An off-road ride into Autumn

Having been on holiday and otherwise busy for the last couple of weeks we needed a good ride to get us back into the swing of things. We decided to check out a GPS route that Albero had found online, a cross-country MTB route which was described as 'the best of the best'. We were still slightly jetlagged and caught a late-ish train to Dorking, but still managed to be on the trails by 11am.

The first part of our route followed the same path as a charity run that was occurring that morning as we headed towards Westcott. Luckily we seemed to be ahead of the main pack, and only had a few runners to negotiate around. Soon our routes diverged and we were on some great tracks.

It is always hard to know what to expect from an off-road route found on the internet, but these trails were in great condition. Some were wide, while others were more single-track, but they were all relatively smooth which was excellent for a newbie like me.

It was chillier than it has been in a long time, although not outright cold. We had a few short showers, which meant putting on our waterproof jackets, but we found it was cool enough that we were still comfortable even with these on. A real sign of the approach of Autumn, even if the trees were still pretty green.

We had a good time making our way towards Peaslake, and decided to cut our route slightly short to get there, as I hadn't had any tea that morning, and was really craving the village shop's famous cheese straw as well!

After a nice break with pleny of other cyclists around,  we headed back up into the hills. We did a slighlty more difficult section (still easy for anyone with any degree of MTB skill) where we really got to see the difference that switching to flat pedals has made for me.

Alberto put me straight onto clipless pedals when I bought my mountain bike (as I had been using them on the road bike already), but they weren't working for me. I felt nervous going over obstacles and wanted the ability to put my foot down quickly. I found myself unclipping when going through tricky sections -- which, on the small and unstable platform of a Shimano SPD pedal is far from ideal. So, we switched my pedals back to flat ones a few months ago -- but I hadn't had the chance to test it out on the trails since. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. I felt a lot more confident, made it through a higher proportion of the trails without walking, and although I had several close calls, I didn't actually fall off my bike!

As the afternoon wore on the rain picked up again, more steadily this time. We decided to cut off the route to head back to Dorking, still enjoying the trails as we went (though they were a little bit messier than in the morning) but seeing no need to add even more kms in the rain. We got back to Dorking with about 35km under our belts, not feeling that we had worked particularly hard, but we had enjoyed our day. The trails had lived up to their billing as 'the best of the best' and we were back in cycling mode after a few weeks off the bike. All in all, a great, relaxing day in the Surrey Hills.

A wintry MTB in the Surrey Hills

The forecast called for pretty crummy weather most of the weekend, with Sunday expected to be the worst day, so any riding we would do would have to be on Saturday. Even so, there was a risk of ice on the roads so we opted for the mountain bikes. Hard to believe, but it  would be the first time I'd ridden off road since finishing the Camino de Santiago back in June.

We had planned a 33 km loop, but after a late start and slow-going for me (as always seems to be the case on the paths) this turned out not to be feasible. We ended up with maybe about 25km off-road, but still clocked up a 54km day with all the riding to and from train stations.

Leafy trails in the Surrey Hills

After a quick train to Dorking and a cycle on the road up to Ranmore Common, we turned off to the trails. The first section was very muddy and full of big puddles which was not encouraging for me, but soon we were on to better-quality terrain and we had a quite enjoyable, if slow, ride. It snowed and drizzled on and off, but the trail remained good for the most part as we looped through Gomshall.

I found it slow going, and it was clear that I still have a long way to go in developing my MTB skills, but the trails were relatively easy and I enjoyed the vast majority of the route we did, only dismounting for a few sections.

View of Alberto's cockpit and nice, wide trails

Eventually, after Gomshall, we came to a trail that is probably a joy in dry weather but had essentially turned into a stream. It was alright for a while, but eventually the stones at the bottom of the water became too loose and I had to push the bike a bit, trying (with limited success) to keep my feet out of the water as I went. Thank goodness for Sealskins waterproof socks!

Riding through a stream -- I was caught in the act of unclipping hence the weird angle to my foot!

Further up that trail we came to a steep uphill with steps built into it which was impossible for us to get up. With both pushed our bikes as the mud got thicker and thicker we no longer had to hold on to our bikes, as the mud held them upright. We scrambled up the bank of the trail onto a dry forest area where we were able to connect back to the road after only a few minutes.

Eventually we reached Peaslake, that hub of MTBers in the Surrey Hills, where we normally feel a bit out-of-place in our roadie gear. Today we fit right in, and after a hot tea and snack we made the decision to head back the way we came, rather than carry on with the rest of the route. We only had a set of emergency lights and it was clear we weren't making very good progress.

Alberto's selfie - I was too focussed on not falling over to take the camera!

We took the roads back to Shere to cut off the mud and river section we'd just come through, and then headed back to the trails where what had been a fun downhill became a grueling slog back up - but we made it thanks to the MTB granny gear.

After my first and only fall of the day heading through the muddy section that had been so dispiriting at the start of the ride, we were back on pavement to Ranmore Common. Alberto opted to take a trail downhill while I kept to the roads, and we met up for the final descent into Dorking, where Southern Railways had conveniently organised for a train to whisk us back to London just moments after we arrived at the station.

We didn't complete what we had set out to do, but it was a good day out nonetheless. I'm definitely looking forward to another MTB in the Surrey Hills when the days are a bit longer.

We brought along our GoPro camera, a Christmas gift from Alberto's parents. It's only our first attempt, so there is lots of room for improvement, but here is one minute in the Surrey Hills.

Eight Ingredients of a Brilliant Cycle Ride

On Sunday Alberto and I went on a fantastic ride, one of the best rides I've ever been on! So I thought I would break down what it is that made it so wonderful!

1. Motivation
I haven't been able to go on a long ride since our 100km audax back on January 29th. It's been all short rides, spin class, and running for me since then, and I've been dying to get back in the saddle! Plus, with our first 200km audax of the year coming up in two weeks and I was really concerned I wasn't fit enough yet -- so I was really motivated to have a good ride.

2. A good route
We found a route on RidewithGPS that we thought would be suitable, and was it ever! It was the long route from an Evans Ride It event (organised by a chain of bike shops here in the UK). We're skeptical about sportives organized by the big chains but the route looked pretty interesting, with plenty of options to cut the route short if necessary. It started in Dorking (gotta love British place names) which made it relatively easy to get to. The route turned out to be very well chosen -- avoiding any major towns and taking us on a nice tour of the North Downs.

3. "Good" hills
Which brings me to the next ingredient in our cycle ride...the hills. We deliberately chose a hilly route to try to catch up on our training, and the hills of the North Downs were perfect -- challenging but doable.

Hills, hills, and hills

4. Great weather

We had a high of around 13C (55 F) and bright sunshine for most of the day. It's February, and we rode without jackets! It was also the first ride of the season where we were able to stop for food and a bit of a rest without starting to freeze as soon as we cooled down.

5. Quiet roads
This is also somewhat connected to the quality of the route, but it has to be said the roads we were on were some of the best we've ridden. Very quiet; even the A roads that we expected to be quite busy were actually fine, and for the most part very respectful drivers. It was a pleasure to ride and we never once felt stressed about traffic.

Lovely lanes

6. A new skill to practice
I have said that I wanted to get better at hills this year, and an integral part of that is gaining confidence with standing on the pedals. I have been practicing on my commute, and in spin class, but I didn't expect it to actually work! Turns out, within the first thirty minutes or so of riding, I was able to stand up on the pedals much more comfortably than I ever have been before. I practiced on most hills until around km 60, when I started to notice that doing so was making me much more tired than just pedaling up the hill. I guess my standing muscles don't have the same endurance as my other ones yet! But it was nice to feel a sense of accomplishment.

7. Fellow machacas

It is always nice to know you're not alone in your crazy desire to go out for a bike ride in February. Our route took us up Box Hill, which has become a mecca for road cyclists ever since it was announced that it would form the centerpiece of the Olympic Road Race route this summer. Then later on in the ride we went through Peaslake, somewhat of a MTB mecca. Both spots were absolutely full of cyclists, and we passed many more throughout the day. It was so great seeing everyone else out and about! (NB: Box Hill is easy!! I made it up without engaging my lowest gear and without really even breathing hard. I even passed one guy. And I am not even very good at hills!)

Crowds of cyclists in Peaslake

8. The company!
Of course, I have Alberto's great company on nearly every ride I go on. But when you are on one of the most enjoyable rides ever, it is so nice to share that experience with someone else. Also, although normally Alberto and I have to negotiate to find a pace that works for both of us, on Sunday we didn't seem to have that problem! The only time he had to wait for me was on the big hills. So the company was even better than normal!

Machacas at the top of Box Hill

Ride Report: Tea and Biscuits 100 audax

On Sunday, we rode our first audax of 2012 (and only our second audax ever!). It was the Tea and Biscuits 100, organized by Dave 'El Supremo' Hudson, the same organizer as our first audax, so we had an idea of what to expect.


Having ridden 100km last weekend I knew that I'd be physically capable of doing the distance, so I was just hoping to be able to complete it comfortably and without too much misery! Luckily, this proved to be an achievable goal.

We woke up before 6am to make our train out to Guildford and cycled though London in the dark. At the station in London we encountered a few other audaxers but many more drunk people waiting to get home from their nights out in London -- who seemed bewildered and bemused by our presence in lycra and hi-viz.

We reached the start point at Newlands Corner about 30 minutes before the start time, giving us plenty of time for a hot drink and some light breakfast. We marveled at how many other people could convince themselves to come out for a ride on a cold January day--it was 2 degrees at the start (36 F) and was forecasted to go up to about 5 (41 F). 115 people had signed up for the ride (entry only cost £1) but the organizers weren't sure how many would start. It seemed like quite a few though!

Brave souls ready to battle the cold!

At 9:00 we headed off, not in a mass start, but we ended up in a big group pretty quickly due to the traffic lights in Guildford town centre. Newlands Corner is at the top of a hill which meant an absolutely miserable freezing cold descent three times throughout the day (at the start, after we had looped back there for the halfway stop, and at the end of the day when we headed back to the train station), all of which came after we were thoroughly cooled off from standing around at the feed station. But thankfully that was pretty much the only miserable thing about the day.

The first half of the ride was a loop, with a checkpoint strategically placed in a pub parking lot. For this part of the route many of the riders were in a large, loosely formed group. It would break up a bit on the hills but then tend to re-form again. We tried to stick to other groups for most of the first half of the ride and were largely successful until some hills at the end. We were on bigger roads than Alberto and I normally ride on, but it was still rather early on a Sunday morning so the traffic wasn't too bad until our approach to Newlands Corner for the halfway stop. We arrived at the bottom of the aforementioned hill at about 11am, just in time for everyone who was headed to the Newlands Corner carpark to spend a day in the Surrey Hills. I had to take the hill pretty slowly, and the traffic was not particularly respectful. Still, we made it to the halfway stop without incident and in good time.

Newlands Corner is also popular with walkers and mountain bikers.

After a brief snack we decided to head out again before we got too cold. This would be a basic out-and-back route to Billingshurst, and we cycled most of it alone, the field having spread out quite a bit by then. After our second freezing descent of the day, we hit the hill heading out of Shere towards Ewhurst. The road was relatively quiet, which was lucky because I had to take it really slowly! It wasn't particularly steep, but just seemed to go on forever. This did give me a chance to practice getting out of the saddle and pedaling though, which is pretty much a prerequisite for me learning to get better at hills this year. The hard work was rewarded by a long, fun descent and also a spot of sunshine! We cycled on to Billingshurst where we had an information control (there is a specific question on the brevet card which can in theory only be answered if you have actually been to the place in question - such as identifying some information that is on a road sign there). After a quick banana we turned around to retrace our steps back to the finish at Newlands Corner.

A great sign we spotted en route.

I hate to say this, but it was such a great feeling to pass a large group of cyclists who were still headed in the direction of Billingshurst as we headed back to the finish. It meant that we (hopefully) would not be the last finishers, a big improvement over last year's 200 when we finished about 2 hours behind the rest of the field! The long, fun downhill turned into a pretty arduous uphill on the way back, and I had to stop and rest a few times, but eventually made it all the way up without walking. This was the route we took at the very end of our audax last time around, only everything looked so different in the daylight. I don't blame myself for having to walk up that hill after having cycled nearly 200km already back in September--it was tough!

Anyway, we again cycled up the final hill to Newlands Corner to get our brevet cards stamped one final time. I told Alberto to go ahead and get his card stamped when he reached the top -- he says he only beat me by about five minutes but we'll find out the truth when our brevet cards are returned! We only waited around for a few minutes at the finish in order to make the 2:59 train back to London.

All in all, a great January's day out on the bikes! We finished in about 5 hours 30 minutes (including stopping time), with a moving average of 21.4kph (around 13.5 mph). Our overall average was close to 20 kph -- we only had 30 minutes of stopping time, mainly due to it being so cold! Alberto reached a max speed of 57 kph and I reached 53 kph.

Cycling the Olympic road race route

We have enjoyed a very pleasant winter in London so far, with mild temperatures, sun, and very little rain. But the forecasts for Saturday predicted below 0 degrees, although sun throughout the day.

I had signed up to join a group that was cycling the route of the Olympic road race to be held in London as a part of the Olympic games this coming summer 2012. With the only difference that we would not be circling around Box Hill for nine consecutive times! It was going to be a ~130 km (80 miles) loop from Hyde Park Corner, in central London, out to the Surrey area and back. You can see it below.



I prepared for a cold day out on the bike. Thick winter bib tights, thermal shirt, short-sleeved jersey, windstopper top, 2x Buffs, neoprene overshoes, and...long winter gloves. Set the bike up for night riding assuming that we were likely to be returning after sunset. Filled the water bottles and got the saddle bag ready. Surpringly enough, I kind of forgot the prepping routine; it's been more than two months since we did our last proper long ride!

Alarm set off at 7 am. Well, Lucy poked me to tell that the alarm was off at 7 am. Porridge was cooked and I was off to Hyde Park corner by 8:05 am. Cars had a thick layer of frost near home, and I have not seen that for a while. I was very worried about encountering black ice, but we were lucky we did not hit any. It was the coldest day of the winter so far, no doubt.

Regents Park also had some frost, and we would find the same throughout the route. Shortly after 8:30 am we departed from Hyde Park Corner and headed for Putney and Richmond. The traffic lights slowed us down considerably, and took us almost 2h to get out into the countryside. However, the views were well worth the early wake up and cold temperatures. Fingers were not so happy though. Cold turned into a lot of pain, and the fingers got swollen. I could barely break or change gears and at some point the idea of bailing out did not seem that bad...but I applied rule number 5 - "harden the f*** up, Alberto" (see this hilarious website for further details). I definitely need better gloves and/or liners. Most of the other riders wore skiing gloves. Apart from that, I was feeling ok and quite toasty!

Richmond Park at 9am is covered by frost

At some point on our way to Woking, the group decided to stop at a cafe for a quick rest. I was so glad I could feel my fingers again. Thermometers showed -1 degrees C and my water bottles confirmed it with ice floating.

Unwanted ice cubes in January!

From then on, it was actually ok. We went down the A25, with a little climb towards Newlands Corner (where we started our first 200 km Audax, and where we will be in again in a couple weeks time for another 100 km pootle), down to Shere and soon arrived in Golsham. There's a nice pub there, with plenty of space to leave the bikes and the food was really nice (and that's not so often that I say that about pub food!). It's always comforting to chat about bikes and rides, and especially to realize that I am not the only one obsessed about it. One of the riders was not too shy to admit that we has more than 10 working bikes sitting in his kitchen!

The sun in the UK winter does not go much higher than this

From here, it was a short ride until we hit Box Hill. Although it is a very gentle and easy climb, I struggled a bit. It's amazing how quickly you lose fitness. Two months without a proper ride and it feels like starting from scratch again. My quads were killing me, and I was on the lowest cog pretty much all the way. Really need to do a lot of training for our Pyrinean crossing in May!

After we took in some nice vistas from the top of Box Hill, it was an easy downhill along quiet lanes of the Surrey Hills. Soon we were crossing the M25, which meant we were back in London. Traffic picked up as we approached Kingston. Richmond Park followed, and it was a pleasure to cycle with little traffic given that the Park closes its gates to cars by sunset. However, a gigantic traffic jam formed to exit it as they only left one of the gates open. I was so glad to be on a bike. After all, I would not like to be stuck in a park at 5 pm, on a Saturday, but apparently some folk do.

Passing Putney and then Chelsea was not too bad, despite the noisy Aston Martins/Ferraris/Mercedes that are so common there. Love looking at the "smart" (i.e. posh) people in their fancy vehicles and annoyed faces, while we were all so happy after having nearly completed the ride on the coldest day of the 2011/12 winter!

Back to Wellington Arch, it felt as if we were about to start a Friday Night Ride to the Coast: blinking lights, riders, and darkness. The first of those rides is in March and we cannot wait!

Back at Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner

Overall it was a pleasant ride, but not particularly recommend the route as the roads are busy and slow out of London. The bit in Surrey is quite nice though, but the roads need resurfacing before the summer event, which I believe they're doing after winter.

The stats were: 140 km (door to door), 22.2 km/h average (due to traffic lights in London), 6h 20 min riding time and 62 km/h maximum speed. I reckon the professional machacas doing the race in the summer will complete it in under 4 hours...

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!)