B2B Audax Weekender with the SuperSam

by


Excellent training weekend  with the SuperSam. 3Down 300km & The Shark 200km. 

Waking at 5:30am, I was in for a sloppy start, as the start of the Audax started in Beaconsfield at 6am. I bounced out of bed in a panic slapped my kit on and put the hammer down to Beaconsfield services. Arriving at around 6:35am, I had missed the intro peloton and I was off solo. I was happy to do this. I prefer to do a bulk of my riding solo. Especially this early in the morning I just wanted to focus and catch SuperSam. He was not pleased about my slack timings. As the sun came out, a few other late stragglers caught up with me and there was a bit of chatter. I was not really interested in conversation so I smoked most of them when the hills came. I found Sam and his fixie friend Joulz at about 100km at the 3rd controls. The rest of the day went quickly. It was not a strenuous ride. I think this was helped by the fact I was very familiar with the roads. After the ride me & Sam rode back to London. This was the most challenging part of the day. Not because of the distance or the terrain, because of the lights and traffic. I am not a conditioned London rider so all the lights and cars turn me autistic.

After arriving at SuperSam’s lair late at around 11pm, it was time for bed. But first a big feed of pasta, yogurt and fruit. Also, time to faff with bike and make sure all technology is charged & ready The Shark audax the next morning. After a few hours kip it was time to get rolling again. We departed shortly after a big bowl of Porridge with trail mix. Legs felt fine and was ready for a Sunny day of climbing. The Shark had a different atmosphere than 3Down. It was much busier with lots of different machines. Everybody & the trendy Rapha London riders eager for a challenging ride through the Kent downs and up again. To me this felt like this was THE London Audax. Overall it was Big day out with climbing up & down consistently (which I like). Felt good exploring unfamiliar Kent and East Sussex, and all the climbs that came with it on such a beautifully sunny day. Arriving back at the Pub for a quick pint for 6am. I dashed for the train. However I did managed to miss it :(


Overall a solid weekend with SuperSam. The experience was confidence boosting knowing I could tackle 600km in 40hours without killing myself.