Audax rides

I'm looking at a few possibilities for April but am also considering 'Tough Stuff' in early June. It starts in Crewe (sounds rather unappealing) but then goes over some Clwydian lumps including the Horseshoe Pass:

From my experience of June weather in NE Wales this could be either glorious or hell on earth

Cheers. Heads in a much different direction to what I usually ride. Could be interesting.

For those interested, entries are still open for The Dean 300k for another week.

http://www.stevenagectc.org.uk/summertime.php Doing this next week. Only 100 km this time With some people from work. After the steam ride last month , 100 km doesn't feel long enough. Anyone else doing this ?

100km get over really quickly, it's around 60 miles on a route that's fairly level.

Although I and my companion was riding really slowly to make the most of it end up trying to sprint to the last control before the cut off time.

Had this down to do last year but something else happened.

Could be up for this. Need to check what I'm supposed to be doing, etc.

Is there a GPS track for it?

Ok, ive had a beer. But i fancy this..

Signed up. 3down

Beer-fuelled late-night online purchasing I know, but beer-fuelled late-night audax entering is a new one

I'd had a few when I signed up for the Llanfair PG 400 before ever riding an audax before.

300 km seems alot longer than it did last night.

I basically rode the 3Down course yesterday. I cut out the loop of New Forest as I needed to get home before nightfall and I didn't head back to Chalfont at the end but with 30k to go headed home instead. It's pretty fun but I definitely suggest more than 23s. It's fucking wet out there - houses were being pumped dry and water levels everywhere were very high. There's lots of gravely little lanes to head up and down so good, wide tyres are recommended. Um, mudguards too.

If you're having trouble on 23s, you're probably riding too fast for audaxing. Eat more ~~dwarfs ~~pie.

You should come along to The Dean this weekend. Only a small handful of slightly gravelly roads and the rest make for some pretty decent riding. There's even a chance of seeing wild boars.

I always thought 23mm is pretty narrow for audax (even racing).

If you're having trouble on 23s, you're probably riding too fast for audaxing. Eat more ~~dwarfs ~~pie.

You should come along to The Dean this weekend. Only a small handful of slightly gravelly roads and the rest make for some pretty decent riding. There's even a chance of seeing wild boars.

Nah, I wasn't having trouble but if I was pushing it I'd probably have run into some. I think you mentioned the Dead last year. Is there a GPX of it or a ridewithgps link so I can see where it goes?

I always thought 23mm is pretty narrow for audax (even racing).

You never raced on 19s though did ya?

Nah, I wasn't having trouble but if I was pushing it I'd probably have run into some. I think you mentioned the Dead last year. Is there a GPX of it or a ridewithgps link so I can see where it goes?

Oxford Severn Bridge Oxford

http://app.strava.com/activities/5668637

This one from Ride With GPS is as accurate as you'll get.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/559301

Hopefully my attempts at attaching a GPS file will also work. As ever, I've never used it but not had any complaints from those that do.

Edit:

Nope, apparently not. The uploader thinks it's an invalid file. Not sure if there are any restrictions on file types for attaching to posts.

I see it gets AAA points now, is there anything to force you up Cleeve Hill or can it still be Larrington'd?

The introduction of AAA points was the year prior to me taking it on and no info's/controls were handed on to me to cover this. Technically you could Larrington all four of the feature climbs so making it AAA watertight would turn it into a tedious pub quiz or a not-so-secret control hell.

As, I think, the fourth organiser and a non-grimpeur to boot, I see myself more of a custodian of the ride rather than the owner. I have proposed a few changes but the audience hasn't been particularly receptive. I don't think anyone troubling any of the medals tables will be doing a Larrington so I'm not inclined to introduce any changes to the calendar event.

For the permanent I think I'll make some tweaks this year so that there are no longer any info controls which are a bit of a pain, especially when members of ACH go out and do three in a week. I could just turn the info's into POP controls but I think I might be able to reduce the controls by one overall.

Ah, it starts in Oxford. That becomes a logistical pain for me. I'd either have to stay there or drive out early in the morning or something. I'm not up for adding the Ealing to Oxford to Ealing bit on to it yet. Hmm

Is it Sat or Sun?

^^ I live at (pretty much) the bottom of Cleeve Hill.

Do you want to suggest the introduction of an info control? I'd be happy to 'find' some info if so.

Hippy - it's Saturday. Might be able to combine travel with some members of ACH.

miro_o - without doing the other climbs it isn't really worth it. Besides, with the advent of Google Streetview and the current state of mobile technology, info controls are something of a redundancy. There is a necessary element of trust in audaxing and that's something that it's better to preserve than mitigate.

Early doors Oxford Tube? Goes from SheBu also so easy for Ealingengers?

I expect to see Hippy shooting up the points table as the year progresses, now he's been seduced by the glamour of audax

http://www.aukweb.net/resources/gallery/event/146/