Sarah Kelman reports on her latest exploits:
I continued my bid to earn the Audax UK “Randonneur Round the Year” in October with two 200km rides, and they could not have been more different. At the start of the month, I signed up for the new calendar event, the Cambridge Autumnal. This was a tour from Girton to Framlingham and back via the Maglia Rosso cafe. The weather was suitably dull with a cool easterly breeze and stiff showers on the east coast. The event fortuitously coincided with the annual Framlingham Sausage Festival so there was plenty of recovery foods at the far end. I’d cajoled my family into meeting me at the castle, but the rain got the better of their spirits, so after a pub lunch it was off to the Maglia Rosso. Here I met fellow club run rider Colin Edwards who shared an isotonic recovery drink with me (a bottle of Spitfire beer) then it was back to Girton for a wonderful feed of homemade chili, cakes, ham rolls and other goodies. These events are amazing value at just £6.
At the end of the month, I found myself Down Under so took the opportunity to ride an Audax Australia perm, the “Follow the River for Peats Sake” 200k from the north side of Sydney. This could not have been more different to the UK ride. The roads were nearly deserted, the temperature was in the 30s and boy was it hilly! The route took in the “historic” town of Windsor (no, not the one with a castle), two ferries, some gravel roads and a handful of evil climbs for a flatlander like me on a ten tonne cheapo bike. Nonetheless, the Aussies sure know how to do coffee stops and the traditional steak pie makes fine eating for a long ride. My sightseeing highlights were the miles and miles of deserted roads along the Hawkesbury River and the amazing wildlife – wallabies, mad giant lizards and black cockatoos. I also learned about dehydration the hard way – “fill your bidon when you can, not when you must” is my new mantra for Aussie riding.
