Audax part 2 “How I learned to stop worrying and love the route sheet”

The Audax Began At Clayton Windmill!

Following an intense Summer of TT action and balls-out club riding I thought it would be nice to reconnect with my roots and join in with a couple of late season classic audax events.  However it soon became apparent that all the lung-busting, knee-popping, testosterone-fuelled action of the previous months had ruined me for the more subtle approach required.  This was demonstrated on the Autumn Tints recently when I had to resort to stopping in a pub and drinking beer just to give my audax-self time to catch up with my TT-self so I could get back to the arrivee in decent shape.

Nothing daunted I gave it another crack last Saturday on the Mid Sussex Hillier in the company of John Vidler.

 I am happy to report I was finally able to break the bad habit of on the rivet riding by the following expedients:

1   Reining in top speed to more manageable levels by staying in the little ring (also partly due to front changer maintenance backlog issues)

Tom Tucks Into The Free Hot Dogs!

2   Accidentally giving JV the slip due to a comfort break miscommunication and finding that I was temporarily without any GPS guidance whatsoever (the horror!).  The realisation that I had no option but to stop and read the instructions written on the route sheet was followed by an appreciation of just what that meant.  I could stop worrying about how fast I was going and concentrate on the adventure in hand; navigating the twists and turns of the route while looking out for random facts.  I defy even the most hard-headed, Strava-obsessed, KOM chaser not to have their bad habits broken by having to stop in the Bluebell Line car park and write down the time of the last train to Sheffield Park.  Needless to say the rest of the ride passed pleasantly in contemplation of the gorgeous scenery, and eating hot dogs, and eating ice-creams and trying to catch falling leaves before they hit the ground (a game I have invented and named ‘lucky leaf’, let me know how you get on with this, neither I nor John were quick enough to score this time).

Well Deserved Ice Cream At The Finish!

 And I still managed a cracking sprint finish as is customary (and beat JV for once!).

 Oh, it was 5:08 by the way.

Tom N