Isle of Wight Randonnee 100km

I did this ride in 2017 and it's one of my favourites. 100km round the Isle of Wight starting from any of 6 controls, free to enter.  This year I am joined by Paul. It's an important ride, 30 years ago Paul gave up cycling after attempting to cycle round the IOW so I'm hoping this ride doesn't have the same effect.
We stay overnight at the UK sailing centre in Cowes. A beautiful sunny day for the ride, no arm warmers required. We start early to get ahead of the cyclists arriving on the Cowes ferry. As we arrive at the first control we join riders from the Fishbourne ferry. They have all registered on the ferry so do not need to stop at Wooton. In the confusion we initially ride past the control but realise our error and back track to the wooton sports hall to get our cards stamped.
We keep to a fairly easy pace going round remembering to top up water supplies and enjoy the homemade cakes at each control. The old military road on the south west coast is tough going but the views at the top are spectacular and we pull over for a photo stop. Later there is time for an ice cream and more cake before we do the final leg back to Cowes via New Town. We queue to board the new floating bridge and the staff cram on as many cyclists as they can.

Glucose control: good for first couple of hours then generally high (lots of cake was eaten!!) I over corrected at the end so by the time we were back in Southampton for the drive home I gone too low. 

Castleton Classic 200km Audax

Joined by Cannon Hill riders Alina, Piotr and John for this audax. Paul signs up for the 100km ride. glucose is slightly low at the start and there is chocolate cake on offer. The first 50km is relatively flat, then the climbing starts and lots of it. We stop at a village hall control for freshly made oatcakes followed by homemade cakes. A big insulin dose needed to get back into range. My pace is slow and I am struggling to keep up with the others. The final 50km is much easier and with a target to back within 12 hours we increase our speed. Back in Shenstone Paul is waiting for us with a great plan for a post ride pub meal.

Heart of England 300km Audax

2 300km rides on consecutive weekends seemed a little ambitious but I was willing to give it a go. I traveled down to Cirencester on the Friday evening. Changing trains at Gloucester a carefully coordinated platform handover of a libre sensor to a fellow diabetic who was due to run a marathon before jumping on my next train.
I was one of  the first to arrive at the church hall so helped set up before getting a takeaway pizza and settling down for the night. Up at 5am, hurried packing away, shorts weather, sun cream applied. It warmed up very quickly and I soon stopped to peel off layers. Hillier than the previous week but we still made good time. We reached the final control and sat outside the pub eating apple crumble and custard. It was so warm it was hardly worth putting the arm warmers back on. Only 50km to go, how hard could that be? Very hard as it turned out. As darkness fell, bright flashes of light appeared across the sky ahead of us, a pyrotechnics display? It was a thunderstorm and we were about to cycle straight through the middle of it. One minute it was a beautiful warm spring evening the next minute torrential rain, thunder and lightening. Cycling through the village of Quenington, I felt my feet splashing through water as we rode into a flood, I just kept pedaling and made it to the other side. We arrived back at the church hall very wet and cold and I was glad of an apple turnover before going to bed. I injected 3 units of novorapid but hypoed about 3am. The following day my train was cancelled so I cycled 30km to Cheltenham to catch a train back to Birmingham.

Glucose control was a bit up and down. Extra correction doses needed to bring glucose down overnight after eating pizza. Several gaps in the graph with sudden drops in glucose, however this sensor failed the following day so may have been inaccurate. glucose was dropping below 4 by the end of the ride and down to 2 in the early hours of Sunday morning.

 

Everybody Rides to Skeggy 300km Audax

For my second attempt at a 300km ride I chose a flatter route with better weather. I was very uncertain how long it would take so I'd booked a room at Alfreton travelodge for the Saturday night in case I didn't make it back before my last train. I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, waking up several times with falling glucose levels. Somehow I managed to persuade Paul to get up in the middle of the night to drive me to Alfreton for a 6am start.  A fellow cannon hill cyclist and audaxer, John was also doing the ride.
A fast ride on the outward leg, we arrived at the first control only 20 minutes into the time window. Cake and coffee, cards stamped, and we were off again. It was so flat it was fairly monotonous riding across the fens. We were making such good time I cancelled my hotel booking, I'd easily make it for the last train. Reaching the coast we stopped at a cafe to get our cards stamped and have lunch.
"so what time is your last train" John asked
"about 10:30" I said checking my phone. Scrolling down I realised that this train involved an overnight stop in Nottingham "Okay it's actually 9:45"
Leaving the cafe we continued up the coast to the next control, just time for a pastry from the local bakery before continuing. A minor hypo but John had a well timed mechanical so I reached for the glucose tablets with no additional stops required. A packet of biscuits from a Co-op in Lincoln and we had just 70km left to go. I was counting down the final kilometers. 20km from the end I could feel my pace slowing, John was getting further ahead of me and it was only traffic lights that were helping me keep up. I knew my glucose was dropping, I wasn't going to get to the end without stopping. I pulled over onto the pavement and ate a couple of glucose tablets and one of my emergency flapjacks. We finished just after 8:30, plenty of time to get my train home.

Despite the overnights hypo glucose control was okay for the first half of the ride but I injected too much insulin at lunch causing glucose levels to drop in the afternoon. 

  

Saracen Spring Century 100km audax

Paul is keen to do another audax so we sign up for this 100km local event. We're joined by 2 other cannon hill club members, Mike and Piotr. Weather forecast slightly warmer but I'm still in full length bib tights, not quite war enough for shorts yet. Glucose is slightly low at the start and despite knowing it will come back up I over compensate and eat an energy bar at the start without insulin. Glucose is high for the rest of the morning. First control is at Evesham and with a high glucose level I don't feel like eating anything but Paul and I share a monster sized portion of bread pudding. I over correct the high and my glucose level falls fast over the next hour. I have to stop several times to check it but encourage Mike and Piotr to go on ahead. I hate holding other people up by stopping. Paul and I ride into Wellesbourne garden centre together to find that Piotr has crashed near the entrance. I join the very long queue at the cafe whilst the others find a table. We wait 20 minutes for our tea and cake to arrive and Poitr inspects the damage to his knee. In the final section of the route back to Droitwich Paul tells me off for riding too fast, he can't keep up. My glucose then crashes and I have to stop anyway, I let Mike and Piotr go ahead again and Paul and I ride the last 10km together.

With the shorter ride I have been very dedicated and entered all insulin doses and carbohydrate intake onto my libre reader. High for the first few hours, then fairly good for the rest of the day with a couple of slightly low results that needed treatment to avoid going hypo.

   

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!