Stevenage SOSS 200k - 26th March 2017

The Start of Summertime Special rides have been organised for many years by the Stevenage Cycling UK (née CTC) group on the day the clocks go forward. Normally it is an audax. This year, following an admin mix-up with Audax UK, it wasn't. This, together with the addition of a 160 km (100 mile ride), part of the Cycling UK Challenge Ride Series, meant that the 200k entry was greatly depleted.
This was a bit of a disappointment as I had hoped to be swept along by large groups into the stiffish headwind at least as far as Thaxted. Instead I found myself alone just past Cromer. Eventually I was joined by a Hitchin Nomad and we cooperated well until near Steeple Bumpstead. Here we became entangled with a sportive ride. I latched on to a nicely paced group, he didn't. This did not help me much as, once the routes diverged, I was left in splendid isolation with only the headwind for company for the 12 mile open stretch along the A1092 though Clare and Cavendish to Long Melford. After that it was mostly uphill to the half-way control at Lavenham. I had never noticed this continuous rise before - that's what a head-wind does to your mind.
The National Trust café in Lavenham has always served nice food but is not cheap and can be slow. This year they came up with a cyclists' deal of a £3 bacon baguette which appeared instantly. This made for a nice quick turn-around with the prospect of a wind-assisted ride back to Stevenage. The easterly wind is quite a novelty for the SOSS and completely changes the aspect of familiar roads. With the normal westerly the A1092 is flat and fast while the plains out of Lavenham on the return are a nightmarish, windy wasteland. This year that A1092 was a demoralising grind while the plains were sunny uplands with glorious views.
I made it back to Stevenage (in slendid isolation throughout) tired but in reasonable order. 4h45m for the 64 miles out to Lavenham, 4h30m for the 66 mile return. Given the wind I was surprised there was so little difference but the return route is pretty lumpy after Thaxted and, by then, I must have been pretty slow uphill.
The nice thing about 200k audaxes compared with the longer distances favoured by some (you know who) is that you get home to sleep in your own bed and follow a proper re-hydration strategy. I have just been reading a book on the science of the Tour-de-France and they emphasize the importance of this. I think fluids, sodium and protein were mentioned. Although they did not explicitly specify beer and peanuts I'm pretty sure that's what they meant. There's loads of stuff in beer so there's almost certain to be some of those electrolytes they go on about too.