Selective memory of life’s ups and downs

As James Metcalfe discovered after completing a gruelling South West Moors Super Randonee, a cyclist’s brain develops a helpful form of amnesia – so that we remember the pleasure while forgetting the pain… and we can do it all again. Here’s his account of the agonising fluctuations of England’s undulating south western corner.

THIS WAS THE TOUGHEST RIDE. I was broken by the finish, and I remember thinking: “Why am I doing this? And why would I consider doing another?” But then time passes, and the memory of the pain fades. What’s left is the memory of the scenery, the climbs, the descents – the accomplishment. That’s when a cyclist sets out to find more beautiful places to ride.

Having completed my ACP Randonneur 5,000 award with PBP last year, my attention turned to the Randonneur 10,000 – many of the same requirements, just in greater numbers – plus a Super Randonnee.

This would be 600km with at least 10,000m ascent in a time limit of 60 hours, ridden self-supported as a permanent. Sixty hours – that’s three days and two nights. So with a suitable start and finish time it’s essentially 200km with 3,500m of climbing ridden in 12 hours, on three consecutive days. That seemed quite manageable.

With all long events cancelled this year, but permanents still on, it seemed like a good time to tick this box on the checklist. The ACP website has a list of Super Randonees all over the world – Canada, USA, Australia, Japan, France, Spain, Italy, even Belgium. But with travel disruption a constant risk this year, tackling a route in the UK seemed prudent.

Luckily there are currently four UK routes. Two in Wales, one in the north of England and one in the south west, starting in Exeter. I didn’t want to be driving home after the event, so a ride I could get to easily on the train seemed ideal. Exeter station has very quick links to London or Reading. So I booked the ride for the earliest weekend to maximise daylight (September 11-13.)

Friday 11 September – After a substantial breakfast in Exeter’s Premier Inn, I set off at 7.30am, having taken the required control photo at the station entrance. All controls on Super Randonees are photo controls, showing your bike with the frame badge in front of a designated land mark. These photos enforce the distance and, importantly, the climbing.

The first section took me west out of Exeter to Okehampton before heading north to see the Atlantic just west of Porlock. I was very happy not to have to descend into Porlock and climb back out again. The second control was at Culbone Stables Inn, which I was disappointed to find was an event venue and not a pub.

With no chance of getting out of the drizzle and enjoying refreshment, I continued on to the next control at Lee Abbey, Valley of the Rocks. The climb west out of Lynmouth would have tested me on my carbon bike on a club run, but on the Ti machine loaded up for touring/Audax it was beyond me.

The first half of the climb was quite uncomfortable as a line of cars following a tractor very slowly passed as I looked at the wall on my left with an unknown drop beyond. Of course, once my foot went down on a 25 per cent climb, there was no getting back on and I had to walk for the first time since Hardknott pass.

I consoled myself with ice cream and coke in Lynton before cruising through the Valley of the Rocks. What an incredible spot. More climbing followed before arriving at Barnstaple. Now I was starting to think about the clock. I’d checked with the Blue Lion at Lewdown where I’d be sleeping, and I needed to be there by 8.30pm if I wanted dinner. So I planned to stop refreshments at Barnstaple and leave by 5pm – three and a half hours for the last 56km at 18km/h was tight but possible.

As it turned out, this last section felt easier despite the amount of climbing recorded by my Garmin – perhaps because rolling terrain with climbs of 50m or less with gradients less than 15 per cent is typical of my riding. I rolled in with nearly 25 minutes to spare. There was the bonus of a fly-by from a barn owl a few kilometres from the finish.

Friday: 216km, 4,800m, 11.06 moving, 12.33 elapsed, lights used for 30 minutes.

Saturday and an early start (6.50am) – before the kitchen opened for breakfast, so the petrol station at Launceston provided a first breakfast, and King Arthur’s café at Tintagel an excellent second breakfast. I wanted to see the new bridge to Tintagel Castle, but one look at the steepness of the path down from the road was enough to dissuade me. I didn’t fancy climbing back up, even on foot.

After Tintagel the route headed south to Bodmin Moor, but before that another climb too steep for me to ride. No gradient signs here but it must have been more than 25 per cent as I was struggling to walk up, pushing the bike due to loss of traction, and the steady stream of cars using the single track road makes it unlikely I could have ridden it in any case.

After the next control at St Neot the route turned east to Dartmoor and over the top to Buckfast Abbey. Crossing Dartmoor was definitely the highlight of the ride. I was struck by how the wild horses were not disturbed at all by cyclists or traffic. After the slowest service ever at a shop in Tavistock I proceeded to demolish two cream cakes, crisps, drink and an ice cream. This carb-loading was probably a key decision as I didn’t notice another shop

until I had crossed Dartmoor twice, eastwards and then northwards. It seems I missed a petrol station between the two crossings. Coming down off Dartmoor, the next shop was at Chagford. I had to pick up something for breakfast as well as some sustenance for the last part of the ride. After a quick phone call to the Duke of York in Iddlesleigh I knew I had ample time to get there for dinner, which was reassuring. Like the first day, this last section fairly flew by, arriving at my accommodation earlier than I had expected.

Saturday: 203km, 4,000m, 10.59 moving, 13.16 elapsed, lights used for 30 minutes morning, and 30 minutes evening.

Sunday. The third day would see another crossing of Exmoor and then into the Quantocks. I’d ridden in the Quantocks before and knew to expect big climbs and steep descents. On the final day I had to finish before 7.30pm, so I estimated 12 hours for the last 190km, a 6.30am start then, which ended up being 6.40 after drying my bike which had spent the night outside.

First section was fast and rolling before a long climb up over Exmoor and a great descent into Simonsbath, the first control, then a rolling section along a fast easy road got me to the second control in under five and a half hours for 92km. Less than 100km left and over seven hours to complete. Everything felt comfortable at this point. However, the climbing has to be done somewhere and the next section was incredibly tough – long climbs, steep climbs, steep descents and the weather was uncomfortably warm. Three more controls close together and a few stops for fuel and water saw four hours disappear for only 50km. There were 49km left and I didn’t have four hours in hand. Could this end in failure? Had I not started early enough? Maybe I should have stashed my saddle bag at the junction where the route crosses itself to save weight on a few climbs. Did the rules allow this?

Nothing for it but to push on to the finish and hope the wind wouldn’t be too strong now I had to go south and west. A couple of climbs on the next section were very slow; every climb now was slow, and the bottom gear was called into action on gradients where I would normally have plenty of spare gears, but at least the descents allowed recovery and 24km took only 90 minutes.

Last checkpoint hit. I always feel relief at this point on an Audax. Yes, there was some distance to go, but all the proofs of passage had been done and there was no way I could accidentally ride past the

Doone your way… dropping into Porlock village

IN PASSING… The coastal Somerset village of Porlock, apart from being the location of R D Blackmore’s Lorna Doone, is home to the greatest proportion of retired folk in the country

finish. I shouldn’t have any trouble locating Exeter cathedral for my finish photo.

The control points on the last afternoon were all at the top of hills and this was no different, so I knew I had a net downhill to Exeter, but zero left in the tank and just one climb left of 100m according to the Garmin. So after the exhilarating descent to Ottery St Mary I stopped at the first shop and picked up some sweets for the top tube bag and then straight back on to the bike. The last climb soon passed leaving a fast ride down the old A30 and a relaxing finish on cycle paths.

The last stage was the fastest of the entire ride, but I still wasn’t tempted to stop for dinner before getting the crucial photo, with 45 minutes to spare.

Sunday: 190km, 3,500m, Moving time 10.26 Elapsed time 12.05, lights 30 minutes in morning.

I felt pretty broken at the finish, my legs were complaining on every climb for the entire day, but at least today I had not been forced to walk. I recalled my thoughts about ticking off Super Randonees in different countries to get on the list of people who finished 10. Was I crazy?

This was the toughest ride I had finished. Why would I seek out more rides of a similar nature? Now some time has passed, I can remember thinking that, but the feeling behind the thought is not there. I remember the scenery, the descents and the sense of accomplishment at the end, and I remember the climbs too, but the memory is not that painful, so maybe I will still look at that one in Provence, or on the sea-to-sky highway north of Vancouver. They seem like beautiful places to ride. So maybe one more, next year or the year after, and then who knows.

I think the schedule worked quite well. The ride naturally had more climbing at the beginning than the end and breaking the days into 220, 200, and 190 helped with making the days get progressively easier as fatigue increased. I think this was essential for managing the time limit. Arriving late on the first two days is not a problem as long as you don’t end up sleeping outside, but the final day is crucial. Also the 45 minutes in hand at the finish suggested I had judged my start time correctly.

In future I would look to pack light, and then take out a third of that, really light, every kilogram not needed is regretted. Consider whether filling both bottles is necessary at each stop; time to next opportunity and amount of climbing in the section. Probably carry a mini pump rather than a frame pump.

IN PASSING… Dead Woman’s Ditch has been associated with the murder of Jane Walford by her husband John in 1789, but is in fact a far earlier and quite extensive prehistoric earth working