Holey, Moley we've had some chilly mornings this week, I think that there's been a frost every day and my finger tips have not been enjoying the cycle to work one bit. It's a good job then that Saturday was a bit warmer, although as normal that was accompanied by a lack of sunshine, as there was the small matter of a 200Km Audax to attend to!
This weeks fun and games saw me back in Beaconsfield for an early start Saturday morning (not so early as some though, thanks to a toasty warm night in the van) for The Willy Warmer Audax. Another canter around some of our great British countryside, West from Beaconsfield to pick up the Thames valley at Marlow, down towards Henley on Thames and Pangbourne, before heading cross country to Lambourne and Hungerford and returning via Kingsclere and Winnersh. I think that there's something for every taste there, a bit of fast and flat, a couple of picturesque river crossings, a few hills on the edge of the Chiltern Hills and a jaunt through some fine Hampshire countryside, and all routed cleverly via what should be passable roads no matter what the weather decides to throw at you, what's not to like about that?
Whilst it wasn't as cold as it had been, it was still a bit fresh as we set off into the growing light of dawn, following the now familiar "set off when your ready" protocol to avoid grouping and helping to maintain the sensible Covid precautions which are still very much in force. Personally, I think this is a good thing from the other perspective of helping to spread everyone out from the start too and reduces the big group clogging up the road and annoying the car drivers. Not that that should make any difference, as a bit of patience would be a blessing sometimes, but there's little point in provoking conflict if it can be avoided is there?
Any how, a fast run down to Pangbourne soon ate up the distance to the first checkpoint, where unfortunately my original plan to prove my passing via a cash machine receipt, was thwarted by it being out of order. Oh well, in that case I believe that the shop will provide a perfect receipt in exchange for the purchase of a Danish Pastry (another of my favourites, to go along with all the others), like that's a punishment! See, I keep telling you that these silly escapades have their perk's. More fast roads, between Pangbourne and Lambourn continued to eat up the miles and after a brief pause to record the answer for the proof of passage question, a quick blast down to Hungerford saw us joining the Saturday shopping gridlock, as drivers crawled through town in search of the closest parking space to their destination possible. Onward and despite being within a few miles from home as we tracked along from Hungerford to Kingsclere and ultimately Winnersh, I was nearly caught out a few times as the suggested route deviated from what I expected. That's the beauty of following someone else's route through, and I picked my way along a few roads that I'd not been down before, but certainly will again. Adding to the adventure with the occasional realisation of "A'hh, so that's where that road comes out" and "that's a miles better way than the way I normally come"! By 14:30 I was in Winnersh, with 100 miles ticked off and looking forward to a few minutes off the bike and a sandwich, an idea which was short lived, when I discovered that the shop I had been picturing in my mind as a purveyor of sandwiches, turned out to be an estate agent. Bugger! With the only other options being either a Café or Supermarket (with nowhere really secure to lock the bike up) there was only one option. Raid the bottom of my saddle bag for anything edible and push on. Luckily it was only another couple of miles to Maidenhead where a handy garage with shop attached yielded a couple of cookies to see me through the final miles back to the start and the comforts of the van. Just under 9 hours then for 122 miles, and despite some cold toes, another great day out. As I said at the start, you cant beat spending the whole day immersed in the great British countryside, whether that's by bike or by foot, and if cold toes are the price you have to pay for that, then I'm certainly not complaining!
After Saturdays fun and another toasty warm night out in the van, Sunday saw the opportunity to get a few running miles into my legs and the chance to recce another leg of the Brenda Parker Way, picking up the leg from Kingsclere to the A34 crossing. Only 8 miles, but in my defence that's still 16 by the time I got back to the van.
And whilst I'm dragging out odd pictures, what about these little beauties, surely a real sign that Spring is on its way.
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
March 2024
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