19 July, 2014
Starting from Penzance Organiser Martyn Aldis
A varied route visiting the four ancient Cornish ‘Hundreds’ of Penwith, Kerrier, Pydarshire and Powdershire.
Note that this is an “X-rated” event, which means there are no manned controls or specific facilities. You attach commercial or ATM receipts to your brevet card for timed controls, and post it to the organiser after the event.
 207kmStarts 08:00 |
 3.75 AAA |
Four Hundreds 200 AUK id 14-326 Details and entry from Audax UK site |
The opening events of 2013 from Penzance were notable for the very fresh and cold wind from the East. The two brave starters of the Many Rivers to Cross 300 called it a day at Camelford when it was clear that finishing in time was no longer a realistic hope. The Four Hundreds 200 next day was a more practical proposition with four finishers. I found the slog around West Penwith and especially from Lands End to St Buryan painfully slow but some rather fuzzy mental sums suggested I could finish in time and after catching up another rider who had lost me before Zennor, enjoyed the final run past Sheffield and down to the lights of Newlyn.
The Cornish Hundred from Falmouth took place under threat of Westerly gales with gusts of 48mph on the forecast. In fact it was windy but not that windy. Making use of the excellent cross-wind stability of my small wheels I made quite a brisk start. Thoughts of an early arrival at Long Rock were rewarded with a loud bang from my back tyre and I was able to review nearly the entire field as they passed me bent in a gateway fitting a new tyre and tube. Caught on camera too.
Things soon looked up with an end to the rain, some fun with the route sheet and the arrival of sunny spells and the pleasure of riding without the waterproofs. Falmouth Wheelers’ cake and savouries spread didn’t disappoint and I made the most of it.
It was all his idea…
It all started late last year, when fellow Audax Kernow-ite John Morse told me he was looking for a suitable challenge for the Summer of 2005. LEL just didn’t float his boat – it had to be a PRoF*, and not just any old ProF would do either. Local organiser Simon Jones is well known for his ultra-long permanents, many of which have been ridden and written up in Arrivees past by Simon Kolka and George Hanna, but John couldn’t spare the time required for Trafalgar – Trafalgar or Calais – Brindisi. Happily, one of Simon’s more recent creations, Roscoff – Nice, fit the bill to a T.
…but I reckoned it sounded like a hoot!
The start is just a ferry ride away from Plymouth, and it’s a ride that takes in some of the best scenery that la Belle France has to offer: the sunkissed Loire valley with it’s fields of sunflowers and old windmills; the rolling hills of the Auvergne; Provence, and it’s endless symmetrical fields of Lavender; the fearsome Mont Ventoux and Europe’s own Grand Canyon – the spectacular Gorge of Verdon. All this, and a generous ration of memorable climbs and pant-wetting twisty descents on roads that tend to be better surfaced than most motorways in the UK. Best of all, a time allowance of seven days to complete the 1405km – no kipping in hedges necessary! John had planned to do RN solo, but I was already sold on the idea. After i’d accomplished the difficult trick of selling the idea on to my cycling-sceptic wife, the date was set for the beginning of July.
* Permanent Ride on Foreign Soil
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