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Aerobars only buy you time in some places if you're using them, being fitter can buy you time everywhere. Still, sounds like you had fun. Time limits and deadlines for trains and stuff are the bane of my riding life at the moment I think. Touring with no real deadlines or really easy ones is much nicer than rushing to meet strict times.
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Nicely done! I think this particular event really benefits from taking it relatively easy.
It was great to luxuriate in the various cups of tea / flapjacks / cakes / plates of baked beans on the way round, smug in the knowledge that the £20 entry is about 100x the value of the nearest sportive.
If you want to finish audaxes faster, the quickest way to shave off elapsed time is probably to minimise stoppage first, then work on upping your average speed second (joining a club wouldn't hurt with that)
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Really well done, 300 is a seriously big ride!
Without getting to numbers-y like hippy said even a wee bit faster on the road will help, jumping from 19 km/h to 21km/h you'll be back a fair bit earlier and that's not that big of a speed jump. also numbers-y is making the most of the good times while taking it easy. Is there a tailwind or is a flat and easy going? then use it and up your speed without going into the red. It can be tempting to cruise with a tailwind or when it's a easy section, but if you put in similar effort as if it was rolling or whatever there you're really getting a speed benefit without putting in "extra" work. It'll bump up the avg speed and lower your total time without penalty. It's also a bit lame but a HR monitor helps me to keep my heart rate out of the red but keeps me honest when it's time to work, eg if I'm crusing at 100 bpm then I could prob give a bit more. This is all in an effort to finish in good time. But again hippy is right, if you want to properly get around quickly being savage and organised at checkpoints will reduce it big time. if you stop 5 times for 30 mins that's 2 and half hours. you stop for 30 mins twice but 10 mins three times that's another hour off your total ride time and you've probably just gazed out the cafe window a little less and decided your saddlebag was fine as-is, and put your helmet back on and kept going.
So I've saved you energy with tailwind and two hours off your total ride time and you haven't done anything :)
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Congrats, sounds like a great ride!
It’s interesting that you say you’d possibly enjoy audax if more of you were a bit faster. I find this is especially true when you start doing rides long enough to include a sleep stop.
A friend of mine once told me a story about his folks riding longer distance audaxes together way back when. When his dad used to ride alone he would always be fast enough to get a decent few hours sleep on a 600. But when his dad and mum rode them together they were never fast enough to get much sleep and had to resort to disco naps on benches.
Being a bit faster definitely helps if you like your sleep.
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hippy
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@steelspeed
Finished moonrakers and sunseekers!
Very stoked with myself. Longest ride I’ve ever done.
Would’ve been much harder if the temperature was lower. Can’t believe some of you did it in ice last year?
Best parts
Riding through the dark to Salisbury was great - low mist everywhere. Proper spooky. Then arriving at the beach as the sun was coming up. Yeah!
Also the great selection of food.
Cakes, flapjacks, potatoes, Dahl.
Controls were nicely spaced and well stocked. Everyone from Bristol Audax Club was cheery and helpful.
Hardest part was probably the third quarter. Tiredness hits you, the hills were very annoying, and the drivers even worse.
Coming back into Bristol was interesting. Wind-ey cyclepaths are confusing if you don’t know the way and up against time. Darkness didn’t help!
I was on semi-slick 28s, and lots of the ride could’ve benefitted from something a touch wider (Definitely the last part on the strawberry line, and bristol’s wet cobblestones)
I just think I’d enjoy Audaxes more if I was just.. a bit faster.
I’m very good at going slow for a long time, but I’d like to be faster.
I’m on a lugged steel bike with an upright touring position. So not doing myself any favours, but I’m sure people have ridden faster on heavier.
Maybe join a club and get some
Go-faster Coaching?
Maybe give aerobars a go?
Or just enjoy life in the slow lane.
But overall, I had a great time. Think I’d do it again, I’m certainly keen to do another 300.