So I completed a self-supported cycle tour from Cambridge to Rome with some friends: 2,100 kilometres with 19,000 metres of climbing, over 18 days.
I wrote it up on the CTC Cambridge blog: start here.
Excerpt: So I completed a self-supported cycle tour from Cambridge to Rome with some friends: 2,100
Partly as a aide memoire, here’s a list of the things I always carry in my Carradice saddle bag. Some of this stuff may not be necessary for shorter rides, but I wouldn’t want to get used to riding light, now would I?
Extra stuff is added for very long rides (e.g. an extra inner tube and electrical items) and this list does not cover clothing.
What are the odds?
I suppose it was during the ultrasound scan that I first realised something was really up. Here I was, having my bladder and kidneys scanned, as a result of two years, on and off, of what we Brits might term “waterworks problems”. We were chatting away (“Good drainage! — yes that looks fine” … small-talk like that) when the scanner reached my right kidney.
I had to ride an audax in November to keep my RRtY attempt alive. With the month drawing to an end and reasonable weather in prospect and I chose the “Cambridge Markets”, one of Nick Wilkinson’s excellent series of permanent Audax routes from Cambridge.
The Départ: Co-op in Girton
And so at 07:13 I found myself setting off from Girton through the Cambridge traffic, which was more than usually clogged because of the sinkhole in the centre of town. However, this did not impede my progress and before long I was at Quy ready to join the busy A1303 towards Newmarket. Because of the heavy rush hour traffic I turned on a large red rear flashing light, which felt – on an audax – mildly transgressive.