Audax rides

Things I learnt in no particular order:

1. It's all well and good riding on small lanes at this time of year, but even with a Luxos U and a Hope Vision 1, it can still be a bit hairy descending in the pitch black of night with wet leaves etc strewn across the road.
   
2. Tubes tubes tubes. I had four punctures yesterday. Luckily I had four tubes and three patches but my god I started to feel disheartened and worried by the fourth.
   
3. The temperature yesterday was very pleasant. Overnight/this morning was quite the opposite. I found it quite hard to keep my legs turning at times. I couldn't feel my fingers or toes for about six hours.
   
4. My goodness, Kingston Hill at the edge of the Chilterns is absolutely brutal. 3/4's of the way to the top I had to get off and walk. Single speed and nothing in the legs>>>
   
5. Storm Barabra wasn't very nice to me on my way to the Cotswolds.
   
6. The Cotswolds weren't very nice to me. Steep. Up up up.
   
7. Bumping into three colleagues in the middle of Gloucestershire is weird.
   
8. Bibury Duck Race is a big deal.
   
9. Even 24 hour petrol stations aren't open in the early hours of Boxing Day.
   
10. Stow-on-the-Wold is lovely.
    
11. I can't wait to have a geared bike again.
    
12. I got home last night and was totally delirious.
    
13. Don't change the length of your stem, even if it is 20mm shorter, the night before a long bike ride. Totally fucked myself over there...
    
14. I never get bored of having dynamo lights - so good.
    
15. South West is best.
    
16. The first 300k loop at this time of the year was much harder than 600k in the summer.
    
17. Have proper breaks instead of having loads of pointless micro breaks. I did this on the 200k leg and felt much better for it.
    
18. Don't trust Ridewithgps's route planning. A few too many bike paths for my liking that I missed. Generally went over the route and got rid of all of them but the few that I did miss caused many a diversion.
    
19. Riding that distance solo is morally very challenging, also physically having nobody to take a turn.
    
20. Having three hours of sleep was massively beneficial.