Audax rides

43km in 90 minutes (all the time I had). 28.67kph average. No speedo, so that's just a calculation from a route drawn on gmaps and going by my watch, so it's safe to say it's not entirely accurate! But it felt pretty good, and I reckon 3 times that is fairly doable for me. I also used my tachymetre on my watch -- set it going, count to sixty in time with pedal revolutions, glance down, BAM cadence reading! Thanks to rabbit, I know that my gear (48/17, 23c) means 60rpm = 21kph, 70 = 25kph and 90 = 32 kph. 80ish is a nice pace. Old school, me.

You may be a natural and take to it like a duck to water, but try to aim for maybe a 15mph average on your first 200. You can always increase your speed towards the end of the ride if you're feeling good, then gradually do them faster, if you want. Longer distances need to be done gradually more slowly, especially if it's a hilly route.

Saw a guy on what looked suspiciously like that famous "world's best trek madone". Carbon wheels, aero bars, chris king bling blinding me, and a rack front and back!

Surreal.

My hands were fine, but I lost sensation in my toes pretty quickly. I think overshoes are the way forward. I will also be investing in some decent bibshorts and jerseys if I'm going to be spending any longer on my saddle (which I had to fix before leaving).

If it's really freezingly cold, you can also wrap some clingfilm or kitchen foil around your shoes before putting the overshoes on top of that, and more clingfilm over the top of the overshoes. Should rarely be necessary, but toasty toes are nice.