Randonax 2024 - Dave Morrison Excels!
Leader of West London Cycling, Dave Morrison always finds really interesting routes. For his Randonax on 26 August, he really excelled himself! I’d ridden in the general area but kept saying to myself “Never ridden that lane before, must include it in one of my routes”. The 70 km section from Wing, round to the north of Milton Keynes and then south to Winslow was a real gem: thank you, Dave!
Hundred of Kingston - No Barriers
Saturday 22 June saw me ride from Ealing to the start of the 150+ km Hundred of Kingston Audax. The meeting place was the impressive Alpkit store on Old London Road in Kingston where coffee and biscuits awaited. While there were many shiny new bikes with their shiny young riders, there were also a few older cyclists (like myself), riders with a variety of body shapes and a rider with one leg (and no prosthetic) whom I had met earlier in the week on the Midweek Tour of the Cotswolds. We all made it to the finish: hence, no barriers!
Returning to a failed ride
I prefer uneventful rides. Depending on how I feel, I choose rides that are just within, or just at the limits of, my perceived capabilities. Back in May 2022 I entered the Audax Dinton 100 starting from Dinton Pastures, just outside Reading. I decided to ride this as an ECE - extended calendar event - riding about 50 km from home to the start and 50 km back home afterwards. About 45 km from home I shipped the chain changing up from the small chain ring; it became completely stuck between the small chain ring and the frame and I had to abandon.
Double Dutch Infinity Beckons
The weather continued its pattern for March and the start of April. For the last few weeks the rain had bucketed down, ceasing only for Audax rides. The Double Dutch Infinity Beckons is a 200 km ride from Huntingdon to Kings Lynn and back to Huntingdon, passing fields of daffodils and taking in some virtually traffic free roads alongside the rivers and drainage dikes that are essential to the survival of the landscape. Almost flat, it is an ideal first 200 km Audax.
West London to Great Milton, Wallingford and back
Thursday 2 March was cold but sunny with a hint of warmth in the sun during the afternoon. It would have been an ideal day for my next 200 km ride but I still had planning and preparation to do. With rain, sleet and possibly snow forecast for the week ahead, I decided to ride on Saturday 4 March. This ride would complete my fifth RRtY since taking on this challenge in August 2020.