Audax rides

Oh, the applause were a nice touch. :)

That's two audaxes in a row I've been clapped for on arrival (not even sarcastically)

Excellent clapping, certainly raised a smile.

Really enjoyed the route, will attempted to get an official place next year.

My poor Moser was in a sorry state by the end

Not as bad as Dov's socks

Was tempted by that Dubbel at the end

It was lovely.
I was tempted when I saw it when I got served, but just had a quick glance to the other end of the stand where @hippy was sitting to see what beer he had queued up under his chair, for confirmation it would be good stuff!

They were the worst

I did the London Circuit 400 this weekend. Wasn't expecting to be amazed, but really enjoyed it. I'd done the London Orbital 300 a few years ago and loved seeing London from all the angles. This was very different, with much less London connection after the first third. Lots of Saturday morning London traffic probably not everyone's cup of tea for audaxing, or the queue for the cable car, but I'm happy with that. Kent down to Tonbridge was hilly and bumpy. Then straight west into the sunset along increasingly quiet smooth rolling hills to Haslemere. Worth Way was a highlight. Felt really good on the bit straight up to Beaconsfield services after a can of coke at Slough to wake me up. Beaconsfield at 2am on a Saturday morning is pretty interesting. The McDonald's customers enjoyed it when my order number of 069 came up. Was on a roll, so headed out into the very dark cold roads to get to Leighton Buzzard. Was questioning my choice about 20min after setting off with sudden sleepiness hitting hard, thinking that no one would be leaving the warm services in a rush and if anything went wrong I'd be screwed. Will not forget to take a space blanket again for any overnighter. Twilight came, felt better. Bit of a slog to get back to Ruislip. But did see the magic roundabout at Hemel Hempstead and then the little trains at ruislip lido.

little trains at ruislip lido.

coke at Slough to wake me up

Shit, audaxing got a bit more serious than I expected.

69 came

Don't we all.

Sounds very interesting.

Who/what is this London Circuit? I think the Orbital was the grrl's first 300k and she was struggling at the finish in the Chilterns, but now she eats this kinda shit up.

It's a calendar 400, was on last weekend, from Ruislip.

I didn't really fancy it as I thought there'd be busy roads but sounds like it might be a bit further out, being a 400.

Definitely had quite a lot of very busy roads in the first 120km. As for the hilliness of the Chilterns, the route was way gentler than the Orbit. Remember that one having a brutal road called Stoney Lane right at the end. Circuit doesn't have anything like that.

Yeah, we used the Orbital because it was close to home for bailout options. But the missus has proven herself on a HAF 400k in Wales now so if I was going to do long stuff I'd prefer to get away from the smoke.

Lovely writeup! Glad you enjoyed it. We'll be back next year with any luck, alongside a flatter 200km event.

Just finished my fixed gear RRtY on a lovely DIY 200 around the Scottish Borders. What a nice day on the bike.

https://strava.app.link/tZw2yPTGZpb

I’ve been simultaneously running 200’s for the last two months, so I may carry on x2 200’s each month for the rest of the year and see how I get on. That x5 RRtY badge is tempting me…

I’ll probably do a 300, 400 and 600 fixed this year and then tone it down a bit on the big fixed miles.

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I'm doing this this weekend - just jumping on the ferry to Dieppe and heading south for a day and half, then turning round and coming home:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39381597

Congratulations and lovely photos.

would be keen on hearing a ride report. have fun.

I did it.
Having beer in Dieppe waiting for ferry, having beer.
Route was ok but there is a boring, flat bit of France between Normandy and the Loire that I'd forgotten about.
I'll write a bit more shortly

Has anyone got a london to oxford route. Even better to or from Birmingham ?

I'm looking for a nice London-Birmingham route too

Yeah it's called la Beauce, dedicated to large scale grain farming. It has its charm but lucky for you it wasn't harvest season, the building-sized machinery has no mercy :)
Epic ride btw, having a look regularly at this thread makes me wonder how people do this

Finished my fixed SR with Bryan Chapman, it's amazing how many hills you can forget over a few years.......
We also had pretty much all the Caterhams following the same route up in packs of five all day Saturday. Lovely to see the first few groups but increasingly annoying.

Lovely to see the first few groups but increasingly annoying.

It was motorbikes when I did BCM. Everyone thinking it's a race track.

Quick note to all those motorbikers in Poland doing hill repeats with your stupid, noisy exhausts - you're obnoxious wankers and your partners are cheating on you while you're playing on your bikes.

@ukjoshb did you shout "DO A SKID" as you passed?