A Journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step

Chippenham Wheelers 50k Audax 2008

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Running

Headway UK

Headway Swindon

Further Reading /
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Touching the Void

It's not about the Bike

The Lore of Running

This account was written for the Chippenham Wheelers newsletter, and is reproduced here unchanged.

It was a bright but cool morning as I cautiously rode to the Bath Road car park to the start of the Audax. I should have remained cautious until I stopped because I made my entrance into the car park just after my bike having skidded on a patch of ice.

Eric said that due to the icy nature of the roads in the lanes we could ride the B4069 to the Dauntsey turn off. He announced that we could start and there was a distinct ‘I don’t want to go first’ feeling from the group. I followed the first group as they rode out onto the road; they were riding faster than I wanted to so I dropped back expecting more to catch up with me. The group were still in sight as they turned into the Langley Burrell road but by the time I turned off they were out of sight.

As I rode I rethought my decision to use the lanes which were a bit too slippery for me to feel comfortable cycling, so instead of heading through Foxham I went straight onto Sutton Benger and the B road.

I kept catching occasional glimpses of a couple of cyclist in front of me. I wondered how many people had opted for the B road because I had not seen anyone since the Langley Burrell turn.

As I crossed the motorway bridge I saw the 2 cyclists stopped at the junction having slid off on ice. It was Ian and his daughter Ish(?) We rode together to the checkpoint at Brinkworth for a cup of tea and cake.

I asked if they minded if I tagged along with them and as we rode it became apparent the Ian knew me. It turned out that we had met on several occasions but related to running which I why I though I knew him but did not know from where.

The sun had melted most of the frost for the second half of the ride which made for more pleasant cycling. The ride back was uneventful, we met a few of the other riders at Morrisons at the end and I rode part of the way home with Vic who was going to Melksham.