Thanks for asking, PH! In a word, it was tough! Tougher than I'd expected, in fact.
In terms of bits to bring along, I was well-prepared. I had my trusty Raven and a pannier with a sandwich, some jaffa cakes, a bag of trail mix (granola, peanuts, M&Ms, and raisins), and a half dozen energy bars (including a couple regular Powerbars which froze solid - I managed to bloody my lip at one point trying to gnaw through it!). Also a set of allen keys, and flat repair bits. I also had an OS map and I had laminated the instruction sheet and hung it around my neck (that worked well since I could tuck it into my visi-vest when not needed).
Because the weatherman was predicting freezing rain and sleet for the day right until the day before, I suspect that the turnout was smaller than usual - only about 40 riders or so, including two tandems, one Moulton, an Airnimal, lots of winter training bikes, but no other Ravens.
I had lots of attention from the start with everyone wanting to know if the hub is really worth £600... I more or less gave everyone the same answer, having to do with the hub being great but nothing without the rest of the bike, which was designed specifically for it.
In any case, I was a little surprised on arrival to find that, at 39, I was one of the younger people there. It finally occurred to me that most of the people who turned out were almost certainly hardcore randonneurs who do this sort of thing every weekend, and have done for some number of years.
My surprised turned to worry after we'd been off for a half hour or so and I found that the average speed of the group was approaching 15mph - much quicker than I'm accustomed to, particularly at this point in the season. I was one of the last to reach the lunch stop and was already pretty tired by then.
Then, at the first information control after lunch, I came across a chap who seemed comfortable riding at my pace and we did the rest of the ride together, which was certainly preferable to the first half, which I did mostly on my own. (The only downside was that he had a Hampshire-Surrey accent that I found to be indecipherable at several points!) Some ambiguous (agreed by all, not just us laggards!) instructions sent us off into an unplanned diversion at one point, but we managed to make it back to the route without too much worry.
100km doesn't sound like an unmanageable distance, but when I finally got home afterwards, I saw that with my ride to the station in London and the ride to the start on the other end, I was just over 80 miles. That was definitely a bit much for me in my current fitness and in this cold weather. I was totally wiped out that night and stil felt fatigued the next day - but not sore at all.
It may have been a bit early for me to attempt this distance, but I think I would have fared better if I'd remembered your advice from the start - it's my ride, not anyone else's.
The Raven performed very well indeed - no complaints at all. It felt a little sluggish at times, though I suspect that was just my legs tiring out! I had had some trouble with hand/wrist pain before, but none of that this time (looks like I can finally chop the top off the fork tube!), and my Brooks saddle, while still rock hard, was fine too.
I will definitely do more audax rides - probably the West London 1/6 in April will be next.
