Audax Fever

I've only done one audax, but it was a good one! That was way back in September 2015, and up until now I haven't felt the need to try another one. A few months after completing the Lewis audax, my brother in law suggested trying London - Edinburgh - London 2017. Once I discovered what was involved (1,400 km in just over 100 hours) I politely declined....

However, now I'm sort of coming round to the idea! Obviously as the next one isn't until 2021, its safe enough to be considering it from a distance. I've done a wee bit of googlying and, while it still seems ridiculously full on, something about it is strangely appealing. Here's a link to a movie about the 2017 LEL, with a short trailer for a taster. Up for it?

I'm still not totally sure I'd be able to make it though. On almost every long ride I've done since the Lewis audax, I've asked myself how on earth I ever managed to do 308 km in one day. But I did manage it once so I should therefore be able to do it again. So I've signed up for a couple of audaxes in Cork over the next few months. The first is the Midleton 200, on March 10th, which takes in parts of counties Cork, Waterford and Tipperary. The second is the Three Rivers 300, on 14th April, which again starts in Midleton, but heads west, even passing through Clonakilty, so the lure to just sneak off home after the first 100km will be quite strong!

It will be interesting to see what state I'm in after the 300km ride, as I literally could barely walk the day after the Lewis audax. Guess these events will give me an idea of whether LEL 2021 is still worth pursuing, or if it is back to being a big fat NO WAY....

In the meantime, my brother-in-law has signed up for the West Highland Audax, only 1,000km with very little in the way of support. Thankfully, er unfortunately, I've something else booked for that week...

Audax part II

We rejoin our Audax coverage as the road turns north, and the wind turns tail...

A massive relief to get out of the wind for the next while! Although there was a planned checkpoint and food stop coming up, I took the chance to stock up on a pie or two in the Leverburgh village store, served by the slowest man in the world. I know the audax is not a race but still - hurry it up a little, fella!

Back on the road and it wasn't long before I breezed up to the Temple Cafe to get my audax card stamped. There was quite a queue, and I quickly abandoned plans to get some grub, as it was clearly going to take a while. I got stamped and saddled up, leapfrogging a few of the guys who'd been ahead of me up till now (its not a race though).

Back to the main road and northward, up the hill and back towards Tarbert, followed by the reverse nightmare of getting across the Clishim again - the rain recommenced as I slowly climbed up into the clouds before turning to hail on the northern descent - painful on the eyes!

A steady northward slog, eagerly anticipating the next food stop where soup and a sandwich were being laid on. A couple of guys overtook me just before the turn-off to the Loch Erisort Inn, but I managed to stick with them for the last little bit before grub. Inside into the welcome warmth, and there's David sitting by the fire, coffee in hand. "What took you?" he said, while my soup was served up.

A short while later, we had to force ourselves back outside and back onto the bikes. I managed to stick with David for a bit, before his pace proved too high and I dropped back. But we were getting up the island quite well now. We retraced our route back to the Leurbost turning, where a sneaky right turn would have brought us home several hours early, but where the left turn waited to lead us to Callanish and then further north. I was quite puggled again by the time we reached the next control point at the Visitor Centre cafe at Callinish, but the tea and cake break was very welcome. David had another coffee, before trying to push some performance enhancing drugs my way. "Ibuprofen & caffiene is the job", he declared. I wavered for a while, and then necked two Ibu tabs when no-one was looking. Marginal gains indeed! How easy it is to get sucked into the seedy underbelly of (non) competitive cycling!

Back on the road, and the drugs began to kick in. Or was it the impromptu tuna sandwich I horsed into after raiding the garage at Barvas? We fairly flew north, the wind having picked up a bit, blowing us up the road to the Butt. I heard my first corncrakes of the summer as we neared Ness, but there was no stopping us as we headed up the lighthouse road to the most northerly audax control. A quick chat with the control invigilator, but the lure of beans on toast in the nearby sports centre was too much to ignore. What a life saver! Washed down with lashings of tea, it really began to feel like we were on the home stretch. It was just after 8pm. There were probably about 2 hours left of the days ride. We were nearly there! Just the Barvas moor crossing to go!

A tired & blurry shot of the lighthouse

And what an endless crossing it was! Mile upon mile of barren moor, and that southerly headwind was back! Its always a headwind across the moor apparently, no matter what direction you are going! I spent an age watching the minutes tick by on the computer clock - interspersed with looking ahead to David's luminescent yellow jacket in the distance, and then behind to check for pursuants (its not a race though).

And then finally the road dipped slightly, and I could see a bit of Stornoway - I really was nearly back! I picked up the pace, buoyed up by the thought of a chilled beer or two, and being able to stop pedalling soon! I fairly raced down the hill off the moor, back into civilisation, back across town and into the carpark of the hall we'd set off from all those months previously. "Well done" said Ian Gilbert as he stamped my card for the final time. It was 10.20 pm. I'd been riding for over 14 hours - 308 km and umpteen hills! No wonder I was a small bit tired!

We loaded the bikes onto the car rack and headed back down the road to Leurbost, both figuring that it would be best to be home before we fell asleep. Beers, food, showers and then bed! What a day!

Audax Part I

October 2014

It was all my brother-in-law's fault. In fact, I'd say this whole cycling debacle could be blamed on him really. Anyway, he casually suggested that with all the cycling I was doing, I should join him on the Golden Road & Standing Stones Audax the following summer. Sounds nice doesn't it? The Golden Road. Conjures up images of sunsets and seascapes and gentle, undulating roads, and, er, standing stones. Strangely he didn't mention the wind, hail, large hills, and very little in the way of gentle. I said I'd think about it...

A month or so later, I told him I was in. By this stage I'd found out that more about audax. It isn't a race but if you're too fast or if you're too slow you are disqualified. So, its more about setting an even pace and trying to stick to it for the duration. Audaxs come in a variety of lengths - this particular one concerned the small matter of 300 km. In one day. Actually in 20 hours if we're being picky. Oh.

The Golden Road & Standing Stones Audax was organised in 2014 and 2015 by Ian Gilbert. The setting was Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, off the Scottish west coast. My brother-in-law, David, who lives on Lewis, did the 200 km version in summer 2014 and proclaimed it a "skoosh", at least while he was trying to persuade me to join him for the 300 km. It was only after I'd signed up that he eventually divulged that the weather had varied wildly on the day from pleasant right through to atrocious, and that he'd even had to get off the bike and walk a bit during the worst of it. Great! Still though - late June on Lewis - bound to be scorching!

But what bike to use? I looked into logistics of getting there, and it was going to prove a long shot and likely very pricey to bring my bike from Cork to Lewis by plane. On the other hand, it would take too long to drive and ferry all the way there. David suggest I use his spare bike, as we take the same size frame. He'd got a new bike the previous summer specially for the 200 km audax, as he wasn't sure his old bike would be comfy enough for a 200 km spin. "Grand idea", I thought, before I twigged - I'd be riding the old bike he wasn't sure was suitable for a 200 km spin on a 300 km spin! Help!

But the deal was sealed - flights were booked, and training began in earnest. Well, I started doing the monthly Strava Gran Fondooos and trying to get the mileage up. Slowly the length of my day fondoos increased - 161 km spin to Mizen Head in November, 166 km round Sheep's Head in January (chilly!), 180 km to Robert's Cove in February and then in March I managed 206 km round Sheep's Head, Bantry and Kealkill. I'd return from each of those long rides totally wrecked, and tried to imagine what it would feel like to still have another 95 km to do - on a borrowed bike....

A visit to the family in Lewis in April gave me a chance to try out David's BT Win 500 - luckily for me it was a perfect fit and very comfy. It was virtually identical to my trusty Scott Speedster 50, so I breathed a sigh of relief on that front. We breezed round a rolling 100 km loop in hot sunshine, gentle breezes and stunning scenery - if only we could be sure it would be like this in June!

May was spent "tapering", as they say in the training manuals. Hopefully I'd done enough over the previous few months to make it through the long day! Only one way to find out!

I arrived back on Lewis the day before the Audax, and popped out on David's bike for a short test ride. We drove into Stornoway and stocked up on energy bars for the following day, and a few ales to aid the subsequent recovery process. And then it was back to the house for a large bowl of pasta and an early night. We'd need to be up just after five to get into Stornoway for the start at 6 am!

The alarm wasn't long coming round - I felt like I'd only just got to sleep as I'd found it hard to switch off the pre-ride nerves! Still though, it was good to shovel in some cereal, load the bikes onto the car rack and head in - we were only 20 minutes early! A few other folk were pimping up their bikes before the off. There weren't too many registered for the 300 event, but more had entered the 100 km spin. A few hardy souls had been forced to brave the overnight cargo boat as the passenger ferry was on strike the previous day which had messed up their travel plans. That seems to be part of the audax spirit though - you just get on with it, as best you can.

David & me on the left, wondering if we'd had enough breakfast before the off (IGilbert)

And so we did! It was six am as 14 of us rolled out of the car park and off down the road. A lead group quickly formed and sped off, taking David with them. I managed to stick with them for a km or so, but could feel the pace was too high for me, so I dropped back. I couldn't afford to go too fast early on or I'd never make it home! We headed south first, into a fairly stiff southerly wind. This first part was fairly flat and rolling, and at least it was dry. The first couple of hours past fairly quickly, with no real issues. A couple of folk passed me and again I had to let them go. Slow and steady was the key to the day!

David sets off, while I faff about in the background (IGilbert)

The first big test of the day was the Clisham - the steep road up and over the North Harris hills. At 2.6 km and an average of 6%, its a bit of a kicker, and the hail on the way up didn't help much! As I neared the top, the wind picked up and I remembered David saying something about having every kind of weather on the 200 km ride the previous year. Luckily the hail didn't last long and I coasted down into Tarbert for the first checkpoint. I had to find the wee shop and go in and get them to stamp my brevit card as evidence for me having made it this far!Then it was back out, a quick top-up of water from the tap marked on the route and on south out of Tarbert.

This then was the Golden Road, and it was a right bollix! I don't think there's any flat on it at all! I found this section pretty tough, as it was constantly up and down but also constantly going into the stiff southerly headwind. Any speed you picked up on the downhill was all too quickly lost on the uphill, and it just didn't stop! Eventually I reached the next checkpoint, and was pleased to hear that I wasn't that far behind other riders! It was a relief to finally reach the southern end of Harris and begin the long trek north - at least the wind would be mostly behind me for the next few hours!

Grimacing along the Golden Road!  (RBarrett)