Audax rides

The descent from the observatory into Burwash must be one of the best in SE England. All new Tarmac as well.

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The new tarmac is great. I've only cycled up it to the observatory since the resurface. Look forward to going downhill the other way. Before the new tarmac there were parts which resembled the moon's surface.

Oh shit.

Managed to hassle three mates to come to Worthing 100. Paid for some of them as nobody has working printers or chequbooks.

Today I fractured and dislocated my left elbow falling off a skateboards. Total screamfest, pain was unspeakably bad.

Been off my tits on Morphine this afternoon, so they could pull it back in. It was HORRENDOUS.

No bikey ridey for a while methinks. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

FFS skully, you don't bounce no more when pulling stunts like that - ouch!

heal up soon

Oof. Heal fast and I hope the pain goes before the morphine wears off.

Watch Lethal Weapon 2.

.

Oh, that's frustrating (and painful). The least they could do is stick you in a wheelchair and tow you along behind them.

GWS!

If I can do this one fixed

If you did the Willy Warmer on fixed you'll be fine on this one.

What you'll find is that you can do pretty much anything on fixed, it's just different from having gears; seems tougher at times but it just comes down to getting used to climbing at lower cadences and big downhills being work rather than a rest.

Thnx for kind words.

Crap news, Ben. I broke my left elbow a few years ago, too. Have they told you if they're going to operate on it or try to let it heal on its own?

Hi Ollie. Operate, almost certainly. CAT tomorrow to check the damage out.

Blimey, sounds very painful indeed. Hope you heal fast.

Thanks for the encouragement. The Willy Warmer was a lot easier than had I expected. I wouldn't say it was 'easy' but certainly comfortable and managed to ride up all the hills even with all the extra (probably unnecessary) luggage.

Rode A Mere 200 yesterday. Despite not riding the bike since early-November and the first audax in 6 months or so, it ended up going pretty well!

Woke up in a bit of a daze and set off from the flat just before 7, arrived at an already-busy hall with plenty of time to spare. As the ride set off, I ended up further up the group than I'd usually be, keeping pace and having a chat a few riders from Lincoln and made it to Delamere within a couple of hours, as it turns out I was pushing too hard and paid for it it over the next 60km into the wind (fuck the A495).

After an couple of info controls, we had the opportunity to call in at the Boathouse Cafe in Ellesmere. Sadly there was a huge queue, no seats and everyone seemed to be eating overly-posh looking cakes. I opted to push on another 20km for huge plate of eggs, beans and chips, Pepsi and Ribena at the Raven Cafe (excellent biker/trucker cafe/greasy spoon) in Prees Heath. By this point both knees were pretty sore and some issues with handlebar height/placement was resulting in numb fingers. The positive effects of sitting down, sugary drinks and my first caffeine hit of the day were immediately noticeable. After another 15-20km the food had started to work it's magic too and everywhere but my hands were feeling better.

The combination of a full stomach, tailwind and local road knowledge resulted in the the final 50km flying by. Finished in just under 11 hours (quickest 200 to date!) and tucked into the soup and cheese rolls on offer at the finish before riding home. All in all a very well organised event, pleasant route and the added bonus of the the rain holding off until I was safely back in the flat! Not a bad start to 2015 at all.

Other misc-notes:

• Little in the way of interesting wildlife but it seemed like every other field on the way out was full of horses/donkeys
  
• Wool layering worked well. Defeet knee warmers and ski socks might not be the most stylish combo but work as well, if not better than the roubaix bib longs you can't find in the wardrobe at 6am
  
• Dynamo lighting worked brilliantly. Despite a bunch of off-road usage, I don't think I'd tried this setup on any unlit roads so far and while the Exposure Revo might not have the ideal beam pattern on paper, it's easy enough to angle it for a good spread on the road, throw enough light forward and not blind drivers
  
  

Only took a single photo, somewhere on the way out towards Ellesmere

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Raven Cafe feed the teams (and probably some riders) during the Mersey Roads 24hr. I've ridden past it a few times :)

#csb

Well done that man. Great report. Think I'd go greasy spoon over posh cakes myself.

Entered the Wye Wednesday. Let's see if I sack this one off as well...

How are you going to the start?

Is that a trick question?

no; 7:30AM in gravesend .. arent you in west london?

Yeah, I'm about 50k/35 miles away from the start according to Google Maps.

5:30am departure will get me there on time or more likely I'll be late and then smash around the course collecting victims, I mean, passing other riders until the finish. I guess I should try and do it properly though since I want this to count as a PBP qualifer.

It'll work out to be >300k for the day but I need to get my arse into gear and start getting some miles in so I'll just suck it up.

Riding to the start is the one true way.

Hopefully I'll be in one piece to do Brazier's Run 100km on Feb 23rd (I get back from a week of altitude training the night before). 9am start and 75km to the start so I tend to leave home about 5.30am. Sometimes I ride home too (although the schlep into/across London is less fun once everyone has woken up).

No PBP for me this year so no pressure.

altitude training

= bong smoking

Yeah the ride home could be a bit shit, especially with 250k in the legs.