Man of Kent 200

[I'll try to keep it short because I'm tired ;-)]

Third year in a raw that I ride Man of Kent 200 as my first Audax of the year. This ride is mostly flat so it is perfect for getting the body used to long distance after six months of not riding anything "long".

8:00 and we are sent off. Very quickly I found myself in the front group. A guy passed me and disappeared up the road, I looked back and there were like six riders on my wheel. No trace of Gavin and Dominic, the other two Wheelers that were riding the event. I kept pedalling at my own pace.

Around Km 28 (I think) we were about to catch the guy in the front. A red traffic light made the task easier. I looked back and recognized Stuart among the riders (we rode together part of the Oats and Coats 300 last year; on that ride he talk me into racing; he is the non-Wheeler more responsible for me trying racing) When the traffic light turned green, he was in the front, Stuart and myself on his wheel chatting and the rest of the riders on our wheel. A hill appeared and the rider that was in the front dropped that quickly that I had to manoeuvre to don't run over him. Not sure why riders push themselves that hard at the beginning of a 200 if they are not that fit.

We arrived to the first control (50k) and there where nobody there. Stuart and myself decided to keep it going. Three other riders came with use.

Second control (79km) was in a café. The three riders decided to stop for a coffee. Stuart and I decided to keep it going.

Not much happened. We were riding fairly hard, sometimes taking turns; which is probably a sacrilege in an Audax event but, hey, we had head wind!!

We kept it going and only stopped at the control that was at km 176. A quick coffee and a banana and back to the road.

We arrived to the head quarters at 16:05, 5 minutes more than 8 hours in total. Not bad, the second pair of riders arrived 30 minutes later and the next riders an hour later, including Gavin that did great in his second 200k

Rice pudding as recovery meal

Great ride, lucky with the weather (we only had a four showers, two of them with hail), nice riding with Stuart and happy with the power 218, which is 6.8% more than last year (204). Good start of the Audax season.

The ride in Strava

Take care
Javier Arias González