Apropos of nothing
After the Tramway 100 I was away in Germany for the Wave Gothick Treffen so there was more beer than bidons going on. Though I was exceptionally jealous of all the cycling the locals seemed to do. Plenty of people of all ages, sizes and ability pootling around Leipzig getting on with everyday things. Most main roads seemed to have good quality large cycle paths, and if a cyclist wanted to use the road they seemed to be given plenty of room as well.
Since I’ve been back I’ve been trying hard to keep up with the commuting/training rides to and from work each day. Unfortunately as I only live 1.5 miles from the centre of Nottingham this involves a bit of cunning and heading out of the city and then back in to make it worthwhile. I’ve got routes of 15,10 and 8 miles now (with enough hills as well) that I can use on the way in depending on how quickly I get out of bed. Luckily work has showers so my colleagues don’t have to suffer too much. The plan is to try to keep a base of about 80 miles a week going.
Sort of thinking about trying for an RRTY as something to force me out on a longer ride at least once a month. Already had the first 3 months done:
- March - Roses to Wrags
- April - Everyone rides to Skegness
- May - Lincolnshire Cross
But nothing planned in for June. So decided to work out a ‘simple’ 200km DIY to do. After my last fun and games with a DIY I thought I’d come up with something flattish (1400m climbing in 220km is certainly ‘Audax Flat’) that used roads I knew and with a couple of decent places to stop for a sit down and food. So the following was dreamed up:
Basic control points were Nottingham, Alfreton, Saundby, Market Rasen, Averham, Nottingham whic gave ~202km shortest distance between them (and the DIY organiser agreed), and then with some prettifying of the route this became ~220km. Most of the hilly bits were on the way to Alfreton. First real stop was at Saundby for a Rosie’s fried egg cob and a mug of tea. Next stop was sheltering from the rain on a garage forecourt in Lincoln enjoying a sandwich, ah the glamour. The Garmin reckons everything was good so I’ve sent the gpx off to the DIY coordinator and just waiting for a confirmation email back now.
Depending on how things turn out July’s long ride looks like either being the Cheshire Cat or a DIY ride on the LEL course up to Edinburgh.
