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!
There were 70 km and 100 km options. Not everyone wants to ride the 200 km route that I chose.
Midweek Tour of the Cotswolds 104 km plus ECE
Wednesday 19 June saw my second participation in this event, starting from the village of Stonesfield a few kilometres west of Woodstock with the historic Blenheim Park. As my goal for 2024 is to achieve the Randonneur 10000 award again, I decided to use the Extended Calendar Event facility to convert this to a 200 km event by riding an additional 100 km.
The organisation, hospitality and refreshments at the start and the finish all proved excellent, as in 2023. I highly recommend this event for anyone who is free to ride midweek; it takes in beautiful countryside and some of the idyllic Cotswold towns and villages. Many thanks and congratulations to the organiser, Jackie. I heard her telling another rider at the finish that she was considering a new route for 2025: I look forward to it.
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!