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@The_Seldom_Killer
A rather testing event on the Mere 200.
Rain from the off was a bit demoralising and any moment on the first leg spent exposed or heading south left riders somewhat battered by the wind. Not something that boded well for the trip from Delamere to Ellesmere. Given how tiring the first leg was, I was surprised to have covered the first 50k in just over two hours.
As I started on the southern leg I realised that I was fast running out of water so diverted down the A49 in search of a garage I'd used before. Alas it turned out to be closed on a Sunday so decided to press on rather than return to the route for uncertain shopping opportunities. Not the most pleasant of southerly trips although the traffic was pretty quiet for a main road. At Whitchurch I restocked at a Garage/McD's combo that I knew would definitely be open and was glad to finally turn away from the south. Grinding out the miles into a rain lashing headwind on fixed was really losing it's appeal at that point.
I was surprised again when I managed to pull into Ellesmere at 1pm and knew that I was good to make Prees Heath before the 3pm cut off.
Managed to ditch the waterproofs and put on some dry gloves after lunch which boosted spirits as did the fast spin into Audlem where the tailwind nearly had me undergeared. Alas, turning north there with a change in the wind slowed me up some and I was reduced to just pottering along.
Not long after darkness my main light crapped out on me which was annoying as I'd only charged it up the night before. Fortunately I had enough in the backup for the last hour back to the finish.
The shitty weather and mucky roads meant my chain had stretched quite a bit on the ride so no surprises that I managed to ship the chain on a fast bumpy descent. Luckily I had not long overtaken a bunch from the short ride and they stopped to give me a bit of light whilst I sorted it out. Turned out to be a group of women, most of whom where on their first audax and, despite the weather, seemed to be enjoying themselves. They certainly seemed cheery when they rolled into the finish.
I quite like this route and the terrain is certainly good for riding fixed but alas I seem to have no luck with the weather. I think that in future my winter rides will be planned as short notice rides on weekends when the weather isn't this bad.