Audax rides

She wouldn't be looking at anything except my arse as I TT'd around the flatlands anyway. If I take her to Wales she'll leave me behind :D

Mind you: "bed only meters from dinner and pints."

the hills are all really manageable.

Have you done it fixed?

Yes and I thought this was the sleep stop and had unpacked my bag but needed to ride a further 10km to proper sleep stop

I've done BCM fixed, the only place I thought I might need to walk was the start of the drive at Kings YH but someone had given me the hint to go past the turning and then double back with a bit of speed.

67" fixed and I was a bit lardy at the time.

Was it hard going slog or nice and rolling? I think id be on 66"

Careful, the route has changed. New one is tougher in some places, easier in others. I rode the ‘Classic’ route a couple of times on fixed. Like @Greenbank I was on 67” or so and nothing was terribly hard except the climb to the YH second time around.

The lotsa lotsa hilly fixed Audax points guys seemed to start at this ride from looking at the descending, so gear inches high seventies, possibly eighties.

Can you put in a few words your Pen-y-Pass descend please?

Ha! I think I got cramp and nearly crashed into the bridge parapet half way down.

The descent into Dinas Mawddwy on Sunday morning was fun too.

From the @maxl twitter archive.

https://youtu.be/-m_P_RzrQu4

this is wise

Oh yeah. :)
https://www.lfgss.com/comments/14763507/

could you link me the classic you rode please?

Not my track, but it’s this route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/4620132

thank you

I actually really enjoyed that event looking back, proudest cycling achievement for me

Remember passing one of the fixie riders coming down the other side of Llanberis Pass, must have been pedalling around 200rpm. :s

I'm planning a resignation celebration ride and thinking of doing Up Severn Down Wye, I think I have a route that works nicely, will do over 3 days with bnb stops.

Has anyone done this or something similar?

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37007958

Did a bit of an adapted version of The Way to the Sea on Saturday for month 10 of my fixed RRTY attempt and it was probably the worst ride I've ever had. Every bit I adapted from the original route was horrific. Including a bit that turned out to be a closed, gated farm road that I couldn't get through so had to re-route an extra few KMs to get round that, hopefully this wont screw up my submission. I didn't expect it to be anywhere near as hot as it was. Was buying water at every opportunity on the way around and sweated all of that out only needing to wee once in the 12 hours I was out and completely burnt every part of my pasty skin that was on show. Got a nosebleed at one point which just dripped away for about 20 minutes. Felt sick anytime I tried to eat anything so after my sandwiches at lunch I could only eat half a banana and half a flapjack for the last ~100km. Then one contact lense fell out about 2/3rds through so on top of my heat headache I also got blurred vision headaches. Got round it though which I didn't expect when I was feeling like death half way through.

I was just waiting for you to say 'oh, and I accidentally took the geared bike, as well'. :)

Rode the West Peak Grimpeur yesterday, or at least a version of it. Threw in several bridleway detours, adding a little extra distance and a little more ascent, but you don't enter a midweek grimpeur to make your life easy.

It's a nice run out from Marple towards Pott Shrigley and Macclesfield Forest.

Even early on I was feeling slow on the climbs. A little jealous of this pig, snoring away with a big grin on it's face.

There were 30-odd riders out. Lots of weathered Carradice bags, threadbare jumpers and one set of SPD sandals. All very friendly during brief overlaps around the controls.

The second bridleway detour at Macc forest might have been a mistake. I didn't fancy the normal route up from the pub and over Charity Lane, opting to climb the bridleway on the eastern side under Shutlingsloe. No cars, but a bit hard on the legs. Looking back the clouds were coming in on the tops... Not a great sign...

The next section, from Wildboarclough to Gun Hill, seemed to take forever. Bailing into the lowest gear I had (40x36) and just trying to drag myself along. The organiser was in the van at the top and I caught Mike Wigley and a bunch of well-seasoned riders. Spirits lifted momentarily but it didn't last. A speedy descent followed by another long climb over Merrytown Low. I managed to keep up with the group from the control for a while. Eventually the cloud came in and it wouldn't have mattered if they were 10 metres away or 1000.

What followed was spectacular. It did nothing for my legs, but the descent into Warslow had me grinning ear to ear. Caught a tiny gap in the clouds and held it for the 5km descent. It's a cracking bit of road, almost entirely straight, wide and quiet. 10/10, would ride again.

Turned into a headwind towards Longnor, cursed and grumbled. Tried to eat. Thought about bailing at Buxton. Skipped the cafe and deployed a solid audax lunch from the village store: double stuffed oreos, coke and ribena. Felt a little better after this and settled on grinding my way up to Flash via Hollingsclough Rake.

Detour 3 came shortly after the control at Flash. Hanging a right from the main road, I managed to grab a biketag and hopped on the new White Peak Loop into Harpur Hill for some gravely fun.

A large group of riders were loitering outside the launderette in Buxton. The cafe there now closed, but still a spaceship in the window to make a good info question. Only 20km to go now. Some road closures meant we were heading out of Buxton on Long Hill before dropping into the Goyt valley and up The Street. Again visibility was piss poor. There was a lot of grinding, grunting and groaning knees. Then another couple of climbs up to get up above Lyme Park before a final bump up onto Marple Ridge. From there, downhill and a well deserved pint at the Ring O'Bells before the ride home.

On reflection, a good day out. There were a few lows, but it was better than another day in front of a screen. Had a good chat with the organiser at the end, he's planning another super grimpeur to add to the series, I'm thinking an offroad route might be good laugh. Looking forward to the final organised ride in the series next week then onto my first 200 (for a while) a couple of weeks after that.

As no LEL this year I went out for a nice perm ride last week.
https://www.strava.com/activities/5827948197

Blimey.
#bringbackrep

amazing.

Yeah, that’s pretty cool. How was it?