Audax rides

Cheers guys. Having done this one I'm now even more in awe of you guys on the longer ones. I was more or less comfortable up to about 140k when all of a sudden pain started. Wrists, neck, back and crotch. This continued for about 10k with short stops for a shake and stretch and then it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. It remained then at a low manageable level. So, things I learned.

Food. On the 100's that I've done food has never been an issue. I've never even come close to bonking or feeling weak or dizzy. I've ridden L to B solo with only a flapjack and a bottle of water and been totally fine. On this one I seemed to be eating constantly and still felt like I needed more. Luckily my pannier was full of cakes, bars and bananas. Water was also an issue and as it was a hot day I kept running out. Time for that 2nd bottle cage I think.

Navigation. I spent ages studying maps the day before the ride. Friend's place to station, station to starting point, routes back and the actual route of course. But I still got lost a few times. I had the route sheet mounted on my bars and it was great 95% of the time but going off route means extra time finding your way back on route. I'm now considering getting a GPS device as hopefully that will eradicate these problems and save time tracing the route with street view. So many to choose from though.

Lighting. Sunday was hot and bright and there was still light up till 20:30 but in the country lanes it was dark. No way of seeing the potholes. The lights I have are really for main roads and city riding where the main reason is so that other traffic can see you. In this case you would need lights that would allow you to see the road ahead. Something much brighter and more powerful.

Mental / psychological. You really have to be in a state of 'here and now'. When I got out at Chelmsford (the earliest train arriving after the start time) a guy approached me and asked if I was on the audax. I had a route worked out already and the sheet mounted but stupidly followed him because he had a gps device. I couldn't keep up with him and also doubted his directions but then realised I was lost. I remembered the audax rule later of 'don't follow people'. This made me one hour late starting which bugged me for a lot of the ride. I had to work hard mentally to leave the past (the morning) behind and focus on the current section of the route. I also kept thinking about the finish and how I would get home.

In terms of dark or negative thoughts the only ones were of pulling out especially when it was hurting. But as I'd DNF'd on Wednesday there was no way I was going to do that again for no good reason other than a bit of pain. I swatted those thoughts like flies. I also kept thinking about whether it was time to get a geared 'proper audax bike' especially for the descents. It's hard to spin with a sore crotch. But no, I want to stick with my "one bike, one gear" philosophy.

A big thumbs up to the organisers who manned the controls and wondered if I would make it through. The lady at the cafe in Newmarket (control) had closed up but came running out when she saw me looking in and got me some drinks and snacks. Arriving at a manned control with food and drink really felt like reaching an oasis. "I hope there's shop, I really hope there's a shop . . ." and then boom a buffet of food all to myself and a guy handing me a pint of squash. It really was quite magical. Apparently the others had gone through "hours ago." I started late and rode slowly to try and pace myself so was around 2 hours behind the field. Hopefully I'll get a bit faster when I get comfortable at this distance.

All in all a good experience of my first 200. Very happy that I made it and recovering well today and a lot less achy than my first 100. Definitely want to try another one this summer while the days are still long ish.