Orwell Wheelers C.C. Audax 200

Early on Sunday morning one man’s vision for an event on Sunday 6th March 2016 became a reality. Orwell’s Leonard Kaye reports back on the Orwell 200 addax..

Orwell Wheelers C.C. Audax 200, 6th March 2016

Early on Sunday morning one man’s vision for an event on Sunday 6th March 2016 became a reality. Sorry no!!!- it wasn’t a special celebration for Mother’s day -it was the Orwell Audax200. Firstly a BIG THANK YOU to all those mothers who unselfishly granted a ‘Day Pass’ for the event.

Cyclists from all over, and 47 from Orwell Wheelers C.C. arrived at Joe’s where they were welcomed and registered by our very own Dave Mc. The Orwell Audax has now become the second most popular Audax in Ireland with 90 participants.

Refreshment were available as we collected our brevet and route sheet cards. These supplied us with a list of checkpoints indicating the controls and directions. We carefully checked our equipment because, as Dave’s email explained, we were expected to be fully self-sufficient between the controls. Dave encouraged us to carry: food, water, spare clothing and tools to meet the unexpected incidents of a day’s cycling. The advice was sound as we certainly needed most of the those items on the list; with our two punctures over the 208 kms and the twelve and half hour long day in the saddle.

For our little, first timers, group of 6, and maybe for many other Audax first timers, it was an unnerving experience to see the speed of departure at the start from Joe’s. A few red traffic lights later the 90 participants were beginning to split into their respective groups. One of our little group recalled the African motto ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ So by the time we arrived at the route sheet instruction ‘11.6, L at slip onto N4, R148/N4 “The West”’ we had settled into our group’s rhythm.

How does 832 laps of a velodrome or 6-12 hours in a spinning class sound? That may be OK if super endurance fitness is what you are after. The Audax model offers a different endurance experience.

The words “Audax -Ireland- Randonneur- Long Distance Cycling” on the medal offer a clue to this difference. In this Audax type of cycling; the ‘journey person’ gets a chance to: banter with the lads returning from a late night party, to say ‘hi’ to the early morning ladies jogging club, and to give a ‘thumbs up’ to the members of local cycling clubs, sporting their club colours, on their Sunday morning spins. That Audax journey gives a particular chance to experience the mixture of beauty and sadness to be seen on the route: the homeless man in the doorway in Maynooth, the remaining grey bones of the Celtic Tiger in the half built mansions, and the abandoned: mills, petrol stations and shops in the little towns along the way. In our small group of qualified apprentice cyclists of the Wicklow hills, we collectively found the long straight flat roads on the first half of the route; tough on the neck and shoulders. For example, on one section on the day’s journey; the route card instructions indicated that it was straight; with no left or right turn for the next 23.2 kilometers.

The weather forecast indicated; initially dry with a head wind going out. In the latter return half of the route we were expecting a tail wind which would be accompanied by rain. A few prayers were offered to the ‘gods of weather’ trading off a sacrifice of the returning tail wind; for no rain in return. However, the communication networks must have been clogged with all the ‘Garmin’ activity, and somehow the gods misunderstood and took the air out of our tyres instead; not once – but twice -from our sacrificial lamb -‘Warren’s bike’. It was, however, for the most part a dry day.

There was an interesting weave in the route as we criss-crossed over the humpbacked bridges of the train lines and rivers, and also over the newly built fly-overs on the motorways. And yes, the beauty was enjoyed of the stretches and the locks of the canal; with their stone crafted arched and metal lifting bridges.

And well done to Dave for organising so many coffee opportunities along the route; these were duly taken.

As we neared home we enjoyed the manicured plains of Kildare and eventually, the return of the rolling twisting roads of the foothills of the Dublin Mountains.

As we trans versed the ‘Plains for the Kildare’ a line from the song came to mind – “And the gentlemen did shout at the sight of the gallant riders”. One of the beauty moments of the day, on those plains, was for me the sight of the snow- capped tops of our beloved Dublin and Wicklow hills. However, as the light faded – so did the humming – we dug deep, and looked closely at the Audax route sheet card, with about 30 Kms to go, ‘R at X Caution!’

The banter, in our little group, was great as we planned and chatted about the upcoming training for our next great adventure together – the Wicklow 200. It certainly did not feel like the twelve and a half hours it took us to complete the 208 km route.

And finally our very last set of route instructions: ‘208- L at the lights under bridge -R117- Windy Arbour’. As we turned the corner it was a relief to see the lights on in Joe’s and a delight to have Dave there again to: greet us, sign our cards, offer refreshments and distribute the well – earned Audax Ireland medal. Dave also obliged by taking a picture which captured another moment of joy from our day. The weight of that substantial medal which we received, on completion, will always be a reminder of the Audax challenge achieved.

Now a few days later – the whole Audax experience has been fermenting in my thoughts. I can defiantly see the attraction of this ‘Randonneur’ way of cycling. And the desire to complete another one is simmering away. In addition, I can now defiantly answer the question- “Why would anyone want more than: one bike, or two or even three or …?”

Cheers and thanks Dave for a great experience, also not forgetting the mothers for the ‘Day-Pass’. And thanks to: Alan Gordon, Rachel Campbell, Rosie Leavy, Sinead Brennan and Warren Cray for a great day of ‘Happy Cycling’. Leonard Kaye

Here are a few photos and a video of the day.