Day 220 - APV Night Rider

A night ride with 16 good friends of the AVP is a particularly special occasion. I have surprised myself, having very much dismissed such an activity when it was suggested towards the end of summer, in really enjoying the experience!

We headed out as the sun set, through Colyton towards Offwell. This 3 mile climb out of Colyton is a steep one and it was not long before the group split with Ed racing ahead on his new racer. Having left his pannier clad, flag waving tourer at home, Ed was feeling the benefit of lightened aluminium frame and carbon forks, just as I did a few months back after first riding out on my Roubaix; a euphoric feeling!

10 miles in, just before we hit the junction with the A35, we punctured. I say 'we' as it is a very communal affair when any one of us suffers this unavoidable cycling event. The manufacturer who develops a truly puncture proof tyre will be a hero indeed, but just as with our oil companies who may know the secret of renewable energy, inner tube producers would never equally pursue such a profit destroying innovation!

While the experienced puncture fixers set to work on the tyre, with the efficiency of a Ferrari pit crew, the rest of us huddled like Emperor Penguins in an attempt to protect ourselves from the now plummeting temperatures, quite a change from the warm evening we enjoyed last week. 

What else is there to do, standing in the dark watching a tyre being changed under the power of a several thousand lumens, other than to record the event for posterity on our camera phones!

Inner tube replaced and back on the road, we headed south along the fast straight road that leads through the common, past Farway and towards Seaton. Andy lead out a three rider 'chain gang' with Ed and Chris. I attempted to get on the back wheel but after getting knocked back by the jet wash of a passing lorry, I could not generate sufficient speed out of the natural shelter from the wind that a close riding team provides. As much as I pounded on my Crosstrail's open peddles the three slowly pulled away until the pulsating red glow from their rear lights disappeared into the blackness ahead. In the distance behind me I could see the pin prick white lights of main peloton and I had visions of the many scenes shot over the summer of the grand tour cycling events, where the breakaway rider gets gradually pulled back into the main body of cyclists unable to maintain sufficient speed to stay out ahead alone. After a couple of miles the inevitable happened, the group happily reformed around me, it is surprisingly lonely to cycling alone in the dark.

On joining the main road from Sidmouth to Seaton we caught up with the breakaway three. Reforming as we started, our group of 17 riders continued on the final 3 mile into Seaton and while a couple peeled off on their homeward journeys the majority of us climbed Tower Hill to then experience the thrill of the steep 40 mph drop down into Colyford and the draw of the apres cycling beer and chips at the White Hart .. what a way to end a fabulous night's ride! Looking forward to next week already, oh yes and the 40 miler on Sunday, weather permitting.

Stats: 23.02 mi, 1hr 45m, Avg 13.1 mph, Max 37.5 mph, 1,306 kcal