Badgers and the Stroud 5 Valleys 50 audax

This week saw me complete a couple of work-and-back commutes and another Stroud 5 Valleys 50 audax. Have blogged about this audax a number of times, so will keep this entry short. It was a hilly event as demonstrated by the picture below.

Hilliness profile of the Stroud 5 Valleys 50

Weather-wise and the event wasn't too bad. Bright sun throughout all but the last 10 minutes. The very last couple of k and the heavens opened big time. Bike-wise, the event wasn't great. Scotty creaked like crazy and sounds like she's on her way out. I really can't afford to service this bike just yet. Compared to other times I've rode this event, there wasn't an awful lot of change. I'm sure the parked bike at Painswick had been replaced for a new model though.

New bike? If Scotty keep creaking', perhaps I should cycle this?!

Just like the last time I rode this event, I saw lots of badgers. Badger, badger, badger.... Mushroom!

Audaxing really is a great way of seeing wildlife! I hope to visit more of this badger set on future rides. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Rural South 300

Last week saw me complete 3 there-and-back work commutes and an epic audax adventure. The audax was the Rural South 300. This audax was in the South, rural and 300 (and 4) k's long! To top that, this was my 100th completed audax to date. I thought a 100k audax would be nice to mark my 100th audax, but, oh no, I had to be extra! My buddy, Chris Hodge, joined me on this adventure. Below are a collection of thoughts, remarks, ponders, etc...

GPX Track Log of my route

Super nice country lanes

At one juncture, I reached speeds of 50 mph. Zoomy! It was mega hilly in places!

Hilliness profile for Rural South 300

It was a beautiful day with lots of long roads, often winding and undulating in nature.

We rolled on this

My buddy Chris was cycling with me. This was to be his second 300k audax. Both of us just need to complete a 600k event this season to qualify as Super Randonneurs. We are mighty!

Chris facing the towers of doom

There seemed to be a M.O.D theme to this ride. We passed funny towers, forts and egg shaped satellite dishes. Bizarre!

Check out my gun!

Both our bikes were creaking and had chain ring related problems. I am too poor to get my bike fixed just yet.

Timmy Top Gun!

About 23 cyclists took part in this event. Chris and I cycled together and at times were joined by a cyclist we dubbed 'Frankie Moon'. Frankie had helmet hair and looked a bit like a cling-on.

Egg like things in the distance

We were not the last to finish! We had an hour before our time limit was up. We both felt okay the following day.

PS I ate as well as ever and had basil on 2 separate occasions. The first was with tuna - lovely sarnies made by my wonderful sister Jane - many thanks! The second dose of basil was with some tomato soup on the return leg. Jane's basil won!

Not so much

Nearly managed a whole week without even taking a sniff at my bikes. Fortunately, cousin Aid rocked up in the 'eleventh' hour and we managed a short trek before the week ended. Only cycled 24k, but that beats zero!

Sounds like good medicine!

Hope to cycle a wee bit more over the coming week. In fact, will have too... Foolishly agreed to join Chris on a 300k event in the rural South! Oh boy....

Saracen RC 200 (No 2) and other adventures

Started this week by completing my 99th audax event to date! This event was the 'Saracen RC 200 (No 2)' permanent event organised by Sean Barker. This was a great event and a few of my thoughts are presented below.

The ride started (and finished) in Bournville. I parked my car next to the Christadelphian meeting room (where I have attended numerous services) and then used the ATM at the Tesco garage opposite for my start control proof. Less than 10k into the ride and I was following my commute route from work, heading home, speeding down Watery Lane in the Kings Norton area. The weather was just perfect for a bike ride and I had a feeling this was going to be a great day out. Suddenly, at the 30k, the GPX took me off road for about 2k. This off road track was awful for a carbon road bike but would have suited a MTB just fine. Just why this was included as part of the route, I don't know!

Audax - off-road style

Following this brief off-road section, a busy main road had to be crossed. After the crossing, the route went back to being really quite wonderful. Lovely roads and great weather took me to the first control   in Moreton-in-Marsh. I used the ATM for POP purposes and ate some home-made sarnies under George and the Dragon!

A good place to eat one's sarnies

George and the Dragon

From Moreton-in-Marsh, I made my way to Towcester, the next control. The route passed through Banbury, passing the cock horse at Banbury Cross. I also passed a wonderful wooden carving before reaching my control stop at Mc Donald's.

Suitably fuelled and the journey continued. Much of the route was undulating in nature. No real serious hills and hence no AAA points awarded but sure enough, the odd climb would get me out of a puff. The picture below demonstrates the hilliness profile of the ride. The next and penultimate control was Warwick Services. I think I went to North Services instead of South.

Hilliness profile of Saracen RC 200 (No 2) Audax

The last stage essentially returned back to the start in Bournville. The route went through Henley and passed a house my buddy Ron had told me about. This house had 2 bicycles chained to it's outside wall.

This must be what folk do where their garage's can no longer cater for additional bikes. My mother has her bike attached to the garden fence. I now know what I'm going to do with any retired bikes!

The last few k's of the audax once again took me onto my commute route and eventually back to the start. This was a very enjoyable  212k audax with over 2,000 metres of climbing which took me just over 10 hours to complete. Preferred this ride to the No 1 perm, though do not expect I'll ride either again for some time. A GPX track log of complete route is presented below.

Saracen RC 200 (No 2) Audax GPX Track Log

The remainder of my adventures were made up of work and back commutes. The tyres I fitted a short while back have been fine and remained puncture free. Hope I am not tempting the puncture pixie here!

Paynes, family, royalty and yellow sheep!

With the demands of modern life, I haven't posted for a while. All apologies for neglecting this blog. Now where to pick up?!

Oh, yes, that's it. Following my family holiday and 2 week absence from cycling, I am pleased to inform that I got back on the saddle again. I completed some work and back commutes and took my single-speed MTB out for a couple of small rides.

Sadly, my dear Uncle John passed away shortly after our holiday and he will be very sadly missed. Uncle John was a fellow cyclist and took pride in his (electric) cycle. Uncle John's sons are keen cyclists too and both came out for a spin with my brother Robin and I last weekend (this was my second single-speed MTB trek). The company was great but the weather was awful and we all got soaked to the skin! (Andy had borrowed my cycling gear and bike too - much washing and cleaning for me)!

Cousin Andrew and my dear Uncle John

On a brighter note, the Tour de France kicked off during the weekend too. How cool it is that the sport is getting the notice it deserves. Even the Royals were attentive.

Royals at the start of the TDF

Talking of royalty... My own princess is pregnant again! Below is a photo of my new babe, in utero!

Baby Taylor (no. 2)

To conclude this post, I'd like to share a photo of the mad sheep who have gotten into the spirit of the Tour de France!

Hollibobs!

Did not post anything over past couple of weeks because I was away on my family holiday. Had a lovely time in Charmouth despite not riding a bike at all! Managed to complete a series of 5k runs, however, as depicted by the GPX track logs below.

Despite not riding a bike, I purchased some bike related stuff. Indeed, I ordered a new pair of tyres for Jenny, my cyclocross bike. This was because I had punctured 3 times already using the Continental cyclocross tyres that Jenny was equipped with. My buddy Chris suggested I replace them with Scwalbe land cruisers, so I did just that. These new tyres look beefier, were less than £20 a pair and run on a max inflation of 65 psi. Are these tyres any good? - I dunno, but will post about same somewhere in time.

Whilst away, I also swam a little. Oh, I did enjoy my holiday! Sadly, work resumes next week.

Have now ran a 131k this year and cycled some 4,195k. Hope to resume cycling next week (as well as work). Perhaps my running will stop for a season too. No swimming, there is no sea near me and local pool is way too expensive.

Saracen RC 200 (No 1) Audax and other stuff

Over the past couple of weeks have cycled lots but just failed to blog about it. Completed a number of work and back commutes using various routes. Punctured twice. Completed one new audax event.

The audax event I completed was the Saracen RC 200k (No 1) permanent audax, organised by Sean Barker. The Saracen RC events (of which there are 2) are new additions to the audax calendar. I chose route No 1 because it had 2 AAA (hilly) points. The AUK and AAA points were needed to keep my RRtY and AAARRtY awards going.

The route I cycled during the Saracen RC 200k (No 1) audax

The event started in Bournville which was handy as it was relatively close to home. The route sheet provided by the organiser was poor and listed only 'left' and 'right' type directions. The provided GPX file was equally pants and followed straight lines as opposed to actual roads. I think I added an additional 13k trying to navigate the route.

The first stage was relatively lengthy at 60k but relatively flat too. Even though this was a new audax, I had cycled most of the roads before on various other audax events. Indeed the first control was a 'spoons pub in Tewkesbury - a usual start control for various other events. At the 'spoons pub I didn't have my usual staple audax diet of beans on toast. Instead, I had an awesome chilli noodles and chicken dish. Delicious!

After a wee bit of rain during stage one, the sun came out and stayed out. This turned out to be a real hot day. Was pleased that most controls had only about 20k between them. The next stop was Ledbury.

Ledbury control

Next stop was Bromyard which was quickly followed by Leominster. The cycling was OK during these stages but nothing spectacular stood out. As the route progressed it seemed to get that little bit hillier. I decided to use Leominster as my lunch stop and indulged myself with a sandwich and crisps from a local store. 

A nice bench for luncheon purposes

Wasn't Rachels bench, it was mine!

Before leaving Leominster, layers had to be removed due to the extreme heat. Just like the few stages before, it was only about 20k to the next stage in Ludlow. I loved passing under a pretty arch to reach said control.

The archway to Ludlow

Ludlow was such a pretty area. The control itself was a cafe shop just opposite Ludlow Castle. Nasty toastie from cafe was swiftly devoured.

The final stage was like the first in that it was about 60k. This stage was more difficult though as it was hilly and very hot. How mean to place all the hills at the end of the route.

Hilliness profile of Saracen RC 200 (No 1) audax

The toughest hill was actually not that steep. The hill was Clee Hill and it just seemed to stretch forever. The heat was making me feel sick and perhaps I was a little dehydrated. With a pounding head I reached the summit and was awarded with a spectacular view.

View from Clee Hill

From Clee Hill a nice descent turned into undulation. This undulating route then continued pretty much all the way back to Bournville. All in all, an okay route. A relatively fast hilly 200k, completed in just over 11 hours and 2 AAA points to boot!

Have now cycled 4,195k this year. Am planning on taking a break for the next couple of weeks. Maybe I'll start up my running again?

Oh, as mentioned last week, here is a link to that news item suggesting car drivers give more space to female cyclists: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/5334208.stm