AUTUMN BEYOND THE DYKE- 200KM AUDAX - 6th October

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Philip Whiteman
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AUTUMN BEYOND THE DYKE- 200KM AUDAX - 6th October

Post by Philip Whiteman » 24 Jul 2018 11:30

Everybody is invited to enter the next Beacon RCC Audax, "Beyond the Dyke" on 6th October.

Beyond the Dyke is the resurrection of the once popular event organised by Beacon member, Alan Mason. The route crosses Offa’s Dyke with a short loop into Mid-Wales before heading back to Worcestershire.

Taking a classic route along mostly unclassified, quiet C and B class roads, we leave Belbroughton 8 am, across some undulations to our first ‘free control’ at Craven Arms before heading through the valley floor towards Knucklas and its magnificent viaduct and across Offa’s Dyke. From here-on there is a brief taste of Mid-Wales before taking a sharp turn towards the sleepy mark town of Presteigne in The Marches. It is the a gentle ride to Tenbury and through the sublime Teme Valley.

The route isn’t especially hilly although there some notable climbs around the side of Brown Clee, out of Knucklas and over the Abberley Hills. The route attracts 1.75 Audax Altitude Awards Points.

Autumn Beyond the Dyke is run by the Beacon RCC for Audax UK.

• Start/Finish: Belbroughton Recreation Centre
• Controls: Craven Arms; Presteigne; Tenbury
• Information Controls: Cleobury North; Dolau; Stanford Bridge.

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The controls are not staffed by controllers but there are plenty of opportunities to pick-up-supplies and obtain receipts as a proof of passage. Food will be available at Belbroughton before departure and upon arrival.

Enter here: http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/19-120/

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Philip Whiteman
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Re: AUTUMN BEYOND THE DYKE- 200KM AUDAX - 6th October

Post by Philip Whiteman » 16 Sep 2018 19:51

Alan Mason was a genius when he devised Beyond the Dyke and I hope you will agree in three weeks time on 6th October, assuming you enter.

Whilst knowing all of the roads I had never ridden them in this format. So yesterday I took the opportunity to test ride Beyond the Dyke and check the accuracy of the route sheets. It was slightly harder than I expected but not a patch on the Kidderminster Killer for severity, thankfully.

Outbound is certainly the most bumpy section but there are some long descents and level sections between the highest part of the route at Brown Clee and Knighton. From Knighton there is a gradual climb through the deeply clefted Radnor Hills followed by some bumps to Dolau. The countryside is varied from Severn Valley, pastoral Coverdale to the fern covered hillsides beyond Knighton.

Westbound is much quicker and provides respite. Shortly after Dolau there is a very long descent over 20km of wide roads into Presteigne, where I took the opportunity to visit the Presteigne Coffee Shop who will expecting audaxers in three weeks. From here on, the route follows the gentle undulations until the Teme Valley and Tenbury. Beyond the Tenbury, the route passes through hop country before the sting-in-the tale, the long and steepish ascent over the Abberley Hills to reach the Severn Valley.

I am no skilled photographer but I did take some images en-route.

Route sheets and details will be e-mailed to all entrants in a week and a half.

http://beaconrcc.org.uk/audaxes/autumn-beyond-the-dyke/

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Philip Whiteman
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Re: AUTUMN BEYOND THE DYKE- 200KM AUDAX - 6th October

Post by Philip Whiteman » 07 Oct 2018 18:54

BEYOND THE DYKE ROLL OF HONOUR.

31 brave souls finshed out of the 90 entrants. 6 started but did not finish. It was horribly wet and cold, so well done to all. What should have a moderately challenging route turned into an extremely tough day as riders battled their way through atrocious conditions. Fortunately the weather improved later in the day.

ADCOCK Keith
ASHFORD Christopher
BRADSHAW Dave
BUCKBY Gary
CLEATON Nick
CLEMENTS Richard
CLITHEROW Stuart
GILLIVER Brian
GILLIVER James
GILLIVER Paul
GREGORY David
HAMPSON Len
HARNETT Robert
HIPKINS Rupert
HITCHCOCK John
JONES Elfyn
KIRK James T
MANASSEH Paul
MITCHELL Richard
NEILSON Jeffrey
PETERS Sarah - Lantern Rouge Prize Winner
RICHARDS Phil
RYALL Ian
SIMKINS Mark
TYRALA Piotr
UNDERWOOD Stuart
WADE Robert
WALE Trevor
WILLIAMS John
WILTON John
WRIGHTSON Andrew
YOUNG Angela - 27th Prize winner

Next year's route was voted upon riders. Repeating Beyond the Dyke was narrowly defeated by a brand new route loosely based upon Belbroughton - Leominster - Bishops Castle - Ironbridge - Belbroughton, titled "South Salopian". Beyond the Dyke will return and so will last year's Autumn Rivers.

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