Moors and Wolds 400km Audax

This was my first 400km event. The start time was 11am which meant I could get the train up to Alfreton in the morning. My plan for this ride was to ride the first 200km fast enough to reach  Scarborough by around 9:30pm. I could then stop for food and get a receipt at a late opening shop or pub and avoid stopping at the 24hr McDonalds.

Whilst chatting to other riders at the beginning one of them, a lady from Sheffield said she was also a type 1 diabetic! Quite a bit more experienced than me, she'd completed many audaxes including several 400km rides I was keen to do the first half quite fast so that I could make it to the half way point by 9:30 when shops/pubs still open to get food. I rode first 220km mainly on my own, leap frogging other riders between controls. Glucose control was good, stuck to the 50% reduction for first couple of hours but I found I was having to top up with energy bars between controls to stop myself going low so for next few hours didn’t inject for carbs consumed and glucose was stable (For my next ride I need to reduce nvorapid more). I carried 2 bottles of water but drank fruit smooothies at a couple of the controls which worked really well, easy to drink and 30g of carbs. Reached 220km at 9pm, controlled at a garage with spar shop (loads of food and costa coffee plus a window sill outside that was just perfect for snoozing on!). I relaxed there for 1 hour, then back on the bike again. At 1am I was at 270km, just 10km from the next control. On the A164 just north of the Humber bridge I hit a piece of metal on the road which punctured my rear tyre. As soon as I saw the inch long split in the tyre I knew that it wasn’t going to get me 140km, I would be lucky if I managed to get to the next control.  It was pretty much destroyed. I decided to change the tube and try and get to the next control, a 24hr garage. Quick call to Paul, to get some moral support. I changed the tube and reinflated the tyre. It was holding air but I could see the tube bulging out of the split. A police van pulled over and offered assistance, provided some light amusement when I told them how far I was cycling! I told them I would be okay and had a phone to get help if I needed it, I was still unwilling to accept that I couldn’t continue so was stubbornly sticking to my audax rules. Shortly after, another group of audax riders from the Derby Mercury came past me and stopped to help. One of them very kindly offered their spare tyre so after deflating the tube changing the tyre and reinflating again I was back on the road. I rode with them for the next 70km or so, rather cautiously as I’d used my only spare tube and after reinflating it twice I had very little C02 gas left. Feeling more confident I rode the final 70km alone, finishing just before 10am so still within my planned 24hr time. My phone battery died at about 350km so Paul could no longer track me from that point (he texted the organiser to check that I had finished ok!). 

Glucose control generally okay on first day, dropping low an hour or so after novorapid injections so requiring extra carb intake. After 200km, puncture repair and getting home took priority over glucose control and I was mostly very high. I got home, ate loads then fell asleep before deciding how much insulin to inject. No ketones and very good overnight with 50% levemir reduction. I need to reduce my novorapid doses further and not lose focus after 200km. 

La'al lakeland 100km audax

 I was invited to participate in the C2C in a day ride organised by opencycling. I wanted to try cycling hardknot and wrynose passes before the event so I knew what to expect. I chose this permanent 100km audax staring in Windermere, the minimum speed requirement is a generous 12km/hr but it is very hilly with 2300m ascent. I cycled over to Staveley on the Friday evening to see a few friends at a cycling film night. Pizza, a couple of beers and a late night, my plans for a 9am start didn't look promising. After a leisurely breakfast at the youth hostel I collected my first receipt from the garage just before 10am. I'd plotted the route myself the previous day on ridewithgps. I wasn't sure I'd got it 100% correct so I was still checking the route sheet occasionally. Wrynose and hardknott were tough climbs. The road is fairly narrow in places so particular care is needed when zigzagging up, to avoid falling off the edge of the tarmac. I was riding east to west so hardknott was easier and wrynose slightly harder than the other direction. Riding down the steeper side of hardknott was terrifying and I wondered how I would manage riding up it in a months time.

I reached hardknott cafe and sat in the garden waiting for my pot of tea and scones. A small child tried to engage me in conversation but I was rather preoccupied consulting my route sheet. The location of the first control was a little unclear. Had I ridden far enough? I carried on to Booth and stopped at the cafe there to top up water and buy a postcard. I was now 10 minutes behind and had some catching up to do. It was easy to think that the hard part was over but the hills continued. As I climbed the final ascent into Broughton in Furness I only had 4 minutes to get a receipt. I dived into the Kings head pub and ordered a lemonade. My receipt was 1 hour behind! I rushed out, abandoned my drink on a table and jumped back on my bike. Round the corner I stopped at a deli. Dumping my top tube bag and gloves on the top of the glass counter, my sunglasses fell into the chiller cabinet below. I looked around for something to buy while the shop assistant fished my sunglasses out from behind the display of cheeses. A bag of peanut butter and honey comb clusters would do. Yet again my receipt was out of time, by 30 minutes. Sprinting into the newsagent a few doors down I grabbed the first item in front of me, a Vimto fizzy rip roll. A completely irrelevant confectionery item that I had no intention of consuming. The lady behind the counter waved it across her bar code reader
"oh dear, it doesn't seem to want to scan. I'm not sure how much these are"
"its 40 pence" I said impatiently, although at that point I would happily have paid a fiver just for a receipt. Finally I had that all important piece of paper in my hands. I checked the time stamp, just 1 minute to spare! I slowly pedaled back to the kings head to finish my glass of lemonade.

Back on the road again I tried to up my pace to gain some time. Passing Old hall farm ice cream farm in Bouth I hesitated but resisted the temptation to stop, I didn't have time. Finding myself on the A590 I pulled over to check my route sheet. My suspicions were confirmed, I'd plotted the route incorrectly. I took the first available exit road and followed the river up to Newby Bridge. A few kilometers from Kendal I struggled up Underbarrow road. On the downhill stretch into town I stopped at the first pub I came to, The Rifleman's Arms, 3 minutes within the time limit. Back on my bike again for the final stretch to Windermere. The flattest section of the route I did increase my average speed here and finished 20 minutes early, collapsing on the garage forecourt to eat a bag of crisps. Returning to the youth hostel I chatted to some Fred Whitton riders who were peparing their bikes for the following day. I didn't envy them one bit.

I sat by the station eating my fish and chips, waiting for a rail replacement coach service back to Oxenholme. It didn't matter that the trains were disrupted. I'd finished the audax and all my receipts were in time. Just. This was probably the most difficult audax of all. Only 120km but I was always cutting it fine and never had the opportunity for a proper rest.


Glucose control: high overnight, managed to avoid over correcting in the morning. A little high still after breakfast but soon back in range, very good control for the rest of the day, spiked again in the evening post fish and chips.

  

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.