Words and Photography by Fergus Coyle
The original Flèche Vélocio was created in response to a group of Randonneurs who, on Good Friday, rode from Paris to an Easter cycling festival in Provence, over the course of 24 hours. Although the distance to the festival was slightly beyond reach, they wanted to see how close they could get within 24hrs. Teams began riding to the same festival each year from different locations around France, and eventually, a rule set emerged. The format has been adopted by many countries around the world, picking a common destination to ride to over the Easter weekend.
This year, there were 25 teams and 113 riders taking part from across the U.K. I was riding in one of three teams from Audax Club Bristol. Here’s our captain, Jon “Banksy” Banks, with some more info:
"It's an event where teams of between three and five people ride to York from different places around the country. It's very different to any other Audax, because it is a team event, so you only get validated if at least three of you finish. And it's that difference that makes it interesting, and because everybody converges on the same place, it creates a unique kind of environment and atmosphere."
Captain Jon "Banksy" Banks
"The only real thing is just that you've got to ride at least 360km in 24 hours, although most tend to ride over 400km. So in order to prove it, you must establish a control point in the 22nd hour, and then you have to ride for another 25km minimum after that point. And that's it really, there are a lot of other little odds and ends, but that's the basic front of it. It's a 24-hour team event, so you can't just bang it out in 18 hours and put your feet up."
This was Jon’s seventh Arrow, having ridden six previously and captained five. His route has been carefully tweaked over the years and includes many familiar pit-stop controls with a healthy balance of half-decent food that arrives efficiently. A total of 420km in length, our team set off from the Fishponds area of Bristol at 8.15am.
Audax Club Bristol Teams ready for the off
Pre Arrow Coffee with Audax Club Bristol
Martin’s Carradice
The first 80km was a familiar head down with no stopping until the first control, where we had a good sit down cafe breakfast at Upton Upon Severn. Unfortunately, our teammate Joolz suffered a reoccurring injury to his upper arm and had to bail 150km in. Luckily, he made it to a train station en route and was able to put his feet up by 7pm, while the rest of us soldiered on in envy!
The weather was slightly in our favour, with a consistent easterly cross / tailwind and we were just about keeping ahead of the heavy rain further south.
Having had a couple of less favourable sandwich stops, my stomach became unhappy with attempting to digest whilst riding and I began to struggle on the hills. Dropping back from the now two up front and feeling awful, my thoughts readily turned negative and I started to question why we were taking on such a challenge in the first place!
260km in, we eventually made it to Grantham Weatherspoon’s around 10pm. I managed a few chips, an orange juice & lemonade and closed my eyes for 10 minutes. Miraculously, it was enough to stop feeling sick and I found my legs again going into the night.
The drops of rain also seemed to pass and we had dry roads for the first time.
Left to right: Joolz & Jon
Martin riding fixed
Classic Easter Arrow snacks
Night controls were now limited to either petrol stations or McDonald’s. We began to see other teams as we came closer to our collective goal, sharing stories from the road with plenty of camaraderie. The landscape just south of York is very flat, and at times we had a good tailwind behind us, riding in the pre-dawn light. We made the final services in Goole around 5.30am and were back on the road at 6.10am, ready for the final 40km push. A long section of cycle track took us safely into York where we caught up with over 100 other riders waiting for the Weatherspoons to open.
We’d made it! And with 15 minutes in hand.
Catching up with other teams
Sadly not allowed in
Another fixed wheeler
Thousand mile stare
Dynamo lights with the pre dawn sun
A welcome sunrise
Final 40km into York
The early morning scenes at the Wetherspoons are like no other end to a ride, over 100 riders all collectively gorging on full English breakfasts served at record pace and often with a pint of beer too! Clubs from around the U.K are easily recognised by their team jerseys, its a great time to catch up with others or just fall asleep at the table!
Over 100 Full English’s served all at once!
Busy scenes in the Weatherspoons
Audax Club Mid Essex
PBP Gilet
Signs of an experienced Randonneur
I spoke to Izabela Murtagh, who captained a high-calibre, all-female team riding from Edinburgh.
"I live in Edinburgh which is roughly 400km to York, so we wanted to start from Edinburgh. We had Jackie Gale, who lives in Aberdeenshire and then two girls who live in Yorkshire, and they came all the way up to Inverness, then on to Edinburgh and just you know, cycled back home! I told Julia last year on an Audax about the Easter Arrow and apparently I sold it enough that she was keen to do it. She asked me whether we would like to do it as a girls' team."
Left to Right: Jackie Gale, Izabela Murtagh, Edie Harrison & Julia Cockman.
"So from Yorkshire we have Julia Cockman, who is also an Ultra racer and does some other Audaxes and Edie Harrison who also does Ultra racing and holds the women's tandem LEJOG record right now. Edie was also the first woman to finish TCR in 2018, so yeah, it was a really strong team."
"Initially, I was a bit concerned that maybe we were a bit too slow for them, but they were keen to do it in at an Audax pace and in the spirit of the Arrow."
"So yeah they enjoyed the leisurely breaks and following the Arrow rules along the way. We did a very nice route, initially for the Scottish Borders and then we headed to the East Coast and along to Newcastle, then down to York."
Although it isn’t considered a race, there is an award for the furthest distance covered. This year, a team captained by Jonathan Dixon managed 608km (with support vehicle), breaking the previous record of 564km which is quite a feat. Other riders chose to continue riding on, mostly to get home and opted for an overnight stay or bivvy en route.
With another Arrow complete and another morning spent collectively at the York Weatherspoon’s, I hopped on a direct train back to Bristol and slept all the way!
