So the new Hammerhead Karoo 3 came through in the post last Thursday. This meant I could go ahead with the 600k DiY I’d planned for Saturday. It went well.
I set out at about 5.00 am Saturday morning. 330k in the bag when I arrived at the mother in laws house in Gloucester at near enough bang on 10.30 pm. Set off again at just before 5.00am on Sunday and rode the remaining 270k back home to Chatham. Walked in the door around 7.30 pm. With a few wrong turns I needed to correct and unavoidable minor detours due to closed cycle ways and a level crossing I cycled just over 607k in total.
Felt pretty good on both days. Obviously over such a long distance you feel a bit tired and worn out at times. I managed my eating and drinking better than on the 400k the week before though. No headache or nausea. Stuck with the intermittent fasting on the first day. Stopped for a black coffee at a service station in Tottenham at around 75k. Rode for another 75k before stopping at Sandy for a meal deal at the Co-Operative shop there. There I filled up my water bottle with an Isotonic drink and made a point to stop again a few times during the afternoon and evening to refill the bottle and eat some snacks to keep me going till Gloucester.
Had a quick chat with spouse and her mother before having a shower, a couple of cups of tea then hitting the sack. Slept pretty well before waking again at 4.00 am with thoughts about getting back on the road. Decided it would be best to forgo the fast on this occasion and had a good feed before I left. Porridge, toast, coffee and bananas.
I loaded the route to the Karoo when my bike was still in the garage. After setting off it was slow to update progress on the map and kept missing turns. After 20 minutes of frustration I stopped, saved the ride and reloaded the route. That sorted out the problems. Lesson there to make sure I load routes in the open where the GPS can find a satellite. Have a feeling this had happened before but long enough ago I’d forgotten about the importance of doing so.
I felt a bit grumpy for a while. The route took me along a Beechings cycle way for about 5k between Stroud and Nailsworth. It was still dark and the path was rooty, covered in leaves and poorly surfaced. I’d have been much better off on the road. Still it was me who planned the route so can only blame myself for that. Soon after I had what I think was the biggest climb of the ride. A slow burner that worked it’s way up around 160m in 10k. There was a few more climbs after that but only one other that was of much note.
North Wessex Downs was lovely. Rolling hills and pastures. Soon back in more the familiar territory of Berkshire, Windsor, then into and across London. That felt a bit manic after all the country lanes and so many miles in my legs.
I’m not a fan of the cycle paths in London. If I was more familiar with them perhaps I would be. As it is though I find they stop and start at random, vary massively in quality, are often obstructed by parked vehicles, and you frequently end up waiting for ages at controlled crossings and junctions. I was often better off riding on the road.
Very happy to have got the 600 done so early in the audax year. That’s two done this month which is the plan till at least September 2026 so I get to complete years 3 and 4 of the RRtY award simultaneously.