Audax Part I

October 2014

It was all my brother-in-law's fault. In fact, I'd say this whole cycling debacle could be blamed on him really. Anyway, he casually suggested that with all the cycling I was doing, I should join him on the Golden Road & Standing Stones Audax the following summer. Sounds nice doesn't it? The Golden Road. Conjures up images of sunsets and seascapes and gentle, undulating roads, and, er, standing stones. Strangely he didn't mention the wind, hail, large hills, and very little in the way of gentle. I said I'd think about it...

A month or so later, I told him I was in. By this stage I'd found out that more about audax. It isn't a race but if you're too fast or if you're too slow you are disqualified. So, its more about setting an even pace and trying to stick to it for the duration. Audaxs come in a variety of lengths - this particular one concerned the small matter of 300 km. In one day. Actually in 20 hours if we're being picky. Oh.

The Golden Road & Standing Stones Audax was organised in 2014 and 2015 by Ian Gilbert. The setting was Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, off the Scottish west coast. My brother-in-law, David, who lives on Lewis, did the 200 km version in summer 2014 and proclaimed it a "skoosh", at least while he was trying to persuade me to join him for the 300 km. It was only after I'd signed up that he eventually divulged that the weather had varied wildly on the day from pleasant right through to atrocious, and that he'd even had to get off the bike and walk a bit during the worst of it. Great! Still though - late June on Lewis - bound to be scorching!

But what bike to use? I looked into logistics of getting there, and it was going to prove a long shot and likely very pricey to bring my bike from Cork to Lewis by plane. On the other hand, it would take too long to drive and ferry all the way there. David suggest I use his spare bike, as we take the same size frame. He'd got a new bike the previous summer specially for the 200 km audax, as he wasn't sure his old bike would be comfy enough for a 200 km spin. "Grand idea", I thought, before I twigged - I'd be riding the old bike he wasn't sure was suitable for a 200 km spin on a 300 km spin! Help!

But the deal was sealed - flights were booked, and training began in earnest. Well, I started doing the monthly Strava Gran Fondooos and trying to get the mileage up. Slowly the length of my day fondoos increased - 161 km spin to Mizen Head in November, 166 km round Sheep's Head in January (chilly!), 180 km to Robert's Cove in February and then in March I managed 206 km round Sheep's Head, Bantry and Kealkill. I'd return from each of those long rides totally wrecked, and tried to imagine what it would feel like to still have another 95 km to do - on a borrowed bike....

A visit to the family in Lewis in April gave me a chance to try out David's BT Win 500 - luckily for me it was a perfect fit and very comfy. It was virtually identical to my trusty Scott Speedster 50, so I breathed a sigh of relief on that front. We breezed round a rolling 100 km loop in hot sunshine, gentle breezes and stunning scenery - if only we could be sure it would be like this in June!

May was spent "tapering", as they say in the training manuals. Hopefully I'd done enough over the previous few months to make it through the long day! Only one way to find out!

I arrived back on Lewis the day before the Audax, and popped out on David's bike for a short test ride. We drove into Stornoway and stocked up on energy bars for the following day, and a few ales to aid the subsequent recovery process. And then it was back to the house for a large bowl of pasta and an early night. We'd need to be up just after five to get into Stornoway for the start at 6 am!

The alarm wasn't long coming round - I felt like I'd only just got to sleep as I'd found it hard to switch off the pre-ride nerves! Still though, it was good to shovel in some cereal, load the bikes onto the car rack and head in - we were only 20 minutes early! A few other folk were pimping up their bikes before the off. There weren't too many registered for the 300 event, but more had entered the 100 km spin. A few hardy souls had been forced to brave the overnight cargo boat as the passenger ferry was on strike the previous day which had messed up their travel plans. That seems to be part of the audax spirit though - you just get on with it, as best you can.

David & me on the left, wondering if we'd had enough breakfast before the off (IGilbert)

And so we did! It was six am as 14 of us rolled out of the car park and off down the road. A lead group quickly formed and sped off, taking David with them. I managed to stick with them for a km or so, but could feel the pace was too high for me, so I dropped back. I couldn't afford to go too fast early on or I'd never make it home! We headed south first, into a fairly stiff southerly wind. This first part was fairly flat and rolling, and at least it was dry. The first couple of hours past fairly quickly, with no real issues. A couple of folk passed me and again I had to let them go. Slow and steady was the key to the day!

David sets off, while I faff about in the background (IGilbert)

The first big test of the day was the Clisham - the steep road up and over the North Harris hills. At 2.6 km and an average of 6%, its a bit of a kicker, and the hail on the way up didn't help much! As I neared the top, the wind picked up and I remembered David saying something about having every kind of weather on the 200 km ride the previous year. Luckily the hail didn't last long and I coasted down into Tarbert for the first checkpoint. I had to find the wee shop and go in and get them to stamp my brevit card as evidence for me having made it this far!Then it was back out, a quick top-up of water from the tap marked on the route and on south out of Tarbert.

This then was the Golden Road, and it was a right bollix! I don't think there's any flat on it at all! I found this section pretty tough, as it was constantly up and down but also constantly going into the stiff southerly headwind. Any speed you picked up on the downhill was all too quickly lost on the uphill, and it just didn't stop! Eventually I reached the next checkpoint, and was pleased to hear that I wasn't that far behind other riders! It was a relief to finally reach the southern end of Harris and begin the long trek north - at least the wind would be mostly behind me for the next few hours!

Grimacing along the Golden Road!  (RBarrett)