My first Audax; The Kidderminster Killer (214km)

I had been loosely aware of Audax’s as a form of long-distance riding but I really didn’t know anything about the format until about 3 weeks ago. After I had decided that the BB200 would be a peddle stroke too far this year, I had been looking for another challenge and stumbled across AudaxUK. I thought the format sounded fun and the idea of getting your card stamped and stopping for a cup of tea sounded so classically British that I had to try it out. The other very appealing thing for me is how the distances have a good spread, and just how many events of varying distance are going on every weekend. I also like the idea of rides getting progressively longer and building up a seasons’ riding with a view to the Super Randonneur and any of the other season-long challenges.

2 weeks ago I went out for my second century of the summer. It was a humid, hot, sticky day but the ride went well and I was full confidence in how my legs were feeling. It wasn’t that they had felt particularly good it was more that they had felt very consistent. I didn’t have the normal peaks and valleys of energy. It hadn’t been until 103miles in, with 3miles left to go, that I had a first proper tired spell. That evening I came home joined Audax UK and signed up to a local event that was just 2 weeks away.

Saturday morning rolled up and I was off to North Worcestershire, for the start of The Kidderminster Killer. I arrived in plenty of time to pick up my Brevet card from HQ and have a cup of coffee. The hall was bustling with chatter and there was a very positive atmosphere, building up the day. It wasn’t long before it was time to leave and we were let off in batches. I probably started out a little quicker than I had planned but the group I had got into were ticking along at a reasonable pace and I thought it better to get some early miles done in the wheels. The group thinned out over the first 20 miles, sporadically passing and being passed by other riders. 41 miles in was a control point in the cafe of the Action Scott Working Farm Museum. I had planned to stop for a cup of coffee but after seeing the length of the queue, I decided not to bother. There were 90 miles to go and I wanted to get on.

As I had been so quick at the first checkpoint I decided I had time to stop at the Spar in Church Stretton to get my bidons filled and pick up some Ibreprophen. I took a swift bite to eat, knowing what was in store for the next few miles. The climb out of Church Stretton up onto the Mynd was the most challenging part of the ride. The climb out of Clun (later in the ride) was tough but it doesn’t have the 20% ramp to start or the never-ending quality of The Burway. The vegetation in this area of the Mynd is very scrubby leaving no place to hide on a windy day. It didn’t seem to matter which way you were facing the wind was always coming in from the front and side making it a slow grind over the top.

Before the start, I had decided my approach would be to mentally break the ride into the checkpoint distances so that I was only ever dealing with small chunks of the ride in one go. 41m, 54m, 64m, 87m, 96m, 126m were all control points, nicely spaced out to give me perfect milestones for my head to cope with. I even created a bonus checkpoint at 115miles to just give myself something to break up that slightly longer chunk.

From this point on I was really able to get into the right state of mind, ticking off the little rides between checkpoints and enjoying the scenery. I stopped for a quick sandwich in Montgomery, had a stretch and got my selfy at the Ivy Corner Cafe. I think I might have made a few rookie mistakes with some of the information control points. More than once I stopped at the wrong place and needlessly wasted time looking around for whatever I was looking for. I guess I could have shaved off at least 15mins by simply being more confident with finding the control information and not always thinking that I had passed it already…

In general, everything had gone very smoothly. However, with roughly 3 miles left to go, I noticed that the throw had gone on my rear brake lever. I barely had to pull it for the blocks to be on the rim. I managed another 2 miles nursing the front brake but eventually I needed to use the rear and the brake locked up entirely. At that point I was only 1 mile away, so I muscled through it and got to HQ. Better to deal with it once I had had my card signed off.

Generally speaking, I stuck with the plan of spinning all the hills and then descending quick and trying to tap out a decent rhythm on the flat. This mostly worked out well, although climbing over the last 30 miles was punctuated with a lot of stand up mashing. I still felt quite strong on the flat though which surprised me. I think I would want to mix up the spinning and mashing more, in the same way, that I used to when long-distance mountain biking. My regular hourly eating was mostly done on the bike or when I stopped at a control. I only stopped once for a larger amount of food; sandwich, crisps, cherry coke, and I think that worked out just right. I probably had too many flapjack type snacks, I should have started with more Haribo. I also should have done more route research to give myself a better idea of how many and where the climbs were. I might have been able to judge my output a little better.

It took me 10 hours 35mins (10h 40m official time) to do the 214km, which equated to 7th home from a group of 83 starters.

On the whole, I think it was an excellent event. The riders were a very friendly bunch all happy to have a few words of chat as you found yourself riding alongside each other. It was well organised with a great HQ location that had all the right facilities. I was pretty surprised to be able to get a shower at the end! I think I will be certainly signing up for the next BeaconRCC Audax, The Autumn South Salopian but hopefully, there might be some others between now and then.