Audax rides

gonna enter, at least cash-commit to Greenwich Mean Climb (ACH);

ps., @amey, still have your cycle cap, currently at Look Mum for the Hackney GT launch, awaiting arrival of @photoben, just in case you're about..

I'm signed up for the Greenwich Mean Climb but will only be doing it if the weather is too bad for a DIY 600 across Wales.

#wifeandsonawayhowfarcanicycle

GMC has catered control & Moroccan food at the finnish

So the National 400 was awesome. Top notch organisation and a profusion of TLC and food at every control. As one of the participants put it, it was "an eating event with a bit of cycling thrown in." I also found that body and bike were ticking along nicely for most of it, except for a painful chaffing on the inside of the left thigh. It was becoming borderline show-stopper around the penultimate control (km 306) and another rider kindly lended me a tube of chamois cream.

Also, it is a strange thing to find yourself thinking "right, only 100km to go, should be okay".

The so-called "Van of delight" (which certainly lived up to its name), which we had the pleasure to see twice during the ride.

So the National 400 was awesome. Top notch organisation and a profusion of TLC and food at every control. As one of the participants put it, it was "an eating event with a bit of cycling thrown in.", and that's without mentioning the seriously beautiful route. I also found that body and bike were ticking along nicely for most of it, except for a painful chaffing on the inside of the left thigh from 250km onwards. It was becoming borderline show-stopper around the penultimate control (km 306) and another rider kindly lended me a tube of chamois cream.

All in all, still not sure about a 600 this year, even though it should be within reach.

Also, it is a strange thing to find yourself thinking "right, only 100km to go, should be okay".

Now - who signed up for @marcusjb 's one next week-end?

Handful of places left on both rides, so get your entries in from the Audax website.

Hoping for good weather, I have ridden the routes in horrific conditions over winter as I designed them. So much better in summer!

Worth riding just for the cheese on toast.

Thank you for the reminder.

Bet that van was a welcome sight. Sounds like a really good ride.

Also enjoyed National 400. Gravel trail bits in particular. Found it quite a bit harder than I expected - some aches and pains from new bike which I'm not quite used to yet, then got stung by a mini wasp that had got inside my jersey somehow. But Peak district scenery and loads of food made up for it. Unexpected highlight was the climb out of Llangollen, which I'd been dreading while at the control, but the tailwind made it easier than the ride down.
All audaxes should have dogs at controls.

Ah I should have asked beforehand if you were riding it in the end and if yes on what bike / in what outfit. Sorry about that ! (I was the French guy on the French bike (Look))

And yes - the dogs, very nice touch.

That's ok - I was really disorganised beforehand and only really accepted I was riding it when I was in the car heading North. Plus I was so slow you wouldn't have seen me after the start anyway...
(I was in a Brixton jersey)

Has anyone tried a 400km perm? Ideally one i can do out and back from London. Perhaps a DIY? How much faff is that likely to be? I'm doing a 200, 300 and 600 before the end of the year so would be nice to do a full SR.

Yes I have done a 600 DIY mandatory route from Lea Bridge roundabout. Easy to turn into a 400.

I did a 400 mandatory route DIY from my front door and it was very easy.

Submit planned track, wait for approval, ride bike & hope Garmin doesn't crash, convert track from fit to gpx using rwgps, email to organiser, get validation.

new recruit here - finished this bike, gone for a test ride (London to Suffolk) and joined audax uk. It will be September before I can join a ride - looking forward to that. Hope to meet some of you at some point.

Rothaus! Was worth it. Thank you.

On tap no less.

We have several options for German beer and food here; with the big German school, there is a huge German community in Richmond.

First audax this weekend, Old Roads and Drove Roads.

I entered a little while ago, and I'm pretty sure I saw the money leave my account, but no word from the organisers yet. Is this normal? When would I expect to receive details about the controls, route etc. or do I just turn up and find out on the day?

It would be nice to be able to upload something into the Garmin to prevent me getting lost. I found this route on RWGPS
but I think I've also seen other versions with quite different routes.

Thread on YACF suggests an email has gone out, so I'd check spam folder and/or email the organiser. You usually receive a route sheet at least in the week or two before an event.
YACF generally seems the best place to get GPX files if the ride organiser doesn't provide one.

check spam folder

Well that was easy.

Hoping I can get the route to upload onto my garmin 910 as the route sheet seems to be in some sort of code and I'm a bit confused about the different types of controls. The route is certainly different to the one I linked above!

Also the only information about the start is that it's in Sparsholt, and for drivers to kindly park on the church side of the road. I'll be cycling there, so hopefully everything will become clear when I arrive. Start is at 0730, so what time do riders usually arrive to sign on etc?

I'm doing Old Roads too - although I'm having some doubts now I see that the forecast is for 40mph winds and heavy rain.

The best time to arrive depends on how much faffing around you do. I find that 5 minutes before the start is plenty.

Route sheets are confusing, but if you figure out what the various codes mean (there'll be a simple online guide somewhere) they're actually pretty easy to use. Having said that, I've only ever used one once when my garmin failed, but I like to have one printed out as emergency backup. Plus occasionally they can be useful for figuring out exactly where controls are, or if the route goes onto a cycle track or something.
Controls might be an Info (which will make sense when you get the brevet card at the start - it'll be some random detail like 'name of pub on left' or 'how many miles to X place on the road sign'). Or a shop/cash point where you need to get a receipt to hand in at the end. Or hopefully a village hall with food provided and people making awkward conversation about bikes. It'll all be much clearer when you get the brevet card anyway. Plus people are usually happy to help. Also it doesn't really matter if you don't get the card fully completed - if it's your first audax then just concentrate on enjoying it.

I usually try and arrive about 30 mins before - there's usually some food + tea/coffee provided and it's nice not to have to rush too much. But there'll probably be people turn up right up to last minute.

Rode the Staffs Peak Grimpeur again today, this time the calendar event! Cracking day to be out, a few sections of recently resurfaced road were a nice surprise.

Riding the Troll was a bit of a chore at times (2 3/4 AAA points on 35lb of bike with 2" dead riding touring tyres...) but better than another DNS.

Err... Do people normally take locks on audax for faffing about at controls? I'm not overly keen as mine is large and weighs loads but I'm also not keen on propping my bike up on the street outside the Warminster weatherspoons.

Never seen anything but a cafe lock but then I haven't been to the Warminster Weatherspoons.