4/5/08 and I am into the 6th Audax ride. I believe I am already entitled to the very first Audax title – but will have to wait some more until the results are all in.
It could be that I can claim either or both awards: (From the audax handbook…)
Randonneur 500. By riding Populaire events of 50, 100 and 150km then going on to a 200km at Randonneur speed (ie, 200km or 125 miles in a maximum time of around 13½ hours), all in one season, you can become a Randonneur 500.
Brevet 500. Ride 5 x 100km rides in one AUK season to gain your Brevet 500. 150s can be counted as well – but not 200s.
I am getting a medal for every ride that I do – and I intend to get the awards that I have earned – without exceptions!
So here is the plan for this Sunday:
Riverside Gardens to Benson
Benson to riverside gardens
Post ride analysis…
It was a good ride. I averaged 19.6 Km/h while riding and completed the course in 6 hours and 15 minutes. I set myself the target of 6 hours, which I wasn’t that far away from managing – but couldn’t push myself harder 🙂
The weather was warmish, with very occasional few drops of rain – nothing major. Luckily, the sun never showed its face otherwise I would have been really boiling with my long sleeve cotton T shirt!
The ride itself was as far as scenery is concerned, quite spectacular. It went via very narrow and very remote routes, which I obviously would have never reached otherwise. The fields were bright yellow with some oil producing plants (no idea how its called) and the forests I went through were just amazingly beautiful. There were some climbs, not VERY steep but some quite lengthy, and some good descends, one of which was so steep I had to apply the brakes quite often to avoid being thrown out. There were very few riders, in comparison, about 30-40 I would guess, and most of the time I was by myself, with no one in sight (not just riders – NO ONE at all!)
The direction sheet was not very well made, and I felt compelled to check and recheck my position, as I absolutely HATE getting lost! In this one I never did, but I did stop once to get my bearings using the GPS (and several times rechecked a junction that I just passed to ensure that I didn’t miss a turn. I now know quite well how a good cue sheet should look like – shame it’s not mandatory. The only upside I see for the ‘diversity’ is that I learn to find my way even when the cues are no so well written – so I guess there is a blessing in it. The downside is that I do not ride as fast as I could for fear of missing a turn.
One thing that keeps bothering me lately is a light numbness in the two fingers of my right hand. It started three rides ago, and while improving quite a lot – doesn’t go away. I am comforted by the fact that it does not get worse with lengthy rides – I would have been in real trouble if it were!
The next two weekends I am supposed to go to a seminar so riding is out of the question. There is still some hope for the second weekend, where Sunday is really just half a day – so I may ask to complete it some other time.
The certificate: