Audax rides

That's great the steel frames are weldable but you're forgetting that it snapped in the first place... :)

But ally or carbon wouldn't be mendable that simply, if at all. Steel is the win. Face it fatso.

You can mend carbon with a bit of poly cement and for alu just patch the break with a fridge magnet.

#solutionoriented

But ally or carbon wouldn't be mendable that simply, if at all. Steel is the win. Face it fatso.

Mike Hall rode a relatively cheap carbon bike to a new Around the World record. Didn't need any welding. Carbon wins.

(anecdote != data)

^^^^ Barring Mechanicals was a good read, thanks to Sparky for lending it to me, and to Andy for writing it. Andy's been seen out and about in a velomobile of late.
You wait ages for a velomobile.... - YouTube

Just started reading 'Barring Mechanicals' a 'bent rider's tale of a previous LEL.

About ten pages in and I think I'd have quit already if I had to bodge zip ties to the bike every 20 miles. #supportcrew #missingaudaxpoint

That's a book I want to read.

So do I.

My favourite tale is of Gary Broad. About 130k into the Bryan Chapman Memorial the chainstay broke at the bottom bracket. I bumped into him at about this point and we came to the conclusion that his ride was pretty much over. I pointed out on the map some bail out options to head for a train.
However, a mile or so up the road he asked a garage on the off chance if they could do a weld for him. They couldn't but set him up with another guy in the town who could. Within a couple of hours he was back on the road so decided to keep going to the next control. He made it just in time so decided he may as well go on to the next one where the organiser was. The bike was still OK then so he decided he would see how far around he could get and managed to finish well in time.
Steel frames and audaxing spirit FTW.

Any ideas what to do if that would have happened at midnight?

The bike would have turned into a pumpkin?

More seriously (ish) wasn't there that Scottish audaxer (not Mr Broad) popularly reputed to have zip tied his frame back together when it broke in half?

I've seen mtb'ers bodge temp fixes with loads of duct tape.

eg

More seriously (ish) wasn't there that Scottish audaxer (not Mr Broad) popularly reputed to have zip tied his frame back together when it broke in half?

NcNasty.

http://www.owenphilipson.com/blog/2010/09/12/george-berwick-500km-on-a-broken-frame/

He's ridden a billiontyone 24hr TTs too. Now rides tandem as his eyesight ain't up to much.

So do I.

Any ideas what to do if that would have happened at midnight?

It's a question that gets asked a lot on the audax forum in YACF and there are always a lot of helpful solutions and bodges that get suggested. The bottom line though is that when you get to the level of audaxing that takes you outside of "usual business hours", you have to be prepared for the fact that you may experience catastrophic mechanical failure or similar. It's not so much what you have to do in response that gets to people but the fact that it has happened in the first place.

Of course, once it has happened, you are left with three options;

1) Effect a repair with the resources that you have available. Zip-ties on freewheels, duct tape, coke cans and inner tubes on broken frames, bits of slender branch in snapped handlebar. I've seen some pretty creative stuff.

2) Call for help. Taxis, friends, family, anyone who can be persuaded to haul your bedraggled ass off a curb and take it home. Of course when you're many miles away from home in the middle of nowhere this option rarely presents itself.

3) Head for cover until it becomes easier to do 1) or 2) Phone booths, grit bins, church foyers, unlock garages, barns, railway station platforms are among the many places used. Some have blagged their way into closing pubs to sleep on the floor or warehouses. All depends on what you're prepared to do really. As a last resort you can just walk although after a while, sleeping under hedges becomes a very attractive prospect.

The mantra, as ever, is "it's just a bike ride". The risk of getting stranded in the boonies and having to rely on luck and the generosity of strangers is all part of the happy adventure. If all this sounds a bit much then it may be that longer audaxing isn't for you. Instances of being stranded are mercifully rare and oddly seem to happen to those of the best disposition to deal with them though.

It's a question that gets asked a lot on the audax forum in YACF and there are always a lot of helpful solutions and bodges that get suggested. The bottom line though is that when you get to the level of audaxing that takes you outside of "usual business hours", you have to be prepared for the fact that you may experience catastrophic mechanical failure or similar. It's not so much what you have to do in response that gets to people but the fact that it has happened in the first place.

At the risk of stating something fairly obvious I suppose this is part of the modern anxiety around accepting risk or uncertainty or inconvenience and which mobile phones have only served to encourage. Funny that it should still crop up in an audax context though, given the stress on self reliance...

There was a time not all that long ago when people in rural areas would happily walk many miles to get to work, school, or even the pub - my grandad talked about walking overnight to get to a dance for example, and I've heard someone else mention regularly doing the same, over some very remote roads, to get to football matches - so perhaps it's only recently the thought of being stuck ten miles from the nearest inner tube has seemed daunting

so perhaps it's only recently the thought of being stuck ten miles from the nearest inner tube has seemed daunting

Hah, I have to walk 10 miles home after getting a puncture, in London, at 2am.

People used to think nothing of cycling between towns, because it was by far the easiest way available. Even just after the invention of the bicycle in 1817, when they were 'walking machines' and not crank-driven yet, there are records of some very long rides, e.g. 88km or even over 100km.

Did my first Audax today. Oasts and Coasts 300 circumnavigating all of Kent and some of East Sussex. I don't think in km so 194 miles, my longest ride by some distance. Apart from the first 50 or so miles which were horrific as I lost all sensation in my hands and feet due to the driving cold rain, the rest of the day was absolutely superb once I'd got my extremities back. The headwind a stinging rain across the top of the Ashdown Forest was particularly unpleasant. Not sure I'll do another as this box feels ticked now. Maybe in a week I'll have changed my mind... :)

My first 300 for a good number of years and 100k longer than anything else this year. I enjoyed the first two thirds but nausea marred the end, as did the flat battery/dodgy alternator in my fine resulting in a two hour wait for AA transport home.
All good fun. I never use electrolyte drinks (and gels disagree with me) but some reading round suggests nausea could be down to electrolytes/stomach osmality and thus Nuun tables in water could help. Any thoughts?

Anyone doing the Dinton 100 next week? Sent off my entry in good time with the 2 x SAE's but haven't had anything back yet. Hopefully it's still on.

Also doing the Hop Garden on the 11th. Fancied doing the 200 but couldn't find any trains that would get me there before 08:00 so have opted for the 160 instead which starts at 08:30 and the earliest train I could find gets into Meopham at 08:06.

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/14-115/#more
You might still be able to get entry into this, but it might be too late.
Probably the easiest 300k in the country, only roughly 1000m climbing, very lovely roads and the weather due on Saturday is probably the best conditions it will ever be...

Just realised I've got the May-as-well Solstice 200, Peaks and Troughs 100, World's End 200 and finally LlanfairPG 400 lined up over the next 4 weekends. Should be a a good mix of scenery, hills, flats and distance...

Bloody hell. I'm knackered just thinking about that. Fair play.

Ha! I'm not sure it's my smartest idea but I'll be pretty pleased if I can pull it off between polo and commitments

Bryan Chapman soon!

Looks like it.

Rode the May-as-well Solstice yesterday, very nice route and would make a good first 200 for anyone around the area. Opted for an extra 40 minutes in bed and hopped on the train to the start with another audaxer who'd made it all the way down from Sowerby Bridge). Route was straightforward with only a couple of tricky bits getting out of Market Drayton and another town I forgot the name off. A closed bridge meant meant a few km of converted railway-type cycle path and then a short gravel section (I wonder if there are any all-gravel audax events...).

Food and supplies were readily available around the ride (my favourite cake shop/village store in Goostrey was open on the way out too!) even in the smaller villages on a bank holiday. The control at Old Ma's Cafe in Tattenhall was a good stop and somewhere I'll be re-visiting. I feel I managed my eating a lot better across the day and felt a lot stronger than on the Newport 200 (despite having some Welsh miles in my legs from the Saturday). Lighter wind and sunshine for a few hours in the morning definitely helped.

I was pleased with my pace, looking back I could have probably made it round an hour or so faster had I been riding solo. As advised by someone on Saturday, while dragging ourselves up Horseshoe Pass..., it's important to go at your own pace and that doesn't always mean pushing hard to keep up, it might mean not slowing down to stick with others...

Feeling a lot happier with the bike too. The combination of friction shifters, smaller rings and a narrower range cassette meant I was picking a sensible gear and spinning along, rather than having big jumps and grinding my knees away. New tyres were more comfortable and felt faster rolling. Mounting a Super C Audax on the front of the bike provided ample storage for cake and other bits and pieces. Everything feels a lot better and I'm confident it'll get me round my first 400 at the end of the month.