Hell of the Ashdown

see y'all in the morning..

Still got to clean down the bike, put new brake blocks on, etc etc. Time rapidly passing.

Should be okay; you drive there in the morning in your car?

If I get around to nipping out and putting petrol in it this evening, and the battery isn't flat again. So, it's looking unlikely.

I learnt an important lesson this evening – don't fiddle with derailleurs the night before a ride if you want to get to bed on time. I imagine most of you already know that, I can only hope you didn't learn the hard way. It's not like you need the big ring this early in the year anyway, and although it would be nice to use my 23 I'm sure 21 is plenty. Ho hum.
I hope to see you all tomorrow :)

All done. Marginally faster than last year, rode with a flat back tyre for the last three miles as thought it would be quicker than stopping and fiddling with CO2 and valve extenders. Saw Martin at the start, fixedwheelnut at the end, have now got a little bit cold so am heading home.

Nice one Tom. Marginally faster for me too this time round. Massive thanks to p_mj for towing me around most of the return leg. Again.

Smashed into my Gaggia as soon as I got in.

I did a 'you' this year in forgetting to take a pump.

Are there going to be more photos of him making it look easy?

That was a marvelous day, great riding and food stops with almac, benjam, bernie, hilda doolittle, dumps, yossarian and sue. I now know that Guiness is just another stout.

I finished in 4h42m.. by no means the quickest but it was a great day's ride and I now feel well and truly knackered!
Please now shame me with your sub-4hour times.
I can barely comprehend how fast some people were smashing around. My only moment of real glory was getting my 2nd wind on Star Hill and overtaking a fair few people.

And hopefully the cyclist who was on the road being attended by paramedics is okay.

this was very good. got round in 3 hours 50ish including a flying stop at the second feed station. but then i didn't ride down from soho ... took the weak option of a train to orpington.

was a great ride , beautiful weather and great route. reckon the kentish killer is harder all in all.

didnn't see paramedics, do you know what happened?

reckon the kentish killer is harder all in all.

Did you ride that last weekend as well?! Good effort!

Did you ride that last weekend as well?! Good effort!

certainly did. a bit keen isn't it!?

i think the rider standard was a lot higher today, but the route was definitely harder last weekend. probably around 20 miles in total were the same roads across both routes, but there were more climbs on the kentish killer, and probably nastier ones too

And hopefully the cyclist who was on the road being attended by paramedics is okay.

Where was that Ludwig?

I felt real sorry for the fella who's rear mech had snapped on him half way up Kidds Hill. From the looks of it they were shortening the chain to run it on just one sprocket. Sod that.

I believe in the lanes after Knockholt.

And hopefully the cyclist who was on the road being attended by paramedics is okay.

^ this.

Great day's riding. Amazing to see Bernie w/o a Guiness in hand but very jealous of the euro-tour plan. Great to meet you Sue, Donna, Joel etc. hope to see you all again out on the road soon.

Guy was about 6k from the finish. Looked like he might have hit a Nissan Pathfinder (great car) ambulance in attendance, no obvious injuries but paramedics looked concerned nevertheless.

That was a marvelous day, great riding and food stops with almac, benjam, bernie, hilda doolittle, dumps, yossarian and sue. I now know that Guiness is just another stout.

No! It's not *just *another stout, it is a way of life. Come out on Friday, 13th April and find out the reality.

What a wonderful day for a ride. Stunning scenery, lovely weather, and the finest of company.

Guy was about 6k from the finish. Looked like he might have hit a Nissan Pathfinder (great car) ambulance in attendance, no obvious injuries but paramedics looked concerned nevertheless.

He was wearing Addiscombe shorts, and the medics had him talking and wiggling the extremities. I think the neck brace was for protection, whilst they loaded him off the road into the wagon. I passed him a bit earlier, and he seemed exhausted, and struggling to hold a line on some of the trickier descents. So glad it was not a whole lot worse.

If there are any Addiscombe members on here, can you pass on our best wishes?

I completely forgot to add that the marshalling and signage was once again superb, as was the amount of food and drink at the feed stops.

Thats was an excellent days riding - good to see some familiar faces (Ludwig, Donna, Ben), and meet some new people too (Sue, Alan, Bernie etc)... same time next year!

I completely forgot to add that the marshalling and signage was once again superb, as was the amount of food and drink at the feed stops.

Thankyou :D I'll pass that on to the rest of the club.

One guy with a broken collar bone by the Spinning Wheel and one suspected heart attack that thankfully wasn't is all that was reported so far.

6pt looked OK at the finish :)

Having looked at the route people do this geared, right?

Germain Burton rode it 72" fixed last year and ripped loads of peoples legs off and he is still at School :D