Back story

In Arrivée 132 Laura Pugh told the story of her first Audax – a rain-soaked February 200k. Was it enough to put her off for good? Well, not quite…

Back story should I stay or should I go… solo

CYCLELOG

TANDEM RIDES 2016 Straight on at Roses 200 Everybody rides to Skeggy 300 The Brian Chapman Memorial Ride 600 Moors and Wolds 400 2017 Yr Elenydd 300 The Brian Chapman Warm Up 400 SOLO RIDES 2016 Staff’s Peak Grimpeur 100 Beyond Shropshire 200 2017 Roses to Wrags 200 Everybody rides to Skeggy 300 The Old 240 400 The 3 Coasts 600 And now our greatest achievement to date is completing the psychotic Mille Peninnes on tandem, riding up every climb in the saddles! 1,007 I last wrote an article for Arrivée 132, about my first Audax, where I experienced some of the worst weather I ever have encountered – neither before nor since. This failed to deter me and I have continued to ride – now considering myself completely “hooked”.

Back in 2016, I went on to complete my SR series, stoking our tandem around the requisite rides including the Brian Chapman Memorial as our 600. Audax riders give few compliments but the little that was said lead me to believe this was a reasonable achievement (and potentially there are easier 600s to do as your first on a bicycle that doesn’t like hills…).

However, since then the “she’s just got her feet up on the back” comments have started to grate a bit. Sometimes it’s from the pub-goers on a Saturday night, sometimes it’s from well meaning family and friends who quite genuinely think I’m “being taken for a ride” and sometimes I wonder if even fellow riders think I’ve “got it easy on the back”. I also started riding my own solo Audaxes last year, starting with the Staff’s Peak Grimpeur, and this year have completed my solo SR including the Old 240 as my 400km (I really should start to make things easier for myself…).

This is partly to show that I can actually do more than turn the pedals, but also because I love to ride both tandem and solo and there are pros and cons to both. I’ve ridden bicycles since I was little and frankly my first tandem ride was terrifying – not able to see the road in front, no steering, no brakes and no choice over cadence and speed.

However, I have learned to trust my captain. I’ve taken responsibility for reading the route sheet and fuelling with

my own “nose bag”, and it is very much a team effort. Double-checking the route sheet definitely reduces mistakes!

A friend of ours recently bought a tandem nicknamed “The Divorcer”, but as yet we are of the opinion couples that ride tandem together stay together!

And we are very much joined by the frame. It makes talking easy and there’s little chance of me getting left behind. However, that is one of the greatest disadvantages as well, comfort is simply not as good as solos. Due to my lack of steering I end up in a rather fixed upper body position and Stevie suffers from similar problems, being unable to get out of the saddle for a break as easily.

Other minor issues are the restricted view for the stoker (mine’s mostly taken up by Ste’s back) and the high level of baked bean consumption on rides, for which my positioning is particularly unfortunate.

The other inconvenience is having to agree when to stop, which if our hydration is out of sync can result in double the time lost on “visits to the bushes”. I also can’t decide to stop on a whim and have been sped past many an ice cream parlour against my will!

The real benefit of being joined by the frame, for us, is the descents. There is no way I would descend at the speeds Stevie does and on the tandem I have the option to close my eyes and hope he’s going to ask me to pull the drum brake soon! And

Climbing the Devil’s Staircase on the Elenydd PHOTO JOHN HARRISON

he doesn’t need to wait around at the bottom.

Going uphill is a different matter, however. If you’ve been on a ride with a tandem, you may well have experienced the “tandem yo-yo effect”. At the start of the BCM 2016 we repeatedly overtook the same set of solo bikes on the down only to

At the top of the Hardnott pass on the Mille

❝I’ve been sped past many an ice cream parlour against my will!… down, down, chain ring, down

❞

❝I’ve taken responsibility for reading the route sheet and fuelling with my own nose bag ❞

Our trusty steed and my captain eating second breakfast in Swaledale on the Mille Pennine

grind to a near halt and greet the same riders on the next climb. The rolling bumps on the BCM warm up 2017 (Brevet Cymru) was one of the toughest stages I’ve ridden on an Audax, not due to steepness, just the relentless ups and downs. However, tandems do go uphill and we were proud to power-winch our way up the Devil’s Staircase on this year’s Elenydd.

We’ve witnessed the super smooth action of Mr and Mrs Brown honking their tandem up the climbs, but our good old reliable Dawes Galaxy Twin starts to make alarming noises from the adjustable stem when we power out of the saddle for too long. So we’ve resigned ourselves to riding 30%-plus gradients firmly seated.

We also need to synchronise taking the weight off the pedals, especially changing down which results in even more of a loss of momentum and a string of “down, down, chain ring, down” from Stevie on hitting a sharp incline. He also occasionally forgets and does this when we’re riding solo…

This is a big contrast to me riding solo as being rather diminutive I would rather be riding uphill than a long straight flat. Rides such as The Old 240 and Staff’s Peak Grimpeur were ideal for me, and I’ve ridden Occasionally Hilly and Mid Peak Grimpeur as unofficial perms just for fun – the hillier the better!

The long straights where the tandem zooms along can pose problems for me and I’m a pretty rubbish wind block for Stevie when I take a turn on the front. I am also not used to following a wheel. Most of my solo rides are either with Stevie or by myself and the start of the 3 Coasts this year phased me, suddenly being in a pack of 20 riders.

Equally when I started the Mere 200, early in the year, I had underestimated my lack of experience in night riding – being on a tandem has definite advantages

there! I struggled to focus on the beam and felt completely disorientated having had a great ride up to that point. My speed dropped, we made a wrong turn and came back late and over distance to the closed Arrivée control. Certainly a ride to learn from, and since then I’ve been gaining confidence and invested in better lighting! The Old 240 tested this to the limits, not only with the dark windy roads but also a steep climb and descent enshrouded in fog and battered by high winds. I bailed when I more or less got blown off the barely visible white line on the way up and we both walked the most treacherous bit on the way down. I had always hoped it would be easier to stay awake on a solo having to read the road than on the back of a tandem but I suffered severely with the dozies on that ride and the weather prevented a 10-minute cat nap.

Every ride provides its own different challenges and certainly riding tandem or solos can make a big difference but both Stevie and I agree we would never choose to ride one way or the other and enjoy a bit of both. As long as we’re a-wheel we’re happy!

I would like to thank all the organisers and volunteers who make riding Audax such a pleasure.

2017 Randonneur Round the Year awards

Welcome to another year of “Randonneur Round the Year”, the award for riding at least one 200km (or longer) Audax ride at BR/BRM pace per month for 12 consecutive calendar months. It can be started at any time, and riders can have more than one RRtY series running concurrently (starting in the same or different calendar months).

2017 has been another record year for RRtY claims. Since Arrivee Feb 2017 we have 128 new names (members claiming their first, and in some cases, up to fourth series) and 100 who have completed one or more additional series. (NOTE – these figures include series from previous years, and also a few Jan 2018 claims). This brings the total number of award holders to 726. For the full roll of honour see http://www.aukweb.net/ results/other/rrtyroll/

The award is not calculated automatically, you have to submit a claim and it is manually checked. The process is detailed at http:// www.aukweb.net/results/other/ rrtyclaim/#claim. The validation is based on individual rider results lists, although “special adjustments” are permitted. For example, by default a ride spanning more than one month is taken as belonging to the start date month, but can be claimed by request for the finish month as long as at least 200km at BR pace has been completed in that month. This year LEL triggered this – 21 members asked for LEL to be counted for August and this was granted (I sympathise with anyone not wanting to ride again for a month after that achievement).

54 Michael Adu Dave Antrobus Derek Armshaw Troy Backhouse Stuart Bailey Jason Bellerby David Bennett Sarah Britton Andrew Broadbent Alex Brown (2) Matt Brown Ludwig Brunagel Chris Bullock Stephen Butcher Garga Chamberlain Glen Charman Mat Cheslin Dene Clark Jim Cope Paul Cosford Sebastien Cosnefroy Andy Cox (Peterborough) Neil Crocker (2) Phil Cunningham Howard Dalton Michael Daly Nigel Deakin William Dean Stephen Dee (2) Terry Dickerson Frauke Diehl David Eastwood Andy Edwards David Edwards Guy Evans Ian Fairweather Adrian Fitch Jo Flint Nathan Follows Alex Frost Steve Gee (2) Clement Geiger Debs Goddard Martin Godwin Tony Gore Stephen Graham Adam Grassby Austin Gray Miles Griffiths John Haile Stephen Haines David Hammond Len Hampson Robert Hanwell Peter Harper Shaun Harris Haiko Hebig Jason Hemingway Michael Hill Caroline Hobbs Edric Hobbs Richard Holland Paul Howe Rob Hydon Dmitry Ilchenko Andrew Jackson Chris James Nia James Chris Jones Elfyn Jones Jeremy Jones Mike Kear Sarah Kelman Mike Kilburn Carl Kirkbride Sian Lambert Guy Lawton (3) John Lilley Derek MacKenzie Alex Mason David Mason Darryl Mastropietro Robert McMillan (2) James Metcalfe Bob Millar Dick Nuttall New Randonneurs Round the Year (since Arrivee Feb 2017): 128

Brad Owen (2) Graham Parks Ivor Peachey Carl Pegnam Emyr Peregrine Sarah Perkins (2) Sarah Peters John Prout Ian Reid (6) Paul Renshaw Richard Revis Andrew Roocroft Richard Salisbury (2) Paul Salmons (2) Andrew Shippin James Skillen Davd Sleigh Gill Smith Ian Smith Graham Spiller Christopher Squires James Summers Martin Tallontire Finlay Thom Chris Tillapaugh (3) Neil Veitch Chris Virgo Will Vousden Robert Wade Angela Walker Martin Walsh Glyn Watkins Martyn Wheeler Adrian Wikeley Craig Wilkie Mark Williams Doug Wilson Carlos Wong-Fupuy Simon Woodthorpe Robert Wragge-Morley Andy Yates Anne Young (4) Another 100 riders have added one or more series to their record since the February 2017 list, with Derek Heine and Steve Ralphs achieving the coveted x10 Ultra RRtY award: Stephen Agnew (7) Martyn Aldis (2) Graham Allen (3) David Allison (3) Simon Ashby (3) Dave Atkinson (4) Rob Baird (8) Jon Banks (5) Alan Barnard (3) Paul BeeBee (3) Denise Booth (4) Stephen Britt (2) Nik Brunner (3) Jason Burns (2) Jack Camplin (2) Russell Carson (5) Raymond Cheung (8) Lisa Chichester (5) James Clarke (2) John Clemens (7) Paul Conyers (2) Paul Cre (2) Martin Croxford (3) Sefi Dakar (2) Martin Davey (4) Ivor Davies (4) Peter Davis (2) Simon Daws (3) Kevin Dennett (2) William Dickey (2) Dave Ellis (3) Richard Evans (2) Malcolm Everest (3) Caroline Fenton (3) Nicholas Firth (5) Steve Ginty (7) Ricki Goode (4) Jonathan Greenway (12) Mark Hagger (2) Robert Hampson (2) Shaun Hargreaves (7) Derek Heine (10) Graeme Holdsworth (2) Francois Hugo (14) Oliver Iles (5) Tom Jackson (6) Mark Jarvis (2) Paul Johnson (3) Joe Jord (6) Chris Keeling-Roberts (2) Lee Killestein (2) Marcus Lancastle (2) Rebecca Leece (2) Martin Malins (13) Brian Mann (7) Archie Marshall (8) Paul Martin (3) Ivo Miesen (2) Suzannah Minns (2) Liam Morris (2) Dave Morrison (5) Phil Nelson (3) Robert Norris (2) Steve Ogden (2) Steve Orchard (2) Gordon Panicca (3) Richard Parker (5) Tim Pickersgill (4) Steve Poulton (25) Andrew Preater (2) Andrew Preston (6) Steve Ralphs (10) David Randerson (8) Eric Richardson (2) Stephen Riley (2) Iain Robert (2) Tim Rusbridge (4) Ian Ryall (9) Neil Shand (2) Shawn Shaw (4) Mike Sheldrake (2) Gavin Simmons (3) David Sleigh (2) Steven Smith (2) Daniel Staley (4) John Staughan (4) Olaf Storbeck (3) Paul Summers (3) Pete Summers (3) David Tobin (2) Christopher Tracey (5) Peter Tredget (5) Andrew Turner (2) Jack Tyler (3) Trevor Wale (23) Peter Walton (4) Richard Warner (9) John Wilkie (2) Julian Williams (7) John Wilton (5)

As of Feb 2018 there were 222 claimed RRtY series which finished during 2017, compared to 213 series finishing in 2016. I expect the 2017 number to increase further as some riders don’t claim until a few months after completion.

I have done a few quick analyses and now can offer some year on year trends for your delight! These also now include 2016 series processed during 2017 – so they won’t be the same as the numbers published last year.

With the full year’s worth of data, it’s now obvious that December was the most popular completion month in 2016, and may well turn out that way for 2017 too. Spring and early summer starts are not popular. Any validated ride of 200km attracting AUK points or more can be counted for RRtY – so that includes calendar events, perms, DIYs and shorter rides with ECEs. Generally most people use a mix of types. The chart below shows the percentages of completed series using calendar rides only, perms/DIYs only and including one or more ECEs for the last two years. Only 4 riders counted purely calendar events – probably the most difficult way to continue through the winter months. 21% of series only consisted of 200km rides – so the other 79% had at least one longer ride. ECEs seem to have become ever more popular (the ACME 100km winter series and similar rides may have had some influence on this). The number of riders completing only one ride per month, and those riding solely 200km are up for 2017. This suggests that more members who don’t have enough time to ride a lot are now targeting the RRtY award in their plans.

Neil Crocker for a neat bit of planning with a series starting with one Warmer and finishing with another (Willy to South of Bucks!) Sebastien Cosnefroy – who had a full series using rides starting only in Cambridge Andrew Jackson who repeated the same ride the most times - Dorset Coast perm x11 Mark Williams who completed his RRtY in his first year of membership and had a special RRtY cake baked for him.

And he wasn’t the only one – this was Caroline and Edric’s Hobbs way of celebrating their tandem RRtY

Above is the split between female and male riders claims (as last year, based purely on first names, no official information was available). Not much change in this, and no surprises, but interesting to see that again the proportion of women claiming their first series is much higher than men.

As in 2016 most members only ride one series at a time, but RRtY rules allow for more than one series to be claimed. 18 riders completed multiple series in 2017 (from x2 up to x5). In four cases these were completely concurrent, others involved various degrees of overlap.

There are many special and unusual achievements amongst the long list of members completing series this year – but particular mentions for the following that I am aware of:

Three generations of the Summers family – James, Paul and Peter. Surely this must be a first, special congratulations to you all. I think James is also our youngest ever RRtYer at 17 years old.

Robert-Wragge Morley for the longest ride included in a series (2000km)

Heiko Hebig, Ivo Miesen and William Dickie – all with a full sweep of overseas rides So until next year, keep riding, keep claiming and keep eating cake.

Caroline Fenton