Audax Randonneur Round the Year
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14-01-2022 11:39am#1
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If you really want an all components run down of my bike I'll DM you. Himself keeps a full list.
I've been riding the same bike for the majority of my audaxes since 2015. It's a Lynskey sportive frame with mechanical disc wheels and USB charging through a SON deluxe dynamo hub. A Cobb saddle. Shimano Ultegra parts and SPD pedals. Continental GP4000 tyres. Full mudguards are a must. I use a small frame so I can't use a lot of frame bags and I find that saddle bags can wobble and sway too much. I use a pannier rack and Ortlieb pannier bags instead. Never pack more than 10% of your bodyweight into your luggage (excluding water).
I wanted a bike that didn't necessarily look very enticing unless you know your components. I didn't want paintwork that could get scuffed. On board USB charging is necessary for multi-day rides and a dynamo hub means guaranteed light. I do carry a spare front and rear lights on the longer trips.
Two side entry bottle cages and an Apidura food pouch on the handlebars take care of extra food and water. The food pouch can be used to store a powerbank and cables and a lightweight lock. I can stuff gloves or a banana into it too. I usually have a bag of Lidl's finest jellies in there (in preference to gels), take one every 5km.
I don't usually bring a bag with me on 200km rides. On my own route I'll eat two bananas, some jellies and maybe a protein bar and that's it. For longer rides I'll refuel with milk and tea and regular food. I have a liking for sausage rolls of any kind. M&S Melton Mowbray pork pies are a particular favourite.
I don't do a lot of mileage in a year compared to many others on this Forum, probably around 10,000km across everything. I do like my own company and a cracking D'n'B/house playlist or podcast. I plan my routes, I'll look at max elevation and where the climbs come in a ride and their type. I rarely think of a 400km ride as a whole ride, mentally I'll break it down into sections, 24km to the next town = 1 hour's ride etc. Your legs will always get you home but if your head goes you're stuffed.
I'm not particularly concerned about my own safety as a lone woman. I rarely have close overtakes or any hassle. All it takes is one driver at any time to end my fun. I've certainly frightened the sh!te out of more than one drunk in the small hours of the morning as I zip past. I'm curious about the countryside I'm going through, from its history, geography, local politics etc. I watched the country recover from the last recession as businesses spring up in small towns around the island. We're a great place for saying "No" to everything. You get a much better feel for how things are going than if I stayed tucked away in South Dublin. I do know the value of every GAA lotto within 100km of Dublin.
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TL:DR Woman rides bike for 225km in January.
I completed the January ride for the RRTY by doing the Abandoned Churches 200 on 8th January. https://strava.app.link/TdSrvpnwYmb
The weather forecast was for a mild but wet and windy start with strong westerly winds followed by sunshine and dropping temperatures during the day. The organiser is known for choosing unconventional routes with surfaces that barely count as a track in places. This was a new route taking in a variety of abandoned churches around East Leinster and stretch of bog for good measure.
I was up at 5:30am and out the door before 6:30am. I like winter riding, I know what my kit choices will be from the get go, there's no faffing with sun cream or arm warmers. Winter wind proof tights from Castelli, Prendas socks and Aldi's neoprene overshoes over my Shimano SPD shoes Heart rate strap, vest top with boob support, merino long sleeved base layer and Castelli winter jersey on the top and a Gore shakedry jacket. A buff, winter cap and helmet complete the fabulous look.
Pockets stuffed with two bananas, jellies in my food pouch and couple of protein bars and two bidons of water were my supplies for the day.
Out into the wind and the spitting rain and a brisk ride across the city to the start point in Whitehall before 7am. The wind is mostly behind me but there are gusts between the buildings that make me drift sideways. Some familiar faces at the start, lads I haven't seen since the start of the pandemic. I stow the route sheet and brevet card in my back pocket having had a scan through it for the information controls and join a small group of four as we roll away from the bus stop.
The wind is in our faces and the rain really begins to come down as we zip through the quiet streets of Finglas. A bit of chat between us as we ride through the group picking up the odd straggler. I'm finding the pace harder than I'd like. Most of my cycling is solo but I have to weigh up the benefits of riding faster into the wind with some protection from the group or going solo. I decide to stick with the group for as long as possible knowing that I'll probably drop off on the first hill. Also my left hamstring was niggling after a recent visit to the physio on the previous Thursday.
The sky is leaden grey, rain washing the fields into a blur. No bright crisp winter dawn today. Out of Garristown to road rises as we head for the N2. I finally leave the group but I can see their tail lights for the next 10km or so. I'll be grand on my own. The rain clouds start to lift as we reach the Snailbox. The wind also drops a bit once the rain has passed.
A watery sun appears with wispy clouds as I ride through Dunshaughlin. I'm thoroughly soaked but warm and the strong wind is helping to dry my kit. Mucky back roads to Summerhill and the first control. I chat to more riders and meet one of the other women on the event but drop out of the group again over Dorey's Forge. I decide not to stop for longer than I need to sign my card and move on. The first information control is only 20km or so further on in one of the abandoned church graveyards. A pyramidal monument built in 1815 or so bearing the name of Swifte. I'm well behind the majority of the riders but there are still some behind me. We will pass and re-pass each other many times during the ride.
The stretch along the Royal Canal is fun and flat. Now the wind is behind me and my average speed picks up. Another quick control in Enfield and I'm over the halfway mark. For all that Kildare is a mostly flat county there are some tricky little drags around Newtown and I'm back into the wind again on interminable drags across the bog roads. I pass the site of a future solar energy farm, the frames look incongruous in the brown bog landscape, sheep grazing nearby.
The next information control is a plaque on the wall of a graveyard down a farm track. The sound of dogs barking alerts me to the arrival of another group of riders. We ride on to the sharp left onto the bog track proper. One of the lads takes off across the surface as if it's the last lap of a CX race and he has a chance of a medal. I'm wary, my 25mm tyres slip on the mossy, watery surface and I walk through the worst of it. Another audaxer flies past grinning from ear to ear as his tyres spin in the gravel. I find my courage and ride the last part, enjoying the slip and slide as I pass through the bog.
Back out onto the road, bits of bog dripping from my tyres and on to Kilcock. The sun is beginning to dip into the west. I have the roads to myself apart from the odd local walker. The sound of my bike disturbs the pigeons that are stuffing themselves on the ivy berries in the hedges. Rooks and jackdaws chatter and squabble as they head for their roosts.
I note the time as I pass through the last control in Kilbride, only 14km left through the labyrinth of new build estates and data centres in Ballycoolin and Cappagh. The sun has set completely and scooter riding teenagers salmon along the cycle paths in Finglas. Back to the start in Whitehall and I sign off on my brevet card and leave it in the designated spot. It's 18:00, now I have to find the legs to ride home to the southside. Drumcondra is busier than the morning, I'm buzzed by taxis in the bus lane and the smell of busy chippers is in my nose. My hamstring is grumbling at me but I'll get home in one piece to my family to make the dinner.
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February - a month where my walking nearly outstripped my cycling. The weather was very windy nearly every weekend with a good series of storms in the middle of the month. I went swimming for the first time in two years, more for fun and to use a different range of muscles. My leg strength from cycling certainly helps when swimming lengths but my arms and breathing need a lot of work.
I didn't fancy going out for long spins into the wind so I went hiking instead. On the 6th I hiked the first 20km of the Wicklow Way from Marlay Park to Knockree hostel and then the 9km back to Enniskerry and a lift home, 29km in five hours.
On the 12th I completed a bit more than half of the Dublin Mountains Way from the start in Tallaght, through Glenasmole and up to the Viewing Point, Cruagh then home down Kilmashogue. I had most of the track to myself and the snow and hail showers chased me home off the mountains, 33km in 6 hours.
I went to Charleville by train and bike over the weekend of the 19th/20th for the Cycling Ireland Commissaire training course. I cycled through Storm Eunice to get to the train and then through stinging hail showers to the hotel in Charleville. I did take a detour to one of my favourite village names, Effin. The training course was well delivered and interesting.
I finally got out for a 200km ride on Sunday 27th. It's my own Audax permanent route the West Wicklow/Follow me up to Carlow 200. I decided to ride the route in reverse and to try a couple of modifications to try and avoid some dogs on the route and just to see if there were better or quieter roads. I found some new hills and I'll keep a couple of changes and update the main route.
The weather forecast was for dry weather but with a block southerly headwind all the way to Carlow. I reckoned that I'd have more shelter on the way down through the hills and use the tailwind across the plains of Kildare.
Heading out of Dublin there was bright sunshine as far as Blessington. I was overtaken by CramCycle and some lads from my former club. I hung on their coat tails and had a chat at the back of the group with one of the lads. They were going on a faster but much shorter trip than I was, so I dropped off at Blessington and continued on to Ballymore Eustace and Dunlavin.
Just outside Dunlavin I got a puncture so I stopped to fix it beside a garden wall. I was mostly finished when an old fella wandered out to watch me. He exclaimed that he'd never seen a woman fixing a bike before. I told him it was a long walk home otherwise! He watched until I finished the job and then sauntered on to chew the fat with another neighbour. Some Reservoir Cogs lads went past and said hello and gave me a friendly reminder about their Sportive on September.
By now it was cloudy and a fine drizzle was obscuring the landscape. I was getting damp but the roads were dry because of the wind. My route twisted and turned across the hills and valleys. I avoided main roads as much as possible and found a few farm tracks with questionable surfaces and grass up the middle.
The rain stopped on the way into Carlow, past the Gothic pile of Duckett's Grove and on around the bypass to the road along the Barrow back to Athy. I paused to take a look at St. Fiacc's church and to eat some of the food I brought with me. I didn't stop for long it was still under 6C but the sun was out again and now I had a tail wind across to the Curragh. My shadow stretched out ahead of me as the sun started to set. I could see the hills I had cycled through in the morning on the other side of the plains.
The last 50km were uneventful, I was on familiar roads through Punchestown and over the hill to Ardclough. Swinging back onto the road from Corkagh Park to Tallaght the wind was in my face again as a blustery reminder that it hadn't gone away. It was a slow day out but enjoyable for all that.
https://strava.app.link/WS76AhVC2nb
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East Clare Meander 200 12/03/2022
https://strava.app.link/QxHj2FpqBob
"Here we are in the County Clare. It's a long, long way from here to there." Lisdoonvarna, Christy Moore
The cats plagued me for an early breakfast before I left the house at 5am to drive to Ballinruan and the start of the East Clare Meander 200. An easy incident free drive along the cold motorways of Ireland followed with the rising sun visible in my rear view mirror. I got to the start at 07:40 and chatted to the organiser and the usual suspects before dragging the bike out of the car and setting off into the chilly sunshine. I was the only woman out of some 20 or so starters.
Ballinruan is on a height overlooking west Clare and the route was starfish-shaped so I could see the ridge of hills for some time during the course of the day. Clare roads are never easy and most of the route was on gravelly lanes with grass down the centre. The first 20km to Feakle went past steadily enough with the route lolloping over ridges and small valleys. Steam was rising from the thawing ground and there was omnipresent bird song in my ears.
On to Quin and its ruined Abbey. There's history over every hedge in this part of Clare, standing stones and raths in the fields. Tower houses looming over sparse winter hedges. By now the sun was partially hidden by misty grey cloud and the temperature never got above 6C for the day. 50km done but the next 45km to Killaloe would be very challenging.
The route turned south-east towards the trails over the gloriously named 12 O'clock Hills (Knockanhuara). The road surface became a forest track with soft gravel and gradients over 20%. At this stage I walked, 25mm tyres and not enough leg strength were not conducive to speed or safety. I met some of the other riders fixing a puncture. Down the other side and back over the ridge of hills and another steep gravelly path, down again like a rollercoaster clinging to my brake hoods and praying I wouldn't meet a tractor. I zipped through Broadford in a blur. The final Gap road to Killaloe was more fun, a steady slog up the side of the hill then a quick descent to Killaloe. The scenery is fantastic in this part of Clare, everyone talks about the Burren and the coast but East Clare is beautiful too.
In Killaloe I got some food in the SuperValu and warmed up with a tea. I was close to the cut off time for the control and the remaining 110km had plenty of climbing to come. I put on my rain jacket because the forecasted rain and rising wind would make the rest of the ride unpleasant.
At least the wind was behind me as I turned north along the shores of Lough Derg. The route deviated from the main road and climbed steeply over the hills to Tuamgraney. I paused to let a farmer chivvy his sheep along the road to his yard. He asked me what I was doing because he'd seen other riders and I told him. He expressed amazement at the craziness of us all.
By the time I got to Scarriff, I was soaked with cold hands, the temperature had dropped and the wind was shoving stinging rain into my face. The water was trying to get into every cranny of my winter kit. According to the texts on the WhatsApp group, some riders had abandoned already.
Out of Scarriff and a loose stone caused a pinch puncture in my rear wheel. I had to stop and attempt to fix it with chilled hands and no shelter from the wind and rain. I put in another tube only to find that it had a problem with its valve. Third time lucky and my last tube had no issues. I'd lost half an hour to the repairs, slower than normal because of the cold. My picture of the next control was of a rain swept harbour on the shore of Lough Derg.
I wasn't getting any quicker as I headed for Woodford over the border in Galway. Miserable horses meandered across my path as I rode across the boggy landscape. Into Woodford frozen and soaked. Even though I was over time for the control I had to stop and get some more food and tea into me and to squeeze the water out of my sodden gloves. Dusk was falling and the worst of the rain has stopped leaving only a stiff, cold wind. I got a phonecall from another rider who had quit with 180km done because he was so cold and had gone home. He offered me a lift back to the start, I hesitated but refused. If he ever reads this , I'll always be grateful that you offered, it was incredibly generous.
Into the dark and up into the low hills again. Small herds of ghostly deer crossed the road in front of me as I cycled on under starlight. Owls floated into the trees from the verges. Riding through Flagmount a farm collie decides to chase me down the road and I had to sprint to 40Kph before I couldn't hear the sound of his claws on the tarmac. Up again to the Sliabh Aughty hills near Derrybrien and the descent on a good road to Gort.
The last control was the grotto at the Punchbowl but all I could see was its gates in the dark. I only had 50 minutes left and 20km but I'll be out of time. The route zig zags over motorway bridges before the last 9km on small gravelly roads back to the start in Ballinruan. I was the last person back but I receive just as warm a welcome as if I had been the first. I drip onto the floor on the community hall as I drink my tea and chat. It's my first time in nine years of audaxes that I've been out of time, but I finished still smiling.
Back to the car and I wrestle myself into dry clothes and drive home with more wind and rain to follow me. Halfway home I stop at a service station and sleep for 40 minutes before getting home at 2am.
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