Hopstock 200km Audax (by Paul F )
Three NEV’s - Tony (mono tone) Masala, Nick (the swallower of wasps) Latchford and Paul ( Pablo Eskobar) Fournaise set off from the start point at The Compasses, Littley Green at 8am armed with their brevet cards. There were probably about 50 other riders. We were fully prepared and had read the rules for the ride & accordingly we all had mudguards fitted, but soon found plenty of riders without them or helmets and one guy even wearing sandals !
The aim - to complete a 200km (124 miles) course, collecting various info and submitting this at ‘control points’, proving we’d followed the route, gained the info and therefore earning a stamp on our brevet cards.
We set off and after a while were at our first info point (find the name of the first pub on the right as you enter Thaxted at mile 13)
Onwards and now warmed up, we continued out of Essex, into Hertfordshire and onto less familiar roads where three became four, as we were joined by a red kite who flew about 20 ft above us for several hundred yards. Maybe he was admiring the wasp sting on the back of Paul’s leg which had happened a few minutes earlier and been flicked away, much to Nick’s disgust who thinks such critters should be enjoyed with a pint!
The miles were getting eaten up, as were the jelly beans, bananas, gels and soreens.
Hertfordshire turned into Bedfordshire and mile 50 found us at our first control point and official pit stop at Jordan’s Mill (of breakfast cereal fame) on the outskirts of Biggleswade.
Info submitted and brevet cards duly stamped, we decided to push on without refuelling as the cafe was packed.
We then reached our next info stop in Marston Moretaine at mile 65 (the home village of Sir Captain Tom) and having taken pictures of the blue post box in his honour we got a till receipt from the cash machine, proving our presence and found that the village store was the only one in existence to not sell chocolate bars!
Energy deficient and over optimistic, the sight of jet liners, undercarriage lowered, made us wish for Stansted, but this was only Luton airport we were now passing.
More jelly babies, gels and revels got us going again, passing Centre Parks and finding the much needed pit stop and control point at Spokes Cafe, Codicote at mile 90.
A fantastic cyclist cafe this one and a request from the owner, for my sweaty NEV cap to add to his collection on display. With the three NEV’s now refuelled on 3 cheese and marmite toasties and coffee, we had our brevets stamped again and made use of the smallest outside toilet known to man !
Next, a bit of drama, having come across a road closure where bolt croppers were required to get through (we had none) we had to detour 1/2 mile through a wood. Much muttering came from Nick and much joy from Tony, who was on a gravel bike and bunny hopping over bridges.
That conquered without incident, we then came across a ford where again Tony was in his element on his gravel bike. Myself and Nick wished him well (as it was revealed earlier, that he can’t actually swim) and took the footbridge.
Now it was just a case of one more info stop and getting home. The 100 mile mark clicked past on three garmins almost unnoticed.
The odd bit of tailwind assisted us on the never ending climbs and passing villages with weird names. Soon enough we began to recognise some landmarks and when aircraft going into Stansted appeared, thoughts and chat began to turn towards a promised cold beer with condensation running down the glass back at The Compasses.
We were now again low on fuel and fluid so we shared what we had between the three of us to get ourselves home.
Once in Spellbrook, at mile 110, we suddenly remembered we had to find the name of the pub on the right and began to think we’d past it unnoticed. The word ‘google’ might have been mentioned, however, the pub was ahead of us and soon written on our brevet cards.
Eventually, we rounded the last corner and made the last climb as The Compasses and the final control point came into view.
The pub was absolutely rammed with all sorts of groups present and getting our long awaited pint was gonna take forever, so we got our brevets stamped for the final time and handed them in with a bit of an anti-climax and a raging thirst.
This concluded our Hopstock 200km Audax and 6000 ft of climbing.
Would I do it again - hell yeah, a good laugh and great day out with the lads.
Well done fellas sounds like a tough but fun day out was had , the photos look great thanks for sharing ,
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