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Ruislip 300k ride report
Last Sunday I rode 300k for the first time - and got back within time, so that's another tick in the PBP qualifying box...
The first 40k were pretty vile; not entirely sure why as it didn't seem to be particularly nasty route-wise. It was however absolutely freezing, and my feet in particular were really suffering, which I guess might have been the problem. Note to self: always take the damn overshoes. There was a point around here when I seriously considered bailing (on the grounds that if I felt this rotten now how was I going to feel in 200k time...) but thankfully a hot cross bun & squash at the first control, and the sun finally starting to provide some actual heat, improved things.
Unusually for me, I reached the Woburn control to find plenty of other riders still milling around (I have hitherto tended to be way off the back), which was also a bit cheering. A lot of the next bit was really beautiful, especially through Woburn Park where there were deer! And blue sky, trees, birds, etc etc. Pretty!
As a rule, when someone says to you "It's a lot flatter after X" they may mean one of several things:
1) I have no idea what it's like but I want to cheer you up.
2) I have no idea what it's like but I want to cheer myself up.
3) Last time I rode this there was a tailwind after X.
4) Last time I rode this I had 4 1/2 chocolate bars & 2 bananas at X so I was bloody flying.
5) I can't remember anything after X from the last time I rode this so I'm assuming that it was unexceptionable rather than that my brain is protecting me from the horror.
What they virtually never mean is:
6) It's a lot flatter after X.
However! On this occasion the chap who said this was actually, it seems, reasonably correct, & the first half of the bit after Woburn was nice and fast.
Rode with a chap on an Airnimal visiting from Hong Kong for a while - his first Audax, and he seemed to be doing pretty well. The last 20k or so to the next control (T-somewhere Farm Centre) it was getting a bit windy, and I was definitely starting to feel it.
Baked potato & beans at the Farm Centre, & a chat to various other people feeding themselves, then off for another fairly tough 40k into the wind. Arrived at the Little Chef feeling pretty wiped, but the All-Day Veggie Breakfast (which can be made vegan!) was a very good thing for revitalising purposes. Plus I put my bars back to where they had been before I started fiddling with them before the ride (oops) & found that suddenly lots of the aches went away. Evidently Mr Hewitt knows rather better than I do about bar height...
Bit of a drag out of the Little Chef control, and saddle slippage for about the millionth time had me stopping to fiddle with it. Whereupon I hooked up with a small group of riders from Willesden for a bit, which was nice. I also discovered the secret to overcoming my lack-of-nerve issues on descents: be sufficiently tired that the concern about Messy Head-Impact Death is overwhelmed by the concern about Not Wasting Any Of My Precious Potential Energy. Brakes? What're those?
It was roughly this point at which my legs started behaving themselves, at last. Inadvertently rode straight off the front of the Willesden guys (sort of assumed they were behind me, & then looked back & no sign), with very little input from the brain other than a polite suggestion that my legs might like to keep going round for a bit. 25k to the next control felt great. Baffling! Another chat with a bunch of folk at the next Little Chef (with a slightly grumpy waitress), and intended to start out with Pete, Hilary, & someone else, but turned out that my legs were still behaving & rode straight of the front there as well.
The last stage was 60k, of which about 45k was absolutely fine, and the last 15 was OKish - not physically that much of a struggle, but mentally I was getting to the AM I NEARLY THERE YET? stage. Over the Chilterns was reasonably short-and-sharp (which I like better, I think, than long-and-gradual), and conquered without too much hassle with the lovely granny ring. Took an alternate route back (via A413, A40, B4something) on Local Advice, which was prob faster but a bit dull. Mind you, I don't like country lanes in the dark; nice big streetlit A-roads suit me better.
Brief circuit round Ruislip (whoops) & into the Arrivee. Ate sandwiches & then set off for the 30k home, having missed my last tube by about 80min. The last half of that was v tough indeed, despite nice chats with bus drivers ("Where have you been to?" "300k around Ruislip" "You are a very impressive woman!" Bless.), but worth it for pleasure of Own Shower and Own Bed. So with that & the 12k to the start from Ealing, close to 350k for the day.
It was v nice to be sufficiently of a speed with at least some folk (albeit the back markers!) that I could chat to people at controls. I quite like riding on my own on Audaxes (partly because it's about the only time I get to spend on my own ever when I'm not supposed to be Doing Something; partly because I like to let my legs set their own pace) but it's reassuring to encounter other people at intervals. Also I think this is the first Audax I've done that I wasn't lanterne rouge :-)
The first 40k were pretty vile; not entirely sure why as it didn't seem to be particularly nasty route-wise. It was however absolutely freezing, and my feet in particular were really suffering, which I guess might have been the problem. Note to self: always take the damn overshoes. There was a point around here when I seriously considered bailing (on the grounds that if I felt this rotten now how was I going to feel in 200k time...) but thankfully a hot cross bun & squash at the first control, and the sun finally starting to provide some actual heat, improved things.
Unusually for me, I reached the Woburn control to find plenty of other riders still milling around (I have hitherto tended to be way off the back), which was also a bit cheering. A lot of the next bit was really beautiful, especially through Woburn Park where there were deer! And blue sky, trees, birds, etc etc. Pretty!
As a rule, when someone says to you "It's a lot flatter after X" they may mean one of several things:
1) I have no idea what it's like but I want to cheer you up.
2) I have no idea what it's like but I want to cheer myself up.
3) Last time I rode this there was a tailwind after X.
4) Last time I rode this I had 4 1/2 chocolate bars & 2 bananas at X so I was bloody flying.
5) I can't remember anything after X from the last time I rode this so I'm assuming that it was unexceptionable rather than that my brain is protecting me from the horror.
What they virtually never mean is:
6) It's a lot flatter after X.
However! On this occasion the chap who said this was actually, it seems, reasonably correct, & the first half of the bit after Woburn was nice and fast.
Rode with a chap on an Airnimal visiting from Hong Kong for a while - his first Audax, and he seemed to be doing pretty well. The last 20k or so to the next control (T-somewhere Farm Centre) it was getting a bit windy, and I was definitely starting to feel it.
Baked potato & beans at the Farm Centre, & a chat to various other people feeding themselves, then off for another fairly tough 40k into the wind. Arrived at the Little Chef feeling pretty wiped, but the All-Day Veggie Breakfast (which can be made vegan!) was a very good thing for revitalising purposes. Plus I put my bars back to where they had been before I started fiddling with them before the ride (oops) & found that suddenly lots of the aches went away. Evidently Mr Hewitt knows rather better than I do about bar height...
Bit of a drag out of the Little Chef control, and saddle slippage for about the millionth time had me stopping to fiddle with it. Whereupon I hooked up with a small group of riders from Willesden for a bit, which was nice. I also discovered the secret to overcoming my lack-of-nerve issues on descents: be sufficiently tired that the concern about Messy Head-Impact Death is overwhelmed by the concern about Not Wasting Any Of My Precious Potential Energy. Brakes? What're those?
It was roughly this point at which my legs started behaving themselves, at last. Inadvertently rode straight off the front of the Willesden guys (sort of assumed they were behind me, & then looked back & no sign), with very little input from the brain other than a polite suggestion that my legs might like to keep going round for a bit. 25k to the next control felt great. Baffling! Another chat with a bunch of folk at the next Little Chef (with a slightly grumpy waitress), and intended to start out with Pete, Hilary, & someone else, but turned out that my legs were still behaving & rode straight of the front there as well.
The last stage was 60k, of which about 45k was absolutely fine, and the last 15 was OKish - not physically that much of a struggle, but mentally I was getting to the AM I NEARLY THERE YET? stage. Over the Chilterns was reasonably short-and-sharp (which I like better, I think, than long-and-gradual), and conquered without too much hassle with the lovely granny ring. Took an alternate route back (via A413, A40, B4something) on Local Advice, which was prob faster but a bit dull. Mind you, I don't like country lanes in the dark; nice big streetlit A-roads suit me better.
Brief circuit round Ruislip (whoops) & into the Arrivee. Ate sandwiches & then set off for the 30k home, having missed my last tube by about 80min. The last half of that was v tough indeed, despite nice chats with bus drivers ("Where have you been to?" "300k around Ruislip" "You are a very impressive woman!" Bless.), but worth it for pleasure of Own Shower and Own Bed. So with that & the 12k to the start from Ealing, close to 350k for the day.
It was v nice to be sufficiently of a speed with at least some folk (albeit the back markers!) that I could chat to people at controls. I quite like riding on my own on Audaxes (partly because it's about the only time I get to spend on my own ever when I'm not supposed to be Doing Something; partly because I like to let my legs set their own pace) but it's reassuring to encounter other people at intervals. Also I think this is the first Audax I've done that I wasn't lanterne rouge :-)