5.30 start, eek. That meant up at just before 4 to get over to the start in Mythelmroyd. Two choices were on offer. A flatter ride out to the East coast or a mighty 6400m of climbing around the Yorkshire Dales. First 400k ride? You'll be needing the self proclaimed hardest Audax ride in the UK then.
The original choice was between one of these events and the Solo 24 Hour Championship up in Keilder. For a variety of reasons the whole twenty four hour thing is losing it's shine around here. There's a whole lot of great stuff to see out there and it's not a great view from a Forestry Commission fireroad. Nothing against fire roads by the way, they sometimes lead to some great experiences.
The 'Old 240' was a long standing ride with the CTC before it was tweeked and added to so that it could be added to the AudaxUK calender as a 400k event. You can read the route from one of those links and it's one of the best things we've done in one day for ages, highly recommended. There's 27hrs available to complete the event and one super quick randonneur arrived at the 360 kilometre checkpoint in an astonishing 16 hours and back at HQ not long after that. Incredible given the very hot conditions during the day.
Without a lot of work and hours poring over maps it would be very difficult to find yourself such a scenic and varied route. Some stunningly secluded and beautiful places that you'd never know about. Our thanks go to the people who turn out in the early hours and stay up overnight to facilitate these great events. They're mostly self supported and especially the longer ones you're very much on your own, as it should be, however there's lots of organising going on back there. These rides are getting more popular too as many find sportives sold out early and incredibly expensive. 10% of the cost of a commercial ride gets you one of these trips of discovery out into the back lanes and little used tracks of the UK. The chip opportunities are great too.
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