The Otter Spotter 55k Audax.

Last year saw the launch of our Otter Spotter event, and was a great success. This years event will be even better.

It's starting at Budliegh Salterton Town Hall and follows the River Otter upstream on quite roads all the way to Honiton. You stop at The Boston Tea Party cafe in Honiton High Street to have your Brevet card stamped and some refreshments before retracing your route back to Budleigh.

This is a great introduction to Audax riding if you have not done this type of cycling before as the route is not too long or complicated  and it's about as flat as you can get for East Devon. The return leg is generally down hill from Honiton to the coast at Budleigh.

Sunday 12th May is The Otter Spotter Audax from the town hall in Budleigh Salterton at 09:00. Now in it's 2nd year, it proved very popular with experienced and novice riders alike enjoying the 55K route following the River Otter to Honiton and back. Entry to the event is £5 plus day insurance if you aren't a member of BC, CTC or Audax. Full details of the event can be found on the Audax page of the website or at

Full details can be found at:

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/12-131/

Check out the route via this Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135955884

 Successful first event.

The Otter Spotter 55K Audax was the newest Cycle Sport Dynamo event to appear on the South West Audax calendar.

The event hoped to attract first time audaxes and leisure riders who hadn’t previously tackled the distance or an organised event.

Despite weeks of flooding and torrential weather, riders benefitted from a generally dry day with a late appearance of the sunshine. The dry weather produced a run of ‘on the day’ entries ensuring a good field.

The riders departed from Budleigh Salterton heading along the seafront in an easterly direction to meet the mouth of the River Otter.  Because of large scale flooding the weekend before, a quick rewrite of the route sheet guided riders away from an impassable road along the edge of the river Otter. The detour via the village of East Budleigh soon had the riders back on course as they crossed the river slightly further up stream at Otterton. Here the riders followed the East back of the river gently climbing along quiet country lanes until they reached Tipton St.John where they crossed over to the left bank and continued heading north, following the river to the town of Ottery St.Mary.  Passing through the town the only steep climb of the ride passed picturesque Georgian houses and the church before joining the old Roman road taking the riders along the Otter valley to the one control stop in Honiton where refreshments were taken.

Refreshed, the riders headed back on the reverse of the outbound leg following the Otter downstream and along the undulating gently rolling hills back to the coastline of Budleigh Salterton where a large spread of home made cakes awaited their arrival. No one reported spotting an otter, although one group of riders spotted a stoat crossing the road.