www.motorsport-art.co.uk.........Home Artist Contact
After years of reading Super Randonneurs' accounts of their exploits culminating with Stephen Abraham's awesome 1996 diary in the Spring magazine, I am prompted to tell a story which reflects the opposite end of the spectrum of Audax members.
For various reasons I don't consider myself a true Audax member. A potted history and biography follows:
59 years of age (1996) and a victim of 'early retirement'.
No cycling between ages 22 - 39, then 70 mile ride Saturday or Sunday.
Early retirement @ 55 (1992), now out 2/3 times a week (30 - 100 mile rides).
Overall average speed calculated over last 10 years = 16 m.p.h..
Aerodynamic and physical handicaps - 6'4", 13 stone. Bike - 26" frame.
Never been a member of any clubs other than C.T.C. and Audax.
Never entered any competitive event.
I don't mind a hard ride but I enjoy my creature comforts and so I don't enjoy riding in bad weather or at night. I never have been, nor ever could be, a fast rider - long distance potterer at low randonneur speed is more my style (bursts in excess of 20 m.p.h. remain very occasional and rarely exceed ten miles - unless descending from a great height with a gale force tailwind!). I prefer cycling alone or with only one companion and dislike having to be at a certain place at a particular time, e.g., to ride an Audax event. Finally, as a cyclist and on principle, I abhor the use of a car to transport bikes, unless absolutely unavoidable, as this defeats the object - we are cyclists not motorists.
Consequently, I have only ever ridden one Audax event (the 1987 Fleet Moss 150k Brevet Populaire in 9 hrs 25 min) and that was some years before I knew much about the club - I was entered by a friend who then didn't turn up because of the bad weather and I spent the rest of the day pedalling in the wet whilst he was at home in the dry! Despite this, we remain friends.
You may well then ask why I am a member of Audax. My membership started in 1990 when my son and I raised £5000 for charity. Andrew had already ridden Land's End - John O' Groats, so I devised the Three Capitals Triangle as a rather appropriate alternative (to raise 'capital'). This avoids the disadvantage of transporting bikes to Land's End and from John O' Groats because most cyclists could start and finish at home - always my preferred choice.
Audax registered the ride as a Permanent with no controls other than London, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the official mileage being based on the minimum possible distance - 925 miles/1481 kilometres. We did it in 14 days, as a tour with panniers etc., covering 1177 miles all on minor roads. It has been in the Audax Calendar ever since - Tourist Standard 15 days, Randonneur Standard 5 Days 3 Hours 25 Minutes.
In addition to ourselves, four others have enjoyed the ride at Tourist Standard but with all the magazine accounts of hard events, particularly those such as the Paris-Brest-Paris and the London-Edinburgh-London, I did expect that, over the years, I would have had quite a few randonneur attempts. However, up to 1996 only four riders had attempted it - Liz Creese and Steve Underwood (twice each) and Robert Fry and Rupert North (once each). All were successful and Liz's descriptions were sufficient to condemn me forever to my Tourist status - I couldn't see myself ever thrashing round 925 miles on A-roads in 4/5 days!
But I could dream, couldn't I? Eventually, in January 1996, I decided that, as organiser of the Permanent, I ought to at least have a go at it even if I was unsuccessful. I sounded out my son, whose response was less than enthusiastic but not totally negative, and set about the planning. The only scenario which fitted my preferences was a continuous series of daylight rides based on Travelodges. The advantage of booking Travelodges is that you have access to them at any time of the day or night and they have comfy beds and showers!
This was going to be expensive but what the heck! I had no intention of doing it on a regular basis - this was to be the ultimate one-off. For two reasons, I planned for us to start and finish at Charnock Richard Travelodge (on the M6 north of Wigan). Firstly, being on the direct route from Cardiff to Edinburgh it cut the overall mileage by 20 miles because it avoided deviating from a straight line. Secondly, we could pedal there from Wilmslow. After much research into likely riding speeds and timings I came up with the following route and schedule
Day 1. 05.00 Depart north on A49/A6/A7 to Edinburgh Travelodge 196 miles
Day 2. South on same roads to Charnock Richard Travelodge 196 miles
Day 3. South-east on A49/A50/A34/A51/A5 to Dunstable Travelodge 169 miles
Day 4. A5 to London (Wembley), west on A4 Chippenham,B-roads to
original Severn Road Bridge,A48 to Cardiff Travelodge 184 miles
Day 5. Re-trace to Newport,lanes and A40 to Monmouth, north on
A466/A49 to Charnock Richard Travelodge @ 21.00 180 miles
Totals 4 Days 16 hours (giving a buffer of 11 hours) 925 miles
Scheduled riding 69 hours 5 mins at 13.4 m.p.h.
Overall 112 hours at 8.26 m.p.h.
(Depart 05.00 each morning, arrive late evening)
As a novice long-distance randonneur I could only substitute some plan based on a handful of previous 150 mile rides and I have no doubt that true randonneurs reading this will spot the potential problems. I was constrained by the availability of convenient Travelodges and I was aiming for five approximately equal rides of 300k with five/six hours sleep per night but it didn't take much imagination to realise that we would be more tired on Day 5 than on Day 1! The schedule wouldn't be perfect but it gave us a buffer of almost half a day to cover delays due to tiredness, mechanical problems, etc. and, in theory at least, it looked as if it might be achievable.
Andrew lives in Stoke-on-Trent so in March 1996 I posted the schedule to him. He was convinced that I would find the task too daunting and would call it off and so he didn't bother with any training. With three weeks left, I said I was definitely going to make the attempt and he then felt that, despite his lack of training, he ought to come with me to keep an eye on me! The only training he could fit in was a 70-mile ride on his own and 2 consecutive 100 mile rides with me. Not the best preparation for a 925 mile ride in 5 days! Fortunately, he keeps himself fit by using a bike for all his local transport needs (no car) and the occasional longer ride with friends.
Good breakfast at the motorway restaurant. Our cards were stamped at 05.00 but it was 05.20 before we pedalled away from the Travelodge and headed north on the A6 with a good tail wind. Climbing Shap Fell was our first test and I was glad to find that it was no worse than the climb over the Cat & Fiddle, near Buxton, which I had used in training.
It rained and became quite cold between Penrith & Hawick but as we traversed the lumpy bits between Hawick, Selkirk and Galashiels the rain stopped and we started to warm up and dry out. We booked into the Edinburgh Travelodge at 20.20 after quite a delay finding it. We had approached it via the B701 (unsigned as we discovered) rather than brave the A720 dual-carriageway ring road. We must have lost half-an-hour, firstly, trying to find the B-road and, secondly, trying to sort out the correct route. Still, we were ahead of schedule, thanks to the tail-wind, and had time for a leisurely meal and a shower before getting to sleep shortly after 23.00. (196 miles in 15 hrs 20 mins)
Sumptuous breakfast of cold tinned baked beans and cold tinned rice pudding. Not what we would have chosen if the Little Chef had been open! We gave the chains a good oiling after yesterday's soaking and re-traced our steps southwards at 05.00, in the dry but yesterday's tailwind was now an even stronger headwind. This time we chose the deserted ring-road - more direct, far smoother and far flatter than the B-road last night.
The wind continued all day. In fact, during the stretch from Hawick to Langholm it was so strong that we were having to 'honk' DOWNHILL and could only average 11 m.p.h. for a 24 mile stretch (2 hrs 10 mins). As we left Penrith, Andrew suffered the first mechanical set-back - a broken spoke in his rear-wheel. The strong wind meant that it wasn't much fun climbing Shap and when we reached the summit we stopped to prepare for the descent by putting on another layer of clothing. The wind was so strong that we had great difficulty just standing still and we opted for a safe descent rather than a fast one because the cross-wind also made steering a bit of a problem!
Once down on level ground and through Kendal and Lancaster the wind died away and we rolled onto a petrol station forecourt for some well-earned food and drink just before they closed for the night. We arrived back at Charnock Richard at about mid-night and fell asleep about half-past. (390 miles completed in 43 hours, no records broken but prospects looking reasonable and I was feeling O.K.)
After three and a half hours sleep, we awoke to another dry day and we had a couple of little bonuses to look forward to. I was on 'home ground' so we were able to use the lanes and quieter roads between Wigan and Knutsford - much pleasanter. Also Andrew had arranged for his wife to meet us near Stoke-on-Trent with some real cyclists' food and drink.
We met Carolyn after she had ridden out from Stoke on her Raleigh Roadster weighed down with the goodies. We enjoyed the little get-together and could have stayed longer but the clock was still ticking and away we went. Some 10/11 miles later we passed the half-distance point and felt quite lively. Proof of this is that Andrew was still with me! In view of his lack of training, he had an 'escape clause' - he would ride the first two days and if he was not up to the rest of the ride he would have bailed out and headed for home as we passed Stoke on the way south.
From now on the temperature climbed and during the afternoon we traversed the busiest section of the A5 from Tamworth, past Nuneaton and Rugby, in the hottest part of the day and the effects of this took its toll on our legs and, later in the day, on our tempers. We had to have more frequent stops as a result. As it is an important trunk road the road surface was in good condition, as were all the A-roads. Also the heavy traffic was behaving much better at speed than it does in town or city 30 m.p.h. areas. We learnt later that the temperature reached 28°C (82°F) so no wonder we became a little frazzled.
It was clear that we wouldn't make the Dunstable Travelodge before the restaurant closed at 22.00. As it happened there was a drive-in McDonalds just before the Travelodge so we got some food there but due to a mix-up they only supplied half the food we had ordered! We only discovered the error at the Travelodge and couldn't be bothered pedalling back. We should have checked the paper bag before we left McDonalds but when you've been pedalling for three days logic starts to take a back seat.
We booked in at 23.30 (some 4½ hours behind schedule because of the heat) and the male receptionist was the only one on the entire trip who did not ask us for our CAR REGISTRATION NUMBER as we leaned exhaustedly on the counter in full cycling gear! ( 556 miles in 66 hours ).
We thought yesterday was hot but today was even worse - 30°C (86°F). There was no hint when we awoke at the scheduled 04.00 after the customary 3½ hours sleep. (We started each day on schedule by the simple expedient of cutting back on sleep thus compensating for any delay on the previous day!) At 05.00 we were ahead of the morning rush-hour into London and went in via St Albans and Elstree heading for Wembley. I had deliberately chosen quieter A-roads for the London section and, bearing in mind that the Triangle means you enter London from the north-west and exit westwards, only a small portion of London is involved and it isn't any worse than pedalling in any town or city. In practice, there are many places where the bike is faster than the traffic which often tilts the balance in our favour for a change.
A bigger, but not so immediately obvious, problem is the constant acceleration from rest with a heavy bike at pelican crossings, traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions, etc.. On the fourth and hottest day of a five day marathon these really do have an effect and rapidly drain your diminishing energy resources. It was now so hot that we had to escape for a while and after Reading we dived into a Little Chef at Thatcham, near Newbury for a slap-up meal. We intended it to be a psychological reward for all our efforts to date but it was probably a mistake. We stayed too long and ate too much - but we enjoyed it!
Andrew's rear tyre punctured just before Chippenham. This was a day of stops and starts and it was taking its toll - we were now seriously behind schedule for the first time and there was nothing in the tank to do anything about it. Despite starting on time this morning, today's deficit was already 7 hours after we had got lost when leaving Yate and bought and consumed some food at the ubiquitous petrol station (we curse the cars but where would we be without the petrol stations). It was now 23.30, we had used up most of our 11 hour buffer, still hadn't reached Cardiff (40 miles to go) and probably wouldn't before we fell off the bikes.
After further delays trying unsuccessfully to book in at the Severnside Services at Junction 21 on the M4 (partly closed for alterations), we headed for Magor Services at Junction 23. It was now about 01.30 and the ride over the Severn Bridge will live in my memory for ever. It was very eerie to say the least - an empty, floodlit motorway on our left, a black empty space on our right. We knew the river was down there somewhere but we couldn't see it. We got the feeling that if we nodded off (all too real a possibility) and hit some obstacle it would be very easy to go over the protective fence. The bridge was absolutely deserted as we pedalled the 2 miles to the other side. Then onto a similarly deserted, unlit B-road and after 13 miles, we suddenly emerged onto the brightly lit service area at Magor which even at 02.45 was very busy. The contrast with our last hour was stark.
During the last couple of hours Andrew had been pedalling on 'Empty' and he was as shattered as it was possible to be. I wasn't quite as bad but a decision to 'pack' was made at about 03.00. The time was still possible, the necessary energy wasn't. Well, we had tried! (724 miles in 94 hours - 201 miles remaining in 29 hours but we just had to sleep first!)
After the usual short sleep, I telephoned my daughter at 08.00 to organise a rescue. Andrew woke up at this point, said he didn't feel too bad (relatively speaking) and if I was game we should see how close we could get to the finish on this the last day. So, rescue cancelled, we set off at about 09.45 for Cardiff in quite high spirits - surprising how the body and mind can be refreshed with such small amounts of sleep. The weather was a little more bearable but thunderstorms threatened.
We were, however, taking more frequent stops although still maintaining a average riding speed of 13 m.p.h. so providing we rode well into, or even through, the night it looked as if we might just make it. When we left a chip shop in Leominster at 19.15 with 120 miles to go in 13 hours our brains had virtually seized up - all we could do now was pedal and hope. The thunderstorms duly arrived and so we sheltered under the canopy of a derelict petrol station just south of Shrewsbury at about 23.00 whilst we consumed the last of our food (cold chips).
My planned route was simply to follow A49 signs all the way to Charnock Richard - no complicated map-reading. This should have taken us through Shrewsbury where food would be available but unbeknown to either of us a new by-pass had just been built through open countryside around the town. Following A49 signs led us to 'by-pass' the planned food and drink! We knew we hadn't time to search for food - we could only carry on in the hope that a 24-hour petrol station existed somewhere on this major and busy trunk road. As we pedalled on in total darkness, the thunder and lightening going on all around us made the scene quite dramatic although we were not really in a mood to appreciate it!
We just had to keep stopping (or else risk falling off the bikes) and at one such stop we spent an hour having a sleep in a gateway huddled together under a polythene sheet to keep us dry. Eventually, as we started up the long hill on the Tarporley by-pass at about 04.00, my resolve (and legs) gave way and I told Andrew that I would have to pack. We hadn't found any food/drink - nowhere open - and there was still some 36 miles to go. I needed a sleep but I didn't have time. If I didn't sleep, then I wouldn't make it anyway.
Andrew said he hadn't come all this way and suffered so much just to give up so close to making it. He would make a lone bid for glory, lightened his bike by stripping off his saddlebag, asked me to hide it somewhere to be picked up later and set off up the hill. As I saw him disappear over the summit about half-a-mile away, I suddenly realised that he hadn't any money with him, that I was responsible for him (in the eyes of my wife, at least) and that I wouldn't hear the last of it if anything happened to him! Whether it was this or the thought of being 'abandoned' at four o'clock in the morning, I am not sure but I suddenly decided I had to catch him up. I must have been on an adrenaline high because I was racing up the hill as I gave chase whereas only a few minutes before I was physically finished.
I went through two sets of traffic lights at two major A-road junctions on 'red' (with great care I might add) but after 7 or 8 miles I decided his younger legs had got the better of me. I hadn't seen any sign of him and I wasn't going to catch him. Still, at least I was pedalling again so I decided to have a short rest in a bus shelter and then see if I could reach the finish in time. As I consumed the last of my drink, I heard someone approaching from the same direction I had come. I stuck my head out of the shelter to see who it was and decided I was hallucinating because there was Andrew pedalling towards me.
When I casually asked this apparition IF he had taken a wrong turning (the only way I could have missed him), he became convinced that he MUST have done and thus pedalled in a circle because he was now BEHIND me. He was gutted! It transpired that he had been buying and consuming all sorts of goodies inside a 24-hour petrol station at one of the A-road junctions I had crossed on 'red'. I had been too busy making sure I wasn't mown down to even notice that it was open. The money for the food came from some cash my wife had given him before we set off - spending money for 'his little holiday' as she put it. (She hates the dangers of cycling and had no idea what we were attempting.)
We shared the drink and, although this is now subject to some dispute, the last of his food as well, congratulated ourselves that we were now back together, hid my saddlebag and our Nightriders behind the bus shelter and pedalled off through Warrington and Wigan heading for Charnock Richard. The distances indicated on the roadside signs were gradually coming down and it really did look as if we would make it. Sure enough, at 07.30 on Saturday morning with only fifty-five minutes to spare we free-wheeled onto the Travelodge carpark. (925 miles in 122 hours 30 minutes.)
Waiting for us was my daughter and HER CAR! For once, my principles were overcome by practicality - she ferried us and the bikes back down the route to recover the saddlebags etc., to buy some more food at Andrew's 24-hour petrol station, to Stoke to deposit Andrew in time for him to be 'Doctor Bike' that afternoon during National Bike Week and then back to Wilmslow for a well-earned rest. Not only had Andrew completed the 925 miles at randonneur level with virtually no training - quite amazing in my opinion - but the following day he pedalled another 100 miles to Llangollen and back with his friends! I chose to put my feet up!
The total riding time was 68 hours 45 minutes which was only 20 minutes different than I had scheduled. I only wish I had been as accurate with the estimates of non-riding time. We had used up the 11 hour buffer and we had also had to cut the sleep allocation from 27 hours over the four scheduled nights to a total of 15 hours with none at all on the fifth, unscheduled night! This had become necessary because the real killer had been the excessive heat on Days 3 & 4.
Being wise after the event, I should not have booked ahead. Neither would I ride through the last night but instead ride well into, if not through, the first night (when one is least tired) and then spend some time seeking accommodation on the other nights and not worry if it was necessary to sleep rough. I would then be a true randonneur! Still, whenever the fast 'boys' overtake me in future, hares and tortoises will spring to mind and I shall console myself with the thought that those hares haven't managed the Three Capitals Triangle whereas this tortoise did!
Andrew's 'little holiday' turned out to be a bit of an epic, in more ways than one, but it hasn't converted me from my preferences for creature comforts and I shall continue to be a vicarious randonneur by reading of the Super Randonneurs' exploits rather than by competing. But by successfully completing one of the longest Permanents in the Handbook, I know now that I can ride at that level if I want to!