The steam ride 200km audax London-Oxford-London

Realising that I could get to the start from Birmingham with an early train to Watford junction I entered this ride. We gathered at a pub near the lido. I had a banana and injected 1 unit of novorapid. An older female rider chatted to me while we waited for the ride to begin. She was much faster than me and after overtaking me at 5km I didn't see her again until the switch back at the first control. The first section involved a lot of riding on main roads but improved further on. The first control was a village hall with a vast array of cakes on offer including a particularly tasty date flapjack, I should have had 2 of them. In Oxford I was unsure exactly where we needed to control, there was mention of a sainsbury's on the route sheet but there were lots of sainsburys in Oxford. Soon enough I found the correct one and a number of bikes leaning against the wall. A grabbed a couple of pastries and was soon on my way. The ride along cycle tracks around Didcot power station was interesting but for some reason I thought Didcot would be a pretty Oxfordshire market town with plenty of cafes. It isn't. I stopped at Didcot parkway station to get a receipt while other cyclists washed the mud off their bikes. The final control was a garage and then just one more info control before the end. I was pleased to catch up with another rider at this point and we rode the final 10km together. A joined 2 other audax riders in the pub for food before getting my train back to Birmingham. Overall not my favourite audax ride, quite a lot of main roads and not enough good cafes for me.

I started a new glucose sensor on the morning of the ride which was a bit risky but it worked fine. Glucose fairly high for the first half of the ride with 1 minor hypo in the afternoon. Didn't inject enough insulin for the pizza at the end. 

The Dean 300km Audax (DNF)

This was my first attempt at a 300km audax. The distance seemed unachievable but I was determined to have a go. Weather forecast was very poor, with snow and high winds forecast. It was tempting to be a DNS but I had accommodation booked in Oxford so I decided to just see how far I could get. My club mate John was also signed up for this ride and was equally unsure of starting. He decided to ride his tricycle given the uncertain weather conditions. I caught the train down to Oxford on he Friday evening, meeting another audax rider, Lee who was on the same train. I was booked to stay at YHA Oxford and after checking in ordered a pizza and sat in the reception/lounge area.

A young girl asked me for help finding a homeless shelter and after some discussion I learnt that she had run away from home that morning. She was clearly very upset and vulnerable and I was frustrated with myself for being unable to persuade her to confide in me. I felt like I was talking to my teenage self, how would someone have gained my confidence? I drew a complete blank. She refused offers of food but eventually agreed that I could pay for her to stay at the YHA. This plan fell through when the YHA staff refused to allow her to stay without parental consent as she was only 17. Bizarrely, being over 16 she was free to do as she pleased and they could offer her no other help except to direct her to the local homeless shelters. She thanked me and walked out into the night.

I hardly slept at all, I was filled with guilt and frustration. A 4am alarm and I crept out of my dormitory to make breakfast. Retrieving my bike from the store I noticed an audax uk sticker on another bike and hurried back to reception to pass on the key.

I arrived at the Pear Tree Park and ride 15 minutes before the start, a few cyclists huddled in a bus shelter. John arrived with his tricycle.
"Are you aiming for a fast time" the organiser asked me as he handed me a brevet card,
"I'm just hoping to get back alive" I replied
I followed the trail of red lights out of the car park. I had planned to get to the first control at then review the conditions. We cycled through a flurry of snow but I was feeling more confident now. Arriving at a garage at Stow on the Wold I bought a bar of chocolate and persuaded John to continue to Winchcombe. We could divert back to Oxford from there if needed. John was significantly slower than me on the tricycle and and briefly, a kilometer or so ahead I thought about carrying on alone. Shortly after that my rear brake appeared to freeze on and I stopped to adjust it. We reached Sudbury Hill and diverted off route following my directions to Lechlade. A strong cross wind made progress slow but soon we were sitting in the cafe recuperating with tea and cake. My phone battery had run down meaning Paul had lost my strava beacon. We rode back to Oxford and I collected my belongings from the YHA and got the train back to Birmingham. At the end of my road my rear brake froze again, locking my wheel and I had to carry my bike to my house.

The stories from other riders who had made it further than we did were heroic. In the weeks after I continuously questioned my decision to abandon. I had dropped out in anticipation of being unable to finish rather than reaching a point where I could no longer continue. I promised myself I would ride the Dean as a DIY when the weather improved.

Glucose results: High overnight, generally okay in the morning then high for the remainder of the day. Once I reached the cafe at Lechlade I just ate loads of cake!

          

2nd DIY audax to the Cotswolds 200km

Poor weather caused the postponement of the blacksheep 'March madness audax'. To continue my RRTY I decided to do a repeat run of my cotswold DIY audax. I changed the route out to Pershore to avoid Redditch. I moved the final control from Stratford to Chipping Camden. This worked much better. There was a lot of surface water on the roads and as I cycled back to Birmingham in the dark it became difficult to judge the depth of the water on the narrow lanes. Paul phoned to warn of deep flood water on Icknield street, I'm glad I didn't cycle into that in the dark.

I almost didn't start this ride. I'd started a new glucose sensor the previous night and when I woke up in the morning it didn't seem to be working. There was missing data and the glucose results were erratic. After an hour the results seemed to settle down a bit and I got a continuous line on the libre reader. I left later than planned and the glucose sensor worked fine after this. Glucose control was generally okay although I did drop low in the last hour. I bought a cake in Chipping Camden (about 5:30pm) but didn't feel like eating all of it, my glucose was a little high (12) at this point, I injected 3 units for cake plus correction. I should have injected 2.5 units.