Saturday, 17 March 2018
Nigel writes: Today was the third "Cambridge Pork Pie", a 200km Audax calendar event organised by Nick Wilkinson under the banner of Cambridge Audax. It involves riding 100km from Girton to Melton Mowbray, a town in Leicestershire famous for its pork pies, and then 100km back again.
Last year about 150 riders took part. This year, with an unexpected return of the "beast from the east" (an area of high pressure over Scandinavia which caused a strong, cold, easterly wind), the prospect of sub-zero temperatures, snow showers and that easterly wind had reduced the number of riders to about 40, a little over a third of entrants. Last year nine CTC Cambridge regulars took part: this year I spotted just me and Glyn.
8am: Riders at the start in Girton (Photo: Nick Wilkinson)
This was a cold and tough ride. The day started surprisingly well. At the start in Girton the temperature was 0C, but the temperature on the ride up to Melton Mowbray felt rather milder than I had expected. I had been worried about the prospect of black ice, but the roads were dry and there wasn't a trace of ice. There was certainly a strong easterly wind, but given the overall north-westerly direction of the ride it was of little help or hindrance, and at least it wasn't in my face.
8.05am: Setting off with a smile (Photo: Nick Wilkinson)
We set off along the busway riding fairly close together, but as we passed Longstowe I sustained a puncture and had to stop to replace a tube. Whilst I was stopped everyone overtook me and when I set off again I was was riding on my own, the last in the field.
Rather to my surprise I quickly caught up with Terry and Phil from St Ives CC, who had also stopped for a puncture just ahead of me. They kindly took me under their wing and offered me a wheel to follow. However the pace was slightly too hot for me, and after an hour of support I persuaded them to drop me.
After two and a half hours I arrived in Oundle. I hadn't planned to stop there, but when I arrived I found a group of riders paused just beyond Beans Cafe and I stopped to join them. I was just about keeping up. One of the riders was Jonathan, who was planning to ride the hillier "extra slice" option and I invited myself to join him. However for no particular reason I set off ahead of him and we didn't meet again. For the next half hour, as I approached the point where the two routes divided, I pondered whether the extra slice would really be a good idea. Although conditions now were relatively benign, it was clear that the return journey into the wind would be hard work, and I decided that I should conserve my energies and time for the way back.
So I decided to follow the classic route - for the first time in two years. This takes you onto A-roads for a short section into Oakham and between there and Langham. The official route then leaves the A602 for quieter roads, but when I got there I decided to stay on the main road all the way to Melton Mowbray (a "route hack" I had noticed Olaf S using last year). This was just fine, though it was certainly not flat, climbing up to 166m at one point, albeit at an easy grade.
When I arrived at Melton Mowbray I encountered my first snow flurry of any significance, though it was gone in a few minutes, and as I sat in McDonalds for 50 minutes I watched the weather alternate between snow flurries and sunshine. However I found I didn't have much of an appetite (even allowing for the fact that it was McDonalds), and was feeling slightly sick. Not a good sign; it was probably related to a bad night on Thursday when I had suffered an upset stomach.
1pm: Snow flurries on the approach to Melton Mowbray
I set off for home at 2.10pm: just about bang on time compared with any of the other "Pork Pies" I have done. For the journey home I decided to reverse my outward route, back along the A602 to Oakham and then on to Oundle. This was into the wind and quite tiring, so when I reached Oundle at about 4.45pm I decided I should treat myself with a visit to Beans Cafe.
There I found myself talking two friendly young riders from CUCC. However I still didn't have an appetite and left most of my cake uneaten. Nevertheless it was a decent rest, and when I set off for the final stage back to Girton I was feeling fairly strong.
Once again I rode the return of the outward route - a tactic I had deployed successfully a year ago. Whilst this is less fiddly than the official route via Huntingdon it's quite exposed, and I wondered whether it was such a good idea today, but decided that the wind would get you whichever route you took.
Temperature profile for the day, as measured by my Garmin device. 0C for most of the day, falling after sunset to -2C and then -3C.
And the wind began to take its toll, with my speed dropping to 15kph for long periods. I suspect this on its own would have been tolerable, but somewhere around Sawtry the sun set and the temperature began to plummet. I began to struggle, and exhibited that rare phenomenon (for me) of repeatedly stopping for a rest before pulling myself together and setting off again.
I reached St Ives at 7.45pm and decided that without a stop to rest and warm up the final part of the ride along the busway would be miserable and slow. I decided that the huge Wetherspoons in the Market Place was the ideal place to lurk quietly in the corner with a orange juice (no, no ice!) and a few peanuts. As I sat there I began to shiver. However I knew I had plenty of time to get back without worrying the time limit.
I was back on the road at about 8.15pm, feeling much better, and the final 18km back to Girton was definitely much easier than if I had not stopped. There was rather more snow on the ground than I had seen earlier, but the cycleway was clear.
I arrived at the Arrivee just after 9pm, after 13 hours, and half an hour before the time limit. I was the last rider to return "within time" and Nick accordingly awarded me the title of "Lanterne Rouge", an honour I have never held before. I consoled myself with the thought that today, with most entrants failing to ride at all, the people ahead of me were all very strong riders, and that the people who usually arrive behind me had not ridden at all. Nevertheless I was definitely below my normal form today, perhaps partly due to that dodgy stomach which meant that I couldn't face any of Eva's cakes.
I wasn't the last rider to finish: two hours behind me, and well outside the time limit, a final pair arrived. They had sensibly kept Nick informed of their progress and he was waiting to welcome them when they eventually turned up at 11pm. I presume they stopped along the way to get warm and rest.
I also heard tales of riders who had turned back at Oundle, or who had bailed out at railway stations along the route (Melton Mowbray, Oakham and even Stamford) and caught the train back. Nick later reported that out of the 40 starters, 11 abandoned the ride along the way, two completed the ride out of time, and 27 finished within the time limit (of whom I was the last).
On every Audax you learn something. Today's discovery was that when the temperature is so cold than your water bottles freeze you should empty them and get a refill at every cafe stop. Today I had plenty of water, but it was full of ice; as a result I didn't drink very much, which can't have helped.
So, that's my third Pork Pie calendar event done (and about my sixth if you include perms). And easily my hardest. And definitely my coldest Audax ever. Total distance today was 129 miles (208km) in 13 hours for the Audax, and
138 miles (222km) overall.
Nigel Deakin
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GPS track (GPX).