Audax rides

Two poached eggs with baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and bacon on white toast.

Don't apologise, I find it interesting how people approach these. I realise that this say something about me.

I have realised that I have planned my 600 the weekend before flying to the US. Am I asking for DVT do you think @hippy or will some sensible walking around see me right?

You could always row to be on the safe side.

I am not sure what work's travel policy is like with regards to rowing

DVT had nothing to do with pre-flight exercise. It had everything to do with being stationary on the plane for a long period of time. Don't take sleeping pills!

Risk might've been increased due to large calves and their large veins needing to be 'used' to help pump the blood back. Feeble-legged drivers and the like might not have the same issue.

No more audaxes booked! Better get on that calendar.

@hippy, thank you. I had probably just be careful not to be tired and needing a big sleep after the "Beast from the East". The routesheet arrived last night and it looked hardly tiring at all.

Rode out and back to Maidenhead with @mustardbeak yesterday from SE London to take part in the Boulters Bash. Those climbs in the 2nd half were pretty lung bursting. Last year on fixed I think I got halfway and walked. This year on gears no problem. Have to remember to change down though rather than grind.

Getting random freezes and slow screen redraws on my Garmin Etrex. Never had any problems with it previously. Just upgraded the firmware which seems to have helped but only a little. Bit lost with it literally. Hopefully not a hardware issue. What to do then?

1. Get a new one
   
2. Get a different GPS unit
   
3. Go old school and use route sheets
   
4. Mount phone with dynamo USB charger
   
   

Quite annoying as this unit has been so reliable in the past. Don't fancy the idea of it packing up during a ride. Any thoughts?

Call Garmin, might have to send it and get replacement. Good luck.

Anyone doing Oasts&Coasts tomorrow?

Not me my 300 is done. Good luck.

Yeaaaah boooi!
Cycling from oval to the start

Not sure if that makes me feel better or worse that I'm driving to the start.
What time does that mean starting at?

Good luck to those doing Oasts and Coasts it looks like a great route, really wanted to do this one but life conspired against me!

Anyone doing Windsor Chester Windsor as their 600? I decided not to go for PBP this year so offered to volunteer on the Sunday in Windsor to give a little back. Looking forward to helping on a ride from the other side.

Hope to get there for 530
Leaving mine at 4.
Then cycling back to Wandsworth afterwards.
I will be wearing kingston wheeler bib shorts with the red jersey and gilet!

I really want to do it but it is full up.

Good luck to those doing the Oasts & Coasts today. I would have liked to have done this one but held off booking it till I had completed a 300 but by then it was fully booked. Also work is building up due to time spent audaxing and training. Lots of polite reminders.

Hop Garden and Ditchling Devil entered.

Think I saw the Oasts and Coasts riders heading towards Otford just before 7 this morning. I hope the weather improves for them, but damp at the moment.

Had to pull out by otford.
Done my hamstring in.
Ever pedal rotation felt like death.
It is a shame.
But there will always be next year.
Hopefully it will be all good for Severn across in two weeks!

Joined the organiser for the O&C routecheck last weekend - it's a great route, even if we did struggle into a headwind for far, far too long: reckon those who were on it today had pretty much perfect wind conditions.

Real bad luck having to pull out as early as Otford: I crashed out last year, at Birchington so a bit over 200k in - that was a bit gutting.

Ouch. Sounds quite painful. Hope you managed to get home easily.

Ouch, that sounds painful. Any idea what caused it? See you in a fortnight I hope.

not to sure tbh.
feeling less sore today.
not really moved about that much.

Heartbeat 400 was tough. Lots of hills featured, some over 20% gradient , of note was a slithery descent with brakes fully locked on down a 33% gradient "Chimney Back", the steepest road in England . My back wheel felt like it was lifting.
All varieties of weather; wind on the way out, rain after the halfway point, then mid afternoon all the way to Richmond, a warming sun low on the horizon , when it set circa 8.15pm temperatures plummeted instantly. Garmin reckoned it was as low as -4 deg C going over the moors.
Speaking of which my Garmin 810 crashed 5 x over the course of the ride. It probably wasn't helped by the fact that the line of sight to satellites would have been obscured a lot on the moors, but surely it shouldn't screen freeze when sats are lost? Its very slow to recalculate the route after a hard reset too.
So I will mess with the settings and rely on it less for next time (Fred Whittton is my next ride then Beast from the East) although when it works well I love it, nice having confidence in directions when you are cold and tired.
On the plus side my lash up of a battery back up zip tied under the stem worked well in keeping it charged up, combined with turning the back light down to minimum and staying off the map screen. Turn by turn directions work best for me, otherwise I have the map scale wrong and am constantly checking. The R2D2 esque beeping reassures me its still alive too.
Another lesson learnt was not to wear cotton socks. They have no insulation properties whatsoever when wet, my feet were like blocks of ice,so I will be looking into sealskin type waterproof ones.
Apparently I was the 7th home (not that its a race of course) after 21.5hrs. Hardest ride I've ever done.