Most of my rides to complete my first RRtY were DIYs – events that you plan yourself, submit to an organiser and ride. I’ll go over how the details of how to do this later. Andrew – DIVUM on youtube – says that one of the benefits of Audax is that you get to cycle challenging routes that have been lovingly planned and tested by experienced cyclists who want to show off the best of their region. So, where better to go for my first DIY than the list of permanent events – rides that you can do at any time without waiting for their date on the Audax calendar. I found a route by Pat Hurt from Kew to Lambourn in Berkshire. I’d been on one of her calendar events from Winchester and respected her planning. I don’t live in Kew and I didn’t fancy the route over the M25 so I set about modifying it to start closer to home and to avoid the M25 crossing.
I don’t like failing – I really don’t want a DNF – “did not finish”. At this stage of my journey to RRtY I was not entirely confident that I could start and finish without incident – mechanicals, getting lost, finding the route too difficult. So I decided to do the section from Reading to Lambourn. I’d ridden to Twyford and beyond to the A4130 – just about 2 km of A road into Reading, so no worries for the first section. It was just the 100 km or so from Reading to Lambourn that I did not know.
I’d downloaded the gpx file from Pat’s entry on the Audax website and I used it to create a route from Reading station to Lambourn on plotaroute. You could do the same on komoot or ridewithgps. Pat’s route was “there and back”; I modified it to provide slightly different routes out and back purely for variety and to help me learn more of the countryside. I then saved my version, downloaded it to my computer and transferred it to my Garmin 1030.
I took the TfL train from West London to Reading and rode from there. Time limits for Audax rides are quite generous. On one of the youtube videos I’ve been watching, one rider on a 200km said his average was 27 km an hour, prompting a comment from someone who thought he’s definitely have to improve before tackling a 200 km. At that stage I aimed for a maximum of 15 minutes per 5 km, giving me a 20km per hour moving average. I still have time to stop and eat and to go into a shop or garage for extra food and drink – and get back well within the time allowed, which is well over 13 hours.
It’s important to know where you can stop – somewhere to sit, preferably with a little shelter and perhaps near a shop. For my ride to Lambourn, the tiny village of Boxford comes after a bit of a climb and has a church with a lynch gate and bench seats: handy for a quick stop. Lambourn itself has a couple of shops close to the church in the centre. There’s a bench and a bin for rubbish. On the way back to Reading there’s a small green with a seat and a SPAR shop opposite, at Upper Bucklebury.
Having completed the Reading to Lambourn and return section, I was ready and confident to ride the 200 km from West London to Lambourn and back. I completed this back in March 2021 on the first day that Audax allowed rides to be validated after the COVID lockdown.