"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

Not the Mendip Flip-Flop - March 29th 2024 - Bristol - Wells - Cheddar - Bristol

I signed up for a 100 mile Audax Century-Ride as a way of kick-starting my training for CzechMan in June, but as the event approached I caught one of the endless series of colds that were doing the rounds and decided to sit this one out. I'd managed to evade the chest infections and covid variants and even the common or garden coughs and colds since the nasty one that ruled me out of the Helvellyn Tri and the Exmoor 50k in September, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I had the GPX file, courtesy of Mendip Flip-Flop organiser Oliver Iles, so I decided to ride the route solo on Good Friday. What else are days off for?

Of course the 100 miler was really 118 once you added in the mileage from home, round the ring road cyclepath to Warmley Station, so with this as the start of my training for a 90k ride in a 5-and-a-half hour race (hopefully), I was keeping my options open in terms of covering the whole route. What I definitely was determined to do though, was to tackle the three monster-ish climbs of the route - Harptree Hill, Ebbor Gorge and Draycott Steep. That would be the culmination of my 60-climbs challenge, just ahead of my self-imposed deadline of 13 April - exactly 60 years since Sri Chinmoy arrived in the western world from India.

I set off at around five past seven on a chilly morning with clear skies and the forecast threatening a few waves of wind and rain later. I had plenty of layers on as this was the first long ride since ATGIG several months ago and I was not expecting to maintain much of a speed. Round the ring road I gradually warmed to the task and enjoyed the signs of the burgeoning Spring around me. What I should have been doing at this stage was practicing feeding too - so crucial to a Half-Iron Tri as well as a long Audax, but I didn't have my mind fully focussed and let it slip. That lack of purpose was to pay me back later with the usual physical fatigue and tired mind, but it's better to mess up a training session and learn a lesson from it than breeze through the training and mess up the race. Well, that's what I'm telling myself now anyway.

Once through Bath on the cycleway I had to follow a tricky detour around one of the closed tunnels on the 2 Tunnels path - that included having to dismount and hike the bike up a narrow and muddy path with thick tree-roots before re-mounting ready for the second tunnel. The lights seemed bright and the piped music was off, but as per usual it had that surreal feel to it. People call this one of the local wonders of the Cycling World and I tend to agree. Emerging back into daylight I misread the Wahoo and went too far down the extension of the path at Midford, then had to double back to get on to the road. The Tucking Mill viaduct had amazing views, and out on the lanes, with numerous and tough hills to negotiate, I was lucky enough to be riding through new and unfamiliar territory which is always uplifting. This area around Paulton and Radford Mill is one I only remember exploring once before, and that was on different roads, so every corner I turned brought something new. The valley of the Cam Brook wound on for quite a while, the brook itself swollen from recent rain (and 2024 has been a year of endless, almost ceaseless rain so far) and the villages threaded along it very serene and charming. At some point on this stretch the wind strengthened, blowing strongly from ahead and making it hard to keep up any decent speed. A harsh hailstorm broke too, then it slackened off into merely heavy rain. Miles were slowly passing and hours too, eventually bringing me out by the Chew Valley lake where I approached an old and familiar foe in the shape of Harptree Hill. By this time cold, with the rain having penetrated my gloves and my headgear, I was not in great shape to enjoy the challenge, but I stopped to grab a photo (you can't see the hill, but it proves I was there) before grinding my way up. Velo Viewer tells me this one had stats of Climb category: 4th; Distance: 1.1 km; VVOM: 2.67; Average gradient: 10.2%; Maximum gradient: 15.9%; Elevation gain: 113 m. It felt much harder, but that was the 3+ hours of toil in the legs of course.

By this stage, through the previously mentioned and pretty foolish lack of fuelling, I was turning the pedals slowly and feeling drained and empty. Some days it goes that way I guess - perhaps I hadn't taken enough account of an ultramarathon 4 weeks before, very few miles on the bike for several months before that (through the endless rains of the winter) and the recent cold that had led to me missing the Audax. Whatever the reason, I was toast as I got up on to the roof of the Mendips and rode into a merciless headwind that I knew would torture me all the way to the descent into Wells. And so it proved, but the rain was only intermittent and I managed to keep my core temperature up. I ticked off the landmarks of this road I've ridden so many times - Castle of Comfort, Hunters Lodge, Stockhill Wood with its beautiful lakes and forest - then after an age I was rolling down the sylvan tunnel of the Old Bristol Road into Wells. My numb brain took me the wrong way at one point but only for a few metres before doubling back on to the right route - in to the old Market Square past the gaps where you can glimpse the amazing Cathedral. I stopped at Parsons Bakery, ordered a hot veggie pastie and a flat white then got my wet hat and gloves off to recharge and re-warm for a few minutes. At this point I engaged plan B - get the big hills in but cut the route short - seeing as I was feeling finished with more than half the ride still ahead. I had packed a spare buff so I replaced my sodden drilete hat with that and felt instantly warmer and less trashed. My spare gilet went on too, so I was wrapped in a stupid number of layers, but everything helped a little. Even pulling my waterproof overgloves on over soaking wet gore gloves made things better. Fortified by the food and the caffeine I set off - not out along the Levels to Sweets Cafe for the official turnaround, but on the old road to Wookey where I re-joined the route of the Audax at the foot of Ebbor Gorge. Climb number 2 was another old favourite and for once the photo I took at the bottom catches some of the steepness.

This one was miraculously dry - had the previous storms missed this edge of the Mendips? Whatever the reason I was grateful that I could negotiate the hill which VeloViewer logs with numbers of Climb category: 3rd; Distance: 2.4 km; VVOM: 4.25; Average gradient: 8.1%; Maximum gradient: 17.4%; Elevation gain: 195 m. The payoff for the challenge of the climb here is the chance to grab views on the way up which really are incredible. Especially if you love Somerset as I do - the Levels, the Tor on the horizon with a halo of dark cloud, the Bristol Channel far in the distance. The view from the top is pretty good too, but the teasers you get through gateways on the climb help your mind disassociate from your fatigue. Up top, I rode steadily through Priddy, past the hurdles, remembering that according to local tradition, Those Feet in ancient times had walked upon these mountains green, before the long, twisty descent of Cheddar Gorge. I held up the traffic a bit here as the road was wet and lethal and I was in no mood to lean too hard into the bends, but at the foot of the descent came Edelweiss, with its takeaway hatch offering tea and a chocolate brownie without the hassle of securing the bike and having to go inside. The tea was unremarkable (I'm a bit of a tea afficionado) but the brownie - perhaps because of my physical state - was pretty memorable. Clearly home-made, rich and dark, with icing too. How many people ice their brownies? These guys are a cyclist's friend in need. And I was in need of energy.

Next up was the final challenge of my Sixty Hills in memory of Guru's 60 Year Arrival Anniversary, so with the sugar still zinging in my bloodstream I rode a gratuitous extra hill (following the Audax route which was studiously avoiding A roads where possible) then came down into Draycott at the foot of Draycott Steep. As per usual the photo doesn't do it justice but - see those trees on the skyline? - yep, that's where it goes. And then a bit higher too before you get any relief. The stats for this one are Climb category: 3rd; Distance: 1.9 km; VVOM: 5.40; Average gradient: 11.1%; Maximum gradient: 20.1%; Elevation gain: 214 m. I stopped just long enought to meditate on the final challenge of sixty and snap the poor but authentic photo, then I began the approach.

As the climb began I decided to save a gear or two for the steeper sections, but that decision was soon reversed as my legs were forgetting the recent injection of calories and remembering only the several hours of hills they had just endured. The only way was to turn off the thoughts and engage the human powered winch, then slowly and consciously keep the pedals turning. The 20% sections were tough going and at times I was telling myself I might have to break my usual rule and stop half way. That's a dangerous game though - means you have to restart on the hill which can be very tricky. Once again I had the surprising experience of a dry road surface on the steepest sections, allowing me out of the saddle in short bursts to rest the usual climbing muscles and torture some different ones. It went on a long time and the top didn't seem to be getting any closer, then all of a sudden I realised I was over the worst of it and reeling in the less-steep, upper section on to the Mendip heights. As occasional cars passed I was aware that I didn't look anything like a cool cyclist conquering a well-known local climb, more like a beginner wrapped up in multiple waterproofs who had taken on too much and was wasted as a result, so the whole experience was humbling. At the same time, reaching the top, after not being sure I could make it, was deeply satisfying. That was climb 60. That was the end of the challenge. Now the remaining trial of the day was to make it home.

With the climbs ticked off and the new territory around Cam Brook explored, I decided to take Route One to Filton which meant giving google the instruction to head Home and following my phone instead of the Wahoo. I left the GPS device running though, as I was keen to see how long it would last with the display on and the navigation working. The google route home went through the Chew Valley (past the lake but with a tailwind this time, thankfully!) clocking a surprising speed over 5 miles of 17.5. That was encouraging. From Chew Magna I followed google along Dark Lane and then a gradual ascent contoured above the Chew Valley, and remembered I had finished a year-long challenge on this same road, coincidentally, several years before. Checking back I realise it was the last ride of my AAARTY - 12 monthly rides each with AAA climbing points - https://www.sacredsteps.co.uk/01_2019_OverTheMendips_july2019.htm.

I've noticed before that on the bike I have trouble reviving once I've let my system get depleted - it's much more pronounced when riding than when running, where the Lazarus experience always seems possible if you manage to absorb some calories and maybe take a walk break. So I inched my way back from Chew Valley to a twisty cycle route that comes stealthily into South Bristol by a series of old railway paths, like tunnels under the trees, and convoluted detours between housing developments. This dumped me out at Arnos Vale where the route home was the unfamiliar St Phillips Causeway (which I would never plan to ride) and the over-familiar Concorde Way. Back home I saw the ride had been 90 miles and had taken 8 hours 17 minutes including stops. That shows how tough the hills were and how tired I was before the start and how poorly I planned the fuelling.

After a tough ride like that though, you often feel more satisfaction than when it goes well. Many times I've set out expecting someting to be easier than it turned out to be, then had to soldier on with unco-operative body and nagging mind. This was one of those, but the memory that will abide is of finishing Draycott Steep when I wasn't at all sure I could get up, weaving below the impressive Pinnacles at Cheddar, discovering the lovely Cam Brook Valley and of course - that amazing chocolate brownie.

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