1001 Miglia 2024

1001 Miglia is a beautiful and hard adventure. 

All Super Brevets are hard. They are all a gradual process of physical and mental self destruction. 

The legs are typically the first to go. All long distance cyclists are used to riding without legs. 

Soon other parts of your body start to give up. The palm of the hands and the feet are likely next in line. Knees are a very common one. The butt comes soon enough for everyone. You typically see some necks failing towards the end of the Super Brevets.

Some riders know where their weak spots are and try to delay the inevitable body part failure with movements and posture changes while riding. Some riders, including some of those that know where their weak spots are, will be taken by surprise and see their body fail in unexpected places. 

The mental self destruction starts with having to ride through the first night. 

For the experienced rider it doesn’t have an immediate effect. But start adding days with short sleeps and the accumulation of sleep deprivation will make every rider's brain go to places. Some, me included, get grumpy. Some have hallucinations. If you are riding with someone you can have deep, all-encompassing conversations while climbing a mountain in the early hours of the morning. If you are unlucky your brain will go all pessimistic. Pretty much everyone starts making small mistakes. I’d claim to be the only one whose brain took it to find a relationship between joining a cycling peloton and joining a sex orgy (a topic for a future post).

Keeping riding while your body is giving up and your mind is playing with you is pretty much the name of the game in a Super Brevet. 

1001 Miglia is a hard Super Brevet because the conditions exacerbate all of the above. 

The road surface is rough. Very rough at places, for long kilometers. That accelerates the destruction of the body. Butts, feet, hands, necks all start failing sooner than in other Super Brevets.

The weather also contributes to making 1001 Miglia a hard Super Brevet. Hot in general. Very hot in the central hours of the day. In this edition we got rain. Summer storms. At some point I got convinced that I got more rain in this 1001 Miglia than in my three LEL combined.  

Video borrowed from Lin5

The climbing also makes 1001 Miglia a hard ride. There is lots of climbing. Small climbs, long climbs, some of them steep climbs. A section in Tuscany full of one to four kilometer climbs. What Spanish cyclists would call a “leg breaker” terrain. 

Also, the climbing is all concentrated in a 1,000kms. That means that for a 1,000kms you find yourself going either up or down. Wishing to have some flat sections where everything will be easier.  

But when the flat section comes you realize it is not easier. You are 1,100km into the ride. Your legs, your hands, your feet, your knees or your neck are completely destroyed by then. Maybe all of them. In my case it was my butt. It was so irritated that I could pass as a mandrill if you looked at me from behind.

Hours wishing to be riding in the flat section and when it came I was wishing we were climbing. 

But the 1001 Miglia is not only a hard Super Brevet. It is also an adventure. 

Food is generally good. As you would expect lots of pasta. Lots of melon and watermelon too. 

Sleeping facilities on the other hand is the first surprise for the uninitiated. 

The organization gave a clue when with the welcome pack they gave every rider an emergency blanket. A proper sign that you are up for an adventure. 

In most of the controls you had to sleep on the hard floor. I knew that and I was ok with it. I can sleep pretty much everywhere. But any rider coming with the standards of PBP or LEL in mind was up for a hard wake up (pun intended). 

Getting to a control at midnight, expecting to find food, drinks, showers and sleeping facilities (as described above) only to find that, despite what the road book said, the control it was only a person checking you in and telling you there were none of those facilities and that you have to go to the next control (55kms away) certainly contributes to make you feel in the middle of an adventure.

The fact that that was after a long and foggy descent so you get to the control frozen to death. Is the test of your mental fortitude. 

You smile, you shrug your shoulders and you get on with it.

Getting just another storm half way through those 55km is the necessary touch of epicness that every adventure needs to have. 

Video borrowed from Lin5

One could argue that a part of an adventure is not knowing where you are going. If you follow me you know that not knowing where I am going is a constant whenever I’m riding my bike. 1001 Miglia was no exception, but not always it was my fault. The track given by the organization had a tendency to send you through the most weird “roads”. Sometimes just cutting a hairpin bend through a very steep path instead of just continuing through the main road. The route was mandatory but we learned to exercise our own judgment everytime the Garmin was asking you to make a turn that looked like a “shortcut”. A bit of a choose your own route adventure.

Now, 1001 Miglia is also a dangerous adventure. 

I mentioned rough surfaces. Those are dangerous when descending, especially during the night. Still, that is a danger riders can control (to a point).

Drivers on the other hand there is very little riders can do about them. And, believe me, drivers are dangerous in Italy. Most of them show no respect or acknowledgement for cyclists, some of them have borderline criminal attitudes towards cyclists. 

Yes, 1001 Miglia is a hard, sometimes dangerous, adventure. But 1001 Miglia is an amazingly beautiful ride. The most beautiful of all Super Brevets I have ridden. 

It is so beautiful and I loved the experience of riding it with Julian, my long distance cycling twin soul, that I don’t care if it is a hard adventure. I’ll most likely will be at the start line again in 2029.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12224888604

Take care of yourself

Javier Arias González

Bryan Chapman Memorial 600

Lets start saying that I was a bit worried about this ride. Despite this going to be my third BCM and my 7th 600k, a 600k is never an easy ride and the BCM is not exactly in the list of the easiest.

I wasn't worried about being physically capable of finishing it, it was more about weather, route changes and a thousand of little things (should I carry winter gloves? sun cream? the heavy goretex rain jacket? should I fit new tyres?), somehow all of them looked critically important a few days before. It was like if my experience riding Audax instead of helping to take my natural relaxed approach were more used to add things to worry about.

In any case the moment I stepped into the Bulwark Community Centre all doubts and worries disappeared and there was only room for joy and good time.

It all starts meeting and saying hello a bunch of riders you have met in previous rides. I'm not a particularly chatty, extrovert rider but slowly you get to know people in the world of Audax and it is always a pleasure to expend a few minutes chatting and catching up with them.

The Kingston Wheelers were represented by Jasmijn, Sarah, Gavin, Chris, John and myself. Jasmijn was using the BCM as a training ride towards her LEJOG record attempt, Gavin was riding with a friend at a fastish pace, Chris was riding at an easier pace and that left Sarah, John and myself riding together at a not-that-slow-but-sustainable pace.

First stage is 75k and it goes very quickly despite of having some good climbing. It is still early and still cold. The sky is completely covered by clouds. The weather looked to me as it were at that edge that could go either way, it could start raining for the next two days or it could just clear out and give us the present of two days of blue, sunny skies.

We were lucky and blue, sunny days it was. Now add to that how beautiful Wales is. Top it with lots of long steady climbs and  you end up with a collection of memories that if you could print them out it would be the perfect collection of postcards to promote tourism in Wales.

Between the first and second control we sat on the wheel of a Hereford rider. It reminded me Tomsk, The Mozart of the pace making. One of my Spanish friends says cycling is poetry and suggests that when you cycle you are writing a poem that reflects how you are cycling. This Hereford rider wrote a whole 55k long sonnet on his own with the quality of his pacing.

The second control was new and very welcome. Not only because it came 20km earlier than what the route sheet had marked but also because, with 140k in the legs, it was the first proper stop we were going to enjoy. Sitting in the outside, enjoying the sun, it was the moment of switching from cold gear to sunny gear.

Just after the second control it came a section that was new in the route. A series of short steep ramps one after the other. The last one was preceded by a 12% signal and I struggled quite a lot climbing it. I regretted every single gram I was carrying and I promised myself I was going to load a 32 in my cassette for future rides.

As soon as I arrived to the top I realized I had climbed the whole ramp on the big chainring. In a way that was a relief. True I had screwed my legs but it also meant there was a good reason while climbing the ramp was feeling that hard.

Now the view was totally worth the effort.

At this point I missed Alberto, the protagonist of my first BCM experience, now relocated to Canada. I'm sure he would have enjoyed this new part of the route. And the same happened every time we were riding in through a new section. Two thoughts kept coming to my mind. The first one is how much Alberto would have enjoyed the new section and the second one was trying to decide if I preferred the new section of the route or the old one.

I couldn't make my mind. The new sections had advantages and disadvantages. The new route is shorter and with less climbing (this counts as a disadvantage) but also it avoids some of the most annoying parts of the all route while they introduce amazing sceneries. In any case I was happy with the new route.

A bit before the control at Kings the road made us meet Ray, from Dulwich Paragon. We have lunch and from that moment on the trio became a quartet.

It always amaze me how sometimes riding with a complete stranger for 400k turns out to be something so easy and natural. Although in the case of Ray, he is a punchy rider in the climbs that knows how to adapt his pace to the groups' and that really helps.

We made it to Menai Bridge (km300) a bit before 20:00 (that is 14:00 to ride 300k, not bad) and that was a perfect timing. In one hand because the Waitrose that is in by the roundabout was still open which gave Sarah and myself the opportunity to raid it. In the other hand because in Menai you are offered hot food, so ideal for a proper dinner stop (jacket potato with beans and cheese and rice pudding for me). But also because that timing marks the night/day limit. At the control we put on all our layers, reflective jackets and lights. We were going to ride 100km during the night and it was getting cold.

Not as cold as we thought it was going to be. In fact after a few climbs we had to stop to take off some of the clothes.

Funny enough that was the moment were my biggest struggle began. I started to feel sleepy.

It was not late at all, probably around 22:00 but I couldn't help it. I started all kind of games to try to keep me awake. It's funny how one's brain works. Creep from Radiohead played in my head again and again.

To be completely honest it has been the soundtrack in my head for the whole ride, but now that I was falling sleep I couldn't take it off my head.

At some point I noticed my heart rate went down to 76ppm when we were climbing up a long steady hill. The idea of closing the eyes for two seconds to allow for a micro-sleep crossed my mind but I discarded it immediately. Some sense came out of my head I interpreted those signals as my body shutting down so I decided to sprint up the hill to try to get my heart rate up.

It was 23:30, I had 350km in the legs, 1 minute at 366w did the trick. My heart rate went up to 144ppm and woke me up enough to get to Kings in good spirits. It was around 00:30 and we had ridden 400km in 18:30 hours; not bad.

At Kings we had quick a quick dinner and we got ready to get to bed. When we asked for a bed we were told we would have two hours and then they would wake us up so other riders could also sleep. I remember in previous edition it used to be three hours but, hey, fair enough, everyone deserved a good rest and two hours in a bed is better than nothing.

I quickly headed to my bed. As we were ahead of most of the riders I was the first using it. Not that I cared that much at that point but always nice. I think it took me one or two minutes to fall deep sleep.

At 3:10 another rider woke me up asking for the bed. I moved out and he moved in in less than 10 seconds.

It was too early for breakfast to be served so I helped myself with some milk and a banana. In a few minutes John, Ray and Sarah were also around. Somehow I found myself ready when the rest was still eating something so I decided to sleep a bit more just there, sitting at the table.

I don't know for how long I slept but when I woke up breakfast cereals were available so went for a second breakfast before we moved on.

It was around 4:45 and we had daylight. It was also a bit cold but soon enough a long steady climb comes to warm you up. That climb is followed by a long and fast descend that it is followed by another long climb. The first stage of the day was only 65km but we were riding so slow that it took us three hours to complete it.

The good news was that at the control they had bacon and hot rice pudding. I liked this control, it had a relaxed atmosphere that went very well with the sunny morning we were enjoying.

Next stage was a short one, only 51km, and again it differed from previous editions. Instead of taking left at some point of the A483 we continued straight on the same road climbing and climbing and climbing. It was almost 15km of steady climb. I loved it.

A fast descend took us straight to the following control, a café that was open just for the BCM riders. Free tea and coffee, tomato soup and a roll for £3. It was 11:00 in the morning. We had cycled 110km already with some considerable climbing. It was the perfect time for a tomato soup.

Last stage (103km) was completely new and it was beautiful. True the weather was playing ball, but the beauty of those Welsh valleys was astonishing. I was constantly looking left and right admiring the creation mother nature was offering us.

We were 50km away from the finish when John's derailleur cable snapped. It was giving him problems the whole ride but at that point it was completely useless. John and Ray were very efficient making sure the derailleur would not change gears and from that moment John would have a fixed gear at the back and the option of big or small chainring. Challenging considering it was very unlikely the 50km left were going to be flat.

And the were not. One of the sections I was sad to miss was the final climb before Chepstow in the old route. That one is beautiful. It turned out this new route had a climb that was very similar to that one. Also very, very beautiful, with great views to the valley as you are gaining heigh and also with a final section of the road surrounded and almost covered by trees. The moment you finish this climb you know the BCM is done.

You still have a couple of punchy ramps, but you are five kilometres from the finish. Optimism and good spirits were in order.

We made it to the final control at 16:19 which means we rode the BCM in 34 hours 19 minutes. Not bad. In fact looking at my numbers this was my fastest 600 and surely the one I finished "less tired". That is the beauty of riding with a great company.

At the final control they had food available for a £3 flat rate. I went for a bacon sandwich and the "Spanish tortilla". It turned out the Spanish tortilla was more a Welsh interpretation of the Spanish tortilla but still good enough to please a hungry Spanish cyclist.

We relaxed some time at the final control. Gavin was there and it was time of celebration, taking pictures and telling histories.

This was my third Bryan Chapman (2013, 2014 and 2016) in none of them I got rain. As far as I can tell it never rains in Wales.

With this I have finished my this year's Super Randonneur (not a single puncture) which is my 5th SR. Slowly but surely I'm adding up kilometres and experiences.

The route in Strava

Take care
Javier Arias González

Severn Across 400 (Español)

[Mail al Pakefte, como es una crónica la copio aquí]

Pues nada, que ayer me hice mi 400 de esta temporada. El Severn Across, uno que me había dejado pendiente el año pasado.

La verdad es que no empecé muy bien. Sobre el km 30 rodaba a la cola de un grupo a ritmo decente cuando me descolgué para parar a mear y cuando reanudé la marcha me dio un bajón considerable.

De repente todos los pensamientos que me venían a la cabeza eran negativos. Que si hacía mucho frío (el garmin dice que 0C), que si llevaba una semana sin montar en bici, que si la báscula me decía que había engordado 2.5kg en una semana (¿es eso posible?), que si había estado viajando, que si había dormido poco, que si hacía viento de cara. Parecía que todas las disculpas posibles e inventadas se me pasasen por el cerebro. No me reconocía. De hecho pensé en retirarme; y me gustaría poder decir que no me retiré porque soy un tipo con fuerza de voluntad, pero lo cierto es que iba ya por el kilómetro 45 y no tenía ni idea de cómo volver al punto de partida.

Una vez mentalizado de que tenía que hacerme la ruta completa me lo tomé con bastante calma. Tal es así que cuando llegué al primer control (km75) Gavin, Omar y Sarah, los otros tres Kingston Wheelers que hacía la ruta, estaban a punto de ponerse en marcha preguntándose que habría sido de mi.

Aproveché para hacer una parada rápida (sellar la brevet, visita al servicio y en marcha) para poder unirme a ellos. A partir de ese punto formamos el tren de los Kingston Wheers.

Al final acabamos rodando prácticamente juntos toda la ruta. Y mira que es difícil que cuadren los ritmos de rodar/parar en un grupo de cuatro ciclistas que no han rodado juntos tantas veces, pero una vez más se produjo uno de estos pequeños milagros.

Y pedaleando en grupo poco a poco me empecé a sentir bien. La temperatura subió, el viento amainó y, desde luego, disfrutaba de la compañía. Tal es así que para cuando llegué a Yat Rock, una subidita de unos 2km con rampas de hasta el 24% justo en el km 190, me encontré bien de piernas y decidí subirla a tope. La pena es que un mini atasco de coches me obligó a poner el pie a tierra y ahí se esfumaron mis posibilidades de marcar un record personal en esa subida.

En el último control (km314) se nos unió Aidan, pasamos a ser un tren de cinco vagones. En ese punto teníamos que decidir entre dos opciones de ruta. O ir por las carreteras B (locales) en un recorrido sube y baja o ir por la A4 (una nacional) en un recorrido más llano y de la misma distancia. Como eran ya las 21:00 nos decidimos por la A4 con la esperanza de que no hubiese mucho tráfico.

La pena es que esa alternativa yo no la tenía cargada en mi GPS y lo mismo le pasaba a Gavin y a Sarah. Estábamos en las manos de Omar y Aidan que fueron los que se pusieron en cabeza y empezaron a darse relevos. Por detrás de ellos Gavin, luego Sarah y cerraba yo el grupo.

Un par de veces me moví hacia la cabeza con la intención de dar algún relevo pero entre que yo no conocía la ruta y que no llegué a entender el criterio que Omar y Aidan seguían en sus relevos decidí volver a retirarme a la cola del pelotón y disfrutar del paseo prácticamente sin esfuerzo.

Llegamos a la 1 de la madrugada. Justamente 19 horas después de haber salido. Al igual que me pasó en el 300 de la semana pasada el 400 más rápido de los que he rodado en grupo aunque más lento que cualquiera de los que he rodado en solitario.

En dos semanas el 600. El Bryan Chapman, el brevet más bonito de los que conozco. Ya hay ganillas.

La ruta en Strava

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González

Severn Across 400 (The miracle of riding in a good group)

A bunch of known people at the start Gavin, Omar, Sarah, Jasmijn and Chris at the start. Jasmijn and Chris were going to ride full speed and they finished in something like 16 hours. Gavin, Omar, Sarah and myself formed the Kingston Wheelers train.

It didn't work very well at the beginning. Gavin disappeared, I was hesitant whether he was ahead or behind us. The rest of us were riding in a group with two more riders moving at a decent speed but around km30 I needed a pee stop so dropped and let the group go.

When I jumped back on the bike I felt swamped with negative thoughts. This is not usual in me but suddenly I found myself thinking "oh, there is a bit of head wind", "oh, a whole week without riding. I was traveling, working a lot and sleeping little the whole week", "it is too cold (Garmin says around 0C)", "the scale said I had gained 2.5kg in one week (how is that even possible???)". It was like all excuses I could found were visiting my brain. At a certain point I thought about quitting, but discarded the idea. I'd love to say it was my commitment what kept me pedaling but the reality is I kept pedaling mainly because around 45k in I didn't know my way back to the start.

It seemed that I was going to ride alone the whole way so I decided to take it easy. By the time I made it to the first control Omar, Sarah and Gavin (who turned out to be ahead of us) were there almost ready to go and wondering where I was. I excused myself, got the sticker at the cafe, quick visit to the toilet and jumped on the bike. I was really happy of having a second opportunity to join the KW's train.

It turned out we ended up riding the whole route together. And that is not an easy thing; not only a certain match of physical ability is required, you also need to agree to a riding/stopping pace that fits to everyone. As I say, not easy when riding 400k, especially if the members don't have that much experience riding together, but that was our case. A little miracle.

Riding in the group I started to feel better. I guess temperature increased, it was easier to hide from the wind and I definitively was enjoying the company. By the time we got to Yat Rock I felt so great I decided to give push it in the climb. Good feelings and good power numbers but not a PB because we got stuck by the cars at the beginning of the climb.

At the last control (314k) a rider joined us. I recognized him (Adrian???) as one of the riders in the group we started riding early in the morning. Omar knew him. At this point there were two options in the route. We could either opt for a bumpy ride in B roads or a flatish ride on the A4. Being already around 21:00 we figured the A road would not have that much traffic so we opted for that one. Unfortunately I didn't have that route on my GPS so had to rely on Omar and Adrian as they were the ones that knew the route.

This last section, around 90km, was super easy. Riding in a group of five I tried a couple of times to take a turn on the front but couldn't figure out how to coordinate with Omar and Adrian so ended up falling at the back of the group. We kept the formation (Omar and Adrian taking turns in the front, then Gavin, then Sarah and me closing the group) pretty much to the end of the ride.

Riding that easy the last section meant I finish not that tired. I think I have never finished an Audax event as fresh as this one and still we managed to finish in exactly 19 hours; faster than any 400 I have ridden in a group slower than any 400 that I have ridden alone. Who would have told me when I was thinking about quitting at the beginning of the day. The miracle of riding in a good group.

Now looking forward to riding Bryan Chapman 600 in two weeks.

The ride in Strava

Take care
Javier Arias González

Oasts and Coast 300 (Español)

[Mail al Pakefte, como es una crónica la copio aquí]

Yo también hice este pasado sábado mi 300. Era el Oasts and Coasts 300. Ya lo había hecho dos veces pero quería volver esta vez porque me gusta el recorrido, me cae bien el organizador y el año pasado tuve mala pata y no pude hacerlo.

En mi caso me tocó pagar mi arrogancia. El jueves por la tarde/noche me había pegado una sesión de rodillo realmente dura. El viernes le decía a mi manager "total es sólo un 300" creyéndome lo de "sólo". Y, claro, el sábado en la primera cuesta me di cuenta de que había sido un error, no estaba lo fresco que el recorrido exigía.

Este es un 300 raro. Los primeros 120 kilómetros tienen 1.500 metros de desnivel. Los siguientes 30km son prácticamente llanos pero totalmente expuestos a un viento que en mi experiencia, 3 de 3, siempre es de cara. En el km 150 está el control donde tiene sentido pararse a comer y a partir de ahí es más bien una ruta turística por paseos marítimos, parques con vistas a los alcantilados y visita a Dover y su castillo (los castillos siempre están en lo alto).

Me gusta este recorrido porque me permite darme cera los primeros 150km, parar a comer y luego, cansado, pasearme por la parte turística del recorrido.

Por suerte para mi hice el recorrido con tres personas más, Gavin, uno de los Kingston Wheelers que me llevó a rueda la primera jornada de la PBP, Sarah, una Kingston Wheelers que está empezando en esto de los brevets y Sefi, un amigo de Sarah de club no identificado. Empezamos el 300 rodando en grupo y se dio una de esas raras casualidades en las que encajas tanto en el ritmo del rodar como en el ritmo del parar. Ritmo de rodar un poco más bajo del que yo suelo rodar, un ritmo de paradas un poco más alto del que yo suelo parar, pero ritmos a los que me adapté gustoso visto el estado de mis piernas.

La climatología en este país es más bien húmeda e impredecible y en primavera aun más. Empezamos el día con un frío que me hizo pensar que estaba poco abrigado. La temperatura subió con rapidez hasta los 10 y pico grados y eso, combinado con las colinas, me hizo pensar que esta muy abrigado. Para cuando llegamos al llano había salido un sol radiante, pero el viento de cara equilibraba la temperatura; o lo mismo fue que ya estaba tan cansado que no sentía ni frío ni calor. Después de comer aparecieron las nubes que descargaron fina lluvia ahora si, ahora no. Ese tipo de lluvia que te tiene indeciso entre si parar o no a ponerte el chubasquero. Nos decantamos por no parar en ninguna de las ocasiones y se ve que acertamos, no acabamos empapados. Eso si, la suerte jugó a nuestro favor ya que cuando se abrieron los cielos en forma de tormenta de granizo nosotros estábamos en una cafetería merendando tan ricamente. El día llegó cansado de tantos cambios climáticos a la tarde y nos regaló una excelente y tranquila puesta de sol anticipo de un par de horas de rodar de noche antes de acabar el día con una sopa de vegetales, caliente, obsequio de la organización.

Al final fueron 15 horas. De las que estuve parado 2 horas y media. Más lento que cualquier 300 que haya rodado yo sólo, más rápido que cualquier 300 que haya rodado acompañado. Un buen equilibrio.

Ahora a descansar las piernas y el próximo sábado me toca el 400. El Severn Across, otra brevet que he hecho dos veces y que el año pasado también tuve la mala pata de perderme. Está uno pagando "deudas" pendientes del año pasado.

La ruta en Strava

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González

Oasts and Coast 300

Uhmm!! Naahhh!!!

Come the first climb and I new it wasn't going to be a good day from the fitness point of view.

It is not that my legs were terrible but they were not fresh. At least not as fresh as they should be to ride a 300 with a fair amount of climbing in the first third (1,500m in the first 120k).

I was definitively paying for my overconfidence. On Thursday night I went for a hard session on the turbo, I remember telling my wife "it's only a 300".  But now it was clear that I was not totally recovered.

Not that I had any problem riding with my companions (Gavin, Sefi and Sarah) but it just felt harder than expected.

Came the flat section (25k before the control at 150k) and, as usual, we got into the head wind. I still managed to make some good turns in the front but as always happens to me in this section my power and my hr dropped and by the time we got to the control I really was looking forward for a good break.

You are tired when you see your power dropping like that riding 25 flat ks into the head wind

The good news is next 100k are mostly flat and slow because you have to ride through Dover, and a few cycle paths. You still have to steep climbs to tackle but I used this section to ride easy and recover.

By the time we approached the last 50k I was in a much better shape (within the circumstances) and saved the last climbs of the day with that feeling of "felt tired but could have pushed it a bit more if needed".

Fitness apart this was a great ride. I really enjoyed riding with Gavin, Sefi and Sarah, weather wasn't that terrible (we were lucky that the hail storm found us enjoying a break inside a cafe) and the scenery is really beautiful. I'll be back for more.

The ride in Strava.

Take care
Javier Arias González

The Horsepower 200 (español)

Tenía yo mis dudas sobre este 200. Nunca lo había rodado, pensaba que no iba a conocer a nadie y, raro en mi, no tenía un plan sobre como rodarlo. Pero me equivocaba.

Nada más bajarme del coche empecé a reconocer gente con la que había rodado. También un par de Wheelers, Gavin y Sarah. Buena sorpresa. Gavin iba a rodar con su hermano y su sobrino en plan "full value" (apurando los tiempos de cierre de los controles) y Sara iba a rodar con su amingo (no me quedé con su nombre). Rodar en plan "full value" me parecía demasiado lento por lo que decidí que rodaría con Sarah y su amigo.

El problema fue que un minuto antes de empezar, cuando todos estábamos esperando que nos diesen la señal de salida un ciclista me advirtió que había perdido un tornillo de mi portabultos. Me costó un tanto solucionar el problema y cuando me puse en marcha hacia un rato que todos se habían ido. Decidí darme cera y ver si era capaz de alcanzar a Sarah y su amigo.

Rodé la primera hora bastante fuerte (252w NP, IF 0.87), adelanté a un montón de ciclistas, pero sin señales de Sarah y su amigo. En el km 47 llegué al primer control y allí estaban. Me hice con un ticket para demostrar mi paso por ese pueblo y como ellos se ponían en marcha no me entretuve más y me uní a ellos.

El problema es que yo necesitaba una parada fisiologíca por lo que cuando salimos del pueblo y encontré un sitio adecuado me paré. Cuando acabé volví a la bicicleta y venga a ritmo para tratar de alcanzarlos.

Resultó que no rodaban tan despacio, me costó más de lo que yo esperaba cogerlos. Para cuando llegué a su altura se les había unido un tercer ciclista, un Dulwich Paragon. Y justo un minuto después de haberlos alcanzado va y se me rompe el guardabarros trasero. Me paro, lo arreglo y venga otra vez a poner ritmo de caza en busca del trio que me precedía.

No los alcancé hasta el km 75. Al principio me quedé a la cola del grupo recuperando el aliento y luego pase un par de veces a dar relevos al frente. En el km 100 llegamos al segundo control. Mitad de ruta.

Mis tres acompañantes decidieron tomárselo con calma y sentarse a comer algo. Yo no quería parar tanto tiempo por lo que unos minutos depués ya estaba de vuelta en la bici.

Un ciclista que se ponía en marcha en ese mismo momento se unió a mi y al poco, sin mediar palabra entre nosotros, ya estábamos dándonos relevos y rodando a buen ritmo. A veces el ciclismo es mágico.

La pena es que no duró mucho. En uno de los relevos yo estaba delante y me di cuenta que hacía tiempo que el otro no pasaba a dar relevos. Miré hacia atrás y vi que no estaba ahí. Había desaparecido, ni idea de que le pasó.

Y en estas me encuentro sólo y sin un plan claro que seguir. Obviamente la situación duró solo unos segundos. En breve hice un par de cálculos y caí en la cuenta que acabar antes de las 15:30 era un buen objetivo. "Solo" tenía que mantener una media de 26km/h (incluyendo paradas), complicado porque ya estaba empezando a pagar los excesos de la primer mitad de la ruta, pero posible si era capaz de gestionarme correctamente.

Cuando ruedo sólo todo me resulta mucho más fácil si tengo un objetivo en mente. Todos mis pensamientos se centran en ese objetivo ¿estoy comiendo bien? ¿voy demasiado rápido/despacio? ¿es el viento de cara más fuerte? ¿debo ponerme en una postura más aerodinámica? Me olvido de todo, me concentro en lo que estoy haciendo y disfruto.

Los últimos 10km antes del tercer control (km 150) me costaron lo suyo (NP 190w, IF 0.65), acabar antes de las 15:30 seguía siendo posible pero tenía menos margen de maniobra.

En el control me encontré con un ciclista, charlé con él brevemente antes de que se pusiera en marcha. Yo decidí alargar un poco la parada (unos 10 minutos en total) para darme tiempo a comer y beber bien.

Los primeros 10k después del control se me siguieron haciendo duros (aunque viendo ahora el perfil veo que picaban para arriba), pero poco a poco me empecé a sentir mejor (aunque viendo ahora el perfil veo que los kms en ese momento picaban para abajo) y sin darme cuenta me encontré a 30km de acabar y pasando un montón de ciclistas otra vez.

He de mencionar que me sorprendió el adelantar a esos ciclistas. No tenían pinta de ser lo suficientemente rápidos para estar tan en la parte delantera de la ruta. También pasé al ciclista que me encontré en el tercer control. Mis piernas parecia que vivían una segunda juventud, parecía que si que iba a acabar antes de las 15:30 y me sentía genial sobre la bicicleta.

De repente atravesé un pueblo y lo reconocí. Esta carretera era la parte final del Flatlands 600 y parte de la parte final de la LEL2013. Una carretera en constante sube y baja que te impide coger ritmo y que te destroza las piernas.

Lo normal es acabar odiando este trozo de carretera, pero sorprendentemente yo lo disfruté. Ataqué cada subida en plato grande y lancé

Me sellaron la brevet a las 15:23 en el último control. Para mi sorpresa me dijeron que era el primero en acabar. Todos esos ciclistas que había adelantado y los que ya estaban en el control eran de la versión corta (100km) de la ruta. Me sorprendió bastante porque casi 8 horas para acabar un 200 mayormente llano (1000m) no es rodar tan rápido. En cualquier caso yo estaba encantado con como me había salido la ruta.

En el control final tenían de todo. Me tomé un sopa de vegetales, un sandwich de jamón y queso, un par de vasos de leche. Charlé con los ciclistas que por allí estaban. Sarah, su amigo y el ciclista de los Dulwitch llegaron y me quedé un poco más para intercambiar impresiones con ellos. Cuando me fui para casa llevaba una sonrisa en mi cara, había pasado un gran día.

 La ruta en Strava

A cuidarse
Javier Arias González

The Horsepower 200

I was hesitant about this 200, I have never ridden it, I thought I wasn't to know anyone and, strange for me, I didn't have a plan to ride it. But I was wrong.

I soon I stepped out of the car I started to meet not only people I have ridden with but also a couple of Wheelers, Gavin and Sarah. What a great surprise. Gavin was going to ride it with his brother and nephew going for the full value and Sarah was riding with her friend (I missed his name). I thought riding full value was too slow for me so I decided to ride with Sarah and her friend.

Problem was that one minute before the start, when we were all lining up waiting for the go. A rider let me know that I had missed one screw in the back rack. It took me a while to sort it out and when I finally was ready to go everyone was already gone. So I decided to push it to see if I was able to catch with Sarah and her friend.

I rode the first hour fairly hard (252w NP, IF 0.87), I passed a lot of riders but no sign of them. At km 47 I arrived to the first control and they were there. I quickly got a ticket as prove of pass and since they were about to go I kept my stop short so I could join them.

The problem was I needed a pee stop so as soon as we left the village and I could found a suitable place I let them go again. When I finished my business jumped back on the bike and pushed it again to try to catch with them.

It turned out they were not riding that slow and it took me longer than expected to caught them. By the time I did they were riding with a third rider, a Dulwich Paragon. And just a minute after I caught up with them my rear mudguard got broken and I had to stop to fix it. There I go pushing it again trying to catch up with the trio that was riding in front of me.

It was not until km75 when I finally joined them. First at the back trying to get my breath back and them taking the occasional turn on the front. At km 100 we made it to the second control.

The trio decided to sit down at the cafe and eat something but I didn't want to stop for long so after a couple of minutes I was back on the bike.

A rider that was also departing at the same time joined me and soon enough, without even saying a word we found ourselves taking turns and riding at a decent pace.

It didn't last very long though. In one of the turns I was at the front, I realized it's been a while since the other rider has passed to take his turn and looked back just to find out he was not there. He had disappear, not sure what happened to him.

There I found myself alone and without a clear plan to follow. But that lasted only a few seconds because very quickly I did some calculations and figured that finishing the ride before 15:30 would be a good objective. I "only" needed to keep an average speed of 26km/h (including stops) challenging because I was already paying for the efforts in the first half but possible if I managed to pace myself correctly.

If you are riding alone everything is easier if you have an objective in mind. All my thoughts were focused towards the goal. How am I eating? Am I going too fast/slow? Isn't this head wind a bit stronger now? Get in the drops to be a bit more aero?

The last 10k before the third control (km 150) I struggled quite a bit (NP 190w, IF 0.65), finishing before 15:30 was still possible but now looked more challenging. At the control I met another rider, chatted with him for a minute and saw him depart while I was drinking my chocolate milk. Ate, drank and tried to recover for 10 minutes and back on the road again.

In the first 10k after that control I was still struggling (now I see in the profile those kms were mostly uphill) but slowly I started to feel better and better (now I see in the profile those kms were mostly downhill) and before I know I was 30km from the finish and again passing lots of riders.

I have to mention that I was surprised I was passing those riders. They didn't look fast or fit enough to be that far ahead into the ride. I also passed the rider that I had met at the third control. Legs appeared to have recovered a bit, it looked as I could finish before 15:30 and I was feeling great on the bike.

Suddenly I passed through a village I recognized that bit of the road. I was now in the road that was the final stretch of the Flatlands 600 and part of the final stretch of LEL2013. And that was relevant because I realized exactly what I had in front of me. A series of ups and downs that prevents you from sustaining any kind of rithm and kills your legs.

It didn't matter to me. Surprisingly I was feeling great and attacked every up on my big chainring and kept pushing it downhill.

My brevet card was stamped at the final control at 15:23. To my surprise I was told I was the first one finishing the ride. All those riders I was passing and those that were already at the final control were riding the short version of the ride (100km). I was very surprised because almost 8 hours to finish a mostly flat 200k is not riding that fast, in any case I was happy with the effort I had done.

The final control was well catered. Had a vegetable soup, a ham and cheese sandwich, a couple of glasses of milk. Talked a bit with the riders that were hanging around. Sarah, her friend and the Dulwich rider arrived around and I extended my stay to catch up with them before I called it a day and headed home with a smile in my face.

This is the ride in Strava

Take care
Javier Arias González