Neil Shand Trains for the Ultimate Audax

from Boots & Spurs June 2020

Audax Riding- Is it just about the miles?

It was such a battle but soon we saw the memorial to Tom Simpson and the most amazing scene you will ever see on a bike, the summit of Ventoux in front of you and the 8-10% section from the penultimate corner. After months of training the end was in sight, but the Geant doesn’t give up so easy, the last switchback before the finishing line is a cruel twisting 13% horror with a nasty camber and a ferocious wind on the day that threatened to blow Alex back down the mountain! All I could do was shout encouragement and follow her across the line to claim our finisher’s medals and to enjoy the celebrations of everyone on the top, including the lady who had won the GC battle.

The descent back to Bedoin was going to be chilly and sketchy so after a quick photo at the signpost we set off. The wind hit us immediately. It was so bad we had to walk some of it and thankfully got a lift down with Howard from Haute Route.

It turned out that we were the only finishers so we had our presentation with the mayor and a very nice 100 euro voucher for cycling stuff (I gave it to Alex of course). It was a real achievement for her as she had never done anything like this before and had faced some real challenges. You’ll have to ask Alex if she would ever want to do another, but she loved the whole experience and it has made her realise how small UK hills are. She felt it would have been extremely difficult to complete it on her own and more than anything we both appreciated sharing this fantastic experience in some stunning scenery.

For me I’m (fingers crossed) looking forward to taking on the Pyrenees in August this year and some tough training ahead of it! We used Sports Tours for our transfers and accommodation, Roy and Howard were brilliant and the feed stations were always a welcome sight, even if it was at the top of a 17% ramp on the first Stage!!

NEIL SHAND TAKES

US THROUGH THE TRAINING NECESSARY

TO COMPLETE PARIS

BREST PARIS – THE

ULTIMATE AUDAX.

Let’s start at the beginning; it began in 2019 with Mille Cymru, a 1000km audax around Wales. This gave me my registration slot, this then just left the full Super Randonneur (SR) series of audax rides to complete before July. A SR series is a 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km audax. Due to the high demand for these rides in a PBP year, so I booked early on a local series.

January was the Newport for the first 200km of the year and the first part of the SR ticked off (plus I rode out to the start and back for an extra 70km!). February I ran the Mere audax rides so I completed the test ride the week before, then did a short ride on the day (foggy and cold) between the organiser bits that needed doing, with it being a PBP qualifier all the paperwork had to be in order and the cards sent off for validation. March was going to be a local 200km audax from Winsford (Scouting Mam Tor) but as we started to head up into the peak district it started to snow, and continued to worsen, so we thought better of it and headed back. A few NCC members did the ride as a DIY a couple of weeks later in better weather!

April, things started ramping up with a 300km, “Plains” started at 11pm, this was to prepare you for the night riding of PBP. We had good weather but COLD, down to -2degC until well after dawn but dry and no wind (and warm enough clothing choices, just) but a broken rear wheel spoke in the first 100km meant a slightly wobbly wheel for most of the ride. One control, which we visited twice, was at an open air café, which sounded grim in these temperatures, but just stopping and there being no wind felt relatively warm, until you got going again! We got to the turning point just before dawn, a 24hr McDonalds, at Newtown, you could tell dawn was about to break as the birds started singing before any sign of light. At least the return trip visited one of my favourite cafes; The Old Priest house in Audlem, so another breakfast, but a proper one this time! My dynamo worked well and the night riding was OK, with my low point, mentally, being just after the turn at McDonalds. In April I also did a hilly 200km DIY to “Worlds End”, a route that’s worth another go at some time, also taking in the Prospect tea rooms above Llangollen as a control!

May, time for the 400km. “Llanfair……. gogogoch” a ride from Poynton (near Manchester) out to Holyhead and back! A 9am start meant another ride through the night on the way back! The outward trip used the Chester Greenway, for a traffic free trip through, you guessed, Chester! I chose the hilly diversion on the way out to get away from the N Wales coast road/ cycle path for a change of scenery. A head wind out made it hard work, this eased of course for the reverse evening return! Another rear wheel broken spoke on the way out meant another wobbly ride! It is also interesting visiting 24hr McDonalds (Abergele just before midnight and Chester services at just after 3am) on a Saturday night/Sunday morning, mind you returning revellers are probably also fascinated to also find loads of cyclists there too! A 7am finish was not too bad, especially as we waited a few times at the end for a couple of weary riding colleagues to ensure they got back safely. (A 10min nap at Chester services helped reduce tiredness.)

June, the last and biggest qualifier, 600km, “A pair of Kirtons” which goes through two places called, you guessed, Kirton! A 6am start from a soggy Poynton with the hills over to Holmfirth to warm us up, but it stayed wet almost all day only stopping at about 8pm around Boston. The outward trip took us East towards Hull, where it is nice and flat (after the early hills), before turning South over the impressive Humber bridge. There was then a head wind as we headed south as well as the ever present rain. After rounding Lincoln, it was again flat for a while, with a nice traffic free path alongside the River Witham. The rain stopped just before Boston, so a quick break to remove

jacket and overshoes to try and dry out. McDonalds in Boston, now only 50km more for the day (350km in total), flat first then rising up. About four hours sleep on an air bed in village hall (ear plugs and eye mask required) set us up for the return journey, after breakfast of course! A dry, bright morning and a lumpy ride continued West as far as Wem, where we would now pick up more familiar roads as we headed north with the help of a bit of a tailwind. The last food stop was at Prees Heath with about 70km to go, so a good feed and it was time to cruise back! Immediately we left the Café, the rain started and continued heavily for the next two hours, so tired legs got cold and niggling pain in the knees started, which slowed things down considerably, but the ride was finished with plenty of time to spare at 7pm. The qualification was now complete. I could now actually enter PBP! Mere Audax I just now needed to maintain my fitness until the event in August! So at the end of June I did a DIY 300km solo based on the old “Full Monty” event to a nice café in Montgomery in mid Wales and back, a great route that is mostly flat (I might even think about making it an audax event sometime!), my only mistake was doing it on a Sunday, so the choice of food stops on the way back was limited, I eventually resorted to a kebab shop, definitely not my first choice but I needed calories! July, I decided to do the “Full Monty” again but this time on a Saturday so a better choice of shops, but the weather was not so good with persistent drizzle for the first 12 hours! So that had tested my mental resolve a bit as well (starting the ride in the rain in the first place and keeping going at a reasonable pace on my own) and I was now as prepared as I could be for PBP!

Neil Shand

Summer 2020

ON THE BOARDS – A DAY AT THE RACES. FULL RESULTS AND MORE PICTURES CAN BE FOUND ON THE WEB SITE.

Have you been to a Velodrome? I guess even amongst cyclists the answer is mainly no. Track cycling is, for the most part a niche event when it comes to live viewing but something fans of the sport in general will pick up on during the Olympics and Commonwealth games. people get started? The answer is taster events, track leagues and club races at local velodromes and there are a few around the country - (can you name them all?). These provide opportunities for budding youngsters to rise up and get noticed and competition for those adults who enjoy a day out on the oval.

Great Britain has for many years been the dominant force in track cycling. I was fortunate enough to go to the Manchester World cup meeting immediately after the Bejing Olympics and lost track of the times we stood for the National Anthem. Cavendish, Wiggins , Hoy, Pendleton et al were household names and a string of greats have followed on from the “medal factory” as the Manchester Velodrome became known But what happens below the elite level in track racing, how do

Our own track championship was held this year at The Derby Arena at the start of February, a wonderful multipurpose building next to the Derby City football ground at Pride Park. The track, constructed at first floor level, with banked seating on one side, circulates at first floor level around a large ground floor sports arena, which, when the Clarion track championships visited, was also hosting some sort of tag team “suffer fest” involving extreme circuit training against the clock!

The racing, for both juniors and seniors featured a range of disciplines with competitive riding throughout the day and particular mention must go to the determined youngsters of North Cheshire Clarion who raced each other keenly and safely and with a huge degree of mutual respect, throughout the day. These guys are the future of the sport and were a pleasure to watch.

The seniors were impressive too; racing hard in a field of 13 competitors, special mention must go to Lindsey Clarke our own National Champion, who took on the men on equal terms and to Alex Ball who seemed to win everything. No written account of the racing would do the event justice, you have to witness a Points race in full flow to appreciate it in all its complexities. So next year get along to the Championships either as a competitor or as a spectator – admission is free and come and see what track racing is all about. In the meantime enjoy the picture spread from my fellow Broadland Clarion members Alan and Steve who had a great day out snapping the competition.