After my failure to complete the Dean 300km audax earlier in the year I was determined to have another go. I decided to get a train to Oxford, ride the Dean route and then ride home to Birmingham bringing the total distance up to 400km. I quick check confirmed that this should be submitted as a DIY ride. I submitted my ride plan, including all the controls for the Dean plus additional controls at Warwick and the garage at the end of my road. It was a slow start, I lost me rear light early on. At Stow-on the Wold I wasted time searching for a bike shop that didn't exist in the hope of buying a new back light. I arrived in Newton and stopped at co-op to buy food. I chatted to the owner of a estate agents next door.
I was very cold my the time I got to Chepstow. I locked my bike in the foyer of tesco and wandered the isles looking for suitable food options. A pack of samosas and a danish pastry later I noticed a costa coffee at the petrol station.
Layering up with warm jacket, leg warmers, reflective and full finger gloves I rode into the night. I brief stop in Malmesbury at a cash point and I carried on. By midnight I was cycling between villages and passed several wedding receptions in marques decorated with fairy lights. At 3am my helmet light suddenly went out. I'd run the battery down, I was only 15km from the M4 service station. Minutes later I felt that familiar slowing, my rear tyre had punctured. I was on a single track road but found a patch of gravel to pull onto. Lifting the bike upside down I balanced my front light on my shoulder and started to take the tyre off.
A garage forecourt in the middle of the night is a welcome sight, A motorway service station is pure luxury. I wheeled my bike through the corridor past signs for toilets and showers, parking it in front of a costa and wHsmiths. I sat down on a chair for the first time in nearly 24 hrs and sipped a mug of coffee. Sofas, hot food, I could have stayed here for hours.
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