Google translates the name as Mr Pickwick's welsh puddle. Paul has been studying the audax UK calendar and has identified the Tewksbury audax rides organised by Mark Rigby as being fairly easy to get to from Birmingham. He signs up for the 100km audax and I join the 200km. It's an out and back route into Wales. Weather forecast is cold and wet. Predictably I overcompensate and wear far too many layers. At the start of the ride I meet John, a new member of my local cycling club who does a lot of audax rides.
I have a new glucose monitoring tool for this ride. After a bit of hacking to downgrade the software I have a sony smart watch 3 strapped to my arm over my libre sensor. This reads the libre sensor by NFC every 5 minutes and sends the results by bluetooth to my phone. Results are then plotted in an app called XDrip. The algorithm for calculating the glucose value from the raw sensor data is slightly different to the official abbott reader but the results are fairly close. It's also possible to calibrate xdrip using blood glucose readings. This turns my flash glucose monitor into a continuous glucose monitor. My phone is set up to alarm if my glucose drops below 4 or rises above 10. In order to dismiss the alarms I have to stop cycling, log into my phone and acknowledge them. This becomes a real chore as the alarm sounds almost continuously in the first 20km with high glucose readings.
The ride is very stop start anyway as I take off and put back on my waterproof jacket multiple times.
First cafe stop is a Weatherspoons at Monmouth after a short stretch on a cycle path. Another rider explains that the hardest section of the ride is on the return leg but an easier alternative is just to repeat part of the outward journey. As I get closer to Talybot on Usk I meet audaxers coming the other way including a couple of Beacon riders. It feels late and although I know I'm within the time limit I worry I'm going too slowly. I finally reach the cafe and it's encouraging to see a large number of bikes outside. Inside it is crowded and the queue is long, I'm tempted by the veggie cooked breakfast but with time constraints I opt for a piece of cafe and cup of tea. Heading back towards Monmouth I reach a slow set of traffic lights. A cyclist stands on the pavement with a paper OS map spread across his bike. I decide to stick to the official route and take a left turn over the bridge. The hills are tough going but nothing stupidly steep. Arriving in Monmouth I catch up with a couple of other riders. The out and back routes cross over here and at a junction the 2 riders in front of me turn off in different directions! We soon regroup and find the cycle path, by the time I get to Symonds Yat it's dark. Sitting in the warmth of the pub I chat to a couple of walkers and eat my last slice of cake. Returning to my bike I find that my rear light has run out of charge. I'm thankful that I have a spare in my top tube bag. On the ride back the sky is filled with fireworks, a perfect end to the ride. Paul has a pizza waiting for me in Tewksbury but I neglect to inject sufficient insulin for it.
