopped because I witnessed a group of deer. Is that called a ‘herd’?! (The deer may have been spotted earlier, I really can't recall).

I witnessed a fantastic rainbow. In fact, I saw a double rainbow at one point. This made me think about God and his wonderful creation and promises.

I also stopped at a place called ‘The Barringtons’, to answer the info control. A chap called P.I. Hands was remembered on some memorial. I doubt I will remember that name for long. I will remember this ride for a long time!

The last 15k was menace. The heavens opened and I got drenched and looked like a drowned rat. Despite this, I actually enjoyed it and had a great days ride. Reached Woodstock feeling great. I had cycled 206k on fantastic roads with great weather up until the last 15k. This ride took me 10 hours and 11 minutes and was hard to believe so much fantastic road could be ridden for that length of time. Perhaps I’ll ride this one again…

End of another week

My final training ride for last week was a single-speed MTB jolly. I was hoping to ride another 200k audax (The ‘Marlborough Connection 200’) with Chris Hodge, but the Southern Fairies had wreaked havoc with the weather and Chris was suffering with his ‘hydrophobia’ again, so this ride didn’t happen. I could have cycled that audax alone but by then I had lost my mojo.

My final ride was fun all the same even though certain tragedy happened. I had decided to take ‘Queenie’, my single-speed MTB out for a blast. The route I took is presented below:

Whilst I was following familiar paths across ‘naughty fields’, the back wheel suddenly locked tight and threw me off. It took me a while to find out what was wrong – the rear disc brakes was preventing the wheel from moving and it looked like the spring was jammed. Even though I was only 7k from home, I didn’t fancy walking back so I pulled (removed) the said spring but that didn’t work. It transpired that one of the 2 bolts holding the disc brake ‘thing’ to the frame had gone AWOL. I re-positioned the disc brake ‘thing’ and continued on my journey deciding not to use the rear brake. (Am not sure of the real damage or repairability of this issue).

Still wanting to cycle further (originally had plans of cycling a hilly 50k, my mojo was still absent) I continued on to the ‘Breadcrumb Trail’ and cycled a lap of that. Quite difficult with no rear brake. Following this, I cycled up towards ‘Stag Hill’ and was overtaken by 2 younger road cyclists. I could see that they had slowed right down once the hill was encountered and so raced them up the hill and beat them both to the summit. I then re-traced my path to the beginning (end) of the bridleway that leads through the woods on the left.

I forget what these woods are called, but Ron (and possibly John V) and I have cycled through them before. More often than not, the track is very wet and muddy. This time around it was mostly ok, but still a little quagmire-like in places. On one stretch it was real mean and I came clean off the bike and landed in some terrible thorns which cut through my jacket. Grr.

Once out of these woods, I continued home via Great Alne and Coughton, using as many off-road tracks that I could find. I completed my return to Studley by cycling through Jill Lane (just to be different). Despite having a damaged bike and damaged jacket, I had a whole lot of fun. Perhaps none of this would have happened if I cycled the Mrlborough Connection 200…

Managed to cycle 456k this week. Was pleased as that was 56k over my LEL training target (despite wanting to cycle 600k). My yearly distance to date now stands at 3,880k.

Oh, I would like to end this blog with a big, big thanks to all those who have sponsored me so early on. My friends are family, you are so generous and it means so much to me. At least 2 of you have donated over £50 (one a whopping £100) and that will make such a difference to people’s lives that the Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund is supporting. Thank you!

Please sponsor Doo's cycling MADness

A certain Sister Tracey Pearson asked me to write an article for the Studley Ecclesial Newsletter about 'Why I like cycling'. This would fill up a page in the newsletter and plug folk to sponsor me for my planned epic cycle ride in the summer, raising funds for the Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund (CMaD).  I was more than happy to oblige.

So, why do I enjoy cycling? I would love to say 'it's because I'm good at it', but sadly this is not the case. Perhaps folk will re-call my many cycling accidents and subsequent trips to hospital over the past so-many years. On 2 particular mis-haps I managed to lose my teeth. (I'm sure Aid Payne remembers the first incident - he caused it by allegedly sticking a twig in my spokes. Ron Pinfield is sure to remember the last incident, he allegedly pushed me off my bike, attempted to divert emergency ambulance and left me for dead, whilst he went in search of breakfast).

Perhaps I like cycling because I'm a health freak?! Absolutely not - when one considers my diet this becomes an obvious joke (food is fuel though, remember that). Maybe it's because I like to push myself above and beyond my limits, enduring suffering, pain and complex hallucinations (Sarah Jane can remember when I saw dinosaurs on one trip).

Truth is, I love cycling for a number of reasons. These reasons include the fact that cycling enables me to meditate, providing an 'outlet' if you like. Cycling allows me to witness the wonders of God's creation and utilise all the senses that He has blessed me with. For sure, I do like to push my limits too, and there's no need to convince anyone that I'm as MAD as a fish.

I'm hoping to put a lot of this MADness to good use and really Make A Difference. I am hoping to Make A Difference by raising monies for the Meal A Day fund and cycling like MAD for about 116 hours.

This summer, I will be 1 of 1,000 riders from 33 countries that will cycle over 1,400 kilometres from London to Edingburgh and back again in under 5 days! I will ride through some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain, relying on my own self-sufficiency, camaraderie, and the hospitality of hundreds to complete this epic cycling challenge.

Please help Make A Difference by donating to my MAD cause - the Meal A Day fund! The Christadelphian Meal-A-Day is a volunteer run charity working to provide clean water, food, agricultural development, basic education and basic healthcare in many less developed parts of the world.

You can sponsor me and this worthy cause by clicking onto this link, which will take you to my JustGiving website: http://www.justgiving.com/doorideslel

Thank you!

Banbury Cross 200 (May 2013)

Decided to do a back-to-back 200, as part of my LEL training. This was basically a 200k audax event followed by another 200k audax event the following day. Yesterday I completed 'The Cheltenham Olde Folks 200' and today I completed the 'Banbury Cross 200'.

The 'Banbury Cross 200' is definitely one of my favourite 200k audax events. It's a great route virtually completely on lanesy roads. This was the third time I had completed it. (First time was with Aid. The second run was a solo affair. Chris Hodge and I recently completed the 'Cotswold and Thames 200' event too which was considered to be a variation of said event - in my opinion, it doesn't really compare).

As per usual (for me), I started the event from the Broadway control. It was a warm start but the skies were grey and a few drops of rain landed on me during the first few k. Starting in Broadway was a good idea - some (most) of the hills were conquered early on. Passing through Winchcombe was a pleasant experience and then the descent that followed Cleeve Hill was great too. I didn't reach my fastest speed descending down the other side of Cleeve Hill because traffic was jammed (school hour, I think).  I reached Cheltenham and felt this was going to be a good ride.

Leaving Cheltenham and the second hill was battled - Lilleybrook Hill. Once again, when the summit was reached, I was rewarded with a zoomy descent. Lovely roads took me all the way to Cirencester.

From Cirencester the route continued on nice roads. My previous attempts to find the bridleway that leads to Cricklade had failed. This time, I had partial success. I found a bridleway, but it wasn't the correct one as this was like single track and not tarmac as the route sheet stated. However, after so long this bridleway became tarmac and did lead to Cricklade! For future reference, I need to take 'the next' bridge along that crosses over the A419!

As I cycled from Cricklade, I thought about the 'great aviation disaster' at Fairford which I informed Chris about on our last audax. Am not sure if my tale is true or a yarn to be fair, but am sure elements of it were correct?! Just outside RAF Brize Norton, another disaster had taken place. Not sure what this disaster was but police and ambulance were everywhere. I didn't pay too much attention and instead sped on to Witney, as this would be my food stop. I stopped at the self same cafe that Aid and I stopped at on our first trip and ordered a huge delicious breakfast. Yummers!

Witney to Bicester was a lovely stage. I liked passing over river, canal and train track in quick succession. Bicester was a pretty area too where one is supposed to 'walk' to the shops for POP purposes. Oh well...

Bicester lead to Banbury. And in Banbury was the Banbury Cross, the 'thing', I guess, this audax was named after. I didn't take a photo of the cross, instead I took a photo of the white (grey) horse with the fair lady upon it. Shame she had her back turned to me.

Not sure of the frog's significance, but I took a photo of that too.

The route from Banbury back to Broadway was certainly undulating in nature and quite demanding on my tired legs. I forgot how hilly this section was. The climbs were rewarded with super descents though - I reached speeds of over 70kph! After reaching Chipping Campden, with just about 5k to go, the heaves opened and I got drenched! I didn't mind too much, this had been a great ride and made up for yesterdays not-so-great event. I cycled a total of 201k in under 10 hours (9 hours 57 mins). And on my return home, SJ cooked me up another top dish (lamb casserole), bless her! Maybe I should cycle more often?!

Cheltenham Olde Folks 200

Started the week by cycling a new-to-me audax event. This event was the 'Cheltenham Olde Folks 200'. As the name suggests, this was a 200k event that (officially) started in Cheltenham.

I actually started the event from the Evesham control, as this was nearer to my domicile. The ride passed through Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Thornbury, Stonehouse, Hartpury, Upton-upon-Severn and Worcester before finishing at Evesham. A representation of my route is presented below:

On the whole, I didn't particularly rate this event. I felt it was a trifle boring and had too much in the way of busy, motorised roads. I didn't like the fact that a long stretch of the same road was cycled in both directions. I guess it it was a good ride in that it was fast and few (if any) hills were encountered.

Below are a few random thoughts I have remembered about each stage. It has taken much head scratching to recall these musings. I guess that's to be expected on a not-so-great ride.

Evesham: Good start in great weather. Hottest day this year to date. It was here that I proposed to my wife all those years ago. 

Tewkesbury: Have started so many 'Black Sheep' events from here. Made use of some cycle lanes.

Cheltenham: Got lost around here, which I so often do in Cheltenham for some reason. Found it difficult to find a suitable control.

Stonehouse: Pretty area. 

Thornbury: So near Bristol. Made me think of SJ's brother as he lives nearby. Sure I caught a glimpse of one of the Severn Bridges - gutted did not cross same. Purchased rolls from Aldi and a banana from fruit shop for lunch. Cycled a long stretch of A38 which was busy. The A38 has cycle lanes, of sorts, in that painted lines are present on the road. Even so, the A38 is quite menace. Think bike!

Hartpury: Nice roads to here. Pretty. Used Post Office for POP purposes.

Upton-upon-Severn: Funny place name I thought. More of the same (A38) to get here. Very pretty once at control. Took a well deserved stop sat next to river.

Worcester: Thought of SJ again, as she used to live here. Thought of SJ's family as they live here still. Passed Dan's bike shop. Still very hot, purchased an ice cream for POP.

Evesham: Yay, the arrivee. Cycled a total of 211k. This was a fast audax - completed in 9 hours and 50 mins.

Got sunburnt big time during this ride. Didn't use sun-block. Had a nice stew once I had gotten home, cheers SJ :)

There be dragons

This week I didn't cycle an awful lot. My LEL training schedule dictated that I should have cycled 200k this week, but this didn't happen. I was about 70k short but that was a small price to pay to spend the weekend away with my beautiful daughter (and wife)!

I did, however, cycle on three occasions in the early part of the week. My first cycle was with Ron where we essentially cycled the most part of my 'AM SR 1' route on our mountain bikes. Even though Ron was familiar with these roads, it was a new route to him. We changed the ending of the route and cycled a short section off-road in the 'Woods of Doom'. Our route is presented below:

My second adventure took me on new roads. There be dragons! I stole a route from a Strava user which was pretty awesome and essentially took me to Lowsonford and back. The middle section was a bit wonky, as can be seen by the route track below:

My third adventure was essentially a repeat of my second adventure, only without the wonky middle section. I named this route 'BG SR 1' and am sure to ride this again. My second run of this route was a lot faster than my first. The correct route track is shown below:

In all, I cycled 141k this week. My yearly total now stands at 3,424k. Nice :)

Cheltenham, Cotswold & Thames 200

Only cycled twice this week. Both rides, however, were quite awesome. On each occasion I cycled with a good friend, who both coincidentally sported brand new bikes.

My first cycle was with Ron. We cycled an old route of mine that I liked to call 'The Urban Route'. This route is essentially a mix of on and off road cycling that makes use of lots of cycle lanes near and around my home village of Studley. For this ride, mountain bikes are considered a must. Ron's new bike was a Trek 29er and very nice it was indeed. The route is presented below:

On Friday, I hooked up with Chris and his lovely new bike (that he had recently built himself) and cycled the ‘Cheltenham, Cotswold & Thames 200’ event. This event was a permanent audax organised by Stephen Poulton. This route was considered to be a variation of the ‘Banbury Cross’ event.

Chris and I decided we would start (and finish) at the Chipping Camden control. This suited me as it was the control nearest to my domicile and would also mean that most of the hills would be tackled early on. We left Chipping Camden at around 9 a.m and were cycling on a nice spring day. As expected, we encountered a few hills during this stage – one almost straight away and the infamous Cleeve Hill too. Never mind the hills, we also had 2 super-fast descents where I reached a speed of over 70kph! This first stage was great and quite lanesy on the whole. On one of the lanes we passed a vegetable stand called 'Pauline's Veg’ which made me think of my dear mother. With Chris standing next to the stall it became ‘fruit and veg’!

It was during this stage too that Chris’s brand spanking new seat-post broke – it completely snapped in half. 

 Whether he rode without his saddle or not, I’ll leave to your imagination…

Once we hit Cheltenham we stopped for proof of passage (POP) purposes at a local newsagents. A fudge bar  receipt provided the necessary POP. It was here that Chris fixed his seat-post issue by fudge packing it! He used the fudge bar wrapper as a shim which worked very well. 

With issues fixed we continued on our way. Getting a little lost around Cheltenham before following roads that feature on the ‘Banbury Cross’ and climbing another hill to get out of Cheltenham. Once at the top of this hill, we were greeted by a rather funky bus stop shelter and then had a lovely descent all the way into Cirencester. 

We faffed about loads in Cirencester – first trying to find a suitable control and then at the control itself. The control staff at this café we stopped at were ‘new’ and hence slow. My potato was over-priced. The toilet didn’t flush. Argh, on with the story…

Our route continued in favourable conditions, sunny and bright. We reached Faringdon in no time. Once in Faringdon, I figured we really were quite far out.

Next stop was Witney. We reached here pretty quick too – not surprising really, this stage was only 19k. The next stage was shorter still at 15k, so we only stopped here briefly to eat half an energy bar each. 

On route to the next control I could have sworn I was seeing double - it turned out to be a monkey clinging to a banana and not Chris after all!

We had a lovely stop once we reached Woodstock. I opted for tea cakes - yummers, it was delicious. Chris wasn’t so impressed with his bakewell tart.

The route to Brackley was awful. We spent much time on busy dual carriage-ways screaming with motorised traffic. We did the sensible thing and just sped along in single file at a fast pace until we reached the control. We stopped at the control and munched on Chris’s home-madeflap jacks before setting off on the final stage.

The final stage was similar to the first - nice lanesy roads and undulating in nature. The clouds we saw during this stage were impressive - all different shapes and sizes and colours too. Indeed, some clouds were pink, orange and red. One cloud was big and black and looked like it was throwing rain down. We managed, it appeared, to cycle all around this cloud without it inflicting heavy rain on us at all. A few drops of water hit us but nothing serious. We passed an interesting place name before it got dark and I was hoping Chris would pose for another photo - he wouldn't, so I had to oblige.

Shortly after this brief stop it started to get dark so we pressed on. We reached the arrivee in Chipping Campden feeling pretty great. This was a nice cycle and another great adventure. A map of our adventure is presented below:

Cycled a total of 233k this week. My LEL training target for the week was 300k but was not disappointed as last week I had cycled a 300k event. My total distance this year now stands at 3,283k.

Heart of England 300

Started the week by completing both my 'CS SR 1' and 'AM SR 1' routes as fast as I could. Have never  really been a 'racer' (too fat) but for some reason am enjoying racing these 2 routes. The first route is quite short (less than 30k) and I liked to race against myself (and beat my previous best time). At often times, I don't race because I tend to use my single speed bike for this route. This week however,  I used 'Slinky', my road bike - and raced it! I think I completed in my best time yet. Both routes were stolen from Strava users. The second route was just over 40k long and has a 23 mile segment on it entitled 'Bill and Alex's 23 miler'. It was this segment that I liked to race. On my second crack at this event, I had the fastest time and was crowned 'King of Mountain' (KOM). I was only king for a day, Bill quickly grabbing his title back. On Wednesday, I raced with the voices in my head shouting 'Kill Bill' and yippee - I had the crown again! I just wondered for how long?!

The 'big cycle' this week was a calender event audax entitled 'Heart of England 300'. As the name suggests this was a 300k event that started and finished in Cirencester. A map depicting my route is presented below:

Had hoped to ride this audax with my buddy Chris, but at short notice he decided to bail. Thankfully, there were others here that I knew and I was able to cycle with them. Most notably, Jamie and Andy (his friend) had rocked up. A whole bunch of riders were all congregated at the start and before I had chance to help myself to some free breakfast we were off. The event started at 6 a.m and was initially a little chilly. I set off with Jamie and Andy, but had lost them quickly after only a few k. It later transpired that Jamie was having Garmin issues. 

Stage 1 started to look familiar and as it passed through Salperton, I knew exactly where I was. I had cycled these roads a few months back during my 'Poor Student Permanent'. This time, I found the 'missing' park or 'grounds' and had a lovely zoomy cycle through them. A short while later I cycled right past Broadway Tower and then down the famous Saintbury Hill. This hill was one of those ring-twitching sorts - both my cheeks and brakes being pulled in as I raced down it. The route then continued through Bidford and it was here that I met Augustus Gloop! Augustus Gloop was a chap that I cycled part of the PBP with in 2011 - he was the chap who rode straight into me. Augustus (so called because he looks like that Willy Wonker character) and I chatted for quite a spell, all about bike related nonsense and the nature of our halllucinations on PBP. Our conversation was cut short when I hit a pot hole that punctured my rear tyre (and buckled the front wheel). Grrr, that was the second pot hole I had hit. In addition, I broke my mudguard as I flipped my bike over to repair issues. As I stopped to fix my puncture issue, Jamie and Andy Rocked up! I told the guys to carry on, hopeful to meet them at the control. Sure enough, I caught up with 'the boys' at the control in Alcester (just 4 miles away from my abode). The official control (Lakes Cafe) was so busy that I went next door and purchased croiisant and sausage roll for fuel. After eating our breakfast, we removed a few layers (was hotting up nicely) and started stage 2.

Stage 2 was much easier than stage 1. This was a relatively flat stage, whereas stage 1 had at least 3 hills of note. The route we cycled briefly passed over roads I often cycle on my shorter training runs. We were blessed with the weather today and the sun continued to shine bright. Stopped and ate beans on toast at the Winnie's Cafe control in Atherstone.

Stage 3 continued with great weather. If I remember rightly we passed over roads that feature in the '2 Battles Permanent'. This was a long stage (about 70k) and I pretty much cycled it all with the boys. At often times I would have a quick chat with a cyclist that had caught us up or that we had passed. We were forced to stop for a while at the Roso Cafe control in Daventry because the service was so slow. At least I had time to re-charge my Garmin and eat more beans (plus jacket potato and carrot cake). As a small group we were pleased with our cycling thus far and figured we would finish between 10 - 10.30 p.m. Other folk weren't having such a great time - we saw a cyclist through the shop window who must have had a fall as blood was trickling from his knee.

Stage 4 started with a hill. Not a massive hill but one that required a wee push with bellies full of food. To be fair this stage was quite undulating in nature and despite the weather being largely great it was a little windy. Talking of wind (no, not the beans) we saw loads of those giant wind turbine things dotting the landscape. I also spotted some strange AT-AT looking things. Reached the control, 'Sturdy's Castle' pub and it was still daylight. We stopped here for a while and I ate a lovely sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and washed it down with a further pint of coke (was drinking same throughout the day). We layered up here and headed for the arrivee, the final control.

Stage 5 was great. I think the pudding I had just eaten had given me a sugar buzz. I started to lead out our little group but had this obsession almost, to catch up the flashing red lights in front. Before I knew it I would catch up a pair of said lights and then want to catch the lights in front of that. The more I cycled, the (strangely) better I felt. It was dark now and was using much lighting to show up the path in front of me. With about 30k to go I decided to race this last section which was mostly on lovely country lanes. I lost count of how many red lights I passed. Before I knew it, I was back at the arrivee, with 306k in my legs and feeling pretty great (had completed this event in just under 16 hours). About 15 minutes later, the boys rocked up too! Good job and a great days cycling! My prediction was accurate, we had all finished by 10.15 p.m!

The Heart of England 300, in my opinion, was a fantastic ride. Nice lanesy route and most of the hills conquered early on. The company was great (shout out to Jamie and Andy - hope to see you guys on the 400 Welsh thing). The only downside was much waiting at controls (felt 'open' controls would have been a better choice) and the absence of my buddy Chris!

Cycled a total of 376k this week. My yearly total now stands at 3,050k. :)

Low mileage, low quality

Cycled only a short distance this week and only had 2 trips out. I didn't really mind cycling not-so-much as this was a 'rest week' according to my LEL training program. In addition to that, I had been working nights which always makes cycling the more difficult. On the occasions that I managed to venture out, I cycled my 'TTT 20' and 'CS SR 1' routes on my single speed bike. Nice. Cycled a total of 62k this week, which brought my yearly total up to 2,674k.

Bill's Hill / Sam Weller's April Foolery (April 2013)

My first ride after Easter was a route I had named ‘Bill’s Hill’. This was a route that I stole from a user on ‘Strava’, that had a particular hill of note. The ride was lovely and headed to Bidford via roads I have often taken. From Bidford the route continued in a lanesy style all the way to the mid-point (on some new-to-me roads).  The mid-point was  the hill. This hill was officially called ‘Bakers Hill’ and was near Chipping Camden. Not the biggest of hills (road sign stated 12%) but enough to get the heart beating, the lungs working and the lactic acid pouring. After tackling this hill, I was on high ground where snow was still heaped up alongside the roadside from Springs crazy weather. The return was great, along more lanesy roads, where the route crossed other routes of mine including the ‘TTT 20’, ‘Deer’ and ‘CS SR 1’ routes. I published this route on Strava when I returned home. Bill commented ‘impersonisation is the best form of flattery’. I retorted ‘Ha! I’m on my way to becoming a fully fledged doppelganger’! A representation of 'Bill's Hill' can be seen below:

My next adventure, the big adventure for the week, was a calendar event audax. This event was 'Sam Weller's April Foolery', a 200k event scoring 1.75 AAA points. I think this event followed the same route as the 'King's, Castles, Priest's and Churches' audax that Aid, Chris, Ron and I cycled earlier in the year, only it had different control points. My GPX track is presented below:

Aid, Chris and Ron didn't join me on this latest adventure. Not to worry, I had 'other' cycling companions throughout. The route started from Tewkesbury and the first control was after about 45k in Bromyard. Almost straight from the start a cyclist called Julian rode alongside me. He raced to catch me up to inform that my bottle cap had come off about 1k back. That was real nice of him, but he didn't have said cap. Julian was a nice chap and we spoked about bike related nonsense all the way to the control. At the control I stopped for egg on toast and Julian bounced this control and sped off. I didn't see Julian again but he says he is cycling LEL and 'The Heart of England 300' so our wheels may cross.

Leaving Bromyard was awesome. Nice long roads, easy to navigate and essentially down hill. Zoomy! I didn't stop to eat in Ludlow, instead I popped into the museum and got a stamp for POP purposes.

Leaving Ludlow I didn't feel so great. I was finding the hills harder than usual. Perhaps this was because it was real hot compared to recent days. I was layered in winter gear and the sun was shining bright. I felt like I was boiling in the bag. Or, perhaps it was just because I was fat and the hills were hilly!

Was pleased to reach the tea room in Kington. I remember stopping here before with Chris and company. This time around I got chatting with 3 cyclists that I have ridden with before on different events. Their names were Roy, Paul and Clive (I think). We had a good chat and some nice food once it finally arrived. I spent the rest of the audax cycling with these guys. Below is the only photo I took all day, which shows how lanesy the roads were and how much snow was evident in our Spring!

From Kington, the route appeared to get a little easier again. Maybe this was because the hills had gotten easier. I did notice that my saddle post had slipped down a few mm (again). I couldn't be bothered to stop until I reached the control. Beautiful weather continued. What a great day. The penultimate stop was at Wormelow Tump. So hot and thirsty, I drank 2 bottles of water.

The final trek was about 50k back to Tewkesbury. Not a lot of climbing involved but felt tired all the same. Was good to ride in out little group of four, taking time to pull the group for a while. Due to my weight, I would roll faster down hill and then as a consequence find myself at front of group and having to pull. Argh! We reached the arrivee in daylight and had quite a quick pace really. Completed this 202k audax in 10 hours and 55 minutes. Pleased that this ride early in April had scored me the necessary credentials for my RRtY and AAARtY this month already.

Cycled a total of 388k this week. My LEL training target was 200k so was real pleased with this effort. My yearly distance to date stands at 2,641k. Other folk are using more specific training methods for LEL rather than just distance. I was put off after seeing the cyclist below work on his calves!

Cheltenham The Vale 100k Permanent Audax (April 2013)

Managed to squeeze one further ride in during the Easter holidays. This ride was a permanent audax entitled 'Cheltenham The Vale 100' and was just over a 100k. I was not the only April Fool to ride this event, my cousin Aid joined me on this adventure. Our route is presented below:

We chose to start this audax from the Alcester control, which meant we had to cycle about an extra 16k or so because we started from my parents house in Studley. Aid chose to ride his Specialized Roubaix, whereas my weapon of choice was my single speed bike 'Florence'.

Reaching the first major control in Broadway was no real bother. We cycled some tasty descents during this section and only 1 menace short sharp climb. I spooked a runner as I shot past him just before Bidford.

From Broadway we cycled to Winchcombe. The rides through Stanton and Stanway were very lanesy and this was such a pretty area. We even witnessed a steam train (billowing steam) steam along. Nice.

From Winchcombe we had Cleeve Hill to climb. Cleeve Hill was not the biggest of climbs but enough of a climb to get us out of puff before the summit. The 'Hunters Breakfast' we had in Broadway was weighing heavy in our stomachs. After the climb came a fast descent which took us to Cheltenham. So fast was this descent that if I had not had braked I would have hit the caravan in front of me. Zoomy!

The route from Cheltenham to Pershore was familiar - I had cycled much of this last week when I rode that RRPCC route I stole. There were numerous errors on the route sheet we were following but I had cycled this before so no mistakes were made. Some might say I should have informed the organiser, paralysis of will will most probably have prevented this.

The route from Pershore to Alcester was a bit of a push. I think Aid had started to feel tired, hungry and a bit sick. This is not unusual when one has not cycled for a number of weeks then goes out on a relatively long run. Thankfully, Aid wasn't sick and we stopped briefly at the Alcester control for a bite of chocolate. This chocolate provided us with the necessary energy to get back to Studley. Woo hoo, job done! We cycled a total of 123k. Sweet.