9th August 2008 (Sunday)

Got up at stupid o'clock....made some porridge for wifey, daughter and me (they are heading off up north for the day/night)

I loaded the bike onto the roof of the car and set of at 6:30 am....(I covered the arm pads with plastic bags to stop them flying off!)

I arrived at Wilton at just gone 7, parked up and sorted myself and the bike out and cycled the short distance to the starting point at the Wilton Community Hall, to my surprise there was tea/coffee, biscuits available...I wasn't quite ready for any myself yet....

The start time was 8am and nobody was allowed to set off early....

The Aero Bars and some Bulldog clips made a fantastic map holder :-) (Sorry about the quality of photo - but camera and sweat dont mix well - picture taken at 62 miles)

At 8 everybody launched en-mass, I found myself with the fast group up front (what a surprise!). The speed was very good..22mph+ I took my turns up front and gradually the lead group broke from 10 to 4.

At the first control point 2 of the riders continued on, myself and another guy (Colin) stopped and recorded the required information (The name of the church)

We very rapidly caught up with 1 of the riders (With me powering along in front) we finally caught up with the front rider at the second control - where there were more drinks and food available! - Again I wasn't ready for food or drink.

Now there was 4 again..and I was going very well - but concious that I was burning along as if I was on a 70 mile ride NOT a 124 mile ride! - The other guys were using me! I was considerably more powerful and faster on the straight and level but did not make it up the inclines particularly fast (Mainly because I push to high a gear all the time at lower cadence...I must work on this!!!)

We lost one of the guys somewhere between the Second and Third checkpoint so we were down to 3....Then it got hilly :-( and they zoomed on ahead and I was all on my own :-(

It was actually quite nice..I started going at my own relaxed pace...then I was caught up by 4 more guys.....and I tagged along with them :-) Two of them were incredibly quick and the group split into 2, me with the fast guys.... we ended up doing over 30 mph into West Bay :-)

The West Bay Control was the Harbour Cafe, when we arrived the 2 people I had been with had only just got there (5-10 minutes ahead). I got my card stamped and ordered a bowl of chips and a coke... wolfed it down and set of about 5 minutes after the first 2 had gone. I was then on my own for the next 30 miles...

I was eventually caught up just before the next Information Control - Apparently they had a puncture...They ended up zooming off up the next hill.....

The Next checkpoint was a rather nice Pub as Milton Abbas, I had my card stamped and followed it with a rather nice pint of cider (Got to keep those calories up!)

I was caught by the next 2 about 20 miles later...where again it was nice to have company and get dragged along, until another long hill saw them disappearing into the distance, but at this point there was only 12 miles or so to go...so I wasn't really bothered.

I did the last control and headed on to the finish point....it should have been 124 miles...it ended up being 126 (That's the problem when you follow people!)

I dont think they make much money out of the Audax events....they had Tea/Biscuits/Cakes at the start and first check point, and at the end there were more Tea/Biscuits/Cakes and sandwiches/rolls!... I was starved!

The Garmin had the ride as ...126.26 miles in 7 hours 46 mins with an average speed of 16.2 mph... The GPS track can be found here...

I think I will re-cable the rear dérailleur tomorrow night (It has been sticking when going down the gears - and it is most definitely the cable), I think I will also fit the new 12/27 cassette and chain... All of the other Audax riders were on much more generous gearing than me!

When I got back home I had to cook tea/ tidy up and take the dog for a walk! - No rest for the wicked!!!!