Going down the tubes

Ian Lovelock and his cycling partners, Andrew Hoppit and Jonathan Reed, tackled The Dean in March this year – a gruelling 300km event, starting in Oxford, traversing the Cotswolds and into the Forest of Dean. The trio also learned a thing or two about punctures, leading them to question the wisdom of tubeless tyres. Here’s Ian’s report of an eventful, if ultimately unsuccessful bid to beat The Dean…

“CHALLENGE YOURSELF to ride further” is the mantra I’ve followed over 12 years of Audaxing – but it doesn’t stop the pre-ride anxiety. It was inevitable that these worries would my disrupt my sleep the night before The Dean. It’s always worse when I ride with others, knowing they’re usually faster, stronger and fitter.

This was the case today. I was riding with two regular partners, Andrew Hoppit and Jonathan Reed. Jonathan is a real mile-muncher, a veteran of many ultra Audax events, and a serial Randonneur Round the Year (RRtY). Andrew, on his second year RRtY, is also a stronger and faster rider than I am.

But when I joined the others at the ride’s start, all concerns seemed to magically drift away. It was an excited crowd, noisily jostling for position, checking in and receiving their allocated brevet cards. Then we were off, in the half light, out across the Oxford ring-road and into the rolling countryside.

Despite our inland course, and benign conditions, I recalled the morning’s Shipping Forecast – increasing and changeable winds, and a warning of gales in the Bristol Channel. Jonathan and Andrew preferred the BBC’s prediction of a pleasant day ahead. We all like to believe a good forecast!

We made good time, climbing to Leafield, the March morning sunny, with no noticeable breeze – so different to the rides of January and February, and even the previous week where we were battered by strong winds and heavy, constant rain.

However, when things are going swimmingly an incident is just around the corner, and sure enough, descending into a corner Jonathan momentarily lost control – a slow front wheel puncture. We stopped on a green next to a bench allowing Andrew to effect a repair.

Puncture resolved, we got back on the route, heading into the Chilterns for the first of the day’s real climbing. We stopped in picturesque Stow-on-the-Wold, for a breakfast from the Co-Op while sheltering from a stiffening breeze. We left Stow, ahead of control point time, for the final 20km of incident-free cycling in bright sunny weather.

On the steep descent into Winchcombe we passed David Coupe wrestling with a puncture half-way down. We gained time on the flat ride into Newent, and a cafe stop – a plate of baked beans to sustain me into the Forest of Dean.

So far the ride had been pretty uneventful. We were enjoying the roads and each other’s company, speeding along lovely, quiet lanes with scenic views. In cheery demeanour, and ahead of time against the Brevet card, we hit the road and headed into the Forest of Dean. A bland ride was just about to become an unforgettable experience.

By mid-afternoon the weather was on the change, the sky now grey and the wind on the rise, though neither was having an impact on us as we had the shelter of the hills in the wintery bare leafed forest. These roads must be a treat to ride during summer months with sun streaming through the green canopy and birds serenading the rider.

The problem at this time of year is that the rider is plagued with thorny detritus littering the forest roads. Jonathan was the first to suffer a puncture and we came to rest alongside another luckless rider trying to fix his own puncture.

Back on the road, and Andrew was shedding latex from his tubeless tyres on some of the steeper descents. As we emerged from the forest another puncture brought us to a halt. It required Andrew re-inflating the tyre to allow the latex to effect a repair. Within a few kilometres the seal failed and I was blasted with fine, white latex spray. This led Andrew to attempt his first ever repair with a “worm”. I was sceptical about sticking a needle through the tyre to repair a puncture, but it seemed to work. We finished our decent into Chepstow for a typical Audax feast in Tesco car park.

Andrew’s tyre went flat yet again, and was subjected to some more air and a good spin which seemed to do the trick before we headed off towards the Severn

Bridge. But how much latex remained in the tyre? As we climbed out of Chepstow, the question was resolved – none.

We pulled into a police station where my spare tyre came into its own again, rescuing someone who, before this ride, would swear blind that “tubeless is the way to go”. As Andrew fought to remove the gunk-filled tyre to replace it with a clincher tyre and a tube, Jonathan and I had the chance to discuss the relative merits and disadvantages of tubeless tyres for long distance cycling with a local policeman who fancied a chat before to clocking off for the night.

Clincher tyres do have some merit, but when installing them it’s best to check rims and the valve surround for any sharp edges and, of course, never pinch the inner tube. Andrew swears he did all this but 200 metres up the road and he had to stop to repair yet another flat. This time a real disaster befell him.

On removing the rear wheel, both cassette and freewheel fell off. With the puncture repaired, all we needed to do was reassemble the freewheel. A good time later, and covered in oil, we were forced to give up, accepting defeat on a repair that required a workshop rather than a brick wall and a few cable ties.

Retirement beckoned, with Andrew seeking an alternative means to return to Oxford. Good fortune was on his side – there’s a regular train service from Chepstow. So covered in oil but with a rolling bicycle, he exited his second attempt on the Dean to clean up and rehydrate at the pub while waiting for the train back to Oxford.

Jonathan and I, now three and half hours behind the cut off, headed off to cross the Severn with half the ride still ahead of us, resigned to failing the time window. Heading towards the Severn, I recalled the Shipping Forecast warning of Bristol Channel gale force winds – which proved to be accurate. We had a headwind for the next 80km.

This difficult section was broken with a stop at Malmesbury. The intensity of the headwind increased, as we left town to tackle a 20 per cent section where fatigue forced me to hop off the bike for a walk before reaching Marlborough. The route turned here to provide us wind assistance to the Membury Services checkpoint.

At 1.30am in Membury, the rain set in, adding to our mental and physical fatigue. I grabbed a coffee, a pint of milk and a sausage roll before finding a space in a dry corner of the service station to curl up and shut my eyes. There was no way we’d complete the last 60km in the final 30 minutes allowed. By the time the coffee had cooled the rain was torrential and all motivation had deserted the pair of us.

A further coffee and dogged persistence got me back on the bike. Conditions were miserable, running streams flooded the road, standing water disguised the potholes, torrential rain constantly pelted our faces, forcing up our pace with no respite back to Oxford.

One last hiccup was thrown at us as the clock passed 3.30am when both our Garmins failed, forcing us to follow the dual carriageway into Oxford guess at which way we had to go to find our hotel.

Dripping wet, I wheeled the bike into the hotel room, peeled off the wet kit, showered and fell into bed and oblivion at 4.30am. A memorable day out, despite failing to finish, being almost two hours outside the time allowed. Maybe next year I’ll have a go at the ride in the summer as a DIY to gain those valuable three Audax points.