Reviews

Moonrakers & Sunseekers 300 (2019)

This weekend saw me complete the ‘Moonrakers & Sunseekers’ 300k audax. This was a great event and only the second time it has ran. This was my second audax on my new bike ‘Rainbow Dash’.

The start was in Bristol, in a rather funky bicycle cafe shop called the ‘Camber.cc cafe’ located at ‘Business as Usual’ business unit. Lots of cyclists all met here to fraternise, get ready and eventually set off. I think something crazy like 130 people entered. The place was full, but I’m not sure 130 left.

It was dark when we all left. It would be – it was 10 o’clock at night. The weather was probably best described as drizzly – raining at times and not at others. The roads were flooded here and there but no real problem as I took due care. The first section reminded me of cycling PBP, as there were plenty of red tail-lights to be seen. Heading out through Bath, I passed through Devizes and cycled past ‘The Crammer’ to stop at the ‘Moonrakers’ pub. All the while I had been cycling under a waning gibbous moon.

The Crammer is the town’s pond and it’s famous for a local legend. This legend has been dubbed ‘the Moonrakers’ and goes something like this: A group of Wiltshire smugglers heard that the Excise Men were heading into Town. The quick thinking smugglers knew that they had to hide the contraband barrels of brandy they were carrying and decided to roll them into the Crammer. After the Excise Men had passed through Town, the smugglers recovered the barrels by using rakes. The Excise Men were some-what suspicious and returned to Town to take a second look. They saw the smugglers with rakes and questioned what was going on. Smartly, one smuggler pointed to the reflection of the moon in the water and said they were trying to rake the cheese from out of the water. Oh how the Excise Men laughed, thinking how stupid the Devizes folk were. The smugglers laughed loudest being the folk that had the last laugh – their quick thinking had stopped them being caught. Wiltshire people to this day are known as ‘Moonrakers’. I felt like a honorary Moonraker cycling this event.

Leaving Moonrakers I sped on to the next control which was only 30k away. This section felt super zoomy. I saw lots of interesting wildlife which included at least 2 owls and a mouse. A motorist pulled alongside me at one point and gave me a ‘fair play’ once he realised I was planning to cycle all night. I’m sure I passed signs for Stonehenge and coincidentally, I’m sure the control was at Solstice Park. I opted for a MaccyD at the control which is my usual audax staple diet.

Didn’t take so long to reach the next (information) control. Wow, I wasn’t far from the Jurassic Coast. Memories about my summer holidays and family came flooding into my head. My head filled with further memories once I finally reached the Sea Scout hut in Poole. Poole has presented me with much adventure – it was here that I first lost my front teeth following a cycle accident aged 16. More recently I had cycled here with Ron (on a SIKA event) and experienced the same menace of cycling through sand covering the promenade. The Scout Hut was a fresh memory – I had never been there before. The Scout Hut was great – I was able to dry my socks on the radiator and was treated to a breakfast of baked potato and beans.

Leaving the Scout Hut and it was still dark. I wanted to send SJ a photo and say something like ‘at the sea-side at last’. Oh well, should SJ read this post, the above photo is for her (this was a previous occasion when I visited the Jurassic Coast). Ha!

The stretch after breakfast felt long – probably because it was quite a distance to the next control. The sun I was seeking finally came out though which was nice. I took an unofficial stop about half-way between the controls. Lots of lanes were cycled before I reached the official control in Podimore.

The return leg was definitely more hilly and certainly more pretty (this may have been because I could now see). Pretty lanes were cycled and beautiful villages passed including the chocolate box village of Milton Abbas. I passed the magnificent Abbey and headed on into the Dorset Hills. Hard to believe how many wonderful places this route passed through including Somerset and Glastonbury Tor.

Glastonbury Tor

Much of the folk around Glastonbury were dressed as if they had just attended the festival. I must have smelled like I had been there too! More lanes, ascents and descents took me across The Levels and to Axbridge.

Moonrakers and Sunseekers, 310k

The route reminded me of the ‘Cycle for Uganda’ event that I had completed this year with Chris Hodge and Ben Adams et al. This was because I again cycled the Strawberry Line railway path. This path went through the end of The Mendips passing orchards to stop at the Strawberry Line Cafe. My bike was absolutely covered in muck and goo by this point as the railway path was off-road and very wet and muddy. The cafe was located on a rail platform and they provided me with a much needed breakfast of the Full English type. Delicious.

The final leg was only about 30k and returned back to Bristol. I passed through Cheddar at one point and wondered if that’s where cheese was made and my thoughts shifted to raking cheese and The Crammer. Once again my head was filled with many memories of my past as I had been to Bristol on several occasions before and even studied ‘Bio-Medical Sciences’ there, back in the day. The suspension bridge was always a pleasure to see. And so was Felix Road adventure playground – the arrivee!

Top event! Nice one Will (organiser). Pleased to report that there was plenty of (Will’s) hills and plenty of thrills. Bonus too – no spills!

A fantastic start down onto the coast before hills galore across the south west peninsula. Fantastic brevet points along the way. Nighttime across Salisbury plain before turning and working your way back along the rolling cotswolds terrain

I completed this as my first 200km Audax in 2019.

Although the day started off cold and wet it quickly brightened up when we descended into Wells. Wells market was a great first stop with plenty of hot drinks and cake to stock up on before heading south to Stourhead and the delightful Alfred’s tower climb.

The halfway point at Yeovil Railway Centre was a welcome sight and the light lunch went down quickly. The next few miles were spent wondering what Batcombe climb would behold for us……. we were not disappointed!

The pub at Kilmington was well needed, a half and a couple of packets of crisps later and we had a slow crawl back to Whitchurch (and a slow walk up the last hill).

Right up there in my favorites list. Every control is well chosen, particularly like the one in Wells as it coincides with market day.Really good sights start to finish with some tasty hills 🙂 A very good day out.

An excellent route , second time I’ve done it. Will really comes up trumps with great knowledge of the best roads to use, best cafe stops and a real sense of adventure. A real mix of very friendly riders – and not intimidating for the less experienced either.

Highly recommended, fun and cheap for what you get

Nice start point and initial bike path to Bath. Make sure you have decent lights! Then some nice climbing. The route is great and the Chalke and Wylye valleys and then Cheddar Gorge are magnificent.

Well thought out route. Found it quite tough though, due to the lack of miles during the year. Slept too long on the first night, which didn’t help..

Controls well thought out and information before the ride was very helpful.

On finishing the ride, a full day late, Will kindly offered a coffee and a slice.

May do it again!

The chalke and cheese 200k event makes good use of the Bristol and bath cycle track, meaning a quiet off road start and will out the big hills to get out of Bath. A pleasurable use of quiet lanes, gets you to the 1st control. By, pre booking, when entering, you get the good food, very quickly. The next control, a choice of shop or cafe, serves excellent food quickly. The final control, before the penultimate climb of the Cheddar gouge, gives you time to refuel, to get you back to pub at the finish. An excellent route. Make sure to carry some bonk rations, the route is quite undulating.

Our modern lives are often dictated by convenience and instant gratification, I am rebelling against that. I do not want an easy life. I want a good life. I had entered an event with a hard time limit and made it harder for myself by taking sleeping gear around with me. I wanted to find my breaking point. Failure was the objective. This is not my first of these types of rides and it certainly won’t be my last.

My first destination was Bath to see my Brother and watch the film he starred* in and have a lovely lunch out with the parents. Much as cycling brings me lots of joy, the change is fantastic too, it makes you appreciate both sides all the more. My parents left for home, and I left my brother with his revision as I found myself the brilliant Bath to Bristol cycle path, the ferocious wolf moon rose to my right before a glowing sunset on my left.

*it was a cloudy night so the star wasn’t vizable but we knew.

I feel so lucky to have realised cycling for transport. My world grows as my mental restrictions are slowly stripped away and my limits flex. Yes cars are four times faster, yes you do not get wet in a box, but it is soulless transport. That entire half hour journey from A to B is dead time. Your world is just A and B, mine is everywhere in between. It is not just my legs that are active, all of my senses are hard at work. I get to experience the whoosh as the road arcs round a corner, the rise then fade of horse manure, subtle changes in humidity as I cross a bridge. I believe this connection is a significant factor in why I care so much about the climate.

Before leaving Bath I had been attempting to plan how to spend my evening, then after 20 minutes of browsing lists of the best pubs in the South West I realised this was not my style so promptly left without a plan. This plan always works, sure enough I spotted a sign to Bath Ales brewery among an industrial estate, tasty beers, interesting crowd, this was a jackpot.

The brewery closed early so I rolled myself to another pub. This is where I had a revelation, I am in my mid twenties. I have been trying to avoid this for ages, but it is so positive. What triggered this was me walking to the bar and ordering a second pizza instead of a pint. I have a job. The price of a pizza is not significant to me. I can do what I want, and that is pizzas over pints.

Audaxes are simple events, here is a route, go ride. The lack of structure and competition means that everyone is in it for themselves. They are doing it to do it, because it is difficult, because they love it. These people are some of the strongest endurance athletes I have ever met, but you wouldn’t realise for talking to them. The absence of racing keeps boastful egos away.

The start was back along the cycle path and the narrow nature of it forced us into a single file, reviving the decommissioned train. Rear lights pulsed at overlapping frequencies as shifting luminous clothing and reflective accents turned us into a kaleidoscope of forward motion. Individually we were drops, but together we formed a river, chaotically flowing around obstacles, forever onwards.

Being an old railway line we passed through a tunnel, then another never ending one that I’m convinced was a portal into Victorian times. My whispers of “this is so cool!” echoed to add to the absurdity of it as it kept on going. I refuse to look up the stats of how long it actually is, because dumb numbers cannot compare to “very”. When I emerged it was full blown daytime.

Sunrise is all too often just less black, the big moment of this morning was hours into the grey. I turned a corner and all of a sudden I saw blue! In isolation this was a subpar view, but to me, in that moment, it was exquisite. My imagination created a glowing warmth on my skin as the rays caught my face. I glided along for an entire 20 minutes before the drizzle hit, and it hit hard. The cafe was forever round the corner so no point stopping to put my coat on, only there was. I arrived a saturated, shivering mess. I have a top ten lifetime cuppas and this made a new entry as I squeezed warmth out of the mug and returned to reality.

Small talk was often complaints about the headwind, but I was loving the metrological might on display. I made a mental soundscape of all the different layers of wind I could hear. It rolled around inside my hood like a third lung, rustled through the leaves on the well kept bushes, whurred through my spokes, but most of all roared past my ears in spirals of raw power. This is not something to shut out, something to battle, this is something to be in awe of.

One of the extremely inaccessible things that I just can’t get enough of is that point of tired brain function that stops the adult voice from saying no that is silly. I spent the entire ride up Cheddar Gorge imagianing pocketting a rock and keeping it for a ridiculous situation. I needed to be asked for a block of cheese, then I would whip out this rock. Hilarious. I visualised myself in a supermarket, eating beans on toast, saving the day at the picnic… quality Bentertainment.

I had planned on sleeping in another ditch that night, but upon finishing the audax with beans still left in my metaphorical can, I decided to crack right on home. This entire journey felt like I was on the zoomy bit of rainbow road because that strong wind was now behind me. Directions were simple as it was late enough that the A roads were peaceful so I navigated by road signs. On reflection I was quite low on beans, just my beans-can-do attitude would not admit it.

Tough little effort for January and my first audax. Well organised and fun – i will be back for more…