Well, this one wasn’t pretty but it’s done, and now I only have one more to do, and then I’m done. Unlike some folks who carry on their Randonneur Round the Year streaks for decades at a time, I think I might vote myself a month off in March.

Dave RRtY 11-2
Dave RRtY 11-2 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

My plan to ride a nice flat DIY route with Matt on his fixed gear only half came to fruition: I did the route (sort of), but our diaries didn’t line up, so it was Iwein’s wheel I found myself sat on for a good proportion of our amble through Bristol, and Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire, and back home. I threw another climb in, up to Minchinhampton Common from Stroud, bringing the total number of actual real climbs in the ride to two, or three if you count the slog up to Kingsdown Golf Club that’s only steep for a short bit. Even the Hammerhead Karoo, which is normally pretty keen to show you a gradient profile, could only find six in 208km, and three of them were less than 30m of ascent. So yeah, flat.

Dave RRtY 11-6
Dave RRtY 11-6 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Flat brings its own problems. Physically it’s less taxing but mentally I found this one a real slog. The first bit along the Bristol-Bath cycle path and out into the Severn lowlands was fine: I was fresh, and plenty of it was known to me. We passed Hill Village Hall, where at the end of March I intend to eat my bodyweight in cake, probably on the 100km Bristol Bash rather than the 200km Butt Buster that was my second RRtY ride. But there was no cake to be had that day.

Dave RRtY 11-8
Dave RRtY 11-8 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

At Berkeley we were too early for the usual caff and in the end found ourselves at Berkeley Castle visitor centre, which henceforth will be the only place I ever stop in Berkeley: It’s lovely and spacious, the chairs are comfy, the food is excellent and really good value, and it has underfloor heating. The flat stopped an hour after that with the slog up to Minchinhampton Common, and then it was mostly downhill to South Cerney and the lakes, where the second cafe I’d picked was also closed and we ended up with toasted sandwiches in The Lodge at Lake 12, just over halfway. 

Dave RRtY 11-12
Dave RRtY 11-12 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

The next 60km to the third stop in Chippenham were not in any way enjoyable. The day had dawned grey and foggy and still, which is a long way from the worst you can expect in mid-January, but it gets wearing. There are no views; it’s just you and the road, which when the roads are nice isn’t as bad. But the roads from Fairford back to Chippenham were for the most part not nice: flat, straight, occasionally busy, dull B roads. I got the feeling that even without the fog there wouldn’t be much to look at. On top of that the toastie hadn’t had the required effect and I had to stop and steal an emergency flapjack from Iwein to get me through the last hour.

Even with all this we’d made decent time, and by the time we got to the Rivo Lounge in Chippenham for a well-earned bowl of soup and a pint of coke, it wasn’t yet dark. I never seriously doubted I’d get round, although I’d been pretty grumpy for the third bit, and the run-in didn’t hold any surprises: all roads I’ve ridden many times before. Even the final climb up to the south edge of Bath in the increasingly heavy rain didn’t feel like too much of a struggle. 

Dave RRtY 11-9
Dave RRtY 11-9 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Eleven-twelfths of the way there, then, and one more to do before I can claim my cloth badge. The scheduling gods have decreed that the first audax I did – the Ultimate Gospel Pass – could also be my last, because it’s snuck into the end of February from the start of March. It won’t be, though, because it was really, REALLY hard. I might do Alfred’s Goat on the 21st, or another DIY, I’m not sure yet. But I will do one. And then RRtY can do one. For a bit.

208km / 1,600m / 10h50