The Great Escape 2015 - 200km audax - London-Essex

[iLB]

Were you wearing a red jersey @Nigel182 ?

 

[Nigel182]

Were you wearing a red jersey @Nigel182 ?

Red Gilet to match my Red Ribble

 

[iLB]

Red Gilet to match my Red Ribble

In which case did I see you on this stretch of road, around 6.30? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCcMLYkfCIpQkHIOqRGTjOA!2e0

Me on a black and red cube, in a white jersey.

 

[Nigel182]

In which case did I see you on this stretch of road, around 6.30? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCcMLYkfCIpQkHIOqRGTjOA!2e0

Me on a black and red cube, in a white jersey.

Yep that would have been me having yet another Sugar Loading Refreshment Stop...and cheers to you and everyone asking if I was OK at each Stop....
Friendly Bunch us Cyclists.

 

[ianrauk]

Another one with heavy legs for the commute this morning. I was dreading the ride. a: for the heavy legs b: for the predicted hellish weather that was expected. Luckily the hellish weather did not materialise and had a bit of a tail wind, which no doubt I will pay for on the ride home.

 

[PippaG]

After DNF'ing just before Great Dunmow on this ride last year, I'm glad I made it round in one piece this time so can put those demons to bed. We managed a fairly respectable almost 22kph average all the way round, which given the start and end include 10 miles of London traffic, I'm pretty happy with. OK it was wind assisted to begin with so I thought my speed would drop off a lot after lunch but not really. My legs were feeling good by the end still and we didn't slow down all that much in the second half (excluding that climb out of Buckhurst hill - who put that there?).

However, I seem to be suffering again with food related issues where I get what I can only describe as feeling like air bubbles trapped in my windpipe which causes searing pain between my shoulder blades. Once that happens, I can't really eat anymore and run out of energy and sure enough, I got to the end and knew I needed to eat but couldn't (this was what cased my DNF last year as I couldn't eat lunch). I have a feeling it might be from eating whilst riding - I'm wondering if I'm swallowing too much air doing that (I don't seem to get this issues on other non-audax rides where there isn't a time pressure so I don't eat on the move).

Anyway, that aside, it was a great day and food/back issues aside, I felt pretty strong all the way round. There are even photos of me smiling in the twittersphere!

We bumped into @ianrauk and crew as they were leaving lunch in Finchingfield (which made me feel really fast). We also bumped into @velovoice, @wanda2010 and @Flying Dodo as we crested a hill about 10'ish miles outside of Great Dunmow - so it was lovely to see so many familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while.

Not likes: all that resurfacing work going on so we were cycling on shingles for what seemed like ever. All those people who had no idea where they were or where they were going (no routesheets, no working garmins etc) who sucked my and Adam's wheels - I don't mind giving a tow to those who are suffering and need it, but these were all stronger riders than me who just needed navigators; they didn't talk to us they didn't even say hello; they just sucked the life out of me. As soon as they knew where they were they just sped off into the distance - not cool guys, not cool.

Likes: most of the route, even the bit back into town wasn't bad - I think given this is a central london audax a lot of thought has been put into making it the best it can be. The weather - I don't know what Islington CC did to ensure good weather two years in a row, but well done chaps.

BTW - is it just me or is this the least audax-feeling audax out there?

 

[ianrauk]

you're right @PippaG , it is least audax-feeling audax. I think it's due to being organised by a road club and the sheer number of road club chain gangs who seemed to be more interested in getting round the route in as quick time as possible. One such gang tagged on to us, overtook us on mass then at a roundabout realised they didn't have a clue as to which way to go. So they waved me through to guide them. Another chap from another club asked why there were no direction markers??? Also at the controls there were Gels & High5 tabs rather then cakes and rolls. Though the huge slabs of flapjack at the last control was very welcome.

I'm really glad you finished this time.

 

[martint235]

Well done @PippaG . It was a weird audax with all the road teams getting lost. It did make it easier to resist my natural urge to chase down anything on two wheels, what's the point when you know they are going to be waiting at the next crossroads anyway?

Do you really feel under such time pressure that you need to eat on the move? As you said you got to Finchingfield not that long behind us and we had loads of time in hand.Being able to eat slowly and gain energy properly will probably mean your speed improves over what it is with the symptoms you describe and running out of energy.

 

[wanda2010]

I hadn't realised Essex had such lovely villages! Grand houses and not-so-grand ones. I saw a house that looked like it had turrets rather than chimmneys. An animal that looked like sheep/lama? @Flying Dodo.

Even though I DNF (which I think is a tad cool!) I enjoyed my day out. I actually had time to look around, although I still missed a few things @Flying Dodo pointed out. Our lunch stop was lovely and was certainly an improvement over many of the lunch stops I've had since I took up cycling!

I didn't really need my route sheet as I was following my Most Esteemed Ride Leader, but it was fun to refer to it along the way. Definitely need to get my Etrex 20 up and running or get something bigger that's easy on my eyes.

My left knee ached a little morning and it was definitely harder cycling to work.

Would do again.

 

[PippaG]

Do you really feel under such time pressure that you need to eat on the move? As you said you got to Finchingfield not that long behind us and we had loads of time in hand.Being able to eat slowly and gain energy properly will probably mean your speed improves over what it is with the symptoms you describe and running out of energy.

Yes and no. One thing I have learnt is that good control efficiency can save me maybe 30 mins on a 200km audax. If I am ever to contemplate a longer distance, that could be valuable sleep time. So, for example, we never stop at INFOs, we just make a mental note and I come up with an elaborate story to help us remember the answers. I was surprised the first time I did this how I finished in similar time to faster riders than me.

For food etc, I generally need to eat around every 50km for the first 150km and then I need to eat more often. So a sociable day ride, that means a mid morning stop, a lunch stop, and then I'm on the train or back at home where I can eat properly. On a 200km I know all this so I try and eat a little bit more and a little bit more often (and I make sure to sip at my drink every 30 mins so that I stay hydrated). So I eat a banana or cereal bar in between stops and I do that whilst moving to save a few mins here and there (and to prevent the HANGER).

So, yes I know I can spare a few mins here and there on a 200km, but I guess I'm trying to learn habits that could be useful for longer rides. Given what I think are the repercussions on this strategy, I think I'm going to have to get a bit faster (shoot - that might involve training), and then stop to eat snacks....(or just give up on audaxes and stick to nice sociable day rides with no time pressures...).

 

[ianrauk]

Oh yes, apparently there were 130 non starters. People who paid their fee and did not ride. WTF is that about? You would expect a few non shows, but 130? That's poor non-starters, very poor.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Oh yes, apparently there were 130 non starters. People who paid their fee and did not ride. WTF is that about? You would expect a few non shows, but 130? That's poor non-starters, very poor.

Agreed! At the start I thought there's no way there's 400 riders here, and that explain why. I was amused by all the club riders........they did all look nice in their club kit. I was especially impressed that the Brixton Cycles team even managed to clone themselves, as I spotted at least 4 of them with almost identical beards.

Anyway, I was just out for a nice day on the bike. It was good to see some old faces, have a nice country pub lunch and just enjoy the countryside- well at least the nice bits once you get past Ongar and leave the traffic behind. Epping Forest looks a bit nicer in daylight than it does at night - I even spotted a little lake which I hadn't seen before.

Although I signed in at the start, I wasn't fussed about getting my card stamped as I figured at some point we'd divert and get a train - so sorry @iLB for not stopping as I whizzed by the control - we had a train to catch! I think we did 140km overall, by cutting across from Great Bardfield to Thaxted and then following the route again back to Dunmow and then zig-zagging cross country to Sawbridgeworth station on some really nice unused roads. That part of Essex is really very picturesque. I never thought I'd say that.

 

[martint235]

An animal that looked like sheep/lama? @Flying Dodo.

An Alpaca I believe. Made famous in the book: Seriously Mum, what's an Alpaca?

 

[arallsopp]

Trick to those flapjacks on the last control was to be playing Lanterne Rouge. Its a little like being the last one in the kebab shop before closing. Ask for doner and salad, you get something with more meat than Davy Walnut's thigh. In this instance, I think our little group (of 2) had maybe six flapjacks between us!

Bloody good ride, too. Got home with a touch over 166 miles on the clock. 124 route miles for the ride, 4 miles from office and back, 17 miles home, and, well, a better ratio of miles travelled / miles required than I've managed in the last three years.

Essex does indeed have many beautiful villages. I suspect I may have visited all of them

 

[Rustybucket]

I didn’t think to put sun cream on at 6am when I left for the ride! Stupidly I didnt think I was burning during the day.
However I am now sporting some very striking cyclist burn marks / lines! Today is painful - I will not be making that mistake again!