MartinM said:How did you get on Dave Khan?
It was fine.
In the cyclists' tradition of beginning with one's excuses, I'm still
nursing a sore and swollen knee from Down Ampney 4 weeks ago, and have
also picked up the cough and sore throat that's going round at work. I
therefore decided to take it very gently, at least until the first
control at Woburn. When 6 o'clock rolled round therefore, and the
smallish field took to the road, I nipped upstairs to use Liz's loo
thus giving them 5 minutes start and avoiding any temptation to chase
the faster riders.
After less than 2 miles I met a recumbent rider coming towards me
either late for the start or retracing his route. He was travelling
very slowly and not looking entirely happy. I stopped to have a word
and he explained that he had stripped his freewheel and was trying to
get back to Liz's house. There was nothing I could do to help other
than make sympathetic noises. While I was talking to him Mel Kirkland,
who had started a little late, came streaking past in full time trial
mode.
A couple of miles further on I passed another rider who was changing
his rear tube, thus promoting myself temporarily from the lanterne
rouge spot.
As I approached Harefield there was an interesting puzzle in the route
sheet. The instructions were to turn right at a roundabout, but I was
pretty certain it should be left. I trusted my judgement and after a
few miles it became clear that I had been correct. It occurred to me
that if the field had followed the route sheet I would now be the first
rider in spite of my trundly pace.
About 20 miles further on there was a mobile control. The rider who had
been changing his tube was just leaving it as I arrived. It turned out
he had followed the route sheet at the roundabout, but being a local
lad he knew a route that would bring him back on course, which
explained why I hadn't seen him pass. The rest of the field had
realised the route sheet was wrong, had stayed on course and were half
an hour up the road. As I was munching a cake, swallowing some
ibuprofen and chatting to the controller, his phone rang. It was the
storming Mel who had also gone wrong at the roundabout, but not found
his way back onto the course, and was now going home to bed.
The rest of the ride to Woburn was straightforward, and a little knot
of riders was still at the control when I arrived. I bought a sandwich
and a drink and consumed them contentedly as they set off on the next
leg through Woburn Park. About 10 minutes later I followed them only to
stop after a couple of miles as I noticed my rear tyre was getting
soft. I pumped it up again and decided to see how it held up rather
than changing the tube immediately.
Now I started to hit some severe headwind, and it was quite a hard slog
to Offord, where there was an information control. There was one rider
still at the control, but I let him set off alone as I again decided to
have 10 minutes rest and a snack before once more pumping up my tyre
and continuing.
The next control was through St. Neots to Thurleigh. There was still a
stiff headwind and to my surprise about a mile before reaching it I
overtook the rider I'd met at the info control. He was clearly
suffering in the wind and in desperate need of some food.
Most of the field were still at the control although many of them were
preparing to leave. The rider I'd passed clearly didn't share my casual
attitude to being lanterne rouge as he refuelled quickly and set off
with a small group.
After some rather tasteless hot food I again pumped up my tyre and set
off for the next control, which was Tesco's at Wolverton. There was one
rider just leaving the control as I got there. After getting my stamp
and some more food and drink I decided it was now time to change the
tube, which I did before continuing towards the next control at Thame.
Shortly before Long Crendon my phone rang, and I stopped to answer it.
It was my son, Mark, who had been at an orchestra rehearsal all day,
and on returning home had found and opened an envelope with his name on
it. It was the result of his grade 6 violin exam. He'd got a
distinction and naturally wanted to tell me immediately.
Fortified by this excellent news I carried on to the control at Thame
where the wind finally promised to be in the right direction. Indeed it
was, though as night was falling it was losing much of its force. It
was now a free route back to Ruislip and I briefly toyed with the idea
of blasting back along the A40 but sensibly decided to stick to the
quiet roads of the suggested route.
Around Great Missenden I came to another problem in the route sheet.
The instruction was to take the 2nd right signposted such-and-such. I
found the turning but there was no signpost. I wanted to be sure of
taking the correct road so I retraced to the previous turning to make
sure I hadn't missed it, then went on the third turning to make sure
that wasn't it either. Having established that it almost certainly was
the right turning and it was simply a case of a missing signpost, I
retraced to it and carried on. I was now in the Chilterns and this
turning led to the longest, steepest hill of the randonee so I was
quite glad when it proved to be correct.
The rest of the ride was plain sailing, and basically retracing the
route from the early part of the morning with what was now a gentle
tailwind. I was the last finisher at about midnight, but still a good 2
hours within the time limit, and I hadn't kept Liz's household up
unreasonably late. After a sandwich and a cup of tea I toddled back to
Twickenham for a shower and a plummet into sleep.
With the slight diversion in the Chilterns and the ride to and from
Ruislip I had ridden 355k in all. I'd taken it very easy, had no
serious problems, received excellent news from home, my cough had not
got worse, and my knee was only slightly sore. All in all a very
pleasant day.
--
Dave...
