# Setting up a 200km "Audax"



## Andy in Germany (6 Oct 2019)

I'm working on a last-ditch attempt to make a 200k ride, possibly Audax before the weather closes towards the end of the month. I've got a 200k ish route worked out that I know about 99% of, and I'm pretty sure I can make in the required 13 hrs or so.

I'm not taking this too seriously, as even if I make it, this won't be a registered ride or anything (and also because I'm not sure I won't collapse half way) but if I want to have my own 'checkpoints', how far apart would they generally be on a ride this long?


----------



## DCLane (6 Oct 2019)

If it's a DIY event then you could do it via GPS. That way you don't need any checkpoints. Otherwise you're looking at having checkpoints at the extremities.

Either way you'll need time to have it approved, usually 2 weeks or so beforehand.


----------



## Ian H (6 Oct 2019)

Between 2 & 4 would be reasonable, with shortest route between them.


----------



## Ajax Bay (6 Oct 2019)

1. Decide which DIY Organiser to 'use'.
2. Buy DIY card(s).
https://www.audax.uk/choose-a-ride/do-it-yourself-diy-events/
https://www.aukweb.net/forms/diycards.php
3. Decide whether mandatory or advisory route:
a. provide either a gpx and follow that route (DIY Mandatory), or
b. 'describe' (specify) the route with a series of places (DIY Advisory) eg Neckartailfingen and (since the turning points on your route are not places you can get proofs of passage) then use the gpx of your track (ie that you actually rode) to prove to the DIY Organiser you visited those places. Note for (b): worth making the route at least 210km as it needs to be 200km by Google Walking - the organiser will check the route is 200+ for you if you give them time to do so (but your timeframe won't allow this).
4. Enter DIY 
a. https://www.aukweb.net/forms/entryformdiym.php
b. https://www.aukweb.net/forms/entryformdiy.php
Don't worry if you don't know what date/time you'll be starting just put a date a year ahead.
4. E-mail the DIY organiser and tell them date/time (in the future) you 'really' intend to start. This can be minutes before you start.
5. Complete the ride and send the gpx to the DIY Organiser.
6. Have a beer and OCD check your results till the DIY shows up (no rush).
https://www.audax.uk/about-audax/event-types/do-it-yourself-diy-events/


----------



## mcshroom (6 Oct 2019)

If you are just wanting an estimate of distance between stops, then I would suggest one every 50km or so.


----------



## Andy in Germany (7 Oct 2019)

Thanks for the replies. I'm following the rules for Audax but I won't be registering, partly because I'm not entirely sure I can make this, partly because I want to see if this is my sort of thing: I'm by nature a pootler so keeping to an average speed -any average speed, but especially one with two digits- would be a new experience.

Oh, and I'm a natural luddite as my bike shows, so I'll be using paper maps. I'll take @Ajax Bay's suggestion and make sure it's well over the 200k Probably I'll go to the castle I marked as a goal, and then further south, up the valley to Sulz am Neckar which will take me to 220k.

I'll be setting the route as advised, and with 'checkpoints' every 50k or so and see how I go. If I don't make the first one I won't worry too much...


----------



## Heltor Chasca (7 Oct 2019)

I find having ‘controls’ on a DIY is a useful psychological weapon against the overwhelming entirety of the whole ride. If it’s broken down it doesn’t seem so bad.

I like having a routesheet (piece of masking tape on the top tube) listing the distance of each Control and the distance of each major climb. Before I know it I’m done. 

That bike of your is perfect. Don’t forget Audax speeds are quite generous (15-30kph) Looking forward to your report.


----------



## Andy in Germany (7 Oct 2019)

Heltor Chasca said:


> I find having ‘controls’ on a DIY is a useful psychological weapon against the overwhelming entirety of the whole ride. If it’s broken down it doesn’t seem so bad.
> 
> I like having a routesheet (piece of masking tape on the top tube) listing the distance of each Control and the distance of each major climb. Before I know it I’m done.
> 
> That bike of your is perfect. Don’t forget Audax speeds are quite generous (15-30kph) Looking forward to your report.



Thanks Hector. I'll bear those tips in mind, especially the routesheet idea. I tend to set up the next town/city as my goal anyway so having it written down will help.

The bike is surprisingly (considering its origins) becoming my 'go to' bike for general riding which makes me miss the Xtracycle a bit but also takes the heat off that bike: I was wearing it out.

Which reminds me, I need to regrease the bearings on the right hand pedal.

The plan (hope springs eternal et c) is to make an attempt on Friday. We shall see.


----------



## Dogtrousers (7 Oct 2019)

Andy in Germany said:


> I'm working on a last-ditch attempt to make a 200k ride, possibly Audax before the weather closes towards the end of the month. I've got a 200k ish route worked out that I know about 99% of, and I'm pretty sure I can make in the required 13 hrs or so.
> 
> I'm not taking this too seriously, as even if I make it, this won't be a registered ride or anything (and also because I'm not sure I won't collapse half way) but if I want to have my own 'checkpoints', how far apart would they generally be on a ride this long?


Sounds like a great plan. And as you aren't getting it validated you don't have to faff around with receipts and stuff like that. And if you don't hit the time limit you can make an exception for yourself. And you'll be first home. And lanterne rouge.

Try cheating. See if you can work out a cunning route that visits your checkpoints but doesn't do the full distance. If you can - then perhaps you either don't have enough or they are not in the right places. Although looking at your route, the topology will keep you in the valley of the river Neckar a lot of the way and your scope for cheating will be limited there.


----------



## Andy in Germany (7 Oct 2019)

Dogtrousers said:


> Sounds like a great plan. And as you aren't getting it validated you don't have to faff around with receipts and stuff like that. And if you don't hit the time limit you can make an exception for yourself. And you'll be first home. And lanterne rouge.
> 
> Try cheating. See if you can work out a cunning route that visits your checkpoints but doesn't do the full distance. If you can - then perhaps you either don't have enough or they are not in the right places. Although looking at your route, the topology will keep you in the valley of the river Neckar a lot of the way and your scope for cheating will be limited there.



I hadn't thought of those extra advantages...

As you've seen, the local geography means I can't really cheat. I don't really know anywhere int he UK that is like this: we live on a high plateau with deep river valleys so you either follow the rivers or get very good at climbing. I did consider starting by going west past Stuttgart and then turning south, but I'd be going up and down hill for the first third of the ride, which wouldn't help my stamina. As planned above most of the second half of the ride I'm on a general descent. I'll oput the other idea up here to see what people think though...


----------



## Ajax Bay (7 Oct 2019)

Dogtrousers said:


> Sounds like a great plan.
> Try cheating.


Great to see such a constructive contribution.
DIY by mandatory GPS does away with receipts/paper proofs and that hassle but does rather 'straight-jacket' the rider's freedom to vary their ride 'on the hoof'. So when I set up a DIY, I choose the advisory option; plan the course/route carefully ensuring that the controls I specify are more than 200k by Google Walking, and controls where I know/check I can get PoP; record the ride on my Garmin AND get POPs (in case the Garmin fails); and send the .fit from my ride to the DIY Organiser by e-mail. All he has to do is to check that I've started on the date and roughly the time I said I would, that the file shows I've visited the specified controls and that the time elapsed between start and finish means I got round in the speed required for a BR (14.3kph).
Most of the time, though, I just go for a ride.


----------



## Dogtrousers (7 Oct 2019)

Ajax Bay said:


> Great to see such a constructive contribution.


"Try cheating" actually was intended as constructive - I was suggesting a means of testing the control points. If you can see an obvious way to cheat via a short cut then it's likely that the controls probably aren't in the right places or there aren't enough of them. 

Or perhaps you weren't being sarcastic. In which case, thanks.


----------



## Banjo (8 Oct 2019)

If your not registering your ride you make your own decisions generally on a 200 I used to take a short break mid morning a longer break for food around midday then another short break in the afternoon.Sometimes if your flagging a 5 minute break and a bit of high energy ride food will see you go faster afterwards making it time well spent.


----------



## Andy in Germany (9 Oct 2019)

I've been working on a general route. Option one is::

Start-Tübingen 50k
Tübingen-Rottenburg 13k
Rottenburg - Horb am Neckar - Glatt Castle 34k
Glatt Castle -Sulz am Neckar - Rottenburg 51k
Rottenburg - Nürtingen 41k
Nürtingen to finish 23k

Total ca. 213k

Alternatively I may miss out the castle and go straight through Sulz to Oberndorf am Neckar, which would be ca. 220 k

Unfortunately the wind is picking up as the week goes on. We have some vicious headwinds here; they aren't gale force (except tomorrow) but they're consistend when they come. We're 400m up and there isn't that much to stop them on the plateau. The valleys act like funnels, so I'll have to keep an eye on the reports otherwise I could be climbing into a headwind for nearly 100k which doesn't appeal...


----------



## Ajax Bay (10 Oct 2019)

Dogtrousers said:


> perhaps you weren't being sarcastic.


I think your 'check the route to see if there's a shorter way' advice is spot on and allows a DIY route designer to minimise the 'extra distance in case' approach. I'd just not introduce the 'cheating' concept, because noone's cheating anyone.
How did your last DIY go, btw?


----------



## Dogtrousers (10 Oct 2019)

Ajax Bay said:


> I think your 'check the route to see if there's a shorter way' advice is spot on and allows a DIY route designer to minimise the 'extra distance in case' approach. I'd just not introduce the 'cheating' concept, because noone's cheating anyone.
> How did your last DIY go, btw?


I've never done one. And to be honest I doubt I ever will (never say never tho'). Riding solo I'm happy to just record my rides privately on rwgps.

TBH the OP never mentioned DIYs . As I read the OP it was a query about how to set up a ride that was like a (calendar) audax, and had similar spacing of checkpoints. No intention of submitting it for validation. So my reply was how to replicate the control spacing I've seen on calendar events. Maybe I mis-read it.

My suggestion "try cheating" was a suggestion of how to test the proposed controls so it was similar to what you might encounter on actual (validated) audaxes. Works just as well without the "c" word. Maybe "Try finding shortcuts" instead if you prefer that.


----------



## Aravis (13 Oct 2019)

FWIW I had no difficulty understanding what was meant by "cheating", and the use of the word seemed entirely appropriate.

I had much more trouble understanding what the thread was all about, but now that the penny has finally dropped, I like the idea. I'd never seriously thought of trying to set up a ride using advisory routing and traditional proofs of passage. By why not try it for once, whether or not there's any intention of trying to validate the ride? My first attempts to sketch out ideas have quickly led to frustration, unsurprisingly. We'll see where this leads.

Bizarrely, one of the reasons for avoiding proof of passage type events is that ordinarily I never leave my bike unattended on a ride, and the need to do so, even on a calendar event, feels like a major obstacle. I now discover that a GPS track can be used as evidence that controls have been visited correctly on an advisory route, so that objection is dealt with.


----------



## Ajax Bay (13 Oct 2019)

To illuminate the issues and gestation of a DIY route, I thought I'd offer these links to show:
a) the 'straightline' route between selected controls (where PoP is possible)
b) the Google Walking route (to 'prove' 200km) - link
c) my route (from last autumn)
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31299411





Google Walking: BP,+Taunton+Rd,+Bridgwater+TA6+6UE/Porlock,+Minehead/Old+Station+House+Inn,+Blackmoor+Gate,+Barnstaple+EX31+4NW/Bishop's+Lydeard,+Taunton/Street/BP,+Taunton+Rd,+Bridgwater+TA6+6UE
One has to check the Google Walking to check that no unmetalled bridleways are being followed - GSV is one's friend.
Adaption to correct the line at Wheddon Cross and east of Bridgwater.






Hilly route (by choice) including drop into and climb out of Porlock; drop into and double chevron climb out of Lynmouth, and much later a diversion over the Quantocks (up the Cothelstone climb) to go via Bridgwater to pick up a front light (expected to finish before dusk, but start not early enough \ progress not fast enough) before heading out to Street and back (loop).
Hope this is of interest.


----------

