audax: Moonrakers and Sunseekers 300k through the night

Moonrakers and Sunseekers. A 300km audax. A long distance bike ride through the night. Setting of at 10.00pm. Heading straight out of Bristol, through Bath and onto Devizes, passing The Crammer where legend has it Wiltshire folk were caught by the Excisemen raking for ‘the moon’.

The story goes that a group of Wiltshire smugglers heard the Excise Men approaching the town, therefore they had to quickly conceal the contraband brandy they were carrying by rolling the barrels into the Crammer. Once the Excise Men had passed, the smugglers needed to recover the barrels using a rake.

The Excise Man were suspicious and therefore came back to take a second look. Catching the men with rakes they demanded to know what they were doing. Not being stupid, one pointed to the reflection of the moon in the water and said that they were trying to rake out the cheese from the water.

The Excise Men left, laughing at how stupid Devizes people can be. However it was the smugglers who had the loudest laugh as their quick thinking had stopped them being caught.

source - Devizes Town Council

From Devizes continuing down the Avon Valley through Salisbury and edging The New Forest, along the coast to Poole Harbour.

Sunseekers come into view at Poole; luxury yachts built at Poole Quay. Heading north then and through the chocolate box village of Milton Abbas and past the Abbey in the Dorset Hills. Into Somerset passing Glastonbury Tor and across The Levels to Axbridge. The Strawberry Line railway path is the way through The Mendips to stop at The Strawberry Line Cafe before returning to Bristol.

I rode with my friend Dave along with about 150 others spread out along the way. Bit drizzly in places, never got cold though. The stretch past the New Forest along the A238 was a bit of a drag. Long straight chip sealed road.

Things got better after Ringwood. We were passed by but quickly tagged along with a group of a dozen or so others for the next 25km into Bournemouth. From there along the Promenade towards the control at Poole where breakfast awaited.

I was now very hungry. Sugar levels had dropped. I was running on empty and needed to pee. I could have stopped. Doing so meant losing the advantage of being carried along with the group. We stayed with the group for just a bit too long. Passed by the control in error and kept on for another 7km before Dave had the good sense to haul up, turn us around and cycle back to where food and respite awaited. I was at this point grumpy and not good company to be in.

That totally passed with the food, tea and an hour off the bike.

Around 6am we were off again for the ride north west back to Bristol. With dawn on the way and the half way mark passed I was enjoying being on my bike again.

The route now was more scenic and lumpy. Being awake for over 24 hours at this point added a special something to the mix. Though I have completed plenty of long rides there are times in each which challenge and test me. It does not look pretty. Snot streaming from my nose, laboring up hills, grimacing with the effort.

Ultimately it comes down to keeping on going. Being okay with my abilities and struggle. Two quotes come to mind -

Comparison is the thief of joy - Theodore Roosevelt

and

The value of achievement lies in the achieving - Albert Einstein

It helped to remember both of these at points along the way.

The final 30km from Yatton to Bristol was a joy. Zipping through the urban streets and lanes towards the end was a lot of fun. I was very happy to have risen to the challenge and having got another long ride done. Dave was a great ride buddy and cheerful throughout.

We reached arrivée at 3.55pm. 18 hours after we left what was départe the night before. 14 hours on and 4 hours off the bike on the way. I am already thinking about getting another in before Christmas. To modify a quote from James Clear, fundamentally, riding long distances on a bicycle is less about doing something than it is about becoming someone.