Ride report: South Bucks Winter Warmer 200 audax

Another early start, with a train out of town while it was still pitch dark. This time I was headed for Buckinghamshire, where I would be one of 62 starters on a cold December day.

The forecasts were for cold temperatures, possibly below 0 degrees celsius overnight, which implies the possibility of ice on the roads. That put off quite a lot of people, but still, 62 of us set off at 8 am. Quite impressive. Terry, the organiser, had put together a ride that was a good example of excellent value for money: £5 for a eat-as-much-as-you-want breakfast, and even more hot food at the finish!

Initially heading South, I tried to stick with the fast guys, but after pushing hard, I never managed to actually get to their group. It seemed pointless to try and keep them in sight, so ended up relaxing a bit. Eventually I got together with a guy on fixed wheel for the first half of the route.

2 min before the off

The roads were not bad, traffic-wise, as it was still early in the morning, but the ice was always in our minds. Although we did not encounter much, on a couple of shady sections (luckily uphill ones) my wheels slipped a little, yet not causing any trouble. Both my companion and I started taking it really easy on every turn though, and especially downhills.

At the first control (60 km into the ride) I got some quick snacks and pressed on to Alton. The following km were possible the best of the whole route, not flat, but not too lumpy. Really great lanes as we entered Hampshire, certainly much better than those of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

 I started to feel a bit weak and stomach pain made its routine appearance. I told my companion not to wait for me, and I carried on on my own. A few miles before Alton, the route called for the busy B3400, which yet a B road, was not pleasant at that time of the day. We know there are riders who are confident and don't mind (or actually love!) main roads. Also, I thought why people drive at 3 pm on a Saturday? Isn't it siesta time? Anyway, it just did not feel right to be on such roads so tried to press on so as to get those miles out quickly. Back on the lanes and onto Alton it was lovely countryside.

Some lovely lanes in between sections of not so busy nice roads

Once in Alton I stopped for some food and had to rush to the toilet. After feeling a lot better, fed and hydrated, I continued on the next section. A long-ish hill just after Alton was next, which was a good warm up. The sun was shinning though, and I overheated a bit, despite it being surely near 2 degrees C. Progress on the lanes was good. On some of the fields I began to see people standing with fancy camera gear and equipment, staring at nothing. Weird I thought at first. A few minutes later, I saw a lovely steam train making an appearance through the farmlands, with its massive tail of stem! Later on I learnt it was the Princess Elizabeth.

The Princess Elizabeth as taken from http://www.cheddington.org.uk/

A few mile later though, I had one of the most random and off-putting sights of my time in the UK. While coming down a rolling hill, I started hearing something that sounded like gun shots. Not that I've ever heard many since I used to go mountain-biking on the Madrid hills, but I was quite confident it was something along those lines. I was right. A whole bunch of guys where shooting with their big rifles to what looked like man-shaped targets. Was it real? What kind of ammo were they using? I was about to go past the hedges, meters in front of them!

Fortunately, nothing more than gravel got splashed at me (or little bits of something). Surely they were not using real ammo, but I left thinking...what the hell!?!? I was on my own, so could not discuss with anyone, but freaked out all the same. 5 min later I saw another unsual sight, which answered one of my long-standing questions that only emerges while out riding: who cuts all the hedges on both sides of the quiet lanes? See below...

Hedge trimmer tractor similar to the one I saw

GPS indicated a few more minutes before the sunset was due, so without delay I tried to cover as much km as possible before temperatures dropped back down to around freezing. Yet again, a sudden stomach pain called for another impromptu stop at a pub.

Night navigation was easy, along some lanes on our way back up to the start. But because we went near Reading, traffic was quite heavy and sometimes intimidating. I should remind myself of avoiding rides that go so close to big towns, or as it seems, to the West of London.

With some 40 km to go, it was totally dark, so still on my own and with no people visible in the front or back, I continued along the B3030 for a while. Although a nice rolling road, traffic was still bad. Being dark and still on busy roads was not pleasant, so only hoped to get back to the lanes, which I eventually did.

Ford, apparently up to the 1.5 m last week due to bad floodings in the West. Luckily down to "only" 0.5 m now

I was making good progress to get on the earlier train back to London, but another urgent visit to the toilet caused a bit of a delay yet again. Some riders went past me, and I eventually decided to give up on catching the early train and relaxed a bit towards the last 20 km or so.

Unfortunately, the last 15 km were again on ridiculously busy and fast roads, which I did not enjoy. The A4010 was specially bad, and eventually made it to the finish with a bit of a bad feeling about the whole ride.

Although it did have some very pleasant sections, particularly towards the Oxfordshire and Hampshire areas, I felt a lot of the time we spent on fast, busy roads. The organiser, his wife and helpers were extremely nice though, and the service they provided was amongst the best I've come to enjoy on audaxes. And all for a mere fiver. But the route does need some improvement in my opinion. Surely, the route is not mandatory, and you could take to the lanes, but with the abundance of quiet roads in that area, I think things can be bettered in future years.

After a much needed hot meal of chilli con carne, bread, and rice pudding, I gave my feedback to the organisers and thanked them for putting out a good ride. They assured me that other riders had suggested route changes on the busier sections as well, so I might reconsider coming back if this appeals in future rides.

I managed to loose all the ride stats, but overall I finished it in 10 h and 22 min, which considering all the (toilet) stopping was not too bad. It had also been my longest winter ride to date, and luckily it seems that I got my stuff right, including the layers. With a long base layer, a short jersey, winter jacket, wool socks, winter socks, shorts, leg warmers, head/neck buffs, and thick winter gloves with liners, I never felt cold or uncomfortable. Food and drink were also ok despite the stomach problems. We rode for about 205 km, and the rolling average must have been about 24 km/h.

Next long ride won't be until January. Still trying to decide whether to DIY it or do a perm, as none of the calendar appeal much. Will see...

Ride report: The New Forest 200 audax (Permanent version)

Audax is all about self-sufficiency, and it also involves (or can involve) lonely sections. On calendar events (i.e. rides that are properly organised and attract a good number of people) it is easy to hook up with other riders and have a social ride, if you want to.

One of this years aims (or well, continuation of!) is to get a "Randonneur Round the Year" award. You can get it as long as you register a ride of 200 or more km a month, for twelve consecutive months. Nothing too challenging one might think, but with the winter colder months coming up ahead of us, I am not too sure I will manage.

I could not find a suitable ride for November, so I screened the "permanent" rides on the AUK website. These rides are put up by local people and can be ridden any day of the year. Lucy has already given up on the idea of longer rides in the colder months, so off I was, for the first time on a 200 km ride, on my own.

One of the rides looked appealing: the New Forest 200 km. We've already been in the New Forest, though on mountain bikes, and quite enjoyed the flatness of it. I'd heard good things about the lanes over there, particularly off the busy summer months. At 5:30 am, on a Saturday, I found myself on a quiet train headed for the southwest coast of the UK. To my surprise, there was another audax guy on this service, heading somewhere in the southwest as well.

London, 5:15 am

The weather had been quite promising all week, yet the latest forecasts predicted light rain all morning, clearing up by mid afternoon. Temperatures around 10 degrees C, so not too cold for this time of the year. By 7:20 am I got my receipt and headed East towards Lepe Beach.

The first 20 km of the ride were on quiet lanes, very easy going and helped by an slight tailwind. My stomach had been playing up already, and I was relieved to find a toilet by the deserted beach. The views of the Isle of Wight were quite nice, as was seeing the sea.

Leafy lanes at the start of the ride

The Isle of Wight in the background from Lepe Beach

I ate some snacks and retraced my steps back into the depths of the forest, heading North. The roads were quite nice and still quiet, yet at some point I managed to go on the wrong section of A road (A326) which was not pleasant at that time of the morning, with plenty of white vans and heavy goods vehicles. After I left that road, it all became nice and quiet again, although got busier with the infamous New Forest wild ponies. 

The bloody ponies, although cute and all that, blocked off the roads on a number of occasions, and I had to wait patiently behind them. They did not seem to be bothered at all by either me or other vehicles. I had to go off road a couple of times, and with the muddiness of the autumn, my skinny tyres got clogged up with mud which needed clearing a few times.

Waiting for the ponies to decide what to do and where to go

At Ashurst I went through one of many information controls (i.e. obligatory passing points to prove you did not take shortcuts), and soon afterwards I made my way down South towards Lymington. The roads were very pleasant and had good tarmac, yet appeared a bit more lumpy that I had anticipated.

Nice isn't it?

When going off the main roads, which were quiet past lunch time, you were often presented with not only ponies, but fords (luckily dried!) and plenty of cattle grids. I had read many reports on rides through the forest in heavy rain and massive floods, and I could only imagine how bad that would be when I saw some of the signs by the fords...

Can it actually get that bad?

Once in Lymington, I headed briefly into the High Street for a receipt to use as proof of passage. While having a much needed sugary coffee and cake, in true British style, lots of locals asked me where I was headed, about my GPS, why so many flashing lights and so on. The usual stuff. Luckily no one was asking how many miles I had planned for the day!

From Lymington, it was a long and windy way, first to the West of the park, then up North through Ringwood and eventually Cranborne. It was much more ups and downs here. As I had not had any proper food since I left home, I started to feel tired and hungry and looked forward to eating something hot at Cranborne. I was keeping a close eye on my watch, as I had a train back to London at a fixed time in the evening, that I could not miss. A flat tyre, the first time ever on a audax, added to my frustration and increased the need of getting somewhere with hot food. Just after 2:30 pm I got to Cranborne and headed straight away to the Garden Centre, the suggested control...at 160 km into the ride. Once I got there I had the feeling they were not serving food (everyone was having tea!) and this was confirmed by the waitress. It really was not my place either - it seemed way too overpriced and the crowd was at least twice my age and in nice clothes - not smelly lycra. 

Nice lanes to Cranborne

I retraced back to Cranborne High street and controlled at the local grocery shop, where I got a plain baguette, a can of coke and some gross crisps. It was past 3:30 pm by the time I got back on to the bike. The GPS indicated sunset in less than 45 min, so I turned a few of my lights on for enhanced visibility.

The lanes back through the forest were really nice, and as the sun was coming down, I enjoyed one of the best sunsets I've experienced in the UK. It was still relatively mild, clear skies, and no traffic at all. Just me, the bike and the lights. The colours were spectacular, but the pictures do not do justice. I recommend everyone to cycle at dusk on a clear day - it is the best time of the day for riding in my opinion.

Lights on - into night riding mode

It cannot get much better than this!

With 25 km to the finish, I got my last info control, this time in another post box. I was happy I had filled all the controls now - all I had to do was ride leasurely back to Brockenhurst for my train back to the Smoke, into the night.

Last info control, sunset in the background

Funny sign

I pulled into the finish line with one hour to spare before my train was due, so headed to a pub for some food and a pint of local ale. It had been a superb ride with plenty of nice lanes and light traffic. Much lumpier than I had anticipated, yet by no means hilly.

I may make a return to this area sometime soon - perhaps throwing in a bit of wild-camping as well, with a crossing over to the Isle of Wight maybe?

The stats were as below.

Ride report: The New Uppertea 200 Audax, Stages 3 and 4

So there we were on our first audax, seemingly keeping up with the crowd as we kept meeting them at the controls. The morning had gone very well and as we left the second control we both had high hopes for the afternoon...

Stage 3: Sutton Scotney to Upperton (69 km)
...but the indian summer heat was starting to kick in, and on our first climb after the control I started to fade too quickly. I think, despite the rest at the control, that I hadn't been drinking enough water. We had to rest in the shade for a while before I felt ready to continue on... and even then I thought it would be better to go at a slightly slower pace rather than push myself too hard and need to stop again. We carried on, only pausing again in Liss when we had to wait at a level crossing for a train to go through. We also managed to convince a pub owner to fill our water bottles up, despite the pub not being open yet. It was that kind of heat that they took pity on us!

Level crossing at Liss.

We eventually turned on to the A272, which we had been worried about being quite busy. But by that time I was feeling quite strong and it was mostly downhill, so we kept up well with the traffic and the km's kicked by pretty quickly. Finally we turned into Upperton, going up the tough hill and finding the third control with the El Supremo feed station we had heard so much about!

We sensed trouble when we arrived and the organisers were already starting to pack up the feed station. They confirmed we were the last riders on the course and it seemed like there was quite a bit of time between us and the previous guys. Still, there was lots of lovely cake, a nice hot drink, and basically any other kind of food we could wish for. We tried to eat and drink as much as we could and then prepared ourselves for stage 4, which we knew would mean night riding.

El Supremo feed station.

Stage 4: Upperton to Newlands Corner (47 km)
We put on our hi-viz vests, changed our sunglass lenses to clear lenses, and switched on our lights. We had to go back on the A272 for a while, this time less easy going as there was a climb out of Petworth that really killed me! Having to climb on such a busy road was stressful and I was starting to feel very tired from the day's hard work. We took another break by the side of the road and Alberto snapped some pictures of the sunset while I tried to gather myself together for the last 45 km.

We road on into the night, keeping an eye on the clock as we knew we would be cutting it close for the final control. After Billinghurst, we were supposed to go onto the A29 which looked really busy with people coming home from their Saturday activities. Alberto took a quick look at the GPS and plotted a route on quiet lanes instead. Then we were in our element of night riding and I was feeling much better again. That is until the final tough climb of the day in Ewhurst! I had to walk it and Alberto was kind enough to ride slowly with me rather than leaving me to walk alone in the dark!

We made it to Shere, the last town before our destination and then up a gradual climb to Newlands Corner. Alberto kept shouting out distances on the GPS (1 km! 500m! 300m!) and we could hardly believe it when we turned into the carpark at 9:30pm, just half an hour before the cutoff time! We were several hours later than everyone else (and apologised profusely to Richard the Audax secretary for having to wait there for us!), but we made it! After our brevet cards are validated, we will officially be randonneurs!

For those interested in the stats:

- Moving time: 10h 7m
- Stopped time: 3h 04m
- Moving average: 21 km/h (not bad!!!)
- Overall average: 16.5 km/h (including stopping, meaning we cut it very fine to get to the last control!)
- Max speed: 51.3 km/h
- Trip odometer: 215 km

Ride report: The NewUppertea Audax 200, Stages 1 and 2

"Time is miles" - quote from the Upperton control stamp

Our Audax ride started at 8 am from somewhere near Guildford, in the southwest of London. We had to have breakfast, cycle to Waterloo, catch an early train, cycle to the start and register for the ride. So alarm went off at 5:15 am but could only open my eyes at 5:35 am. By 6:20 am we were already out of the house and about to descend down to Waterloo...and then I realised that I had a flat tyre! Rushed back into the house and within 5 min I had a new tube in and pumped up to 110 psi. Apparently the valve could not hold up for much longer and realesed all the air overnight...

With all this we missed our train. Not a big deal on a normal ride, but it meant that we would be late for the start. The clock was ticking. And therefore the miles were ticking (see quote above!). We would be cycling behind schedule and also we would not be able to enjoy the atmosphere at the start, with tea and biscuits. Oh well. Got to Guildford and cycle up to Newlands Corner, met some people cycling in the opposite direction, met Dave & Richard (the organisers), got our brevet cards and without delay went back down to Guildford for stage 1. We will see Dave later at the Upperton control. Richard, not that we knew, would be waiting for us much later back at Newlands Corner for the final control. We started the ride at 8:25 am.

Stage 1: Newlands Corner - Three Mile Cross (46 km)
After a gentle downhill we were on relatively busy roads (not at this time of the morning though) heading northwest of Guildford, via Jacobs Well, Pirbright, Frimley Green, Yately & Eversley, Spencers Wood and finally Three Mile Cross. The route was mostly flat and urban, as it approached Reading towards the end. The temperatures were very comfortable and we were riding on summer clothing all the way. At some point we got passed by two other audaxers, who we will meet again at the first control. We managed to average >25 km/h and the stage took us less than 2 h, which is probably the fastest we've ever ridden in quite a while! We made it to the control with more than half an hour to spare which, considering our late start, was not bad at all! Met a few others that were leaving and as proof of passage we got two juices at the gas station, put our receipts in our pockets, and off we went on to stage 2. It seemed that were were the last ones already.

Smiley Lucy after >25 km/h average, at the Three Mile Cross control

Stage 2: Three Mile Cross to Sutton Scotney (45 km)
The temperatures were going up by now, it was 20 degrees or more, very unusual for this time of the year, when it should be more like 10. Left the control and happily rode another 45 km. This time we soon entered the beautiful English countryside, with pretty much traffic-free roads. After reaching Silchester, we rode along an old Roman wall, after which we got to Ramsdell. The roads were very flat so far. We went past Ramsdell, Ibworth, Deane and Steventon, to then ride along a very long section of country lanes that went gently uphill (the old A303 we belive!). We made a diversion from the original route to avoid busy roads, making a few more km than necessary, in exchange for some nice views and quiet lanes. At this point we felt ready for another break, so we pushed on to the second control. It really helps spliting these kind of rides into various stages, so that you have short goals to meet to keep yourself motivated. After about 2 h of riding (>23 km/h) we got to the second control in yet another gas station. We met the same riders again, which must have got there about 20-30 min before us. I chatted about bikes (duh!) and specifically about audax bikes (duh!) as am thinking on getting/building one. I got excited about long audaxes as we spoke to the veterans. One of them had even ridden the Paris-Brest-Paris back in 2003! Definetely something I am aiming for (in 2015!)...

Lucy battling the rolling hills

Applying sunscreen at the Sutton Scotney control, not a very scenic stop

It had been very easy going so far, decent average of >24 km/h and very little stopping. We even had more than 1 h to spare at the second control, we had our hopes up, felt pretty good and got a little relaxed. 90 km and another ~125 km to go. An "El Supremo" feed in between after stage 3. The rest from now on was not that easy...

Ride report from stages 3 and 4 coming soon!

We are randonneurs!

We've just got back from our very first Audax 200 (215 km)! That means...we are unofficially (until we get the approved brevet cards) certified randonneurs!

It has not been easy though, the ride was not flat, it was hot, and we had a late start! A full report will follow in the next few days...but for now we are so happy to have joined that exclusive group of cyclists who are willing to give up a whole day(s) (sometimes literally) of their time to ride long distances!

22:20 Guildford-London train after a long day in the saddle

We rode for a total of 250 km, that is including from home to Waterloo, Guildord to the start and back (Newlands Corner), and a few loops in our neck of the woods to make it up to 250 km!

All ready for our Audax 200

Not long ago Lucy and I were completely unaware of the term Audax/Brevet/Randonnée. But recently, and especially after all our long (well, should I say "short" for Audax standards?!) rides we came across Audax UK. As they say on their website: 'Audax United Kingdom is the internationally recognised long distance cycling association in the UK'. That sounded pretty cool, and soon afterwards we were doing some research into it.

A couple of weeks ago we entered our very first Audax, and last week we got our entry package. A lot of information came with it, all in different fancy coloured A4 sheets. We even got a personalized letter from Dave regarding our insurances (a post on this will follow soon). I thought that doing a PhD, in a foreign language, was complicated enough. But understanding the Audax terminology (again, in English!) proved a bit tricky for us newbies! The route is not shown on a map, but on Audax language:

So, here we are Lucy and I trying to make sense of 4 pages full of this. It became very obvious that if we had to follow this sheet(s) as they are on the day, we may end up in Birmingham. We don't even have a map carrier and we both know how crappy we are with directions - we always, always get lost, be it in London or wherever we happened to be. We were not granted with a very bright sense of orientation, unfortunately. But some bright minds (I think americans? Lucy's dad can surely confirm!) invented the GPS a while ago. And now the devices are small enough to be carried on bikes. And because we love technology, we have got two of them! So, let's get started with the mapping. Looking at google maps and street views (it is truly amazing how you can see every single road in the UK as if you were on it!) we followed the instructions and plotted a line that would then be transferred on to our GPS devices:

SO @ X (Busy A31)
$ Village Centre (Berry Hill)

Ok, so stratight on (SO) at crossing (X) which apparently will be the busy A31 (A roads are usually dodgy for cycling in England, the less numbers the worse!). Then signposted for Village Centre (Berry Hill, I guess there must be a hill). Easy. The places in bold are to be cycled through, possibly because there are hidden controls or something. The rest, you can either follow or make up your own route. We're sticking to Dave's for now.

After 4 sheets of this, we've come up with the four different stages of this 213 km audax. And we've created 4 separate .gpx (the GPS's language!) files. We will be given a 'brevet' card, which we need to have stamped in all the controls, manned or unmanned. In the latter case, we need to obtain proofs, such as ATM statements or receipts. Looking interesting. And then we have the time limits! They get relaxed as the km pass. The clossing time for the last control is at about 22:00, which should give us 14 hours to complete. That should be pleeeenty of time...right?

This is stage 3 of the audax

Ok, so if we rode at an average of 22 km/h, which is quite doable, we would invest nearly 10 h of riding time. That is non-stop. So, we have about 4 h stopping time, which includes food/water feeds, pees, mechanicals, and lots of resting atop the Surrey hills. It seems achievable, but we should keep an eye on the timings!

Riding for 10 h in October means that you're very likely to have to ride into the dark. It's good that we have been doing loads of night rides this year, otherwise I would be frightened! Some good lights, bright rears, and high-vis vest are in order. And backlit GPS!

The rest of the preparations include:

• Some pre-training in Richmond Park (that's for the hills!)
• Servicing the bikes. I will be changing my summer brake pads for the wet ones, in preparation for my Wales ride
• Food, food, food. Audaxers say that as long as you're well fed and hydrated, your legs will keep going
• Get tools ready, inner tubes, arm/knee warmers, batteries full of juice, GPS loaded
• Let your beard grow (mine's already 10 days) so that you can fit in

Despite all this, I personally feel a bit nervous, kind of similar to when I did my first night ride. Something new, certainily challenging, awaits for us this Saturday!

So we are looking forward to getting up at 5:30 am, cycle to Waterloo, training it to Guildford for 7:30 am, ride 8 km to the start, ride 213 km, 12 h later be back for the train into London (after another 8 km), ride back home from Waterloo ( at about 22:00)...and all this with a good chance of getting soaked! Yep, we do this for fun, but hey, we all sit in the office (or write thesis) for the same amount of time (and 5 days a week!), which is much much more boring! The good thing is, after we hand in our brevet cards and assuming we dont mess up any stamps/times etc, we will officially become randonneurs! That is exciting!

We've entered our first Audax!

It's been a while since I heard the word Audax. Others call it brevet, randonneurs or in simple words: long distance cycling events. As with most unknown words these days, I wikipedia-ed it and this is what the net came up with:

Audax is a cycling sport in which participants attempt to cycle long distances within a pre-defined time limit. Audax is a non-competitive sport: success in an event is measured by its completion.

It kind of sounded like a fun thing to do, didn't it?! We loved the non-competetitive aspect of it. We then discovered than the UK is big in Audax-ing, which is quite surprising given the crap weather. Whenever I tell my folks back home that I cycle throughout the year in London (and in Copenhagen) they always say: but it's so rainy and cold out there! Yes, it may be, but put waterproofs/warm clothing on (and maybe mudguards) and you're all sorted.

So, Lucy and I have been browsing the Audax UK calendar and decided to enter the New Upper Tea 200 event held in the Guildford-Surrey area. The few facts that we know about it:

- 213 km to be completed in less than 13.5 h.
- No much idea about the route (we'll get it on the day I believe!)
- 2000 m climbing (good training for my upcoming Etape Cymru!)
- Average speeds (including stopping time) must be within 15-30 km/h
- Sunrise at 6:57 am and sunset at 6:40 pm means that we may have to cycle in the dark
- Dave Hudson is the organiser, and he seems to be well-known for his supreme food feeds
- It's all non-profit, you pay a little fee to cover food costs
- Registration is the old fashon way: post the forms to Dave, with pre-stamped envelopes, and send cheques in at least 2 weeks before the event.
- It's the minimum distance to be recognised as a proper "audax/breve/randonneur" meaning that if we complete it we can call ourselves "audaxers/randonneurs"!

The ultimate Audax achievement: a Randonneur 5000 (something to aim for!)

Cycling in the southwest of England

On Saturday 2nd of July I finally managed to cycle in the southwest, an area that is pretty much unexplored for us, in favour of the south/southeast and north of London. This time I joined some of the people that we cycled with down to Brighton on the night ride.

The day started, as usual, way too early for me. We had agreed to meet by 7 am in Waterloo, meaning 6 am wakeup! We got the groupsave and attempted to get on the first train down to Winchester, but the very kind southwest train staff said that no more bikes on said service, and so on to the next one. Fortunately this was only running 5 min after the original one, so we all met up in Winchester by 8:45 am. By 9 am we were on our way out of this little town, and on to a bit of a dodgy roundabout, where we found an amazing bike path following the valley of the river Itchen. Beautiful rolling countryside surrounded by crops (which included Xmas trees!). For the first 1/3 of the ride we barely saw any cars, and the ones that we did, were surprisingly nice to us, waiting after the peloton until it was safe to pass

The peloton itself was formed of interesting folk. 4/9 had titanium bikes (split between Van Nicholas - one of my ever dreamt ones, Enigma, and Burls), the rest were carbon framed, one american military version of a folding mtb (riden by Will) that weighed in at 20 kg or so! and my not-so-cool aluminium Canyon.

We carried on past Selbourne, where we stopped to take a view of the landscape. In the distance we saw the Geodesic domes of Oakhanger, looking like random sized golf balls scattered across the fields. We had seen these stuff already near Cromer,in Norfolk. The whole area is big on military camps, and in fact, Tim, the organiser, had spent a good deal of time here. About 30 miles into the ride we had our first stop. Of course, everyone had a tea (we are in England!) while I downed an orange juice.

We then sped up a little and were soon entering the Surrey hills. At this point the average came up to 23 km/h, which seemed kind of easy to maintain when in a medium size group. The pub lunch was very nice, along the river, in a spot that will be packed in the Olympics when Cavendish et al fly past the area. Soon after the lunch, we hit the second hill...Ranmore Common. It got pretty steep at times, but the roads were empty and stimulating.

Box Hill and its Zig-zag road was next. This hill will be "climbed" 8 or 9 times by the pros on the Olympic road race. It was a gentle incline, that put all of us to shame when we saw a real lady machaca no wearing lycra, with crappy shoes, with a very old fixie (including saggy chain) going up the hill at a very reasonable pace...yes, on a fixed gear! I had to congratulate her! We encountered tons of fellow cyclists resting on the grass, taking in the atmosphere of the place. We took the group photo with the nice views in the background, went for a speedy downhill and were soon crossing the M25. After this the ride only got worse and worse, passing through Kingswood, Outwood, Chipstead Valley and Coulsden. And then into Croydon! This was certainly the worst bit, and took us almost 2 hours to get home.

All in all, it was a very nice ride (thanks to Tim Decker for organising and for some of the pictures shown here) except the last bit past the M25. I managed to put in 160 km, with an average of 22.1 km/h, maximum of 54.5 km/h and 7h 6min on the saddle. The overall climbed totalled 6000 feet, which is not bad at all!