Around the St Edmunds Wheel
Successfully navigated 100 miles without a map
I also fitted the panniers and carried several litres of water plus enough food for the day, my waterproof jacket and the usual few spares and tools. So I was almost fully laden.
The St Edmunds Wheel also raises funds for St Nicholas Hospice, something we're doing with our Fifty Quid Challenge website, so it tied in nicely with our plans.
Arriving at about eight am I couldn't help but notice I was the only person doing the 100 on a mountain bike and I'm sure I was the only one with two panniers. I think I saw two others on tourers and with one pannier each, but everyone else seemed to be on fast road bikes. There were lots of members of West Suffolk Wheelers, all looking very professional in their red jerseys.
So I wasn't surprised to be dropped within about three miles. A few people started late and overtook me in the next ten miles and the sweepers caught me up at the first official refreshment stop at Lavenham, around 26.5 miles.
There was one rider I kept seeing - I was stopping every hour or so while he was ploughing on - and I overtook him each time, although we shared the work for a while on the Long Melford to Clare stretch. Three more riders passed me a couple of times but I dropped them for the last time at Stoke by Clare. Everyone else was long gone...
Having lost the map somewhere around the twenty mile mark I was grateful that the route was well signed. I had a mental picture of the map but I would have got lost in the area east of Newmarket, from haverhill northwards, if I'd tried to navigate myself. The route being roughly circular was never too far from Bury but I'm not familiar with the countryside towards Newmarket. It was also hillier than I expected along this stretch, or maybe I was just getting tired after around sixty miles. However, after crossing the A14 there was a very good road almost due north towards Tuddenham and I found a good rhythm along that road partly thanks to a slight tail wind.
Seventy miles actually came up at Tuddenham, where the first bananas were on offer at the refreshment stop. I took two and was grateful for them!
The route then meandered around the area north of Bury. It was tantalising being so close to home and yet still twenty plus miles from the end, but I put it out of my mind as best I could. Another banana/water stop at 83 miles helped...
Just seventeen miles to go. Probably the hardest part of a ride is when you know you've nearly finished, and around three or four miles from home I was very weary and I was using the gears on every incline for a while.
The last two miles was mainly downhill, though, and I finished in eight hours five minutes, with around seven hours of that being actual cycling time. So my average cycling speed was about 14 mph and the overall average about twelve and a half.
I was pushing on as best I could between stops and on a longer trip you can't afford to end a day exhausted or you won't be able to repeat it the next day (unless you're a pro, that is). Ten miles an hour is a decent average for touring, so I was quite happy.
Our next training trip should be Yorkshire again in early July, and we'll probably be camping on the second night (ie, between the two days' cycling), so that will be a new experience, too. Carrying tents and getting a decent sleep betwen two long days will be challenging, I think. But if we can't cope with it for one weekend we'll be in trouble trying to do it for two weeks!
Roy
PS A very special big 'Thank You!' to the organisers of the event and all those who manned the drink stops. And especially to whoever put up all the signs!
I really would have been lost without you.
I also fitted the panniers and carried several litres of water plus enough food for the day, my waterproof jacket and the usual few spares and tools. So I was almost fully laden.
The St Edmunds Wheel also raises funds for St Nicholas Hospice, something we're doing with our Fifty Quid Challenge website, so it tied in nicely with our plans.
Arriving at about eight am I couldn't help but notice I was the only person doing the 100 on a mountain bike and I'm sure I was the only one with two panniers. I think I saw two others on tourers and with one pannier each, but everyone else seemed to be on fast road bikes. There were lots of members of West Suffolk Wheelers, all looking very professional in their red jerseys.
So I wasn't surprised to be dropped within about three miles. A few people started late and overtook me in the next ten miles and the sweepers caught me up at the first official refreshment stop at Lavenham, around 26.5 miles.
There was one rider I kept seeing - I was stopping every hour or so while he was ploughing on - and I overtook him each time, although we shared the work for a while on the Long Melford to Clare stretch. Three more riders passed me a couple of times but I dropped them for the last time at Stoke by Clare. Everyone else was long gone...
Having lost the map somewhere around the twenty mile mark I was grateful that the route was well signed. I had a mental picture of the map but I would have got lost in the area east of Newmarket, from haverhill northwards, if I'd tried to navigate myself. The route being roughly circular was never too far from Bury but I'm not familiar with the countryside towards Newmarket. It was also hillier than I expected along this stretch, or maybe I was just getting tired after around sixty miles. However, after crossing the A14 there was a very good road almost due north towards Tuddenham and I found a good rhythm along that road partly thanks to a slight tail wind.
Seventy miles actually came up at Tuddenham, where the first bananas were on offer at the refreshment stop. I took two and was grateful for them!
The route then meandered around the area north of Bury. It was tantalising being so close to home and yet still twenty plus miles from the end, but I put it out of my mind as best I could. Another banana/water stop at 83 miles helped...
Just seventeen miles to go. Probably the hardest part of a ride is when you know you've nearly finished, and around three or four miles from home I was very weary and I was using the gears on every incline for a while.
The last two miles was mainly downhill, though, and I finished in eight hours five minutes, with around seven hours of that being actual cycling time. So my average cycling speed was about 14 mph and the overall average about twelve and a half.
I was pushing on as best I could between stops and on a longer trip you can't afford to end a day exhausted or you won't be able to repeat it the next day (unless you're a pro, that is). Ten miles an hour is a decent average for touring, so I was quite happy.
Our next training trip should be Yorkshire again in early July, and we'll probably be camping on the second night (ie, between the two days' cycling), so that will be a new experience, too. Carrying tents and getting a decent sleep betwen two long days will be challenging, I think. But if we can't cope with it for one weekend we'll be in trouble trying to do it for two weeks!
Roy
PS A very special big 'Thank You!' to the organisers of the event and all those who manned the drink stops. And especially to whoever put up all the signs!
I really would have been lost without you.
Labels: Bury St Edmunds Wheel, cycle touring, cycling up hills, paris to venice, St Nicholas Hospice
posted by Roy Everitt at
21:28
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