2017 Night Audax 200k

Credit Bobby Chang

September 9th saw the 2017 running of the Night Audax 200k brevet. We had 19 people signed up, but the Klines got sick and we had two no-shows so 15 people headed out at 7pm from Huntington Beach. Each rider had a free packet of GoCubes which is my preferred way to carry caffeine these days.

All the photographs were take on my GoPro Session mounted on my aerobars.

Leaving the start of the ride

Charlie and Mel were riding a tandem together for the first time so I gave them a wide berth for a while. Just after the sun set we were treated to a display of lightning over Mount Baldy. 

We had our first drama with a split tire in the middle of the homeless encampment at mile 12. They didn't give us any trouble, but it was reassuring to be part of a large group. 

Fix a flat in homelessland

We settled down to about a 16 mph pace which seemed to suit most people. Brent did a great job controlling our rambunctious group. Our usual tailwind was weaker than usual, which helped a bit.

We got to the 76 gas station at mile 30 together and it was difficult to get everyone out within 15 minutes. We moved through Norco quickly and onto the upper SART. The section though Hidden Valley was sublime.

We all arrived at the In-n-Out burger as a group so I bought dinner for 15 cyclists. Less than $100 which is pretty amazing. No police breaking up car shows this year. We ate outside because the weather was perfect.

In'n'Out

We had no headwind at all on the way back so we held pretty much the same speed going back. For some reason the lead riders kept making wrong turns which was pretty funny. I can see all the riders going the wrong way and I'm yelling from the back, but they don't hear me.

ARTIC

As we got near the end of the ride the tandem went crazy and started pulling at 20+ mph. We regrouped as we went through the homeless encampment again and then Bobbie and the tandem just went all out for the last five miles. Even so, there was only a couple of minutes between the first and last rider back. Our official time was 10:01.

The water fountain at Anza Narrows was like an old man with prostate problems

Congratulations to everyone. As usual, it was a fun ride and an unusually cohesive group this year.