Audax rides

Sorry it's not Ben Allen, it's Mr Pickwick: Mr Pickwick goes in search of Dragons and Legends
(I don't know where Mark gets his ride names from / who these dudes are, other than Ben Allen was a rider at my club and Mr Pickwick was in Dickens)

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28201097

@Kurai well done on getting round!

I can only see 200k "Pickwick" rides in the calendar at the moment. But you said this was a Perm rather than a calendar event?

I think if I was going to do a Perm/DIY I'd use one of Colin Bezant's crazy routes - get my money's worth :)

https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=3545
Edit:It's the Perm link. Looks like no calendar event.

Cheers. It doesn't look like I've done any "Pickwick" rides so might add this to potential list.

Around Weald Expedition 200k/3.5AAA
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/WW09/

Greenwich Mean Climb 300/4.5AAA
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/16-91/

Cheddar Gorge 300/1.75AAA
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/PH02/

The Dean 300/2.5AAA
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/JJ01/

Kernow & South West 600/8.25AAA
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/IH01/

TINAT 600k, Wales
http://tinat.cymru/saturday-rides/600km-br/

Cambrian 4C 400k/8AAA
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/CB07/

Cambrian 10A
https://crazyenglishtriathlete.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/cambrian-series-new-1000km-permanent/
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/CB35/

Crackpot 1000k

End to End Brevet 1400k
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/MH01/

Into the Lions Den (New Alresford)
http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/PL02/

Dauntsey Dawdle 400k
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/19-297/

purepeakgrit 600k / 12000m
http://www.purepeakgrit.cc/route/

Pickwick in search of Dragons 600k
https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=3545

I like the idea of BCM for the 600 but I don't think my fitness is up to that much climbing it so will probably be Fenland Friends.

Listen to Ludwig, do BCM, fitness has nothing to do with selecting one over the other.

BCM is epic and the scenary/experience will get you round. Fenland Friends doesn't go anywhere nice, there is fuck all to look at, it's utterly boring.

Ok ok you've both convinced me. Is the calendar event running this year? Or will I have to do the perm? If it's perm only my partner (which is fair considering my cycling history) is extremely keen on having a riding partner but I don't currently have anyone who'd be up for doing it with me. Finding a friend for the 400 an 600 is going to be part of the challenge

Yes . Provisionally 14-15 May, entries open in the new year, all done by post.

I have had a perm card for it for a while but am probably too slow at the moment and would start in Bangor.

Good list. Mixture of ok-ish ones that are near to london and epics at the other side of the country, like audax generally I suppose.

I've done the KSW when it was a calendar event. It's ok but it is unecessarily hilly, which I don't really like. Like it will turn off a road, to go on a side road that goes over a massive hill, or dips down to the sea, then back on to the road you started on, which was flat. After a weekend of that it pissed me off a bit.
I ended up hacking the route and rode about 10 miles on the A404 which was an experience but I won't be doing it again!

Dauntsey is a decent ride - hilly out and very flat back.

And I've done the Dean about 5 times, great ride but I probably overdid it.

The Elenidd would fit well in that list. I've always wanted to do Brevet Cymru but never have. And Scottish audaxes can be good. The Mull of Kintyre, across Scotland overnight, was an epic. And Snow Roads is meant to be great.

Wise move, everyone should do BCM. You get so much sense of achievement from doing Wales in a weekend.

And it's not a bad first 600 as there is lots of support and cameraderie. And there is a fair bit of fastish main road so, while there is climbing, not much that is really steep. Plus the hard last section has been taken out and you finish on fast roads instead of shitty lanes and hills like it used to be!

I can only see 200k "Pickwick" rides in the calendar at the moment. But you said this was a Perm rather than a calendar event?

I think if I was going to do a Perm/DIY I'd use one of Colin Bezant's crazy routes - get my money's worth :)

Yeah, looks like he has retired it from the calendar. I thought about one of Colin's but lots of them are cloverleaf routes and I know I would find it hard to go back out again. I just make it a rule never to enter anything that is a cloverleaf as I have done it twice and, despite good intentions, I DNFd both.

It basically started as a couple of epics that I'd look to hit when I wasn't racing and then I've added local ones over the years like Kingston Wheelers that I've not been able to do because reasons.

Because I'm normally so oblivious to where I'm going I wouldn't necessarily notice KSW was doing that gratuitous hills thing :) But it's also miles away.

I think I did Brevet Cymru as part of a 400k double weekender before one of the races. Drive to Wales, ride Cymru, sleep in car, drive to Portsmouth or something and ride one of those bastard SW rides... Porkers 400

Elenidd always clashed with something else. I've got Highland Fling 1000k entry from 2019 that I might ride.

Yeah, fair enough. Like I just wrote, I have no idea where I am most of the time so it's not so easy pulling the pin. I did bail on one of his crazy 400k rides but that was because I'd started with worn pads and no spares and it was terrible weather so I'd done 200k and had eaten my rotors - and that was before it got really lumpy!

Wow, haven't done a calendar event since PBP...

Has Highland Fling run before or first time next year?

I think so. It was supposed to happen in 2020 IIRC

Ah just noticed, 'event full'. Shame, looks good.

You're very much welcome to come up for my Scottish one.

The plan is to have accommodation the night before and after in the village hall.

I didn't realise AAARTY was a 'proper' thing. I thought it was just like the Hyper SR thing.
https://audaxmedals.southportcc.co.uk/?product=new_design_-aaa_rrty_badge

Maybe I'll convince the other half she needs another badge along with her SR attempt.

Remind us, what's your one?

Also you can do that one with a 50km ride. Doesn't have to be a 200km like the RRtY

my Scottish one.

Think I missed this. Can you share some details (again)?

Ah what? Seriously? That's not audax.

I've already picked out my Nov 200k with 3AAAs.

So...

The history of the The Snow Roads 300 audax goes back to the early days of Audax UK and was one of the original AAA events. The way the story goes is that there were 4 events each year across England Scotland and Wales and to get the AAA award you had to complete all these events.
The route gets its name from the 2 passes it takes in past the Glenshee and The Lecht Ski Centres as well as other Cairngorm roads with Snow Gates installed for winter closures. It sets out from Kirriemuir in Angus across The Mearns, an agricultural belt between the Mounth range and the North Sea. The Mounth is then crossed via the Cairn o' Mount(h) as it drops into Deeside. Heading North across the Don River valley toward the Garioch and the pictish fort on Bennachie hill with its Granite Nipple prominent from many miles around. Westward towards Rhynie before another large pass over The Cabrach a now desolate moorland that once was a thriving farming community before the clearances. Efforts are being made to reestablish communities here. The Cabrach descends into the heart of Speyside Whisky at Dufftown where the tangy smell of the mash and distillates hangs in the air. A tough 18 mile stretch towards Tomintoul is just a warm up for the hardest climb of the ride up to The Lecht Ski centre with ramps of over 20%. Crossing the top we pass back into Aberdeenshire and descend down near to the source of the Don at Cock Bridge and Corgarff Castle. Not much rest before a pair of hills known at the BHs need to be tackled taking you first to Gairnshiel and then to the village Crathie, home of Balmoral Castle. Riders then head upstream along the Dee to Braemar for the final control. From here the last major climb of the day is tackled with the steady by 15km long climb up Glen Clunie to the Cairnwell Pass home of the Glenshee Ski Centre. Cresting here it is 50 odd km back to the finish all downhill (except the parts that aren't) via Glenshee and then Glen Isla.

The village hall at Kirriemuir will be available from Friday evening for riders to congregate and for a few quid (to help cover hall costs) stay the night before coffee/tea and butteries (Aberdonian Croissant) for breakfast. Similar accommodation arrangements are available after the ride where the famous Kirriemuir Bridies will be offered for food.

Entries are here: https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=9433
It is registered as a centenary BRM 300, so special ACP Brevet Cards and Medals will be issued.

I'm nearly 8 weeks post-partum, so I have a feeling my 2022 audax season might not exist. I got pregnant right before I was about to compete my third RRtY, and have done very minimal riding pretty much all of this year. And bloody hell I miss it. I rode 40km yesterday to test the waters and wow it was hard work. Lost all my conditioning of 5ish years of very regular, almost daily riding.

It's almost certainly not the end, though. I'd like to think I have another PBP in me. And I'd love to do LEL please.

I'm nearly 8 weeks post-partum
...
I rode 40km yesterday to test the waters and wow it was hard work.

Given the first statement, then the second is no surprise. It'll come back, I'm sure, but get through those first six months of parenthood first as the lack of sleep is a killer for riding (speaking as a dad obviously). Keep at it as and when you can, and don't do what I did and ride into a parked car.