Matthew Larkins and Simon Neatham flew themselves and their bikes to Cape Trafalgar, the scene of Lord Nelson’s famous sea battle, on the south-western tip of Spain to tackle the 3,100km, 15-day ride back to London’s Trafalgar Square… in a summer heatwave. Fighting fatigue and thirst, the two Finsbury Park CC riders experienced many highs and some lows. Here’s Matthew’s report…
A biking battle of two Trafalgars
WORDS & PICTURES MATTHEW LARKINS
THIS IS A RIDE that will live in my memory forever… an epic two weeks in June 2019 which saw us ride across Spain, Andorra and France in strength-sapping heat. The Trafalgar-Trafalgar is an Audax permanent, created by former AUK chairman, Mick Latimer in 1985 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the organisation. After months of routeplanning, hotel-booking and equipmentchoosing, we were looking forward to this adventure with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Prologue – 88km, 423m elevation, 3h 10m riding
Simon and I met at Finsbury Park station with our bikes in cardboard boxes. We took the train to Gatwick for the flight to Jerez, Spain, where we rebuilt the bikes and rode the 88km to the start point at Cape Trafalgar. The ride was fairly easy, and a good way of checking the bikes. It also helped us acclimatise to the heat – and riding on the other side of the rode. Cape Trafalgar-Gibraltar-Ronda – 218km, 3,078m elevation, 9h 47m riding
We bought some food the night before at a nearby shop and ate in our room before rolling out of the hotel at 7.30am. It felt great to finally get going. The first half of the day’s route was on quiet roads, nothing too challenging except for the rising heat.
Arrivée152Summer2021
Matthew Larkins and Simon Neatham are both members of Finsbury Park CC. Simon, aged 53, has been riding Audax events for many years, including two LELs, Mille Pennines, Mille Cymru and the West Highland 1,000km. He also regularly competes in time trials.
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Twenty-three year old Matthew completed his first Audax in 2014, building up to LEL in 2017, and joined Simon on the West Highlands 1,000km in 2018, which is where they found we made a good pair on the longer distances. Matthew’s last two events were the National 24 hour… and a 10 miler in fancy dress!
Simon riding through the middle of some seemingly never-ending exposed fields
