The Cambridge Spring Dash 2018 — Weather Update

I sent this email out to all riders at midday on Friday 16 March:

Just a quick note to let you know that, yes, the events tomorrow are still going ahead.

We have been watching the weather forecast closely and trying not to get caught up in the Met Office's panicky desire to avoid another 1987.  The Norwegians (yr.no) are far more practical about these things and are predicting the possibility of snow flurries, but not much else.  We'll see what weather there actually is tomorrow.

What I can tell you with some confidence is that it is going to be cold and it is going to feel colder with the breeze – this will be a full-winter-wear ride to keep warm and that is not an overstatement.  This is going to be a ride where you will need to keep warm from the inside as much as the outside – for most of the ride that will mean riding à tempo to keep warm from muscle-heat, and then conserving that heat by getting out of the wind when stopped, preferably indoors. 

Experienced year-round riders will know this, but if it's your first time out in the cold then please heed this advice and ride to keep warm, even if that means splitting your own group into fast and faster riders.  Personally, I would carry an extra layer (down jacket or similar) as well, just in case I was forced to stop for a few minutes to fix a puncture.

The Spring Dash is billed as "a ride of two pubs" and both are looking forward to seeing you.  That's The Tally Ho at 35km and The White Horse Inn at 75km – and conveniently there's Bicicletta café con vélo halfway between the two.  You should have little problem keeping warm on that event, only the long downhill from Balsham might prove problematic, unless you pedal yourself downhill all the way.

I have ridden much of this route in cold, ice-risk weather and you will need to be careful in the twists of some of the lanes, but generally the ice is obvious, and you should just avoid riding on any part of where the road looks wet, as that could be slippery.

In making your own decision whether to start the event tomorrow, you should only take the risks you are comfortable with; you are responsible for your own ride; audax is a fast tour, it is not a race.

Unless there was an unbroken layer of snow on the ground, I would be happy to start tomorrow, because the later start means plenty of traffic should've swept the roads, there are three good opportunities to stop and warm up, you're never really that far from Cambridge, and everyone should be home before dark.  But that's just me – you will need to decide for yourself.

If by Saffron Walden you decided it was just too cold to continue then there's a station at Wendens Ambo (turn right away from Audley End on the B1383 and turn right for the station after about 1 mile).

I am expecting quite a few Pork Pie (200km) riders to take me up on my offer to transfer to the Spring Dash, so it should be quite a busy event.  There's not much I can do about the headwind between the two pubs, though.

If you feel that you definitely won't ride tomorrow, based on the weather forecast, please let me know, so we can cater appropriately.

And finally, just so you know, I have been asked by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to do a short interview at 7.10 tomorrow morning about this event and long-distance cycling in general, so if you can't make it, you can listen in  :)