Audax rides

Only to open it up and lie inside at home. Rolling it back up into a tight package was tricky: mainly getting the air out. I took it with me on the Fairies 300 as it was a 2 am start but wasn't sleepy during the ride so didn't get round to trying it.

I don't really roll it, I stuff it in its stuff sack.
If you work from the feet to head it shouldn't really have any air in it when you're done.

Just a bit of shameless promotion.

Richmond-upon-Thames Audax events (200km and 110km) on Saturday August 6th

After years of riding Audax events, I am organising my first ones.

The 200km is a run down to Chichester and back, taking in the Surrey Hills and the South Downs.

Not a super-hilly route (2300m of ascent in the day), but there's a few tough climbs along the way (Bedham Hill, Duncton Hill and Barhatch Lane are the ones I personally find the toughest).

Good cafe controls at 52km and 100km, then a shop or pub control at 170km, before reaching the finish at 209km at a great pub in St Margarets for beer and pizza.

The 110km event uses the same first and last 50km of the 200km ride with a joining section across.

Same cafe control at 52km (with the best cheese on toast ever!) before turning back into the Surrey Hills (still includes Barhatch Lane and Combe Lane).

The 200 in particular is filling up nicely, so do not leave it too late before entering.

There's loads more information here:

http://www.marcusjb.com/cogidubnus-200

And entry can be done online at the below (only £5 and a £2 surcharge for non Audax UK members):

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/16-369/
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/16-370/

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask and it would be great to see some of you there (and of course it will be a beautiful summer's day!).

How much water do you drink on Audaxes?

I went through 2.25l of water 110km yesterday evening which is about normal for me, but means I have to stop for resupply a lot even on a 200.

@inappropriate_bike get some 1 litre SIS bottles.

How much water is in coffee and beer?

~500ml per hour for me during warmer UK weather, racing.

Camelbak filled with vodka or just drink less.

How much water do you drink on Audaxes?

Depends, in the winter maybe just two 750ml bidons with about 1l of fluids at cafes.

On a summer 200 (Ditchling Devil in June on a lovely warm day) it was probably closer to 5l (and then a 568ml recovery drink or two at the end).

Shouldn't need to stop more than just at the controls (assuming they have water for bidon refill).

2 x 750ml bidons = 1.5l. Start with them full and refill at 50km, 100km and 150km. Gives you a total of 6l by the end, and that's assuming you don't drink anything at the controls themselves.

I'm a bit of a camel. On a 100k I've got round on a cup of tea and 500ml bottle even in warmer weather. On a 200 maybe 1.5l. Always encourage myself to drink more and it seems to be getting better.

Heavy rain forecast in the Chilterns tomorrow. Can feel a DNS coming on.

I used to be the same, but drinking more means I feel less fatigued and my pace doesn't drop as much towards the end.

A 13h 200 vs a 9.5h 200 (well, those are the extremes...)

Serious? Gah! Hot during the week, pissing down during weekends. Stupid

500-550ml/hr (at 28-29kmh moving average) doesn't seem too far off "normal" then. Just wondering how it's going to scale to things like LEL and longer rides.

Depends on the weather and if I'm using energy drinks or food. In winter or through night I'll drink a bottle (750ml) every 3 hours or so. On a summer day it would be more like a bottle per hour. But I'd stretch it out if needed to avoid stops between controls.
On multi-day events I'd drink a bit less as I'd be going slower after the first day, maybe average a bottle per 1.5 hrs.

600 DIY mandatory route completed for this seasons SR. How could I do a route with the final leg based on the DD ride back with the last 150km from Framlingham straight into today's headwind? And topping it of with the hills from the Pretorius club run at the end. #neverfollowludwig

I've those, great big bottles, but taste is getting worse and worse, even with proper cleaning and using only water inside :(

You wanna see the state of the SIS bottles I've been using for the last few years...

Just bought a few new bottles for the 24. (I don't want to lose my PBP or LEL bottles). Plus I got a few of those little 120ml gel bottles.

My stomach won't be used to such 'clean' and will probably revolt.

TT extension. What should I get?

Has been windy this year so practiced the arms on the bars and it works quite well now.

But 150km into a headwind yesterday, my lower arms hurt.

Which do I get and how do I decide what suits me best?

Keep noticing more and more riders with TT bars on audaxes. Lot of headwinds on the Buzzard this weekend but seemed to be fine just being tucked on the drops. Would like to have a try with the TT bars or extensions at some point though.

i had no idea which ones to get and ended up going for the profile t5+ alu ones and have found them to be pretty great with a bit of fiddling (my focus was on relieving the hands on long distance with aero gainz being secondary). A lot of people seem to go for some with curve up more towards the end but I think probably the best thing is just see what you can get cheap, try it, and go on from there.
I think I'll probably leave them off for anything up to a 600, but above that I think they're p useful. May put them on for flatlands 600 later in the year tho. Many headwind...

Everyone's trying to steal my look since I started riding audaxes on the TT bike...

Just wait until I start turning up on my balloonbike.

I ended up with these ones: https://www.athleteshop.com/3t-pro-clip-on-black

They seem pretty good for ~£60 and included all of the risers etc, plus the pad shape keeps the tops usable. I didn't want carbon ones because I'll probably crash into something and break them.

Now I'm trying to decide if I like them enough to order a pair of Di2 TT shifters and I think the answer might be yes.

It's a bit like asking for a saddle recommendation. Everyone is just going to tell you what they use.

I was expecting to go through a few different sets until I found the ones I liked (and buying/selling second hand) but I got lucky first time.

For me it was a set of Profile Century TT bars (on top of the Profile Airwing bullhorns) as they were cheap and I wanted to see if I got along with them. They were fine and I haven't bothered changing them since. They're on the heavy side but it's not a weight weenie bike. I'll be using them for the 24 too.

I ditched them for PBP year (including all of the qualifiers) so I got used to riding without them as you can't use them on PBP. (They're fine on LEL and all other UK Audaxes.)

Everyone's trying to steal my look since I started riding audaxes on the TT bike...

Slapping TT bars on an Audax bike is a bit different to riding a full TT-er.

Although this is my Audax bike and the bike I'll be doing my next TT on:-

http://www.greenbank.org/misc/IMG_0228.JPG

(Well, the grey replacement I got after this one was nicked.)