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| Southern
Discomfort. There are two persistent myths about the South.One is that the beer is weak and the other is that the terrain is flat. Both are wrong. I think my performances in the bars of Mallorca prove that I've trained on strong beer. Anybody who doubts the severity of southern climbs should have joined me in the recent Battle and Back Grimpeur 220km Audax. Think Southport- Settle but then include maybe five or six climbs of the steep side of the Trough. It all adds up to 3200 metres of climbing. About fifty riders left Warlingham south of Croydon under grey skys and immediately tackled the North Downs from four different directions. After 30km we were still within five km. of the start. There was then some respite as we headed south through Sussex and Kent. The climbs of Ashdown Forest was a further test before the first control in a village pub where coffee and cake was available. The course continued to be very lumpy all the way to Battle. The control was in a cafe near the castle and beans on toast was very welcome. The next stage was pleasantly undulating with few steep climbs. However by now it was raining heavily enough to require a waterproof so the discomfort level was maintained. The final control was in an outbuilding behind a pub. Only cake was available which I supplemented with a couple of energy bars. It was only forty km to the finish but once again the North Downs had to be climbed. The course passed Biggin Hill of Battle of Britain fame and it was here that I slipped out of the back of the group as the strength drained out of my legs. However the last five km were downhill and I managed to rejoin my riding partner John of the Catford C.C. He had mentioned that he won the first stage of the 1965 Milk Race but I didn't catch his surname. Modestly I didn't mention my palmares. The organiser Tim Wainright had laid on an exellent spread and I tucked in to the full works. Dave,El Supremo, Hudson was assisting no doubt fine tuning his catering skills in readiness for his South Coast 1000km later this month. After eating I checked my compuer and was distressed to see that I had been riding for ten hours! This was my slowest ever Audax, slower even than P-B-P. But it was to get worse, much worse. Only thirty minutes after I finished a one-legged rider on crutches entered the Control! I don't know his name but that guy is a hero. I had read about him in the AUK mag. but I never imagined that he could handle 3200km of climbing, mainly very steep, gritty, twisty hills. So there we are you Scorton Skivers, get on those bikes and tackle some real hills. Ray Green, Super Grimpeur. |