Audax rides

I actually dislike just about any energy stuff. Bars, tablets, gels, drinks. I've found that they make me feel gritty, uncomfortable and sometimes queasy and I don't need to add that to an endurance endeavour. I prefer to ride on what I consider real food (I know Snickers and the like are heavily processed) which bears a resemblance to something that I would eat away from a long ride. I think, psychologically, it's quite important to me. My only real concession is powerade, which has cleared up some of my dehydration problems of the past and dex tablets for those long climbs when you're already exhausted.

Correct. Too much rustling.

I wouldn't have thought the rustling was that bad, but then you could fire off cannon next to me without me waking up. Deep sleep FTW.

Here's what I would likely carry:

For LEL I'll be carrying:-

2 spare tubes
Puncture Repair Kit
Tyre boot
Spare folding tyre (GP 4 Season in 25mm, 23mm, same as fitted)
Tool kit

• multi-tool with screwdrivers, allen keys, etc
  * Leatherman Mini (mini pliers, knife and cutters)
  
• Zip ties (small and large)
  
• Insulating tape.
  
  • Spoke key
    
• Chain tool pared down to minimum (allen key from multi-tool will drive it)
  
• Spare links of chain + snap links
  Spare SPD cleats (been known to need them on a long ride!)
  Spare brake blocks
  Arm/Leg warmers (Endura Thermolite with roubaix backing)
  Skull cap (Endura Thermolite again) Would let hair grow long.
  Waterproof jacket (Gore Alp-X)
  Headtorch (useful for repairs in the dark and for reading routesheet/cycle computer/GPS)
  Drugs (Nurofen Express, generic Ibuprofen/cuprofen, pro-plus, immodium)
  Very basic First aid kit (plasters and anti-septic wipes)
  Baby wipes (keep arse area fresh and clean) Toilet paper though.
  Earplugs (for helping sleep at controls)
  Suncream (travel sized tube) Swarthy but would carry in drop bags.
  Sunglasses case (for the pair I'm not wearing, I wear glasses and have prescription sunglasses from Optilabs)
  Toothbrush and travel sized toothpaste Drop bags
  Two torq energy drink singles (ready sized portions) (emergency only)
  Four Torq energy gels with Guararananarana (emergency only)
  Space blanket (35g so why not) (emergency only, banned from use within controls due to the noise they make).
  Nuun hydration/electrolyte tablets to add to bidons of water
  Spare batteries for lights, GPS, headtorch Drop bags
  Smart Superflash rear light as a spare (normal rear light is a battery powered B&M D'Toplight on the rack)
  Front lights are two battery powered B&M Ixons (second one is a spare and for tricky descents at night).
  Battery pack thingy for charging phone (4 AA batteries and USB output). Phone off during most of daylight. Printed contact list.
  mp3 player with FM radio on it (for the dull bits) Don't like rading with headphones in and have excellent internal radio.
  Shoe covers to keep feet dry/warm
  Spare ultralight T and merino wool jersey.
  
  

About 6kg of stuff, including the rackpack itself. Not too bad.

In a Tri-bag just behind the stem I'll carry:-

• Brevet card
  
• Wallet
  
• Camera phone
  
• Bonk rations (flapjack)
  
  

Large assortment of stuff in drop bags and would be prepared to spend more rather than less on bag transports.

I wouldn't have thought the rustling was that bad, but then you could fire off cannon next to me without me waking up. Deep sleep FTW.

There are some occaisions when people are too tired to sleep properly and have a lot of residual caffiene etc. Worse so than the rustling is the whinging about the rustling I imagine.

Would rely on drop bags for most stuff but I'm not guaranteed to get as far as I'd need to each day. The alternative is paying 15 quid more for 3 more drop bags and a load of extra faff, just to save me carrying a toothbrush, toothpaste and 30g of travel sized suncream.

Battery pack thingy for charging phone (4 AA batteries and USB output). Phone off during most of daylight. Printed contact list.

iPhone in flight mode during the day so that it can be used as a camera without draining batteries searching endlessly for a signal in the wilderness where there isn't one. Should last the entire ride without a charge but I don't want to be without it, hence the charger thingy. The battery pack thing and iPhone cable weigh 50g at most and will solve that problem. I'll change GPS batteries every day, whether spent or not, and dump the rest of the power from them into the phone each night (or during the day I can leave it charging in the rackpack). The ride notes say that there will be no power sockets available at controls, otherwise I'd take the normal charger thingy.

I actually dislike just about any energy stuff. Bars, tablets, gels, drinks. I've found that they make me feel gritty, uncomfortable and sometimes queasy and I don't need to add that to an endurance endeavour.

Same here, I carry them purely for emergency. I never plan on actually using them and prefer not to. I had to drink the energy gels on one ride as I was so dehydrated. Luckily I passed a pub before I was going to drink the other one and was able to top up my bottles with water.

which gps do you use Greenbank?

Garmin eTrex. The basic old yellow one. But the cable has a proprietary connector on it and the cables aren't cheap (half the price of the GPS itself for the Garmin official one, 20 quid from ebay). About 100 quid for GPS, cable and handlebar mount.

If I were to buy a new GPS from scratch I'd get a eTrex Legend HCx or Vista HCx and upload the free OpenStreetMap bundle rather than paying lots of money for the Garmin maps. There are more solid mounts available for the colour eTrexes too.

The Edge series, plus some others, aren't that useful for Audaxing as they don't have replaceable batteries, so you're stuck with external battery packs or battery life that won't get you through a 300km ride.

I create my routes using bikely.com and upload them to the GPS using GPSTrackmaker (FREE Edition).

Was just wondering because you mentioned changing the batteries. I bought an AA battery pack charger for my Garmin due to being disappointed with the lifespan of the internal (non replaceable) battery.

Was just wondering because you mentioned changing the batteries. I bought an AA battery pack charger for my Garmin due to being disappointed with the lifespan of the internal (non replaceable) battery.

Exactly. I'd buy an Edge 705 tomorrow if it had replaceable batteries, but it doesn't, so I won't. If I get a PowerTap wheel then having Power data on and logged by the Edge 705, along with position, speed, cadence, HR, etc via ANT+ would fucking rock.

I've told them that, but it's a pretty niche market people wanting a cycling specific GPS with a battery life of more than 20 hours.

I've also been dropping my gear size lately. My regular street gear on my Brooklyn when it was brakeless was 48 x 18...i switched to 46 x 18 for the 3 dunwiches the other week....but i'm actually gonna go a touch lower still to 45 x 18 now for a slightly easier spin as my knees are a bit shit these days. :)

46x18 (67" on 25mm tyres) is as low as I've needed to go. That got me over the worst of the Brecons and Snowdonia on the Bryan Chapman 600 (Chepstow to Menai and back). It's also what I'll be using for LEL.

Yeah, it felt a nice size, and i'm normally good on climbs anyway, but i plan to be touring on this bike too...so my bike will weigh over 50lbs fully loaded...that extra tooth knocked off may just save my knees that extra bit of aggro. :)

I got a etrex Vista HCx (top spec.) for £167 quite a while ago.

I like the sound of the free maps.. goes to google OpenStreetMap.. aha! http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin

I need to find out if Garmin do a bar mount (http://shop.garmin.com/accessory.jsp?sku=010-10267-00) for it that works with 31.8 OS bars.. or..
http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-make-the-best-GPS-bike-mount---for-free!/

Looks like they do:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Large-diameter-adaptor-25-32mm/dp/B00030F6OC

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-eTrex-Handlebar-Mount-Bracket/dp/B00004VX15/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_img_b

On another, slightly related note, I'm going to order this book, so if anyone else wants a copy let me know and we might save on postage.. http://www.theunitedstatesofdelirium.com/

For an HCx I'd make your own mount out of a RAM mount.

(Forgive me for the link to YACF, it's purely for the instructions...)

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13073.0

Thanks Greenbank. That looks good if I had a dedicated tourer but I want easy-on/easy-off setup so I can switch bikes. I reckon I'll give the Garmin mounts a shot.. if they're crap.. you'll hear all about it and can 'I told you so' me. :)

LEL Done and I'm back home.

Finished at 3:30am this morning, roughly 2 hours in hand (not including the two hour extension granted because of the foul weather).

Saw Danial at Middleton Tyas, he looked well, hope he finished.

Epic.

Awesome. Well done.

Well done.

chapeau Greenbank, great job in some unpleasant weather, hope the recovery is swift.

Brilliant work, Alex! Well done.

Congratulations.

From my position on the other side of the control at Eskdalemuir, you definitely seemed to be having a wet time of it.

Am now seriously considering a crack at PBP but will need to do some serious training for that. Since my 600, I've hardly ridden at all.

Going to go for an early SR next year. Anyone fancy setting up a fixed fleche team for the Easter Arrows to York?

From my position on the other side of the control at Eskdalemuir, you definitely seemed to be having a wet time of it.

You were there? I would have said hello if I'd known. You weren't the person that threw my glasses away were you? :)

Going to go for an early SR next year. Anyone fancy setting up a fixed fleche team for the Easter Arrows to York?

Unlikely to do Easter Arrows but an SR is a good bet if you're thinking of PBP. More and more clamour for places means that they're giving priority to people who do a BRM 400 in 2010 (you'll still have to do the SR in 2011, and within the restrictive dates they publish). I can't remember if Easter Arrows qualify as BRM.

Unlikely to do Easter Arrows but an SR is a good bet if you're thinking of PBP. More and more clamour for places means that they're giving priority to people who do a BRM 400 in 2010 (you'll still have to do the SR in 2011, and within the restrictive dates they publish). I can't remember if Easter Arrows qualify as BRM.

I'm definitely up for a BRM 400 next year, and either an SR next year, too, or only in 2011.

You were there? I would have said hello if I'd known. You weren't the person that threw my glasses away were you? :

I wasn't there when you arrived. I was there until about 3pm on Monday and only 30 riders had come through by then, no fixeds.

Unlikely to do Easter Arrows but an SR is a good bet if you're thinking of PBP. More and more clamour for places means that they're giving priority to people who do a BRM 400 in 2010 (you'll still have to do the SR in 2011, and within the restrictive dates they publish). I can't remember if Easter Arrows qualify as BRM.

Not according to the calendar but maybe. Should I be doing as many BRM events as I can next year or do you reckon the 400 will suffice to demonstrate my worthiness.

On another, slightly related note, I'm going to order this book, so if anyone else wants a copy let me know and we might save on postage.. http://www.theunitedstatesofdelirium.com/

Hippy. just seen this. I'll get a copy if you've not ordered yet?

And a copy of The EFI Club too!

Edit: BELATED WELL DONE GREENBANK!!!