From Thornbridge, near Bakewell, 4th August, 2004.
This ride was billed as part of the CTC birthday celebration week in the first week of August. With it being on a Wednesday and having a few days of leave spare, I decided to take a day off and ride it. I sent off the application form to Mike Wigley and received the route card back a few days later. This was very nicely printed in boxes for each stage on 2 columns with special font characters indicating turns, roundabouts, junctions, etc. Very clear and precise – Congratulations, Mike! I entered in the route on the computer and transferred the routes to the GPS.
Why is it that trying to take things easy never works? I cycled my usual 30 mile commutes on the Monday and Tuesday firmly resolving to keep below 75% max HR. Did I, heck no! Still, I think I did manage to keep below 85%! When Wednesday came, however, I felt good enough and adequately prepared for the ride. The night before, I prepared the water bottle which I put in the freezer and a “Go” Bottle ready for filling in the morning. 2 Spare sachets of “Go” were filled. Arm warmers, Leg warmers, overshoes, spare gloves were made ready. Tools and spares checked and the bike loaded into the car. Even the weather forecast (what is that, you may ask? Does it exist in this fair and pleasant land?) was “favorable” predicting partly cloudy and pleasant temperatures.
Wednesday dawned and I woke up at about 6am as usual to the sound of the pitter-patter of a torrential downpour. I lay there and pondered the Universe, the Meaning of Life and Everything but soon decided life was too short for such useless pastimes and dragged myself out of bed to go downstairs to address really important things; like the two huge bowels of Maize porridge I had made and put in the bottom oven overnight while contemplating the river flowing down our street. Maize porride ("Mielie Pap") is Wonderful Stuff full of meaning and significance when consumed with a knob of butter, a splash of milk and sugar. A pint of tea later and I felt suitably refreshed and fed to face the day. I put my kit on and said goodbye to Jennifer and set off for Thornbridge in the pouring rain, murk and mist, windscreen wiper working overtime. I arrived there at about 7:30, assembled the bike, packed the rack bag properly, locked up the car and went to help Mike fold some Brevet cards and reminisce about riding in the rain. We collected our Brevet cards and a route change sheet – apparently a bridge in the Macclesfield area was shut and there was a minor detour to follow. Given my record for staying on track in these events, this did not bode well!
8 O'Clock and we all set off. Weather: rain. We all cycled off as a group down the hill into Ashford in Water (through pouring water from above) and onto the A6. Soon we turned off to Sheldon and winched ourselves up a 1 in 6. I passed a guy on a fixed (67 inches) who did not quite make it and had to walk... My heart rate climbed over 150 and so did we until we reached the little hamlet of Sheldon and the first info control. At this time, I was almost as wet inside as out but relief was in hand with gentle undulations rather than climbs after Sheldon. Its a strange thing; on my previous Audaxes I pretty soon fell in with a group of my speed and got chatting. This did not seem to happen on the start of this one – I suspect this was due to the mist and rain obscuring thought as well as the view... As it happened, one chap whizzed off ahead disappearing into the distance. I settled into a rhythm that was slightly faster then the rest of the group at the beginning and therefore had a relatively lonely ride for the first 40km. After Sheldon, the route took us over the undulations of North Derbyshire up to the southern outskirts of Buxton and onto the Leek Road (A54) with rain all the while – at this stage my “waterproof” gloves were soaked and my overshoes were starting to leak in sympathy with the road destination..... Half way up the A54 I stopped to check my bearings for a few minutes and decided to wait for the following group, which comprised riders from Birmingham and Tiho and Jutta on their tandem. I fell in with the Birmingham crowd up to the top of the hill where we turned right to Wildbarclough. On the descent the group fragmented and I fell to following the tandem. I almost missed the info control on the descent and then promptly followed the tandem on the first of many missed turnings and detours of the day. Only a hundred or so metres were lost, though.
The next control, Macclesfield Forest, was a few km further and after a nice steep climb. This the last high point of the outbound route which was marked by a plaque which formed the info control. The climb was about 1:5 in places and forced the use of the granny gear for the first time to winch me up. Did I mention that it was raining?
The descent through Macclesfield Forest is very very nice and fast. The only tempering thought was that it had to be climbed on the way back! At least the overhanging trees gave some relief from the incessant liquid aerial bombardment! This section of the ride was where the detour kicked in and, as usual, I missed the turning. Fortunately, the GPS is very good at directing one back on course and I managed to hook up with the rest of the group after a short dogleg. Lyme Green, Sutton and Warren passed by in the mist and rain with little remarkable to see in the gloom. At that point we passed the group of Birmingham riders milling around in the shelter of a large tree having a discussion. We passed on. It turned out that they were deciding to pack it in and head back.... Soon we passed by our first major landmark – the Jodrel Bank Radio Telescope. This brought back pleasant memories of a visit to the site in the early 70's while I was at University in Leeds and all things Universal and Astronomical were new and exciting! I can still remember the sound of the transmissions that were bounced off the moon and the hiss of the solar wind and countless distant galaxies. Soggy hands, feet, and head brought me back to reality and the final few km of the stage to a pleasant cafe in a caravan sale site just after Goostrey on the A50. I parked the bike under the eaves (the only dry spot for miles around) and went in to drip all over the floor and to order Blackberry crumble and custard and a big mug of tea. Very nice, very welcome. I made one big mistake – I did not buy enough – I should have had a sandwich as well or, at least, two helpings of crumble.......
After a time spent consuming crumble and sorting out a stamp for the Brevet card, the dripping had slowed and we felt suitably charged for the next stint. Unfortunately, when I got back outside, I discovered that water had somehow ingressed into my HAC4 cycle computer and HRM and it was fogging over and displaying intermittent characters and readings – it packed in completely soon after (sigh). It was still raining. My arms felt cold so I put on arm warmers under my “waterproof” jacket producing a distinct comfort improvement. I paired up with another chap on the next short stint and got chatting (though not very much – it was still raining). I did notice that the landscape had stopped going up and down, though, and progress was steady. Holmes Chapel passed by and then so did our turnoff and we ended up doing 5km extra by going through Elworth rather than Middlewich to the info control at Forge Mill (sigh) where we learned the voltage of the overhead cables on the pylons! During our off route detour we passed the tandem, also off route, going the opposite direction! I suspect it was a collective case of too much water on the brain! Somehow I dropped my companion somewhere in Elworth – I looked back to see if he was still on my tail and found him not to be there. However, we were now heading in the the right direction and I was sure he would find his way. 11 km further on, over the Shropshire Union Canal, was the next info Control – the number on a lamppost. There were a few riders milling about reading the number, including the fixed rider. We chatted for a bit on the beginning of the next leg but I soon found that my best gear for the terrain was not 67 inches and we parted amicably. It then stopped raining! Well, for 10 minutes, it did...
Next was a pleasant flat ride in the rain through Chorley to Cholmondeley which is where this Audax gets its name from and its half way point. There is a Castle in Cholmondeley – I could not see it – too much murk and rain. We did find out that the Castle estate shop sold Longhorn beef, though!
On the next 14 km stretch through Egerton, Pickerton, Peckforton and Beeston I discovered my indiscretion in not eating enough at the previous cafe stop and bonked 5 km from the next cafe. Fortunately, I had my emergency marshmallows in the rack bag and wolfed down 50g which revived spirits enough to make it. I made up for previous lack with a double sandwich, two pieces of apple tart, tea and 2 KitKats. Looking out after 20 minutes of indulging my hypoglycaemia, I discovered that the rain had stopped (!!!) and things had brightened up a bit – enough to put on my sunglasses and take off arm warmers and jacket, in fact! Things were looking up after near on 6 hours of swimming through a continuous waterfall!
I set off on my own on the next section. Just before the control in Moulton I took a wrong turn on the dirt section and ended up on 3km detour. As luck would have it, I teamed up with a fellow called Matt (I think) from Hastings who had also deviated! He turned out to be a long term Audax rider and who has done many medium and long Audaxes, including the last Edinburgh-London. We got chatting about these and went our way together although I almost lost him after finding out the time of the evening service in Moulton – my jacket decided to part company with my rack bag and I had to strap it on again. After catching him up, we spent most of the rest of the Audax together pacing each other well and leading each other astray.... 16 km further, was the last cafe of the trip – a very nice tea-room which sold cakes and scones – I should not have, but I ate a scone with clotted cream and jam with a mug of tea. I had had enough at the previous stop but felt greedy – to my cost; it did not feel good.
Mat and I set off together to review the delights of Jodrel Bank again (and take a 300m detour in the process). We then retraced our steps up to Langley and the long climb up to Macclesfield Forest. I am 6'3” tall and quite heavy (95kg of pure muscle, sinew and bone, I tell you!) with a heavy bike (17kg) so I did not climb as well as he and lagged a few hundred meters behind by the top but managed it in the granny gear without getting off. Furthermore, at the bottom of the climb my right eggbeater pedal started clicking and crunching - the sealed bearing had given up (sigh). Fortunately, eggbeater pedals are otherwise quite indestructable and apart from the odd noise here and there, they did not seem to cause any impediment to forward progress... The downhill on the other side was distinctly pleasant, only to be followed by a long steady climb past the Cat and Fiddle on the A537. Matt disappeared off ahead and I followed doggedly, passing a couple of others on the way. Downhill towards Buxton, I caught up again. Being heavier makes the downhills faster... We continued retracing our route until we got to the A6 which we followed all the way back to Ashford. This is a lively ride down a lovely steep gorge and I was soon zipping along at 60+ kph – A lovely end to the Audax. However, the sting is in the tail and there is another hill out of Ashford to Thornbridge. After yet another 50 meter detour (will I ever manage to stay on track?) and the final control hove into sight at last.
Matt and I arrived at the same time with about 3 or 4 others ahead of us and another crowd arriving soon after. Mike had laid on some eats but I did not feel up to it so just sat and soaked up the atmosphere of a long ride successfully completed and chatting. I saw Phil Dyson in his CTC Reading shirt but did not get a chance to say hello.
Brevet Card duly stamped and handed in, I made my goodbyes and loaded the bicycle into the car for the final 15 miles home through a resuming gentle drizzle (!). Getting home at around 7:30pm I had a good long bath to soak the aching muscles and contemplate the 47km commute to work and back the following day, broken pedal bearings and life in general....
All in all, this was a fun Audax, despite all the rain, mist and fog, wet feet, wet hands and wet everything else. I again made the mistake of setting off too fast – will I ever learn? Could I have carried on? Well I was certainly glad I did not have to! It was a slower ride than my previous ones due to the weather and the climbing (about 3000m/10000ft in all) Doing it in 10h20 total time was a satisfactory achievement, I think, and I would sincerely recommend this ride to any 200km Randoneur. It has a good balance of hills, scenery and flat bits. The Cafes are good and Mike's organisation spot on.
What would I do different? Start slower, eat more at the first stop, eat less at the second, try and remember names better, stay on route!! Maybe I should lose a bit of weight?? :)
Enjoy!
Bicycle:
Cannondale T800, 17kg all up
Eggbeater
clipless pedals
Schwalbe Marathon plus tyres
Rear carrier with
rack bag
Cateye 5 led Headlight, 2x 5 led rear lights.
Tools:
Alien II, puncture repair kit.
Spares: 2 tubes, chain, 2 AA
batteries.
Clothing: Bib shorts, Cycling top, leg and arm warmers,
water resistant overshoes, Waterproof jacket, Sealskinz gloves,
mitts, Helmet and sunglasses.
Trip:
Total distance:
211km.
Total time: 10:20 – 20.4 kph.
Time in the saddle:
9:00 – 23.4 kph.
Total Climbing: ~3000m very
approximately.
Maximum speed: 74.6kph.
Maximum Recorded Heart
rate: 166.
Estimated Average Heart rate over 9:00 hours: 125.
Pieter Meiring, August 2004.
Access Count: