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Badge Hunting
Maybe it's the Boy Scout in me but there is nothing
like receiving a badge for achieving something. In the
back of the handbook there is a list of awards that can
be gained by just doing a bit of cycling. The first
problem, of course, is finding which badge to aim for.
After minutes of pondering anything with 3 zero's in the
title was quickly rejected. These awards were quite
obviously for the die-hard, ride through the night, chain
oil for blood randoneer,and that quite frankly isn't me.
The next to be dispatched to the rejected pile were the
'single event' badges, mainly because I'm not that keen
on the design. I prefer the old chain design to the new
computer design. The next major constraint was that my
preferred distance is 100k. Well that settled it. The one
to aim for was the Brevet 500. 5 100Km rides in a season.
That should be achievable I thought as I presented the
plan to Angela, my partner in most everything.
When the calendar arrived we scoured it for all the 100Km
events within a reasonable distance of home. Our golden
rule is not to be in the car for longer than it takes to
do the event. As the selection process was done in the
depths of the cold months, when getting out on the bike
for a quick spin round the block is hampered by a lack of
light and the availability of large amounts of
atmospheric cold water, we were full of the sort of
enthusiasm which allows you to ignore such irrelevancies
as social engagements, vital home repairs and the
interference of non cycling related activities which eat
into precious weekend time. Quite frankly we were stir
crazy. The list then underwent a few refinements. For
example events which boasted AAA points being rejected on
the grounds that they are just too silly, before being
committed, in pen, to our new calendar.
It all started quite well. Normally our season starts
well into the year. Not this year. We were on a mission
and a mission needs a kick-start. This year we emerged
from our winter dormancy early to ride the Worthing
winter warmer. A fine ride on a particularly good
February day. It was a really nice way to start our
campaign. Over soup and a roll at HQ we got talking, as
you do, and found that we had missed a candidate for our
mission. A new event, the London Sightseer would be run
soon. It fitted the bill nicely, close to home and devoid
of hills, perfect.
Then the wheels came off. We had intended to have a crack
at the Gourmet 100. Everything was arranged. The dogs had
been left with parents and the bikes cleaned and oiled.
Cometh the hour, faileth the alarm clock. Neither of us
stirred until it was way too late. Instead of chalking up
number two we spent the day wistfully looking out of the
window wishing we too where peddling through the drizzle.
It's strange how a mission alters your view of the
weather.
A few weeks later our spirits where lifted by a trundle
round the Hertfordshire countryside on the ever popular
Start of Summertime Special. It amazes me how many
cyclists turn up to support this particular event. It was
only marred by my navigation moment that culminated in a
little tyre deflation. I find that I can tell I'm off
route when I'm repairing a puncture and absolutely no one
passes. We eventually reached our rendezvous with a mug
of tea and a plate of chips. Number two done, roll on
number three.
Number three was a cracker. I will praise the London
sightseer to the hilt given half a chance. What's more we
were now over half way though our campaign. Things were
going well. Next on the list was the Hop Garden 100. We
where now well into the swing of things. The ride took
us, unsurprisingly, around the hop gardens of Kent. On
reflection we should have lingered a while at a few of
the pubs on route to savour the produce of the gardens
but that is with the foresight of hindsight and at the
time we were just enjoying the pleasures of the Kent
countryside.
We were nearly there. Our next event was to be the Derby
Canter 100. I have a real soft spot for this event, as it
was the first Audax that we ever entered. I have
lingering memories of that last hill when Angela repeated
over and over again "I am never going to do this
again". I knew she was hooked! By the time our cards
came back with the "not validated" sticker (we
missed an info, not knowing how to play the game then)
she was a member and was plundering the calendar for
events. You can imagine my disappointment when our entry
was returned due to the event being cancelled.
We teetered on the edge of accomplishment for a long
time. We scoured the diary for suitable events but they
just seemed to dry up in the summer months in favour of
events, which benefit from the longer days. It was
desperate times and so we took desperate measures. Our
golden rule of the event/travel ratio was ignored and we
headed down to Cornwall to take part in the Lizard Loop.
If you are going to break a rule don't just snap in, Tear
it to pieces and dance on the remains. Our fifth ride was
not easy. We stepped onto a Cornish roller coaster at
Truro and courted the time limits all the way round.
Still a battle won easily leaves no pleasure.
So there you have it, five one hundreds in one season.
All that was left to do was to claim the badge. After a
quick scan of the book I realised that it was not a nice
shiny metal badge as I had thought but a cloth badge
which didn't have the same appeal. Angela meanwhile had
hatched a plan. One Sunday when I was otherwise engaged
she slipped off to do the second London Sightseer. This
brought her a grand total of ten 100km rides and the
right to claim a Brevet 1000, which does have a shiny
badge. More to the point it has three zeros in the title.
She is booked in for her chain oil transfusion next week.
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