"The Mere 200" January 23rd 2011

On a dark morning in mid January a small crowd gathered in the village hall at Cheadle. With no beards we stood out like a four Nuns at a bachelor party but despite our lack of facial hair they let us sign on and we helped ourselves to the hospitality.

This being my first Audax and not having accumulated many miles this year I was quite apprehensive, 200K is not a walk in the park. I needn't have worried. Richie was on hand to provide directions, the weather was being kind and at 8.00am we departed. We latched onto a group who seemed to know where they were going until Richie got his bearings, at this point we were able to up the pace a little. We arrived at the first check point (Delamere Forest 48.5Km) in no time.

Already looking forward to lunch we pressed on down familiar Cheshire lanes. "Richie, do we come down here on a club run?" enquired Arthur repeatedly at every new turn in the road. I also recognised the passing scenery but didn't really know where we were and neither did Arthur (he told me later), as the chatter continued I noticed Mikes massive bulge. "Hey Mike, you've got a massive bulge!" I shouted."I know, just stop staring at it" he replied with concern. About 3 miles from Press Heath and fifteen minutes after I first mentioned it the bulge exploded and blew a hole the size of Wales through his rear tire. Usually if your tire explodes you're in a whole load of poo, only Duck Tape can save you now and luckily Arthur searched through his handbag and had some. After a quick fix with the tape and a new tube we finally arrived for lunch at the truck stop cafe in Press Heath.

Arthur managed to scrounge Mike a new tire by buying dinner for a fellow Audaxer with Mike's money. Unfortunately after 20 minutes of frustration the tire would not go on and Mike wanted his money back. He put the duck tape repaired tire back on and crossed his fingers. On the road to the finish we again picked up the group we had tagged onto earlier and they had a massive crash, bringing down two of their riders and me. Bastards! Thankfully no one was seriously hurt, although there should have been a few rolling around on the floor OSCAR's awarded, drama queens. Moving on, we were now closing in on the finish. The light faded and then we were in darkness. The lanes in the dark take on a completely new complexion and made for a thrilling end to a decent days cycling. After more hospitality with the beardo's we split. Do it again? yeh no worries, see you next year!

SR