Audax rides

I may regret this later.............

It's cool. You can use one of these and you'll be fine: http://www.funhousetheatricalcostumes.com/mustaches-beards.html

LOL. Bothwell, you may be onto something......... :-).

You now need a bar bag with a map holder on top, possibly a saddlebag as well. Be careful not to start a longflap v SQR tour debate.

I've got the longlap (low saddle variety) and a map holder, just need the bar bag now :-).

Oooh, barbag & map, that reminds me to get mine ready...

Right I've finally joined up, and am comforted to know my welcome pack may take a couple of weeks to arrive, depending on the level of shambles. I like this more and more.

Too late to enter the Worthing Winter Warmer but I'm in the game.

So what's the deal with trains for the Winter Warmer? I think we had 4 for a groupsave. Where's Fox?

I'm at work :)

We have to get the 6.32 from Victoria to Billingshurst. £10.50 with GS. So I suggest we meet at Victoria at 6.15.

Which means getting up at 5.15. Ugh. I think GS list is you, me, Skully, Skully's +1. Assuming Joe didn't enter in the end.

Takes an hour and a half, so we can have a leisurely breakfast on the train.

good luck with that early start gents.

urrghh.

very brave undertaking in this frigid weather gents, especially with the 5.30 start!

I'm too warm blooded and fearful my extremities would drop off but audax looks like the way forward for me...

I'm still getting sunshine forecast tomorrow, I'd say the signs are good, so me and wig are all in. We'll have to be veeery careful on shady road. Looking forward to it.

Anyone interested in this one on the 18th - http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/12-85/
'Mad Jacks' - 120km, lots of climing...

Its an early train to the start but manageable from London!
The same organiser did another Audax called the Hills and Mills 100km a few weeks back which I entered as a first Audax - excellent route, unrelenting hills for what seemed like the entire ride...

I'm keen to do any Audax's that are accessible from London if anyone has any suggestions, AAA preferably as well!

Joel

Well I am pleased to say my Audax paperwork arrived earlier this week. Now waiting for the temperature to rise (lots) and the bar bag purchase before I venture out. A tentative 'woop!'

Anyone interested in this one on the 18th - http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/12-85/
'Mad Jacks' - 120km, lots of climing...

I'm keen to do any Audax's that are accessible from London if anyone has any suggestions, AAA preferably as well!

Joel

I did the Kennet Valley Run two years with a guy who had done the Mad Jacks the week before. He was suffering because he was still riding fixed on 50".

If you're prepared to risk a late start then you could do The Dean 300k on 24th March. It comes with 4 AAA points and I can offer good authority that the organiser will be loitering in the Travelodge next to the start for a while in the morning. The first train of the day makes it into Oxford at 6.22 so the worst you're likely to face is 2hrs to make the 45k to the first control on an easy leg. Eminently doable. The originator of this ride does it on fixed and only resorts to about 100m of walking on an off day and still comes in in a respectable time.

Seriously though, has anyone got any advice on barbags? Thinking one with map holder, that could carry a couple of water bottles, plus essentials.

For a long time I used the standard Decathlon bar bag which was fine, no map holder though. Upsides, cheap, light and comes with a strap for easy carrying over the shoulder when off the bike. QR mount is solid and easily waterproofable by the simply expedient of lining with a shopping bag. The gf has an Altura box shaped one which had a map holder which was ok until lots of use meant it finally came away. Not bad and pretty spacious and came with a strap but heavy and not that aerodymanic.

Couple of downsides to bar bags to be aware of;
1) You will probably need to re-rig your lighting to some extent. If the bag doesn't rise up enough to stop you mounting your light front and centre, it will almost always cast a shadow in front of your front wheel. Most audaxing for 200k and over will contain an element of low light riding for which you will need a front light.
2) Adding that weight over the front wheel can cause feedback and different handling which isn't always pleasant. In slick conditions it can be a bit of a tipping point for an off.

I've now moved to the maptrap and saddle bag combo and am a lot happier with it. If daytripping and audaxing really takes your fancy then I would strongly recommend doing this from the start. Weight on the back is much more comfortable and easier to handle and you can carry a heck of a lot more if needed.

Great chat, thanks very much. Have a saddlebag on the way, but want something more easily accessible, more for touring but also for this type of thing.

I did the Kennet Valley Run two years with a guy who had done the Mad Jacks the week before. He was suffering because he was still riding fixed on 50".

If you're prepared to risk a late start then you could do The Dean 300k on 24th March. It comes with 4 AAA points and I can offer good authority that the organiser will be loitering in the Travelodge next to the start for a while in the morning. The first train of the day makes it into Oxford at 6.22 so the worst you're likely to face is 2hrs to make the 45k to the first control on an easy leg. Eminently doable. The originator of this ride does it on fixed and only resorts to about 100m of walking on an off day and still comes in in a respectable time.

I've actually signed up for The Dean (and a couple of others in increasing length further down the line) - I'm supposed to be staying in the Travelodge the night before so no worries there, however, I appear to be cutting it a bit fine with making to the last train at 23:15 on the Saturday following the ride, I'll need to be quite vigilant with time/avg speed to get it all done.

Are you doing The Dean? and is anyone else from on this forum?

The Winter Warmer was fun, we were very lucky with the weather and the relative lack of snow/ice on the roads as everything was frozen solid. During the ride from billingshurst to Dial Point (9 miles) it was -10 and skully and spybot's bottles froze up. There were a few dodgy bits ice wise - the worst being on a hill where a stream was flowing across the road, leaving sheet ice either side. I think we all got a bit of rear wheel spin on that stretch. Great to get out on such a nice sunny day though.

The food was great as promised. I stuffed my face with at least six different kinds of cake. When you got back to Dial Post village hall there was tea, soup and a copious selection of home made cakes. This was good as Skully's friend was struggling a bit and eventually cut the route short to head to billingshurst station, which meant he got in about 3.45. Spybot and I had been there since 1.45, stuffing our faces and drinking tea.

Om nom nom...

@ TSK - Thanks for the write-up re barbags. I'm a Carradice gal, so I have 3 saddlebags of varying sizes and have just remembered I have a 'floppy' map holder which I can firm up with a piece of cardboard or something but I'll check out the maptrap too.

Fox-what was your avg speed? Just trying to figure out if i would be a total hinderance if I tag along some day... probably when it is a bit warmer! Frozen bottles... brrr

I went saddlebag yesterday, and hardly needed it. I'd say pockets are enough for a 100, stuffed full of nuts, sweets, tube and tools.

The -10c start was fun, the beautiful weather and glorious sparkly showers if ice falling from shivering trees was mind-blowingly beautiful. SO glad I braved the cold early start.

Thanks for your patience Fox and spybot.

I have awarded myself 5 'hardman points' for riding on Saturday...I wasn't particularly cold, but frozen bottles and buffs were a sign that it was. And getting up at 5:15...

Like Skully said, I have no regrets about riding though. Those lanes at the start were fantastic. The roads were clear but the surrounding countryside was blanketed in snow. Massively rewarding to ride through countryside like that - frozen lakes and ponds aplenty. It was beautiful, as it was last year, but in a completely different way. Unfortunately it meant Black Down was off the route as the descent was impassable, but in retrospect I would have been suffering for that by the end, especially after the cheeky climbs on the new part of the route.

Loads of tea and cake en route. And at the end. The guy who organises that one is top draw - I think he made an effort to speak to everyone, about the route, the weather, their ride, whatever. It was also good to get a bit shouty at the end when we couldn't find our way to the train station.

What happens on Saucepot Lane, stays on Saucepot Lane.

+1 on not actually feeling totally cold... wierd. I did warm my sidis on a radiator which was a good start - the other day on a quick ride in town, my sidis gave me a chill when I put them on, and my feet didn't recover. I will now warm my sidis on cold days always. Mine are on the radiator now ready for a long commute tomorrow.

I've actually signed up for The Dean (and a couple of others in increasing length further down the line) - I'm supposed to be staying in the Travelodge the night before so no worries there, however, I appear to be cutting it a bit fine with making to the last train at 23:15 on the Saturday following the ride, I'll need to be quite vigilant with time/avg speed to get it all done.

Are you doing The Dean? and is anyone else from on this forum?

I'm kind of doing it. As the organiser I'm doing it three weeks early to check the route. On the morning of the ride I'll be handing out cards and then heading back into the Travelodge for a bit more sleep before mooching around Oxford.

I wouldn't worry about the 23:15 train. On my first pass of this event I made it in that time and on the second I managed to catch the 22.10. Couple of key things for making decent time on this though;
1) The first 20k is pretty flat so get out the gate right at the front of the crowd and you'll get sucked along pretty quickly. Be sensible about when to unhitch yourself though.
2) Don't hang around more than you need to at the first control. It's outside and usually pretty nippy, you'll then make a longish descent and you don't want to be cold for the long climb to Ford.
3) After Winchcombe, almost all of the decents are fairly flowing so you can easily capitalise on them for speed.
4) You really want to be in Chepstow by 13.30ish and you want to be over the top of Hackpen Hill (after Royal Wootton Bassett with a big white horse on it) by sunset. If the conditions are dry and clear, you should be pretty safe to thrash this descent.
5) Try and get out of Membury Services with a group don't bother with the main building, just get into the petrol station like everyone else. The staff are used to it and it's funny to watch motorists deal with a motorway service station packed full of cyclists and stacks of bikes. Once you're over the top of the Ridgeway it's pretty much plain sailing back to Oxford.