Apologies that this didn't get posted on the forum in advance. There was some WhatsApp'ing but it may not have reached everyone.
Dave and I rode this one on Saturday. The morning was cool and wet and so like any sensible person (and ignoring that actual sensible people would have stayed in bed) I drove to Cardiff Gate for the 07:30 start. Dave, who is rarely burdened by sense decided to ride there.
The rain had been replaced by mist by the time we rolled out of B&Q's carpark, along with, at a guess, around 40 others. There was an immediate brisk start from a group of Ajax riders, and with a little bit of effort we managed to tag onto them. Very light wind all day and a flat route made for a fairly comfortable (other than an OVW-like penchant for half-length mudguards) group ride to the first control point at the Servern Bridge services. Audax has an 18mph average speed limit and we arrived at the control to the minute as early as is allowed. Any stopping time counts towards the average so we were less troubled by getting anywhere else too early thereafter.
A few bike paths, and one hill long and steep enough to break the group up were between us and the half-way checkpoint at Malmsebury. Last year we sat drinking coffee here for the best part of an hour. Eager to benefit from sitting in a group we follwed the Ajax lead and had Co Op sandwiches, stood on the pavement before getting going again shortly after.
Some massive non-OVW turns on the way back got us to a final stop, and the first sit down of the day outside Greggs in Chepstow. Before pushing on to try and beat the rain coming in from the West. Just about dodged the usual violent assault attempts through Newport and hung on back to Cardiff. The rain came in about 15 minutes from the end to encourage everyone to pick up the pace a little more and find we were the second group home. The first group consisting of one guy on a fixie!
With the rain really hitting hard, I headed for the car and some idot rode back to the Garw! The first non-summer Audax I can say I've enjoyed, and nice to ride with the Ajax group.
