Bucks 100 testimonials

This was the second time I've done the Bucks 100 and it was really enjoyable. If anything the route was better than last year, the climb through Wendover Woods was a highlight. Food was fantastic and everyone helping and on the ride itself were friendly. Don't let it grow too big !

Today I'm a bit sore - at short notice i did the Bucks 100km bike ride yesterday. I did the Chiltern 100k about 2 months ago in July and it was a cold wet day and it made the ride quite challenging, but i did do some training, and my legs were fine. What hurt were my shoulders and arms from the constant jolting you get on an old road racing bike.

So this time when I saw the email promising sunny weather I thought I should give it another go. I've only been out on the bike once in 2 months, but I've kept fit with digging the new lawn etc etc. I have quite a nice mountain bike so i thought I would use that to save my shoulders as it has suspension front and back - the downside would be the big nobbly tyres designed for mud and tracks, not smooth roads. Also the MTB has low gears and would be good for the hills.

I prepped the bike and my gear on Saturday and pumped up the tyres really hard to make them as efficient as possible.

Anyway, Sunday dawned with drizzle - not what I was expecting - and it was quite cool and didn't warm up till lunch time. I knew I would be slow on the MTB so decided to take few if any breaks to catch up, so to speak. Unfortunately as I took the bike off the car, I had two flat tyres - luckily fresh air worked fine this time and they did not deflate - must have been some dirt in the valves.

The first 20 miles to the break had a few decent hills, the gears worked fine but my legs were finding it quite hard - lack of training. A biscuit at the first feedzone without getting off the bike and straight on, feeling fine. The countryside was gently undulating mostly, not too hard and I continued on as the weather warmed, starting to get hungry and looking for the lunch stop, which I thought was at about 42m but was in fact nearer 50m - by which time I was hungry and starting to get tired.

A quick feed of pasta and salad, top up the drink bottles and off again. I was now tired, very saddle sore and disappointingly my arms and shoulders were hurting again. Basically lack of hours in the saddle, but only 12 miles to go.

The idea of the MTB was a mistake - the issue was everybody was going faster than me - several people passed me 2 or 3 times as I didn't stop much. It was demoralising being passed so often and I could never draft behind another rider.

Eventually I got to the finish, very tired and sore. Packed the bike away and drove home. An hours rest and then showered and changed and I felt ok.

So that's two fairly long rides this year and a bit of money raised for a good cause. If you can sponsor me: http://www.action.org.uk/​sponsor/LAMP361 www.lamp-360.com

The organisation was good with the exception of the lunch stop which was a bit late in the ride and did not include any tables and only a few chairs.

So maybe the 100m next year and hopefully some sunshine.

Julian Poulter

Just thought i'd share my experience of the Bucks 100.
Myself and two friends from work took part of the 100km ride (which was actually 111km). The first 25 miles were good challenging roads, with some steep climbs and fast decents.
After that it leveled out and was very enjoyable!! All round a very good day.

Had an excellent time. Everyone very friendly and very well organised. Food stops were too good with too much choice :-). Will plan to do next year if you promise to stop the wind which made the last half a bit of a slog!

Thanks again.

Adrian