# Audax curious



## FrothNinja (26 Dec 2021)

I'm wondering about dipping my toe into Audax but know that I am probably only going to average about 7mph over a day. Are there any that slow in the N of England?
Thanks


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## ColinJ (26 Dec 2021)

FrothNinja said:


> I'm wondering about dipping my toe into Audax but know that I am probably only going to average about 7mph over a day. Are there any that slow in the N of England?
> Thanks


The slowest permitted speeds on events that I have seen were 12 kmph (they tend to use metric units). That would be a little bit faster than 7 mph which is ~11.3 kmph. The events in question were very hilly. I don't know if your speed was over hilly terrain or on the flat? There may be some flat events with low minimum speeds if you hunt around. Take a look at the 100 km events *HERE* and see if you can find something?


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## FrothNinja (27 Dec 2021)

ColinJ said:


> I don't know if your speed was over hilly terrain or on the flat?


Fairly hilly - was going off my averages around the Pendle area


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## FrothNinja (27 Dec 2021)

ColinJ said:


> Take a look at the 100 km events *HERE* and see if you can find something?


Thanks, I'll have a look to see if there is anything I have a chance at


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## ColinJ (27 Dec 2021)

FrothNinja said:


> Fairly hilly - was going off my averages around the Pendle area


I've got an easier solution... Why not come along on some of our forum rides in the area! We take our time and would probably average your kind of speed for the day. *WET EXAMPLE HERE*! I was saying to @dan_bo that I will probably organise something around the end of March. 100 km from Spring Wood visitor centre above Whalley out into the Ribble Valley/Forest of Bowland and back?


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## FrothNinja (27 Dec 2021)

ColinJ said:


> I've got an easier solution... Why not come along on some of our forum rides in the area! We take our time and would probably average your kind of speed for the day. *WET EXAMPLE HERE*! I was saying to @dan_bo that I will probably organise something around the end of March. 100 km from Spring Wood visitor centre above Whalley out into the Ribble Valley/Forest of Bowland and back?


I've pushed my bike up a lot of those hills so I am interested


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## ColinJ (27 Dec 2021)

FrothNinja said:


> I've pushed my bike up a lot of those hills so I am interested


Keep your eyes open in the rides forum then. 

I doubt that I will organise anything in January, and probably not February either unless we get some great weather. Come March though, time to get moving again!


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## Dogtrousers (27 Dec 2021)

The minimum speed on most Audaxes is 15 km/h or 9.3 mph. They lower the minimum speed sometimes for very hilly rides.

Note that's overall speed, including breaks. The easiest way to get quicker on an Audax is to reduce your stopped time by not faffing around off the bike.

If you think you could find an extra 2mph there's a location/date search facility here https://audax.uk/choose-a-ride/calendar-events/ Which @ColinJ may already have linked.


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## cougie uk (27 Dec 2021)

FrothNinja said:


> I'm wondering about dipping my toe into Audax but know that I am probably only going to average about 7mph over a day. Are there any that slow in the N of England?
> Thanks


If I were you I'd start off doing the shorter distances. I'm sure you're faster than 7mph. Or you'd be wobbling off the bike all the time.


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## Dogtrousers (27 Dec 2021)

cougie uk said:


> If I were you I'd start off doing the shorter distances. I'm sure you're faster than 7mph. Or you'd be wobbling off the bike all the time.


Don't forget that Audax speeds are proper speeds (time / distance) not "moving average". 7mph is 11.25 km/h. I probably do that that on some of my hilly routes including cafe and photo stops and I'm not wobbling off the bike (all that much).

Either way, you'd be battling with the time limit, which is something I've done quite a few times. The closest I came to actually being OTL was one that started/finished in a leisure centre car park. I made it with minutes to spare but couldn't find the control desk. I assumed I'd missed it, packed my stuff into my car, popped into the leisure centre for a wee and found them packing up. They took pity on me and I got valdated.


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## Tim Bennet. (27 Dec 2021)

> The easiest way to get quicker on an Audax is to reduce your stopped time by not faffing around off the bike.



Ain't that the truth!


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## Ming the Merciless (27 Dec 2021)

There are 100km audaxes with lower limits of 10 km/h overall.


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## Ian H (27 Dec 2021)

Dogtrousers said:


> The minimum speed on most Audaxes is 15 km/h or 9.3 mph. They lower the minimum speed sometimes for very hilly rides.


Not quite. 14.3k/hr is the norm for most UK (shown as 'BR') events over 200km. But check because a few are the same as international (='BRM') ones at 15k/hr.
Shorter events (hilly or not, listed as 'BP') may have lower minimums, down to 10k/hr. Check any given event.
10k/hr is approx 6mph.


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## ColinJ (27 Dec 2021)

FrothNinja said:


> I've pushed my bike up a lot of those hills so I am interested


Some of those hills _are_ pretty tough, but if you are having to walk them (rather than riding up them slowly), are you sure that you have a low enough bottom gear on your bike?

I have a triple chainset and some biggish sprockets on my Cannondale. I would be doing the hard Bowland climbs in a 28/30 gear.


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## Dogtrousers (27 Dec 2021)

Ian H said:


> Not quite. 14.3k/hr is the norm for most UK (shown as 'BR') events over 200km. But check because a few are the same as international (='BRM') ones at 15k/hr.
> Shorter events (hilly or not, listed as 'BP') may have lower minimums, down to 10k/hr. Check any given event.
> 10k/hr is approx 6mph.


I was close. 

Never underestimate how fiddly the rules for Audaxing can be. Wheels within wheels.


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## DCLane (27 Dec 2021)

There are a few audaxes nearby you, although Andy Corless tends to organise tough events and I wouldn't recommend one of his as a first audax.

The start point is the Audax UK website shown above plus 'Choose a Ride' and 'Calendar Events'. You don't need to be an Audax UK member to enter an audax, although they do charge a little extra for non-members. It's still decent value if a little old-school; some events still require entry by post and don't provide a gpx route file although most now to online entry with ride details.

With current restrictions many of the events are limiting capacity to 25-30 so it's worth entering early.

Near-ish you there's the mini North West Passage on 19 Feb, which is a 100km event with a more traditional route: https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=8968 I'm possibly doing the main 200km one or maybe just the shorter version as I've a 200km the next weekend.

On Sun 24 April from Wray, Lancashire there's a 100km Populaire event which has a fairly low average speed: https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=9635

Some suggestions for riding an event;

know the route / bring a copy of the route plus have a gpx file (not that I _wouldn't_ do either on my first audax  plus riders on LEL who didn't have any idea of what the route was ),
don't ride a brand new bike for the first time (done that twice, both with issues  ),
know where the controls are and what types (not that I will _ever_ have sailed right past a control and only realised 20km down the road  ),
have some snacks with you to keep you going, along with emergency repair tools/parts (been out-of-time due to a major mechanical on a 200km PBP qualifier and had to sprint the last 130km in order to arrive 2 minutes inside the time limit at the finish  ).


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## ColinJ (27 Dec 2021)

DCLane said:


> Near-ish you there's the mini North West Passage on 19 Feb, which is a 100km event with a more traditional route: https://audax.uk/event-details?eventId=8968 I'm possibly doing the main 200km one or maybe just the shorter version as I've a 200km the next weekend.


The mini-NWP is a 100 km audax with a 20 km bonus!  It has an 8-hour cut-off so it would be 12.5 km/hr for 100 km but is back at 15 km/hr for the 120.

A group of us did it as a forum ride in 2009... details *HERE*.

I found the full NWP route very busy-main-roady so I took to lumpy lanes between checkpoints wherever possible instead, but that made it a lot harder and wouldn't be a good idea in bad weather.


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## Landsurfer (27 Dec 2021)

I regularly take part in Audax events and am a paid up member for the last 10 years ...
I often finish outside the time cutoff but it’s a great day out with companionship and structure .... 
And i’m rarely the only .... “lantern rouge” ...
Just enjoy the ride and when fitness and route collide you get an award ... result !!


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## sittingbull (27 Dec 2021)

As a complete newbie to the world of Audax is it as simple as enter and pay on-line, turn up on the day and ride?

What if there's snow/ice (or heavy rain )?
In the event of a DNF is it necessary to inform the organisers? (assuming they count everyone out/in).

There's a 200k event not too far away in Warrington at the end of February I might just consider.


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## Dogtrousers (27 Dec 2021)

sittingbull said:


> As a complete newbie to the world of Audax is it as simple as enter and pay on-line, turn up on the day and ride?
> 
> What if there's snow/ice (or heavy rain )?
> In the event of a DNF is it necessary to inform the organisers? (assuming they count everyone out/in).
> ...


Paying online, turning up and riding is what I've always done. If I DNS always contact the organiser beforehand, out of courtesy if nothing else. 

I've never DNF'd but I would _definitely_ contact the org if I did that. Again, out of courtesy at very least.

When I worked on a control we checked everyone off the list, and informed the next control (by WhatsApp) of anyone who hadn't turned up when we closed. I'm sure there are lots of different systems.

I've done audaxes in heavy rain. What happened was ... I got wet.


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## FrothNinja (27 Dec 2021)

ColinJ said:


> low enough bottom gear on your bike


I don't - awaiting appropriate cog for a few months now - delayed by you know what


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## DCLane (27 Dec 2021)

sittingbull said:


> As a complete newbie to the world of Audax is it as simple as enter and pay on-line, turn up on the day and ride?
> 
> What if there's snow/ice (or heavy rain )?
> In the event of a DNF is it necessary to inform the organisers? (assuming they count everyone out/in).
> ...





Dogtrousers said:


> Paying online, turning up and riding is what I've always done. If I DNS always contact the organiser beforehand, out of courtesy if nothing else.
> 
> I've never DNF'd but I would _definitely_ contact the org if I did that. Again, out of courtesy at very least.
> 
> ...



With the current Covid situation just turning up and paying at the start doesn't seem possible unless you've contacted the organiser to ask beforehand.

For DNF's you're asked to contact the organiser so they're not sat around waiting and wondering at the end.


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## iluvmybike (4 Jan 2022)

sittingbull said:


> As a complete newbie to the world of Audax is it as simple as enter and pay on-line, turn up on the day and ride?
> 
> What if there's snow/ice (or heavy rain )?
> In the event of a DNF is it necessary to inform the organisers? (assuming they count everyone out/in).
> ...


Most audaxes you can enter online and pay via paypal but some organisers do it the old way so you have to send a cheque and postal entry. It will tell you on the event info page what the options are. The page will also tell you the max and min speeds for the ride. Some organisers send a gpx of the route, some just send a paper sheet with directions on. In the latter case and you have gps you can save a shed load of time by plotting the route out on a planner and downloading it. (But always best to carry the paper version in case gps craps out!) Take a pen to write down the answers to any info controls required on the brevet card. On the day of the event you sign in and collect your brevet card and the organiser will then set you off. The time for the event is inclusive of any stops you make so watch out as you can lose a lot of time if you faff about too much at controls - it all mounts up. On completion of the ride the brevet card is given to the organiser who will then get your ride validated by Audax and return the card to you - this can take several weeks. If you are unable to complete the event then there will be a phone number to contact the organiser - which you must do so he/she doesn't end up sitting waiting for yuo to get in or call out the eemrgency services!
If you decide not to ride an event becuase of bad weather then let the organiser know as far in adavnce as possible. Places are often limited on events (especially with covid restrictions) so your place could be given to another person wanting to ride - but don't expect a refund. The cost of entering is very small anyway and the organiser will still have had to pay for certain things based on the numbers expected. If the organiser calls the event off they will contact you. Hope this helps but there is also loads ofadvice for those new to Audax on the website on how to prepare etc


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## sittingbull (4 Jan 2022)

Thank you for the detailed and helpful reply @iluvmybike


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## Ming the Merciless (4 Jan 2022)

Yes if you DNF then text or ring the organiser. Last year, I waited at the finish till after 10pm for one of the audaxes I organise. Only to find out the last two had abandoned and decided to catch a train. I also rang their emergency contacts but those numbers went to voicemail. So make sure your emergency contact is available to take calls on the day of the audax as well.

Hopefully your first one will go well though and no need to make that call.


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## Ming the Merciless (4 Jan 2022)

As to snow and ice , winter audaxes are risk assessed for that and will use gritted roads where possible. This is why you may see some bigger roads in the early part (and later part for 200s) of winter audaxes . You’ll also need to use your own judgement as well. If you consider it too risky don’t ride, or turn round if conditions worsen. If snowmageddon is forecast the organiser will likely try to reschedule.


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## sittingbull (4 Jan 2022)

Ming the Merciless said:


> As to snow and ice ........................


That's useful thank you. I have known running events delayed at the start to let the ice thaw, both in the interest of participants and limiting "liability" I presume.


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