Report from Liam Fitzpatrick:
Nearly 80 riders turned up on the start line for the Willedsen’s 400K Audax, the Severn Across on Saturday 9 May. Entrants from all over the UK, including some cycling celebrities converged on Chalfont St Peter to ride to Chepstow and back.
The Severn Across is one of several audax events run by club members including the epic 600Km Beast from the East which takes place later in the Month. It is one of the qualifying rides for the legendary Paris-Brest-Paris which takes place this August.
As well as a keen group riding in green, the field included world time trial champion Stuart Birnie and solo RAAM hopeful Shushanah Pillinger.
75 audaxers got back in times between 16 and 27 hours having visited Oxford, Tewkesbury, Chepstow, Malmsbury, Membury and Henley.
The event was possible because Willesden members Richard Jennings, Paul Stewart and Pete Kelsey were on hand to support the 6 am start and Marcus Jackson Baker sat up through Saturday night to look after the returning riders. Marcus also rode the course solo the week before to check the route.
Members interested in finding out more about endurance riding might want to take a look at the website for Audax UK.
Thanks for putting it on guys. T’was harder than I expected that’s for sure!
Really enjoyed this ride, thank you very much. Windy on the way out, so if you could cancel that for next year that would be great. Really, really enjoyed the ride back across the bridge and the welcome at the end.