Autumn Rivers Audax

I joined audax uk. With the household discount I also sign up Paul as a member. My goal is to complete an RRTY award, riding an audax of a least 200km in 12 consecutive calendar months. I start with the Autumn rivers audax organised by Beacon. 3 other members of my cycling club have also signed up (Phil, Mike and Piotre). We make it to the first control in Bromyard. In my eagerness to get a receipt we opt for the first cafe we see which turns out not to be the recommended and highly regarded flowerdews cafe. The boys have ordered bacon sandwiches which take a while to arrive. By the time we are back on the road most of the other audax riders are well ahead. We stop for an info control, the brevet card asks us for the distance to the next village. The boys discuss methods, 'if we all calculate the distance using our garmins then we'll take the average and hope that's acceptable' 'it doesn't specify the degree of accuracy required' '...or we could just read the distance off the signpost, it says 3 miles!' I say helpfully They all look shocked 'it's that easy?, I thought the info controls would be much harder' We reached the second control at Ross on Wye and stop at a great cafe. The others all order main courses and I've finished my coffee and cake before their food even arrives. The virtual broom wagon has overtaken us as we are 10 minutes outside the time limit by the time we are back on he bikes. Mechanical issues with a damaged pedal delay us further and there are no other cyclists to be seen when we arrived at Winchcombe. I selected a blueberry flapjack from the cafe. When I ask for a receipt the assistant gives me a withering look and scribbles a time and signature on a business card. Once again we are behind the clock and have some catching up to do. With the light fading and unlit winding lanes ahead we put our lights on. Progress is slow, we pause at the bottom of a hill and the boys eat their remaining gels. As we ride the final 5km we pass a couple of cyclists mending a puncture. We are not quite lantern rouge but it was close! Back at audax HQ Phil Whitehouse serves up plates of chilli con carne as we sort out our receipts. I am relieved to have got back within the time limit. Although our cycling speed was by no means fast it was the long stops that slowed us down.