During the wet and cold autumn of 2023, the idea of gently rolling hills, warm summer days, and exploring somewhere new got me to look at the audax calendar for events outside my usual stomping ground. The Wander Wye event appealed on many levels, not least because it takes a wide loop from London out through Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and Bannau Brycheiniog, before returning via Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire (again), Wiltshire, Hampshire before finally reaching Surrey and London. The organiser promised free overnight accommodation at the ‘scout hut’ start… and a feast on returning. A feast which included some local Kingston real ale: how utterly fabulous! Audax organisers really do go above and beyond to make events something to remember. I booked myself onto the ride, bought return train tickets, and a room at the Severn View Travelodge. My 600km audax for 2024 was planned, and it would be awesome.
The fact that I had bitten off more than I could chew only dawned on me with a fortnight to go.
As I read (and re-read) the route details there was one problem I couldn’t get around: the overnight control I’d booked at the Severn crossing was just over 400km into the ride. This distance, combined with Bannau Brycheiniog, would mean I would be struggling to reach my sleep stop until about 4am. It was just too far for me. Well, not too far, but too far to have fun… I knew from experience that beyond about 350km I’m battling to reach a rest stop. 400km would be a slog too far and I would be miserable on the bicycle. With a heavy heart – I let Richard Evans know.
Despite pulling out, I still had a return train ticket to London, and a hotel booking at the Severn Crossing. I had the weekend off work, so the obvious answer was to go on a bit of a tour of my own. I was no longer doing the Wander Wye… I was Wandering Off.
I think the combination of train and bicycle is a great way to adventure, so from Leeds I was whisked down to London Kings Cross and out into afternoon traffic. I had bought myself a Friday and Sunday night at Raynes Park Travelodge to bookend my cycling holiday. The route from Kings Cross to Raynes Park was a veritable tour of London sights: I particularly enjoyed riding around Westminster and loved the feeling of buzzing along the embankment with dozens of other people on bikes.
So what was I going to do instead of a 600km audax? My plan was to do two audaxes instead, both DIYs. A 300km ride to the pre-booked hotel at the Severn Crossing, and a 200km ride back to London. I would set off earlier than the calendar event and follow the 200km route to Worcester, then instead of another 200km around Wales, turn south for a flat 100km to my hotel. I hoped to get there by sunset. After a good night’s sleep, getting back to London would be a mash-up of the London-Wales-London audax, and the final bit of the Wander Wye into Raynes Park.
I left London on the Saturday morning at 5am, and in the emptiness of sleepy England, had pretty much reached Windsor before I saw a car. As I passed Windsor Castle I mused upon whether I was going to take many pictures today, and realised that I didn’t want to.
The Wander Wye route to Worcester was idyllic. Richard Evans has found some genuinely quiet lanes with wide open views. Compared to cycling in West Yorkshire’s moorlands, this southern England countryside was simply rich rolling farmland. There were no challenging hills to slow me down, and I found myself riding at a much faster pace than I can normally achieve. Although I was faster, I did expect to be caught by riders on the calendar event, and sure enough a group of five passed me as I arrived in Stow-on-the-Wold. Chatting to them outside a delicatessen, I discovered that three of them were doing their first 600km Audax. I expect they were finished in under 30 hours.
I left Richard’s route at Worcester’s Tesco, it was 3pm and I was 200km into my ride, but I felt I needed a proper rest and refuel. I stayed in Tesco’s cafe for about 45 minutes, eating and refreshing myself with multiple coffees and cola.
Leaving the Wander Wye route, and heading south, I was basically taking a shortcut to the Severn Crossing, and heading for my hotel rather than trying to cover another 200km before bed. As a bonus, as I turned south I gained a tailwind, and with the flat roads I found myself grinning from ear to ear as I bowled along the lanes south of Worcester. The National Cycle Network had a couple of surprises for me though – especially the Mercian Way near Baughton: 110 metres of deep mud. Even hike-a-biking my way through the nettles I managed to get the wheels, brakes and mudguards so caked with sticky mud that I had to stop, remove the wheels and try to clean my bike with a stick and water from my drinks bottle.
When routes take lovely quiet lanes, the downside is an absence of cornershops, cafes, pubs and petrol stations. I was out of water and overheating in the late afternoon sunshine, so when I heard some laughter and party sounds coming from a driveway behind a hedge – I popped my head through the gate and asked if they could refresh my water bottles. I had a good laugh with these lovely strangers at Ashleworth, and they even offered my a pint of Cider when they found out how far I was cycling.
Arriving at the Severn Travelodge just before sunset felt like the perfect gift at the end of my day. The sky was darkening blue and fading into orange at the horizon where the sun backlit the clouds. I was sorry feeling smug at the joy of reaching an overnight stop earlier than expected; hot food and a comfortable bed waited for me. I slept deeply.
The following day, after a full 12 hours off the bike and a solid nights sleep, I set off once again to cycle back to London. If I had ‘wandered off’ to the Severn Crossing, I was now ‘wandering back’ to London – and again I had a tailwind to make life easy.
My second day of cycling was also photograph-free. I remember some steep hills and a long drag to Membury Services. I remember the build up of traffic once I drew level with Reading. I remember that the tailwind made it all very easy.
So I failed to start a 600km Audax: but I had a wonderful weekend doing 500km of audaxing broken into two rides. I love this approach, and had a brilliant night of sleep. I do still have a 600km event to complete if I want to get a Super Randonneur award this year, but I have no desire to make my life hard right now. If I do complete an event it will have to be the easiest 600km ride I’ve ever done. I don’t know if one exists.