Audax rides

Tomorrow will suuuuuck

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Perfect Audax weather.

My bit of advice is eat plenty and often and always keep snacks for when you bonk. When you bonk on a fixie on a 200 it feels like your legs grind to a halt as there is no where to go. Eating will make everything better.

Ride postponed due to amber warning. Kinda relieved tbh, couldn't fit my rear mudguard.

As it’s been postponed I may see if I can do it at the later date.

I can let you know when Craig updates via email, there's probably gonna be spots freeing up

It's on the AUK website, but just in case, it's pushed to the 14th.

Great, I’ve got a space. Will PM you.

Did number 7 of my RRTY attempt on Sunday as it was the only free day I had (had to withdraw from Richard Ellis Memorial and Brace of Bramleys due to clashes with work/club events), so did the Medway Meander as a perm. Being a Sunday meant the first train from South London down to Edenbridge wasn't as early as I'd like so didn't get going til gone 8am. Final 30km or so in the dark as I just couldn't build up a time buffer at the beginning. A real slog in the end but it's done now and now waiting for the Perm Gods to approve my gpx upload.

RRTY is the one that I’ve tried but never managed. Well done and best of luck for the rest!

Moulin Muirs 200 was a total banger yesterday and the perfect calendar event to (almost) end the season.

It was nice to meet @kvragu at the start. Apologies if my chat was fairly limited, I had underdressed and was doing everything I could to stop myself from shivering. Chapeau for starting with a hangover and very limited sleep - how did you get on? 17 out of 59 riders started (although the event had been postponed due to last weekends amber weather warning and was now taking place during the school holidays so maybe that had something to do with it).

Highlights included; autumn colours around Pitlochry, the epic tailwind after Aberfeldy, numerous red squirrels, spotting three cats (one big tortoise shell floofster, a petite black thing and and tremendous grey and black big boi), only having to push up one hill, an 8km descent, meeting and chatting to some new faces.

Lowlights included: that fucking headwind from the start to Aberfeldy at 100km. I wanted to get off my bike and throw it into the nearest large body of water on a couple of particularly exposed sections. (Although the tailwind on the way back kinda made up for it.)

This puts me up to 10,000 fixed gear kilometres this season which I’m super happy about. And I’m now up to 140 Fixed Wheel Challenge points so I should - if all goes to plan - achieve my target of 150 🤞🏻

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For once I didn’t take many photographs so you’ll have to settle for a selfie and this road.

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The silvery Tay!

Good on you for finishing and the total milage! Don't worry about the chat, I was just about keeping it together. Love your bike.

I dnf'd before the first CP, there were a few times I reacted too slow to traffic and realised I probably shouldn't be on the road. All the wind didn't help.

Ride Report - Brace of Bramleys

Yesterday I rode Brace of Bramleys with @WhitleyJay and Nina (who is not of this church but is an OG randonneur, PBP & LEL in her palmarès).

Forecast was cold but sunny so I spent a fair bit of time deciding what to wear, I settled on:

SS Merino base layer
Burner
LS non-fleecy jersey
Windstopper type gilet
Neck warmer buff thing
Bibs / leg warmers / two pairs of socks
Winter gloves

You look at the forecast, you know it's gonna be cold, but when you step outside at 6am shit gets very real, very quickly. Immediately knew I'd underdressed, my arms in particular were cold (and stayed cold most of the day) but just had to crack on.

Set off from Greenwich, met Nina at Deptford Bridge and we set course for Surbiton, which is a fuck-off long way away. Just as we're getting close to the tennis club where we set off from I get flashbacks to the summer of 1998, "I swear I've been here before?!" - sure enough, I had. Under 12s tennis tournament, I made it to the semis and lost an agonisingly close match to a massive Russian kid (no fucking way this kid was 12 or under; fucker was near 6ft and had a wispy 'tache!) called, and I shit you not, Aleksandr Kalashnikov.

Anyway, arrive and it's colder than a witch's tit, pick up brevet card, scoff a pain au chocolat and roll out. Jay was riding fixed and we'd kinda chatted in the lead up and said to maybe try and 'keep it chill, yeah?' Chill, it was not. I was cold so was riding to get temp up, catching and passing various groups, a few people remarked on getting smoked by someone on a flat bar fixie...

We continued to roll at an unsustainable pace through Surrey until we hit the first control at Bramley (70k), bakery that had opened just for us. I was scoffing a sausage roll and a jam doughnut when the man,the myth, the legend rolled in... Cinelli Man, IYKYK. Exactly the same outfit and set up he had for every other Audax I've seen him at; Wander Wye, PBP, cold-ass Brace of Bramleys, doesn't matter. Same kit. What a dude.

Continued for another 30k or so, some nice lanes through the south eastern edge of the North Wessex Downs and then we emerged at Whitchurch, info control. There was a Co-Op, a bench and bus stop that induced 'nam-style flashbacks, I'd been here before 500k deep into Wander Wye with @youramericanlover both of us feeling like well used dog chew toys. It was too early for lunch, but the next control at 145k was a bit of a stretch... hmmm, we rolled out anyway.

The pace was hot, Nina hit the front and was on an absolute tear, we stopped somewhere around 130k for a quick snack and the on to Alice Holt Forest Cafe at 145k for proper food. Pulled pork bun with apple sauce and chips, needed. Cinelli Man sat with us for about 17 seconds then he was gone, see you on the road Lone Ranger. Tummies full I sheepishly asked if we could just ease up a touch, leg day at the gym on Friday was not great prep and I just don't ride all that well in the cold. All the right noises were made but Nina's riding indicated my request had fallen on deaf ears. Jay just looked at me and smirked "chill pace, yeah?"...

We caught up to a fella we'd met on another ride, 7 x PBP'er, he was aiming for sub-50 in August but fell a couple of hours shy. As Nina was chatting with him it was the first time all day that, as Jay remarked, the pace felt sustainable. Joy was short-lived as Nina hit the front again and went full TGV, I was having to work hard to not get gapped.

We'd dropped 50-hour PBP man by the time we hit Combe Lane, I was struggling with a cramping left quad so just granny-geared my way up, but that hairpin hurts in any gear. From the top it was a SmashFestina through East Horseley, Cobham and Esher until we rolled back to the tennis club. Quick bit of pasta and an apple juice before the unadulterated joy of CS7 on a Sunday evening, couple of close calls with Qashqai-cunts and back home almost 13 hours after I'd left. Top day out but lesson learnt the hard way.

Remember kids: You can always shed heat if you get too warm, but you're Fucked Six Ways To Sunday if you don't have enough warm layers.

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Nice write up. Chapeau.

Entertaining as ever - thanks. That one had been in my diary but then last week I got hit by a car and my legs are not quite up to it.
Just to clarify my mental image - Cinelli guy rides a black gazetta in olive green jodhpurs right?

Border Castles 200k from Chepstow this Sat anyone?

https://www.audax.uk/event-details/10591-border_castles

Thanks! Sorry to hear about the crash, hope you're not too banged up. Khaki/faded olive green baggy shorts, and yes a black gazzetta.

I assumed he's the one you're on about - absolutely ubiquitous!
re: Crash - I'm alright, hoping to be back on the bike this week, the main challenge now is hounding the drivers insurance to replace my splintered plastic...

Couple of jubliee clips and that'll be fine.

Ouch! Lovely bike so that's quite sad but sounds like thankfully there's been no major damage to you which is the main thing!

Now perfect for taking on a plane.

Tempted, but then... looking at the weather forecast...

It is Wales - do you need to look at the forecast? :)

Can someone remind me if DIYs can count towards an SR series for the Ultra Rando 10xSR award thingie?