19\03\16 - The Pork Pie 200km Audax

The first & last sections were billed as flat with all the hills in the middle hundred.  And so it came to pass, although the weather-fairy could have been a bit kinder with the crosswinds.  Alex & I left Girton at 08:00 and made good time on the cycle path\busway to St Ives.  From there it was lanes & B roads to Oundle.  After a (very) brief respite we carried on under the Harringworth viaduct on to Melton Mowbray where we indulged in a plate of chips (no, not a pork pie).  The return out of MM had been promised as very hilly but it wasn't too bad as we undulated our way along fairly traffic-free lanes.  The hill into Ridlington was nowhere near as problematic (can't believe I'm writing this) as we had been led to believe and eventually got back to Oundle.  On to Huntingdon via Alconbury.  By now I was seriously knackered and even AP was slightly less than sprightly but fortunately the road then flattened and we got back after 215kms at 19:05.  PW.