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Sunday, March 14, 2010

14th March 2010

Today was the club 100k Audax, It was also the Afghan Heroes bike tribute in Wootton Bassett, and our Audax route went down the same bit of road as the bikers at Brinkworth....

I set off from home far to early as per usual and was one of the first at the Bath Road car park..

I was togged up in multiple layers, the weather forecast was for it to warm up, but when I left home it was still only 5 degrees..
0900 Sunny 5.7 °C WNW 10 mph

30 km 1031 hPa, Rising
1000 Sunny 7.4 °C NW 10 mph

35 km 1031 hPa, Rising
1100 Sunny  intervals 8.9 °C WNW 13 mph

40 km 1030 hPa, Rising
1200 Sunny  intervals 10.4 °C NW 17 mph

40 km 1030 hPa, Falling
1300 Sunny  intervals 10.4 °C NW 15 mph

45 km 1029 hPa, Falling
So there was me in long sleeves and thermals...Paul W decided it was warm enough for shorts!

At 9 we set off....I was on the Hybrid and determined NOT to head off like a bat out of hell, I opted to ride along with Simon (Also pictured above) he sets a much more sensible pace...

We headed out of Chippenham towards Easton then across towards Lacock, we had a choice up the very steep but direct Naish Hill or take the shallower gradient but slightly indirect Bowden Hill, I was happy to do either :-) Simon initially opted for Naish, until he realised it was the kin steep one... As Paul was currently taking the lead the decision was in his hands.... he wimped out and took the shallow option :-)

He then motored on ahead like a man possessed passing everybody in front, I slotted the Hybrid into granny gear and wound up the hill using my new found high cadence technique :-)

When we got to the top we pulled over to wait for Simon, disappointingly being overtaken by everybody that we had overtaken :-(...eventually Simon appeared..It would have been VERY unsporting to give him a chance to rest so we set of again.....Simon, Paul, Dylan and me.

I was feeling surprising fresh and strong so took the lead....I must have made a fantastic wheel to sit on!

We made good speed through Sandy Lane, picking up two more club riders who didn't know the way...

Just after Headington a horse box pulled out in front of us, it was going at a perfect speed Paul and myself slotted into the slipstream and was dragged along at a nice healthy pace, I assumed the rest of the guys were sat with us....unfortunately I looked behind and realised we had dropped them :-( We had to slow down for them to catch up......so sad the horse box was going at a perfect speed...

We headed to Stockley, Blacklands then through Compton Basset, I spied some of our fellow cyclists ahead...and felt the need to catch and of course overtake...This caused a dilemma, I was trying hard not to race! but I must catch and overtake!!!

As we caught them we rode together for a while....we got the info for the first information control and one of them joined our little group as we headed on to Brinkworth.

We got to the main road at Brinkworth at about 10:50...10 minutes before the bikers were due to leave Hullavington, we stopped had a cuppa and a slice of cake....Paul was sensible and had the Beans on Toast - I thought I would grab some on the return visit - but there wasn't any :-(


I did tell Simon he was only supposed to have a slice of cake NOT the whole plate :-)

We set of at 11, and thankfully got to the right turn before they appeared :-) The road was wonderfully devoid of any traffic.

The next part of the ride took us on a north bound loop up to Long Newnton (For another Info Control), and around to Little Larkhill and Ashley. There was quite a strong head wind and I found the going of the Hybrid VERY tough.

When we turned back south and a nice strong tail wind I started flying along again :-)

We headed back towards Brinkworth, this time east of the village so when we crossed the road we would be heading against the motor bikes NOT with them...

When we got to the junction, there were lots of motorbikes.....I mean LOTS, there was a very party atmosphere with everybody out lining the road and waving and all the bikers waving back.

(I borrowed the photo from the beeb...but it gives you an idea of how many motor bikes were out)

We didn't have to long a wait at the junction and we were off back towards the control...I was waving at the bikes and they were waving and tooting back...It was really nice to have such a friendly party atmosphere...

We stopped at the control and had another cuppa and slice of cake (But no beans on toast ) Then we set off back to Chippenham.....I was now starting to feel very fatigued, the 28mm treaded tyres and the weight was starting to tell...The guys started to leave me.......but from somewhere I summoned some more energy and managed to catch them and hold on to them.

From Dauntsey we took the scenic route through the Great Somerford then joined the 10 mile TT route through to Upper Seagry, then it was the home leg through Sutton Benger and back to the Bath Road Car park..

We all signed each others Brevett Cards (Finishing at 13:30) and I collected them all to take to the club night on Wednesday.

The Garmin had the ride (including to and from the Start) as 66.83 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes with an average speed of 16.2 mph, route here...

When I got back home I put the hot water on, the family had drained it :-( Cooked myself some Ravioli on Toast (with some melted cheese :-) and had a nice cold pint of cider...

I had my shower then washed, inspected, degreased and re-lubed the Dawes....It now looks very shiny again :-)

I did find today's ride VERY hard work, I also have the age old tingling of the hands coming back again, something I haven't experienced since moving on to the road bikes. I was consciously changing hand positions but unfortunately there isn't enough!

6 comments:

Rafe said...

You could try ergon grips for the hybrid, some grips with more of a "ledge" and/or some bar ends. I have the Specialised Overendz bar ends and they are superb - add at least three more positions.

Judith said...

Hard work, but afterwards you obviously felt that fantastic sense of acheivement and will be planing another one soon..Tingling in the hands, that could be a range of things, a long ride could be putting additional strain on your neck etc etc.....

John Berry said...

@Rafe and Buttsy....I already have ergo grips, no bar ends.....It is a trapped ulnar nerve I dont get it on the road bikes at all, but after 12 hours or so on the Hybrid/mountain bike I always start to get the first symptoms (Tingling little finger)

I think a lot of it the vibration and me gripping the bars to tightly :-)

I have been working very hard this weekend at dragging a heavy hybrid with fat tyres around the roads at the same speed as fast road bikes with skinny tyres.....and I succeeded ;-)

I may well have a look at fitting some bar ends on to give me another hand hold...Rafe will they slot in the ends with the ergo grips?

The ones I have are....http://www.treefortbikes.com/cat/0/76/Grips.html#navbar=pro___333222338732___97

Rafe said...

No, the ones I have clamp on the bar, butting up to the grips. Don't think you'd be able to do that. Can send you links or photos to what I have if you want.

John Berry said...

@Rafe...That will be cool :-)....at the moment I foresee my main issue being hand discomfort!

In terms of miles I think I have done enough this weekend to know that I can go the distance and I think the bike should be good for it to...

Red Bike said...

I'm slowly starting to wind up the mileage ready for this ncr5. I'm going to suffer!

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