PBP 2015

by Stuart 7. September 2015 16:17

- a long ride deserves a long rant…

Mortagne-au-Perche, nearly 1,100 km done, 10:30 pm Wednesday August 19’th.  It was a long climb up to the Control, I could hear applause up ahead but my light was dim, the dynamo struggling to provide power.  There was a spontaneous groan, a steep ramp and then through the crowds of cheering spectators. 

Someone helped me off my bike.  “Controle?” I shouted, “Par-la” – I stumbled into the bright hall, brevet card in hand ready for the stamp.

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Audax | Cycling

Ardattin 200

by Stuart 3. May 2014 09:57
This was my first time on this ride. It was a busy event - probably the most riders I've seen on an Audax Ireland ride but the support provided by the organisers was excellent. A perfect ride for the many attempting their first 200km and pretty perfect for me too.

Three breakfasts and a medal

I headed down on the early bus and arrived central Dublin 05:40.  I probably could have caught the later bus but that would have meant tearing out to Bray.  Some pretty heavy rain on the way out but I was expecting this.

I arrived Bray around 7 – just as a café was opening.  It seemed rude not to stop for coffee and a Danish.

Tony passed as I was leaving and I road to the clubhouse with him where yet more food and coffee was awaiting.  As an added bonus, Paul had found the SR medal he had definitely posted to me.

Bray clubhouse brought back some memories of the Red Lane but I’m trying not to let post traumatic stress disorder ruin my day.

Let the rain begin

I left in the lead group bang on eight and chatted a bit with Olivier and Helen about our Fleche plans.  The pace was fast with some club riders on the front.  Just short of Arkclow I punctured and kissed goodbye to my fast tow for the day.

As I changed the tube it began to rain so I kept my plastic gloves on and donned my rain jacket. 

I continued on to the first control, joined by (Mick?) who had also had puncture issues.  With no guards he looked to be having a miserable time in the heavy rain – but he seemed happy enough. 

Control was manned, well manned, with cakes.

As I was leaving, Dave, Eddie and Aiden pulled in so I waited for them giving me a chance to talk to Dave about our Fleche route and Eddie about our French BRM.

Lunch brightens the day.

 

Towards Ardattin Eddie took us up the bonus hill, and it was worth it.

The weather brightened and we took in soup and sandwiches at the Ardattin Inn. 

A gentle afternoon

The afternoon stayed dry and we made gentle progress, stopping for ice creams at a garage.  Last control soon arrived as did the clubhouse where yet more food was on offer.

Long way back to Dublin

 

On the way out I'd planned a route but on the way back I just banged my destination into the Garmin and followed it. Mistake. Added in an extra 10km and found 300m of climbing and managed to miss the 9:30 bus.

 

Lessons

Don’t trust Garmin routing.

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Audax | Audax Ireland

LEL 2013–Nearly full ride report.

by Stuart 6. August 2013 02:18

IMAG0120(2)

Happy?

A life changing event.  As someone said –

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way ….”

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Audax | Cycling

London Edinburgh London (LEL)

by Stuart 16. July 2013 16:08

What is LEL

LEL is a 1400km Audax (long distance cycling) organised by Audax UK.  It is not a race, but there is a maximum (and minimum) time limit.  It runs every 4 years.  This year there are approximately 1000 entrants.  I am H19 starting at 07:30 on Sunday 28’th July.  This gives me until Friday 04:10 am to complete the 1419km route.

How to follow me

Viewranger

I shall be using viewranger to help me follow the route and also to give live updates of my location.  So, if all is working, go to http://viewranger.com/buddybeacon/, click on add buddy beacon and put stuartm@stiona.com as the username and 9999 as the PIN.

LEL rider tracking

As I check in at each control – the organizers should update this page - http://www.londonedinburghlondon.com/lastseen/?rider_no=H19 – you can see the route and controls here - http://www.londonedinburghlondon.com/route

Runkeeper

I will try and run this too – but depends on me remembering and battery.  You can find my tracks at http://runkeeper.com/user/stuartm9999/.

Twitter/Facebook

Maybe some updates – but I wouldn’t expect too much.  @stuartm9999.

What training have I done.

Since the end of last year I have been riding regular Audaxes with Audax Ireland.  Since January I have completed (amongst other rides) what is known as a Super Randoneer sereis- a 200, 300, 400 and 600 km brevet (ride) within the time limits laid down by the rules of Audax.  I owe a lot of gratitude to fellow Audax Ireland members for not only organising these events but helping me round them!

Audax is a great way to see the country, eat and cycle at the same time.  I do it for the food, the challenge, the craic and the views.  All you need is a bike. 

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Audax | Audax Ireland | Cycling | Sport

Red Line / Red Lane

by Stuart 25. June 2013 13:33

Animals that tried to kill me:

Sheep

Dogs

Horses

Pole Cat (which apparently don't live in Ireland so I'm changing my opinion to Stoat) - it might have looked small from a distance but I think it had sharp teeth.

Geese

Guinea fowl or small turkeys

A clowder of cats

The man who wrote the route sheet

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Audax | Audax Ireland | Cycling

REK

by Stuart 5. June 2013 13:45

That was a whole lot of Ireland I've never seen before and it certainly didn't disappoint.

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Audax | Audax Ireland | Cycling

What's this all about?

Not the top gear website but one nothing like it. 

Been through a few "what this is" and now settled on my (Stuart McLean's) general blog - mainly about cycling but occasionally anything else chucked in.

I also occasionally write some technical stuff which you can find here.

You can follow me on twitter @stuartm9999.

I record most of my bike rides on runkeeper so you can see them here if you're really bored!

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