Audax rides

None of the other riders seemed to know either and I was the only one with enough Internet to Google. Tbh most of the clues were only unclear because I was looking at the wrong thing...

Those sound like nasty infos. My rule of thumb is that if I can get it without slowing down, it is a good info and if I don't have to stop it is ok. But if I have to get off the bike and start googling, it's horrible!

Yeah, all the info controls I had so far where things like collection time on a postbox, or "what's the name of the road to X" (sure enough it's X road). At first I stopped and wrote them down on the spot but now I just take a crappy photo and move on to the next control.

I just try to remember them. If I forget, I just ask someone else. Another rider, or failing that, the organiser. If they don't want to validate me, it's not the end of the world!

Sorry, noob here and skimming the thread - So organisers ask you to collect certain information at checkpoints to prove you were there, akin to collecting a receipt?

Sounds good. Can Pokémon Go or Geocaching be incorporated somehow?

banned

My 910 is clearly not up to the job and my phone was a hassle, so what are the approved navigation aids people recommend?

Garmin 1000 looks good but spendy and the phone connectivity stuff seems ott.

I saw some etrex on the audax, but they are bulky and would just give a breadcrumb trail, no?

I'm in a grump with garmin after repeated crashes/data losses so I'd happily consider other brands but there aren't many viable alternatives and I'm already pretty embedded with other garmin devices and accessories.

So organisers ask you to collect certain information at checkpoints to prove you were there, akin to collecting a receipt?

Yup, my understanding is that there are regular controls where you meet someone who marks your card, free controls where you get a receipt, and info controls where you answer a question. Not sure if there are any other variants.

I use Garmin 800, if I bought again I would probably get an etrex 30 or whatever it is called as it takes AA batteries so for the long stuff is easier to manage vs. re-charging. Though as you say it is a bit bulky and the mount looks/is shit.

Buy my old Vista HCx

Maybe I should sell my 800 too if I'm now using a phone as backup.

I've had an Edge (?) 200 for 3 or 4 years and I've never had any problems with it. It does just give a 'breadcrumb' / solid line but I've found this far easier to read on the go than when I've used 7/800 series garmins with all the maps, etc. I'm pretty sure some of the eTrex devices have maps, and there is a lot of forum discussion (yacf / ctc) on getting the best out of them.

I'm going to sound like a luddite here, but ultimately your device is only as good as the file you load onto it (sometimes the ones provided by organisers aren't 'snapped' accurately to the actual route so need some tweaking), and on unfamilliar terrain it really does pay to study the route before hand. On occasion I've made small top tube crib notes with distances to info controls / places which can also be handy.

Has anyone here tried out the Specialized Power saddle for long distance stuff?

yes, its great

I saw some etrex on the audax, but they are bulky and would just give a breadcrumb trail, no?

That's what you want. Don't use turn by turn on an audax or it will get too clever and re-route you and you will get lost. Believe me, I've tried it.
I use a Garmin 705 which is pretty old but does the job.

Ta. Will pop into evans and see about picking up one of the lower end ones and see how it feels.

Rode a DIY perm on Wednesday from mine to the Isle of Wight and then round the island. Rode with a friend who was keen to go along the coastal route and that made it massively over distance for a 200 at 238km. For some reason I hadn't taken this into account and the extra time for the ferry. So it was more like 15hours. Missed the last train from Portsmouth. My friend got a room and I decided to ride back through the night. Used the return leg of the Cogidubnus which was still on my Etrex. Quite a hilly route but it was a pleasantly warm night with close to zero traffic. Lack of food and drink made it harder. Going to submit my track but pretty sure that it won't validate. Ah well. Lovely ride though.

The info before the "vedette" info was next to a building with "vedette" written on it in large letters, providing you with a handy example to learn from :-)

I'm normally really bad at info questions (and resort to taking photos for proof) but I thought ORDR had some imaginative and interesting ones compared to the usual variety.

However there were a lot of them! Something like 12 or 14 controls in a 200 is nuts - presumably because the organiser had to bounce the route around a lot to keep it on interesting terrain.

That's a lot of infos. But, in southern England at least, it's tricky to devise a route that isn't an out and back, because there are so many roads, and bridleways, that can cut the minimum distance as measured by Google maps below what it needs to be. Even if no-one would ride them as they are near-motorways or dirt tracks, they still get counted and lop off a few km here and there.
My club is doing a new 200 for next May and the guy who devised the route had a lot of issues with this. I think he's got it down to about 3 infos, which I thought was just about bearable.

Ha! And after all that fuss i never even saw the sign...

Need to improve my observation skills too :-)

I've found turn by turn on garmin 800 works pretty well, though has a habit of stopping working without warning (reloading the track fixes it). What you absolutely want to avoid is having the 'recalculate route' setting on, which guarantees things will go badly wrong.

Nice! Can you share the route?

Here is the route that I used. http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=mfvuhhfjyibesuys

Didn't do a route check before the ride but aside from one or two nasty intersections it's pretty much all lanes and has lots of long steady descents. The island isn't too hilly but is lumpy in that even though the climbs aren't challenging there are lots of them. Views are amazing and it's clockwise so if you manage to get there early enough you can follow the sun. The sunset from Yarmouth was quite spectacular. Probably why we missed the ferry. On the way down it passes via the same 'cheese on toast' cafe that was used on the Cogidubnus ride.

There is a lot of building work going on at Portsmouth Harbour so can be confusing. Don't go this weekend though as there is a big scooter rally going on.

Cheers mate! I'll study the route and plan to do it possibly one of the first weekends of September, I'm away cycling elsewhere this weekend, so no risk at all!

I perm'd the boat ride on Saturday. It was shit. Route was quite forgettable (sorry Paul Stewart you still da man) and the weather was atrocious for audax. Just rain and wind the whole time :-( Still finished it though and now 2/3's of the way through my RRtY.

@gillies

Disclaimer, I was using the carbon one which is very stiff, regardless, I used it on the Bryan Chapman. It was comfortable for the first 400k, but after that it became quite painful because there was just no flex or give in the saddle. You might have a better time with the cheaper plastic version but yeah... S-Works was very very stiff.

finally actually entered flatlands and GMC.
How are people getting to Flatlands? Ride out? Adds a decent amount of distance to a 600...
EDIT: wow, only just looked at the stats of the flatlands, aroun 1200m of climb over 600km? woooow. I'll have no excuses for being slow.

Til you hit a block headwind for 300k ;)