London Sight Seer Audax

Well, after my second long distance ride in a week I can say that I am well and truly knackered. I got home this evening after a 75 mile day trip and was so tired that I sat on the loo and remained there for the next 30 mins just taking refuge.

It was my first audax ride - the so called West London Sight Seer. The route took us too and from Hampton Hill via Kingston, Richmond Park, Putney, Westminster, London Bridge, Greenwich, Millenium Dome, Mudchute, The City, Hyde Park, Nottinghill, Hammersmith and Isleworth. A real sight seeing route.

It was a complex ride with 4 pages of detailed route notes but very enjoyable. I stuck with a group of 4 guys and they were an absolute pleasure to ride with. I would certainly recommend it. Quite a slow tiring ride but very interesting, I saw a new and different side to London - it was the first time I'd used the Greenwich foot tunnel for example.

The route came in at 65 miles but we made a few minor errors in route which probably amounted to the extra 5 miles. The riding time was 6 hours and 8 mins although we added extra time with essential tea breaks. That amounts to an average speed of 11 mph - not so great eh?

I damaged Peryl's wheels by getting the rear tire stuck in a narrow cattle grid type thingy, thats the trouble with narrow race tyres. Just scored the rims, no real problem.

I will definately do more audax rides, I found it to be very friendly and quite manageable, there was just one hill on the way into Greenwich park that caused my heart rate to go through the roof. Other than that I managed to keep with the pace.