www.dadswell.co.uk Mostly cycling records, mostly on three wheels
London to Oxford and back on Tandem Trike - 29.4.99
This is to let you know that we ambled round this particular route this
morning. Dave Johnson (High Wycombe CC) &
I
took 4.43.19 for the 109 miles. This was the first time a tandem-trike
had been raced over the Oxford route, and so will automatically be a
record (should the claim be accepted).
This is not a National RRA route. It is in the domain of the North &
West Home Counties RRA.
It was my first taste of tandem-triking on an unsuitable road, and
Dave's first trip on the back lasting more than 1 hour. Weather was a
cross wind, which was no help at all in the closing stages. We had
selected the date well in advance .... we would not have chosen it on
the basis of a weather forecast.
(photos, all 3 at Marble Arch, by Eddie Mundy)
We were close to schedule (for an arbitrarily selected 4:32:00) for
about 40 miles. We then started to lose time in most segments. There
were also a few very frustrating hold-ups at road junctions.
The end result was about 10 minutes slower than what would have made me
really happy (although of course, considerably quicker than
I
could have done alone!). However, it was a major learning exercise, and
it is only April after all. With a bit of work, and the general increase
in speed that tends to happen as the season evolves, I hope that we will
be up to the job of, say, the Brighton and back. And some other stuff.
Dave is almost certainly sitting on a large soft cushion!!
Item from Cycling Weekly