Audax rides

Crap, I don't even time trial on that sort of gear. Mind you, I'm planning on jumping to it this season.

It all depends on what sort of route you're doing, but I can't see an 85Gi favouring you anywhere on an audax after the first 50k. City riding is very different to country riding. Even the most dedicated RLJ er will be doing a fair amount of stop start rather than the continuous flow of country rolling.

I run a 70GI on my bike and find that it's often a little undergeared for towns but mostly OK for out in the country and most hills. There's been a few get off and walk moments and some of the long running descents get quite tiring. If I get round to audaxing on it the back brake is going back on and I'll probably unclip for the steepest down hills. Makes it easier to descend like a road bike which I'm pretty good at.

Bearing in mind that you'll potentially be carrying a bit more kit than usual and probably want it on the bike rather than the body, how good are you at hills? I'm crap and need to toughen up a fair bit before I start audaxing on fixed (my main strength is at the spinny end of pedalling)

What TSK said.

48/15 is track gearing. Go lower.

Thanks for your advice,
just remembered I have a 42 tooth chainring somewhere, 42/15 will give me roughly 74 gi which I recon will do it.
So is anybody doing this ride?

Hi TSK,

how good are you at hills?

I don't think I am particularly good at hills. I used to ride Clapton Pond to Hampstead Heath on a 42 chain ring within 1 hour without any particular issue.

I have now entered the race and sorted mud guards + back rack + gear ratio.

I am going to ride the 50K on 42/15 (74 gi).

It sounds like is an easy 8 shaped ride. However, I'll take some time to study the map and my tom tom ... just in case.

If I get round to sending in the form I'll be doing it on 68gi. I like my knees just how they are, not bothered if I'm not the fastest.
Lots of extra highgate/swains laps for training should be enough prep I reckon.

thinking about doing that one as an entry level ride as well, on the new geared machine ... what's the average pace the regulars do there, an how many people take part? Does anyone know?

If I get round to sending in the form I'll be doing it on 68gi. I like my knees just how they are, not bothered if I'm not the fastest.
Lots of extra highgate/swains laps for training should be enough prep I reckon.

Sounds good. Mind they would like to get the forms at least 15 days before the event.

Thinking about doing that one as an entry level ride as well, on the new geared machine ... what's the average pace the regulars do there, an how many people take part? Does anyone know?

Don't know about the pace of the locals really. However, given that the minimum speed is 15 km/h and with a gear of 42/15 @ 60 rpm(avg) you keep a speed of 21Km/h the pace to finish within the time limit shouldn't be that crazy.

Would be nice to organise an lfgss team..

Gotta confirm, but it looks like I'm in for this one. I'll do it geared though, the Ethos needs to have its first couple of outings.

Cool, are you in London? It would be cool to get a few people to go down there :)

thinking about doing that one as an entry level ride as well, on the new geared machine ... what's the average pace the regulars do there, an how many people take part? Does anyone know?

On Brazier's Run? Last year 97 finished the 100km ride and 11 finished the 50km ride.

(You can check previous years entries by going to http://www.audax.uk.net/ and clicking on Results and then 'Events Results Sheets' in the 2009 column. It's a little bit cryptic to find the right event but look for a similar date, distance and start location).

Both the 50km and 100km rides set off at 9am and both follow the same route for the first 50km that ends up back at the huts. People doing the 100km ride then go out again on a second 50km loop.

Pace will be anything from club riders doing it in under 4 hours to some pootling round and taking the full 7 hours.

I had a moving average of 23kph last year (including the 75km to the start and 75km home afterwards). I tend to be near the back of the ride on a longer (200km+ Audaxes) but near the middle on the shorter rides, rarely near the front. 67" (46x17) to promote spin-fu not because it's hilly (I used the same gear for the Brecons and Snowdonia).

Did my first Audax a couple of weeks back in the midlands, Rutland and Beyond 106k. Really enjoyed it already signed up for more over the next few weeks. Got the bug already, went on a ride to southend at the weekend to keep my miles up.

Signed up for Braziers Run 100k. Considering doing a slightly longer one at Shaftesbury, Not sure if the leap to 200k will be too much straight away so might try the 150K. Not sure if thats just me being overly cautious.

currently struggling through the administration necessary to join the Audax Club Parisien. Riding plans are going ok, racking up plenty of k's.

I'm looking for first 100k to do this spring, and a 200k in the summer. Possibly even a 400k if things go well. Anyone done any decent audaxes of that length near paris? Don't really want to have to get the train 500k to the start...any suggestions welcome. I'm not getting the eurostar, either!

Signed up for Braziers Run 100k. Considering doing a slightly longer one at Shaftesbury, Not sure if the leap to 200k will be too much straight away so might try the 150K. Not sure if thats just me being overly cautious.

There's no harm in being cautious but the general rule of thumb is that:-

If you can ride a 100km Audax then you can ride a 200km Audax.
If you can ride a 200km Audax then you can ride a 300km Audax.
If you can ride a 300km Audax then you can ride a 400km Audax.
If you can ride a 400km Audax then you can ride a 600km Audax.
...

I'd make a few changes to make it:-

If you can comfortably ride a 100km Audax then you'll almost certainly be able to finish a 200km Audax.
If you can ...

But don't expect that feeling fresh and happy after finishing a 100km ride will mean you'll finish a 200km ride just as fresh.

I did the London to Cambridge charity ride (100km as I'd started from Putney) and felt ok at the end. My first 200km ride (a few months later) I felt utterly shattered by the end.

Subsequent 200km rides have (generally) been easier (except where I've handicapped myself with a hangover or foul weather).

I followed the usual progression for longest rides: 100, 200, 300, 400, 600, ...

Once you've done a few 600s you'll be happy taking on anything although you've then got to battle against complacency.

Going back to the original question, if you don't feel like doing a 200 then do the 150. It's still a long way. There aren't that many 150km rides in the Calendar so you may want to grab your chance now.

Anyone done any decent audaxes of that length near paris?

Try looking at the links in this thread on yacf: http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=28078.0

There's no harm in being cautious but the general rule of thumb is that:-

If you can ride a 100km Audax then you can ride a 200km Audax.
If you can ride a 200km Audax then you can ride a 300km Audax.
If you can ride a 300km Audax then you can ride a 400km Audax.
If you can ride a 400km Audax then you can ride a 600km Audax.
...

I'd make a few changes to make it:-

If you can comfortably ride a 100km Audax then you'll almost certainly be able to finish a 200km Audax.
If you can ...

I've generally advised that if you have done 3 or 4 100km rides, you should be able to do a 200km rides. 5-6 200km > 300km, 2 300km to 400km and then straight to 600km.

The hump really is around getting over the impact of a proper long day in the saddle that is 200km. Once you're over that the next, smaller hump is getting through around 24 hours of physical effort that is the 400km (getting to, riding and leaving) and then the 600 will either be a journey of soul destroying madness or a life affirming adventure, possibly both. Above the 300km mental capability starts to become far more important.

On Brazier's Run? Last year 97 finished the 100km ride and 11 finished the 50km ride.

This scares me now. I am still not sure which one to sign up for, the 50 or the 100, but it either sounds like either the 50 isn't that well attended or it is really really hard riding ...

Hi guys.
I'm completely new to the Audax rides but would really enjoy trying it out sometime. I'm currently using my fixed/single speed for commuting 17 miles to and from work. I've also got a Claud Butler hybrid. Would it be really stupid to look at doing Audax rides on a single speed bike? I'm asking because I'm not really in the position to go and buy another bike, I could easily fit drop handlebars/brakes to the single speed though.

Thanks.

It depends really on the rider and the course. Drops tend to offer more hand positions which mean more comfort over long distances. Provided you can get up the hills in time and keep moving fast enough, even in a headwind, then single speed should be fine. Try a flatish 100k first and see how it goes.

I will probably lose my job for this but I wish Audax UK's ride organisers would shift their payment processes into this century, or even the latter part of last century. I have no idea where my chequebook is and I can't remember the last time I posted a non-work related letter. And two weeks before the event? I've never done anything two weeks before ANYTHING. I am well up for a 300 but my laziness when it comes to stuff like that means it will probably never happen.

(I know if you're a member you can pay online for some of them but never the ones I want to do.)

It depends really on the rider and the course. Drops tend to offer more hand positions which mean more comfort over long distances. Provided you can get up the hills in time and keep moving fast enough, even in a headwind, then single speed should be fine. Try a flatish 100k first and see how it goes.

Great thanks for the advice. I'm going to keep training but keep an eye on rides comming up in places near me. Will try going down the route of fitting drops but use the bull horns when time isn't really critical.

Agreed on the entry process, although the paypal entries are becoming more common.

As for two weeks, I think that's fairly reasonable. Two weeks means the organiser has time to plan for things like food for the riders, make sure they have enough brevet cards, do a final check on the route, make any amendments and send out routesheets, resolve any accomodation problems and other queries, cash all the cheques etc. I admit that there have been times when I've wanted to do a ride that is less than two weeks away and it's been annoying not to be able to enter, but organisers have needs as well. Besides, there is nothing to stop you from contacting the organiser and ask about entering on the line a couple of days before hand. If the ride isn't too busy and you aren't a demanding rider, I doubt too many of them would refuse.

Agreed on the entry process, although the paypal entries are becoming more common.

As for two weeks, I think that's fairly reasonable. Two weeks means the organiser has time to plan for things like food for the riders, make sure they have enough brevet cards, do a final check on the route, make any amendments and send out routesheets, resolve any accomodation problems and other queries, cash all the cheques etc. I admit that there have been times when I've wanted to do a ride that is less than two weeks away and it's been annoying not to be able to enter, but organisers have needs as well. Besides, there is nothing to stop you from contacting the organiser and ask about entering on the line a couple of days before hand. If the ride isn't too busy and you aren't a demanding rider, I doubt too many of them would refuse.

Ah, two weeks would be absolutely fine if I could pay online, it's just that if I ever did get around to writing a cheque and addressing an envelope, there'd be pretty much no chance of me bothering to post it in time.

Wow, I really am shamefully lazy and disorganised.

I've wondered about entering on the line before where they've said it's possible but not guaranteed, but not bothered as I'd be getting the train to any start points and don't want to risk wasting the train fare. I guess contacting the organiser to make sure it'd be OK would solve the problem though.

Argh, didn't see the two weeks thing ... means I have missed the dealine for the March 6th .... shite!

[edit]
Of course this means I am not only lazy and unorganized, but also bloody stupid

Argh, didn't see the two weeks thing ... means I have missed the dealine for the March 6th .... shite!

I guess contacting the organiser to make sure it'd be OK would solve the problem though.

.

Yes, yes ... I saw that.