England : Greater Manchester Mere 200 - 27/01/13

[trio25]

Great fun but hard hard work!

 

[ColinJ]

Ha ha - well done!

I had the headwind-from-hell on the outward leg when I rode the event in 2006, but I didn't have floods to contend with as well.

 

[Andrew Br]

Yes, very hard work and the soup and sandwiches back at base were very welcome.
That's the first (and hopefully the last) time that I've cycled in water that was more than hub deep.
The bike is going to need a lot of attention tomorrow.

.

 

[Svendo]

Sounds like it truly was a tour of the meres!

 

[middleagecyclist]

Well it was an interesting day. It was nice to see tubbycyclist again and meet some new faces. I learnt a lot on my first calendar event even though I packed with just a few km to go.

The wind was morale sapping, particularly for the last 20 km into Ellesmere, and after turning round didn't even last long as a tailwind. There were a few slushy patches but no ice, however some roads had long deep floods up to axle height and one was shut by the police (it came to at least thigh height I was told). There were several showers but at least it didn't rain all day. The sun even came out to play at times.

So that's the weather report but what did I learn?

• Lesson one: my comfortable but heavy (18kg) bullet proof tourer is not fit for purpose (it was the one with butterfly bars and a fat cyclist wearing a red Altura jersey sat on top). It's a load carrying machine. I know I am an average 3 mph slower on it than the road bike but wanted to try it out for audax use.
• Lesson two: an Edge 705 is a pretty good GPS but the battery only lasts 10 hrs and an external pack is only able to run it for an hour or so. I therefore need an Etrex 20.
• Lesson three: it is good to carry extra layers.
• Lesson four: I have a dodgy right knee which needs investigation.

After Weston my right knee started to really pain me. I dropped my speed and then got cold but an extra layer was good. Nr Alderley Edge the GPS display decided to quit. I was on very dark, unsigned roads, limping along and feeling cold. I decided to quit and followed the only signed road around to find a pub and arrange I lift. I could kick myself now as another 12 km or so and I would have made it within 12.5 hrs (if i'd found the way). I can hardly walk at the moment though so kicking myself might be quite hard to do! I've had mild pain in the knee for a few months but can happily manage 100+ mile rides on the road bike normally. Bit worried it's a degenerative change so will be popping into work (A&E) for some preferential assessment today.

Hey ho. Live to fight another day I suppose.

 

[PMarkey]

Definitely one to remember but considering I had to dig myself out Saturday after nearly 10 inches of snow fell Friday night I was quite surprised to find myself riding at all Sunday I need to sort out some decent front lights as I had a near off road experience on a down hill section when the road went right and I nearly went straight but overall a good day out.

Hope all's well with the knee MiddleAgeCyclist I've been having a few problems with mine but a bit of physio is sorting it nicely as it is just a bit of a muscle imbalance allowing my knee to float about a touch .

Paul

 

[Mello]

This was my first Audax and I thought I would complete it in 9 hours at best, 10 hours at worst.........but it was harder...much harder. 12 bloody hours! At the end my bike felt and sounded as if I had found it discarded somewhere in a canal. The first 65 miles were tough, cycling into a strong wind and the 8 mile road into Ellesmere (Eccleston) was demoralising. But the worst was yet to come with the occassional deep flooded roadways. I wasn't sure whether to cycle through them or swim through them. I felt a touch better after having a mug of tea at the cafe stop, I even started to get some feeling back in my toes. But a puncture in a cold dark lane in the middle of god knows where brought me to further despair. I met up with a few fellow riders at the Blacksmiths Arm and we limped home on our fading GPS's. Would I do it all again? I doubt it, not in them conditions.

 

[ColinJ]

Ah, I made a list of audax tips in another thread recently and I forgot to point out the importance of using a GPS with a decent battery life! I use the most basic of the older generation of the Garmin Etrex line and can get 24+ hours from one pair of AA batteries, and if I were ever mad enough to ride for longer than that I could just replace them when they went flat.

Well done everyone, but that's one ride that I'm glad that I wasn't well enough to tackle this year!

 

[tubbycyclist]

The first 65 miles were tough, cycling into a strong wind and the 8 mile road into Eccleston was demoralising.

I can see where you went wrong - the rest of us went to Ellesmere! Agree with you completely about those 8 miles, that was my worst patch.

I think I may have seen you around on the ride - St Helens club shorts? I was on the blue Hewitt and we traded directions a couple of times. It was definitely a character building ride, I have done it as a perm in the summer and found it a completely different proposition than yesterday.

But a puncture in a cold dark lane in the middle of god knows where brought me to further despair. I met up with a few fellow riders at the Blacksmiths Arm and we limped home on our fading GPS's.

A small headtorch for fixing punctures, reading routesheets and road signs in the dark is a useful addition for this sort of riding as well.

 

[ColinJ]

A small headtorch for fixing punctures, reading routesheets and road signs in the dark is a useful addition for this sort of riding as well.

Oh, yes - and wear a headtorch at night! (I wonder where mine went? I haven't seen it for a couple of years now.)

I discovered that oncoming drivers dazzling me generally got the message when I pointed my headtorch at them and then 'flicked' the beam down to the road. 90% of them immediately dipped their lights!

 

[Mello]

Tubbycyclist - St Helens Club Shorts, yep that was me. Sorry about the Eccleston/Ellesmere slip but I dont think I had quite got over the ride when I first posted.

Head torch and GPS with decent battery life (in my note book for next time.......if there is a next time!)

I would imagine that the route would be fabulous on a nice warm sunny day with no wind or rain. I didn't enjoy cycling through the back country lanes in pitch darkness (that's something else to add to my list....better front lights). It is anoying the number of motorists that leave their full beam on when approaching you. I would be much happier if I finished the ride whilst it was still daylight.

 

[PMarkey]

I will definitely be taking a basic first aid kit next time as a fellow audaxer joined us at the Blacksmith arms info control who had had an off resulting in lots of blood and some nasty looking bruises but I didn't even have a tissue to offer , he had decided to pack but turned up at the finish somewhat bloodied 30 minutes or so after I arrived I just hope he doesn't ache to much today and chapeau! though I still feel a little guilty for riding on even if he did insist .

 

[trio25]

This was my first Audax and I thought I would complete it in 9 hours at best, 10 hours at worst.........but it was harder...much harder. 12 bloody hours! At the end my bike felt and sounded as if I had found it discarded somewhere in a canal. The first 65 miles were tough, cycling into a strong wind and the 8 mile road into Eccleston was demoralising. But the worst was yet to come with the occassional deep flooded roadways. I wasn't sure whether to cycle through them or swim through them. I felt a touch better after having a mug of tea at the cafe stop, I even started to get some feeling back in my toes. But a puncture in a cold dark lane in the middle of god knows where brought me to further despair. I met up with a few fellow riders at the Blacksmiths Arm and we limped home on our fading GPS's. Would I do it all again? I doubt it, not in them conditions.

You punctured, sorry I didn't realise. I would have stopped! I realised you weren't there but wasn't sure how long you hadn't been there.

 

[Mello]

Dont worry Trio I knew that you hadn't realised that I had suffered a puncture. I was a little way behind you when it happened. I had to walk the bike back to the gateway of a house that had a external lamp post that offered me some light to be able to repair it.

I think my motivation was also punctured at that point because it seemed to take me for ever to get back to Cheadle from there.

Sorry to hear about the poor guy who had an off. Does anybody know who he was and if he is Ok?

 

[trio25]

I heard there were a lot of punctures, not a surprise with all the potholes and stuff!