audax: Hills and Mills 100k

The ride was scheduled between a run of rolling work commitments. Busy all week and up to midnight before the off. Dirty grey late January morning. Nursing a bit of a cold. Arrived early enough for a coffee and munch provided. Set off as usual with the customary 'off you go then' shortly before 9.00am.

The keen ones got away sharply while most continued to fettle their fit and sort themselves out for a few hours on a wheel. I peddled off on my own after the first flurry had departed confident in my knowledge of the immediate route ahead. After a couple of km or so the route forked as outward and incoming routes merged. One navigation error and prolonged stupidity had me cycling nearly 20 km before correcting myself. I decided to head back to the car after I backtracked on the correct route to the first control. 30 miles done. The sky had cleared and the sun was shining on my return. A pleasant jaunt out on relatively unfamiliar roads.   

My second did not finish (DNF) audax. Not feeling it really. Too busy with work and adapting to changes with our childcare. Bit fuzzy headed with the cold. No leeway to make time for the extra miles and elevation. This one slipped away from me.