Audax rides

@ tsk No indeed, much of north lincs is rolling country, I'm aware of that. But hilly - like Wales, Cumberland or N Derbyshire - it aint.

Yeah winds are def a big part of riding in the east of the East of the country.

@ tsk No indeed, much of north lincs is rolling country, I'm aware of that. But hilly - like Wales, Cumberland or N Derbyshire - it aint.

Yeah winds are def a big part of riding in the east of the East of the country.

Here's the odd thing though. the BCM600 does a lot of work on main roads and on a lot of the climbs I wasn't even thinking about getting out of the saddle. It's some of the best riding I've ever had on major roads, especially given the well earned welsh reputation for road maintenance.

Only a few bits of the ride were genuinely hard in themselves and two of them were downhill. Out in Lincs, I've grunted my way up several climbs in a row. Still, all the best with it.

Up to a whooping 4 FWC-points now; feel I could win it this year ;-) How's everyone else doing? I need to go a do some hilly AAA audaxes to gain some "easy" FWC points.

East Riding 100k. 6hrs 12 mins. Fixed.

That was my first attempt at audax, seven times longer than I've ridden in a single stint this year, more miles than I've ever ridden in a single day, and a good 50% longer than my previous distance record for fixed.

I'm disappointed with the time - I was hoping to complete the course within 6 hours. A couple of off piste moments (navigation fail) didn't help, I'm sure, but the principal factor in the slow time was the headwind on the return leg, It was vicious - basically, riding into the wind, I couldn't make walking pace. When I had a tailwind, I was spinning out...

Route itself was great, up and down through the Yorkshire Wolds, along some wonderful lanes, including a glorious downhill that went on for miles. Rain, cloud, sunshine and the aforementioned gale provided the accompaniment.

Need to think a bit more seriously about nutrition next time - snacked throughout on bananas and muesli bars with some chocolate to keep my spirits up in the headwind.

I geared down for this: 48x19, instead of my usual 48x18. Best £15 I've ever spent on the bike, because I have absolutely no doubt that I wouldn't have finished on 48x18.

That said, 48x19 was a little spinny, and a lot of the downhills had me on the back brake to try and keep my knees in their sockets.

Things to work on:
o navigation - a couple of people had the route programmed into Garmins
o nutrition - probably ate the wrong stuff at the wrong times, but hey, I got round
o spin-fu - fast pedalling is horribly po-go like for me
o trim down the luggage: I didn't eat half the food I took, so that was dead weight ported about for no reason

Overall, very glad I did it, little disappointed with the time, but it gives me something to aim for on the next run.

Welcome to the fold - don't worry about the time; its not a race...

Garmins are morally cheating...

URGENT HELP NEEDED on the Beast from the East 600K Audax event.

2 x volunteers are needed from the afternoon of Saturday 29 May 2011 through to the next day, Sunday 30 May to help setup an outdoor kitchen to help feed tired and hungry riders on Mark Brooking’s Beast from the East event.
The location is Middle Wallop, Hants. A sleeping bag will be required.
If you think you could help Tracy and Di then let me know and I will give you their mobile number and they will explain in more detail what is needed.
I was booked to help Tracy and Di, but due to unforeseen circumstances last weekend I was unable to assist in the reccy ride and would very much like to participate in the ride this coming weekend.

from Willesden CC facebook ^

Not important to me, as I've already qualified/not riding, but for a lot of riders, this is the last hurdle to leap for Paris-Brest-Paris.

PBP is a dream for many riders and often years in the making. We know that without the generousity of scores of helpers, our dreams may be short lived. Helping out makes you a legend and a hero. Also, the Willesden bunch are really nice to ride with/work with.

Bumping this to ask around: I'm hoping to find someone planning to do LEL in 2013 who's never ridden this distance before. I would like to talk to anyone who might be thinking of it. Please pm me
or post here if you're not able to pm.

Thanks,
Skully

I'm vaguely planning to, Ben, but it'll depend on whether I can find the time to do an SR series.

I'm vaguely planning to, Ben, but it'll depend on whether I can find the time to do an SR series.

You don't need to do an SR to qualify for LEL but it is wise to have one under your belt as preparation :)

LEL 2005 photos

LEL 2005 ride report

You don't need to do an SR to qualify for LEL but it is wise to have one under your belt as preparation :)

Yup, that's what I mean. I just haven't found the time for much riding.

I'd never even heard of LEL and just had to google it, but it looks great, I'd be up for something like this. I've not even got a job at the moment, and have'nt for ages so assuming I'm not destitute by then I'd love to do it.

I've never done an audax or sportive before so am a real novice at this sort of thing. I did do from Liverpool to London through Wales in the summer and clocked up 900 odd miles solo so am used to the mileage but this looks a real adventure with like minded bikey folk.

So I'm assuming this is like a british PBP, do you have to carry all your stuff with you and sleep over in village halls and/or the side of the road or do people generally have support teams/vehicles/family and ride light and meet up at prearranged points to collect their stuff? If I'm cycling over 100 miles a day I'd prefer to not have to carry sleeping bags and scoble levels of kit with me but if dems the rules then so be it, though my road bike does'nt even have any rack or pannier points so I may need a more appropriate steed, I'm assuming fixed or SS is out of the question for something like this?

And again pardon my ignorance but what is an SR series? Is this some sort of 'training' rides to demonstrate you can do the required mileage? Anyway I've just pinged off an email asking them for more info when they have it so yes I'm interested.

Dan

So I'm assuming this is like a british PBP

It's the main British super brevet ride. I don't think I know how a super brevet is defined, but probably something like 'more than 1,000 kilometres in a couple of days'. There's also the relative newcomer of the Mille Cymru. PBP is obviously the biggest.

do you have to carry all your stuff with you and sleep over in village halls and/or the side of the road or do people generally have support teams/vehicles/family and ride light and meet up at prearranged points to collect their stuff?

You can arrange it any way you like (if you have people who can help, I think voluntary help at the feeding/sleeping stations is always appreciated), but solo riders can do bag drops, i.e. their bags are taken to certain stations at certain times. You can sleep, change, or shower at certain points.

If I'm cycling over 100 miles a day I'd prefer to not have to carry sleeping bags and scoble levels of kit with me but if dems the rules then so be it, though my road bike does'nt even have any rack or pannier points so I may need a more appropriate steed, I'm assuming fixed or SS is out of the question for something like this?

Scobling the ride is definitely not advised. A good number of people do it fixed/ss, including the forum's own Greenbank and someone else I know. It's not a very hilly ride except in Scotland, and there are no steep hills as far as I know, just some pretty long ones. You can look at the elevation profile on-line.

And again pardon my ignorance but what is an SR series? Is this some sort of 'training' rides to demonstrate you can do the required mileage? Anyway I've just pinged off an email asking them for more info when they have it so yes I'm interested.

Great! An SR series consists of 200, 300, 400, and 600k rides to build up to the big one. Many people reckon 400s to be the hardest as you don't have much time to rest/sleep. I haven't done a 400 or 600 so can't comment.

^thanks a lot Oliver. Blimey 400 and 600k rides in one go, phew thats got to be a bit brutal. I'd just be thinking of all the cake you need to eat to keep that going. I would'nt want to do this in some sort of sleep deprived trance on UK roads, sounds very dangerous. And having seen some of the loons like Hippy's mahooosive 24 hour time trial thingy it just did'nt look fun and more like torture. I'm more up for resting up with cake and tea and then cracking on refreshed, so for me I'm sure I'd be closer to the slowest cut off point rather than at the front.

You can sleep more during a 600. The point of building is that each length of ride will prepare you for a longer one, and I'm told that the elation you feel when you complete a big challenge will get you instantly motivated to do it again. I can certainly believe that, having done 300k+ rides.

You unfortunately don't make the best decisions when you're really tired, so yes, that aspect needs watching. I'll leave it to Greenbank and other more experienced Audaxers to comment on that aspect. A friend of mine who's done LEL once and PBP twice has never had a problem with the safety aspect, but knows of people who have.

I saw some of the little clips from the PBP and many people seemed to be in an almost trance like state, dare I say it, zombies even. I totally get the sense of achievement from doing long rides but i've only done 250km ones in a day before. I guess the trick with these is to try and get some good miles in early and get ahead of schedule a bit so you are not racing to avoid the cut off each day, otherwise it just becomes an ordeal. I want to enjoy the delights of cycling through the our great land. Anyway thanks again and I look forward to hearing more from the seasoned campaigners.

@Bluefleet
You have many questions, which I'm sure will be answered in time. Don't assume that it can't be done fixed or single. Only you can answer that.

I am not an Audaxer but I've done a couple of 100k 'Brevets'.

As I understand it Audax kit even for 1200k is very minimal. Check out fixedwheelnut's photos linked up there^^ of the 2005 LEL. From my friend Wig's photos, for an upcoming Rouleur, of this years PPB, I gather that sleeping seems to be mostly done at foodstations, so the support is really provided at these and otherwise you're on your own. Indoor, just a chair or a patch of floor to get some kip. Hardcore!

Aha I just saw Oliver's been succinct and informative already^^^^. We love him for that.

succinct

What do you mean?

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/11-409/

Would anyone consider hopping on a train for this 100, starts at 9am Billingshurst, W. Sussex? Entries in by 18th November.

There's also a 200k that starts at 8am.

Skully, what kind of pace would you be aiming for? I went out in Kent on Sat and was appalled at my neglected fitness. However, I'd quite enjoy a ride out if it was not too intense. It would also force me to get out in the next couple of weeks as well.

Hi Joe. I am pretty damned slow.

Bump

You guys want some company on this?