The Merry Monk Audax - 27th April

Arrived in Somerset for my 4th Audax - getting quite keen on these I must say!! Having looked at the weather forecast before I left the Met Office said no rain until 4 pm - as it happens at 4 pm the rain did start how wierd is that! Couldn't believe how many people were there when I arrived it turned out that there were 120 of us on this ride that is the most yet, there was a good turnout from the Exeter CTC with Kirby, Robin, David, Martin, Linda & Yvonne and Geoff Sharpe from the Torbay Section - we were sent off the start in batches to avoid too much lycra in one go I guess or to give the motorists a chance on the lanes!!

I rode off with Robin, (while Kirby took pictures of everyone starting!) and a fair few others, we did very well on the undulating course! Until we came to a very steep hill which I am ashamed to say I had to get off and walk by the time I got to the top I was on my own with no signpost and having lost my place on the route sheet whilst panting up the hill - I was standing scratching my head when a very nice man came up behind me and shouted "Left" - which was very convienient for me! So off I trundled on my own as voice man stayed behind to wait for his mate, Coffee was at Forde Abbey which had a wonderful down hill to get there which left me wondering which way was after coffee!! The Loos had wonderful doors into them - very cute!

After Forde Abbey it was off up another hill, we were wondering why the ride was called the "Merry Monk" when Robin came up with the idea that to get up all the hills with a donkey and cart the Monks would have had to have been very, very Merry indeed!! (The home brew must have been excellent!). Through some villages with wierd names like Mosterton (I think they left out the "N"!, Bradford Abbas ( I thought they came from Sweden), Drimpton then onto Sherborne for Lunch! After lunch we came across the following - I don't know what they have against cats in Somerset!

We also met a very friendly chap in a recumbrant - who let me take his photo as my Father-in-Law (Gavin) is looking for a bath chair - maybe Johnnie could rig a motor on the back for him to get up the hills!!

Think this would suit you Gavin!

We then cycled on to Mudford, Limington past various more broken signposts ( they have a lot of vandals in Somerset all down the route sheet it was one broken signpost after another!!) Eventually we found the hill that would take us back up to High Ham for the finish which wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe!! Maybe it was the thought of tea & cake that got me up there in double quick time!! Robin & I arrived at the hall just as the clouds turned black having done - 66 miles in 5 & a half hours and average speed of 13.71 - Max speed 32.46 so I was very chuffed with that - how many jelly babies would that be Kirby? I wonder if Pippa has stocked up on fig rolls yet as there is a national shortage of them - race you to Sainsbury's first!!

Kirby & Geoff came in shortly after us and sat down for a well deserved cup of tea!!

TRAINING RIDE! - Friday 25th April

My "Assistant Trainer" Pippa has just been promoted to "Trainer" now Johnnie is no longer available! Great I thought when she mentioned a training ride for Friday a route of only 4 hours!
Then came the explanation of the sections - undulating, hilly, racing and oh more undulating! We left Payhembury and rode out towards Cullompton, up to Tiverton then onto Bampton to Clayhanger (which Pippa had nicknamed Cliffhanger - I soon found out why!!) then through various places which I cannot remember to Tiverton Parkway station where we crossed the bridge and motorway and wiggled our way back to Payhembury in 4 and a half hours - I am obviously slower than Pippa!! She very kindly blamed it on my gears going up hill rather than my lack of muscle!!

A great ride and great company - Thanks Trainer!!

I arrived back in the playground at 3.30 pm to be greeted with "Oh you look tired Debbie!!" So I must have worked hard! Then down to the sailing club for Kids Friday night sailing where I had to cart 2 optimists down and get them rigged with the boys - no rest for the wicked, but boy did I sleep well on Friday!!

Dustman Dave's Doddle Audax - 108 km - 20th April (really 120km!)

Pippa had assured me that this one would be a good flat fast ride and she was right - it was wonderfully flat no Devon hills, this was Somerset and very, very kind on the old legs!! Weather was good and the company great as we set off from Bishop's Lydeard to Langport for coffee 2o miles away! Good job I wasn't gasping for coffee as it was definetly a Somerset 20 miles (more like 25!!), arrived at the Parrett Cafe only to decide since we were going so well we wouldn't stop but would carry on to the lunch stop another 35 miles on where we could munch our sarnies! So off we went through Langport to Somerton then onto Sparkford to the Haynes Motor Museum for lunch where we thought the tanks would be better against the cars than bikes!!

After refueling on coffee & sarnies we were off to North Cadbury but no chocolate there!, and onto RNAS Yeovilton where the Beavers, Cubs & Scouts were obviously having a wonderful time celebrating St Georges Day clambering over helicopters and very fast looking jets!

I was worried I might get arrested for taking photos on the wrong side of the fence but obviously all the guards were on their tea break and no one caught me!

Off we went back to the Parrett Cafe in Langport again - ever get the feeling you are going round in circles, for the next control stamp. Out of Control and onto the "Curries", we went through - Curry Rivel, Currywoods and North Curry and not a single Curry house to be seen - only very impressive mansions! The lanes were still lovely and flat as we trundled through Creech St Michael, Goosenford and back to Bishops Lydeard where a wonderful spread of Quiche, cake, beans on toast & tea awaited us (don't worry I didn't eat it all, I left some for the others!).

My longest ride yet at 76 miles - average speed of 14.56 mph - riding time 5hrs 16 min - overall time with stops 6hrs 5 mins - not bad even the trainer thought I had done well (thanks Pippa!!!)

Spring Holiday ride

We went up to my Mother's for a few days over the Spring Holidays and I think she will need another holiday to recover from us! The onslaught of 3 boys, 2 dogs, 2 cycling parents was probably just a wee bit too much! It didn't help that the Tuesday my Brother arrived with his two boys and wife, then my Stepbrother arrived with his cat! (Which thankfully the dogs didn't realize - otherwise it would have been bedlam) It was a bit like a comedy sketch but never mind - Johnnie and I got out on our bikes in the morning and had a lovely ride of 23 miles and averaged 15 mph so I was pleased with that! What a view!

Friend for Supper

Just thought I would add this post as a laugh - sometimes though you had to be there! A very good friend - Sam came round for supper and said she would bring a casserole - as you can see I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!!

Well the dogs were happy that's for sure - by the way Sam the casserole was delicious!

Minehead Audax 100K 6th April

My second Audax!! I was quite excited until Johnnie went over the route on the map and mentioned PORLOCK HILL! I mean that was a joke -right - well yes and no the route does go up PORLOCK HILL but only the Toll Road which still is a good 4.2 miles up hill. Having decided to do it and paid my entry fee I checked the weather forecast which was only - rain, snow, wind chill of -3 did that put me off - slightly, but I still made it to the Rugby Club at Minehead for 8.30 am for a 9.30 start - I like to be early! Only to find Pippa & Robin already there reading the paper!! We decided to go in for a cup of tea when at 9.15 am one of the organisers came over to our table, looked at me and said "the slow ones can start now if they wish"! Charming! So we did! Out of the Clubhouse and into Minehead until reaching Porlock then thankfully turning right to the toll road instead of going straight on up (my mate Mike has gone straight on up before but he has a screw loose or did as something fell off his bike on the way up - nasty!!)

Having gone straight down to granny gear I just ground my way up the most beautiful road, everytime I turned a corner the others disappeared round the next one but the view was stuning through the trees. I got to the checkpoint on the Toll road where the vehicles have to pay - luckily bikes don't count! Where I met up with Robin & Pippa again - I said "that wasn't so bad, is it downhill now?" the answer was "we are only half way up!" Me and my big mouth - so off we went up again

to the AA Box which looked like Dr Who's Tardis but the wrong colour! We then had to negoiate our way down a dirt track with lots of deep muddy puddles and rocks (John Rowland would have loved it!) not good for road tyres! Then onto Simonsbath for a well deserved chocolate Brownie & Coffee! After leaving the cafe Pippa just slipped into the conversation that we were going up hill again for 3 miles! So straight down to granny gear again and I ground my way up to Exmoor where at the top we were joined by Dave the Chip shop man - who was far too slim to have a chip shop!! But he was very friendly and carried an umbrella in his pannier - I had visions of him flying away on his bike like Mary Poppins over the moor! According to the route sheet when we got to Kinsford Gate our efforts of climbing would be rewarded with a following wind and magnificent views - luckily we hadn't had beans for lunch and the view were amazing as we could see snow being dumped from the clouds a good few miles away - it was pretty awesome! Have I mentioned the cattle grids yet - we had to go over at least 5 on the way round and boy am I glad I don't wear dentures or there could have been trouble! We arrived at Dulverton for lunch where we sat outside the pub to eat our sandwiches during a blizzard - well okay a snow settling - it was quite surreal under an umbrella! The only problem with stopping is the starting - my teeth were chattering for a good couple of miles while my body warmed up. The next control was a question to answer where we met up with some more cyclists - a very nice young lad who cheerily said all you have to worry about now is Weddon Cross - which meant nothing to me - but I certainly worried about it all the way till we got there, to be fair it was slightly steep but nothing compared to what we had already done, so we stopped for some jelly babies and moved on! The snow hit us in Dunster and boy did it sting as you cycled along - so it was head down all the way back to the rugby club, luckily only a couple of miles and we made it back - 63.88 miles - 5 hrs 9 mins and average speed 12.38 mph - not bad with those hills!

I even had snow on my saddle bag at the end of the ride!!

Roll on the summer!

50 Miles in 4/5 hours

Having agreed to be in one of the Exeter CTC's team, Pippa arranged a team of 3 with myself, Roy & Robin and another with Kirby, Pippa and ? - I stupidly agreed to try the 50 miles in 4/5 hours from Kingskerswell - Crediton and back - it was only after I studied the map that I realised this took in Haldon and all the other hills around the area - and this was the easy ride!!! Having got there nice and early I waited for the rest of the bunch to arrive, Roy & Kirby arrived but no Robin and Pippa at least there were two in my team - Poor Kirby was on his own! There we were minding our own business when suddenly they were off like greyhounds after a bunny - I take it we won't be stopping for coffee then! I certainly had to pedal fast to avoid being left behind even if the leaders made two wrong turnings we all still followed like sheep!! Eventually we got on the right road out of Newton Abbot and made our way up the teign valley to Chudleigh and up to Haldon where I had to stop and hand out the Jelly babies. After Graham Brodie had showed off by sprinting past us on a hill taking photos then still managing to overtake again, I went to granny gear and just relaxed on up until - oh no Puncture hit!! On a hill what a nightmare! Kirby was a real gent and gallantly helped the pathetic female out by changing my inner tube and then puncturing the new one so had to start again - I reckon this lost us a good half hour!

Disaster had also struck that (a) I had forgotten my camera so couldn't sprint ahead to take pictures! and (b) my speedo had stopped working so I didn't know whether I did come down from Haldon into Doddicombleigh at 84mph or not!!!

Eventually we got moving again and made it to Crediton and back over more hills - my knees were beginning to grind by this stage! I couldn't see why everyone wanted to get to the check in by 3hrs 55 mins when I would have been happy with 4hrs 55 mins - but despite the punctures and the bannana stops Kirby and I sailed into the checkpoint at 4 hrs 35mins not bad at all - Sorry Kirby for holding you up so you didn't make your 3hrs 55mins!!! At least the weather was good!