England : Kent Thanet Platinum 200 & 110

[Fab Foodie]

I feel cheated. Could I get a pro rata rebate?

No, but you do get to ride an extra 7km free next time...

 

[Salty seadog]

There was already a free 7k at the end of this 207k ride!

Ahhh man ...

 

[SteveF]

What, the whole pint?

I'd like to say "eventually" but it went quicker than that by some margin

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'd like to say "eventually" but it went quicker than that by some margin

Have to say, was a fine choice of finish :-)

 

[SteveF]

Have to say, was a fine choice of finish :-)

If only I'd had the foresight to be able to stay..... Hmm,... I don't like you

 

[smutchin]

Had a good but long day it’s the farthest i’ve ever ridden 167km only one wrong turn at the end. I’m definitely a full value rider 1 min to spare at the end. The 3 wheels made it a quite a lot slower but no aches and pains so that’s good. I don’t think a pork pie has ever tasted so good. A great ride thanks for putting this on.

You looked done in at the finish, but well done for completing the distance. The pork pie was well earned.

Glad you mentioned the timings because the time recorded on my finish list puts you OTL, though I know you arrived a few minutes before you signed in, so I've tweaked the list slightly to make sure you get validated!

 

[Fab Foodie]

If only I'd had the foresight to be able to stay..... Hmm,... I don't like you

.... next time I'll rent you a bed ;-)

To be fair, I was that wrecked I couldn't finish my Pork Pie (which is unheard-of) and only had 1.5 pints... also unheard of. Took a few bottles back to @Hill Wimp who was fighting-off the nightly Hornet invasion (9 last night, 4 the night before - they could get around the fly-screens!), had a cuppa and shower and fell into a coma! I had chatted with @smutchin on my way back to the wagon, came to the conclusion that maybe Audax per-se is not my thing, BUT, I could come back next year , do the short-route and then enjoy more beer.
I like his thinking :-)

 

[Always Cross]

I got off the trike and came to see you straight away so let your results stand. I’ll try harder next time. Slept well when I got home though. At least now there are less hornets to go after the bees in hive in the field

 

[Fab Foodie]

So....
With time to reflect and post some thoughts....

Nowt wrong with the route per se, some fabulous countryside IMO, but some of the road surfaces were utterly appalling. Sadly they will likely get worse while the UK is in cut-back mode. Maybe I was too optomistic with tyre pressures but felt a bit shaken to bits! 28c at 75/85psi and 95kg of Foodie. Whether this is part if the challenge of Audax I don’t know. It made for some hair-raising descents for those of us not partial to loosing precious speed.
There was one particular patch to mention and that was the hill down into Canterbury where there is a little switchback. By the time me and @Salty seadog got there it was dark and despite good lighting you round the first part if the bend and any semblance of tarmac dissapears into a pothole heaven! Ended-up hitting the brakes and straight-lining towards the woods. Maybe it was just us latecomers in the dark.

This cyclist underestimated 2200m of climbing! The profile on ridewithgps didn’t do the relentless nature justice! More practice required, the aches are just dissapating :-/

See you next year....

 

[smutchin]

Whether this is part if the challenge of Audax I don’t know.

Shouldn't be, really. But as you say, the general state of the roads makes it pretty much unavoidable. Sometimes the alternative is a busy main road. It's a balancing act.

There's one road early on the route that was bad enough for me to think it merited a warning (on the routesheet) but in between me sending out the routesheets and the day of the ride, the council went and resurfaced it. Which is nice.

There was one particular patch to mention and that was the hill down into Canterbury where there is a little switchback. By the time me and @Salty seadog got there it was dark and despite good lighting you round the first part if the bend and any semblance of tarmac dissapears into a pothole heaven! Ended-up hitting the brakes and straight-lining towards the woods. Maybe it was just us latecomers in the dark.

Yes, we discussed that one briefly at the finish and I admit it hadn't occurred to me that some riders would be descending it in the dark. It's bad enough in daylight - again, I'd put a warning in the routesheet, but you wouldn't have seen that if you were using GPS only. Maybe I'll put a waypoint warning in the GPS for next time.

See you next year....

That's the spirit!

You can always opt for one of the shorter options if you prefer, giving yourself more time to relax over a beer at the finish - in daylight!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Shouldn't be, really. But as you say, the general state of the roads makes it pretty much unavoidable. Sometimes the alternative is a busy main road. It's a balancing act.

There's one road early on the route that was bad enough for me to think it merited a warning (on the routesheet) but in between me sending out the routesheets and the day of the ride, the council went and resurfaced it. Which is nice.



Yes, we discussed that one briefly at the finish and I admit it hadn't occurred to me that some riders would be descending it in the dark. It's bad enough in daylight - again, I'd put a warning in the routesheet, but you wouldn't have seen that if you were using GPS only. Maybe I'll put a waypoint warning in the GPS for next time.



That's the spirit!

You can always opt for one of the shorter options if you prefer, giving yourself more time to relax over a beer at the finish - in daylight!

....well it woukd be churlish not to try the other routes ;-))

 

[GrumpyGregry]

One of my running gurl frendz did the two hundred, she's an ironperson, and was blown away by the whole experience. Well done @smutchin

 

[GrumpyGregry]

So....
With time to reflect and post some thoughts....

Nowt wrong with the route per se, some fabulous countryside IMO, but some of the road surfaces were utterly appalling. Sadly they will likely get worse while the UK is in cut-back mode. Maybe I was too optomistic with tyre pressures but felt a bit shaken to bits! 28c at 75/85psi and 95kg of Foodie. Whether this is part if the challenge of Audax I don’t know. It made for some hair-raising descents for those of us not partial to loosing precious speed.
There was one particular patch to mention and that was the hill down into Canterbury where there is a little switchback. By the time me and @Salty seadog got there it was dark and despite good lighting you round the first part if the bend and any semblance of tarmac dissapears into a pothole heaven! Ended-up hitting the brakes and straight-lining towards the woods. Maybe it was just us latecomers in the dark.

This cyclist underestimated 2200m of climbing! The profile on ridewithgps didn’t do the relentless nature justice! More practice required, the aches are just dissapating :-/

See you next year....

I'm in the very early stages process of building a steel framed 650B wheeled disc braked Audax bike, with lower gears than my Equilibrium, as 100kg of grumpy, hills, and 100+ miles on the roads of SE England don't seem to mix that well in my current state of fatness.

 

[smutchin]

One of my running gurl frendz did the two hundred, she's an ironperson, and was blown away by the whole experience. Well done @smutchin

Thanks!

If your friend is who I think she is, I hear she also made a new friend on the day... Discretion forbids me from saying more than that.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'm in the very early stages process of building a steel framed 650B wheeled disc braked Audax bike, with lower gears than my Equilibrium, as 100kg of grumpy, hills, and 100+ miles on the roads of SE England don't seem to mix that well in my current state of fatness.

Interesting....
I have an old Orbit expedition frame in my shed awaiting exactly the same treatment (except non-disc braked) for the same reasons.
I am also thinking of a softer Reynolds fork for the Rourke too ( as it’s a custom fit frame).

To be fair, I had few more PSI in my tyres than I would for pootling round here so that might have been a contributory factor too.
Fatter tyred road bikes seem to be the way forward for us of a fuller figure...