DIY Audax Events for Idiots Made Easy

[Ming the Merciless]

P.S. As it is mandatory your submitted route defines the minimum distance.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Newbie caveat: Only about 8 or 9 submissions, but I did ask TH (organiser South West) to hold my hand for the first couple of routes. My last ride had ‘spurs’, but even though I missed these out on my ride and a couple of weird sections where my route took me off a main road up a slip road and back onto the main road, my distance was still compliant. My controls were fine, so my ride was approved with no issue. I don’t think AUK are going to take issue with marginal deviances.

I had major road works in Plymouth and Bristol which took me WAY off my original mandatory route, but you add this to the ‘comments’ section when you fill in the Tracklog. Neither were an issue.

Don’t forget the 50% rule if you are doing championship points.

 

[Ajax Bay]

It's horses for courses, but having done a few DIYs this year, I prefer nominating specific controls (villages/towns) rather than construct a 'mandatory' route (I use RwGPS to plan) and then have to follow it slavishly. I want the freedom to take a road/track that I have not planned to take within the framework of visiting a (very) few specific places.
I collect a gpx on my Garmin, send it to Tony Hull (SW and Wales DIY supremo) and when he looks at that he can see timings and that I went through the controls. (I collect a receipts or ATM slips at start, each control and finish as a back up.)
For example my ride from Exmouth to Penzance 10 days ago used Whiddon Down (on (old and new) A30), Tavistock and Indian Queens as controls. Because I like to include some (not so) 'rough stuff' I enjoyed the Exe Estuary path, the 'old' A30, the Granite Way (above Okehampton to Lydford), NCN3 past Bodmin Parkway and Lanhydrock, a bit of @Ian H 's KSW600 back road route into Truro and options from Redruth to Penzance remain open for me to decide 'on the ride' (either via Hayle or Goldsithney (Four Lanes, Praze-an-Beeble or Realwa)). During the planning process I can check that the shortest road route is more than 200k so I do not rely on Tony to check this before the ride.

 

[Fab Foodie]

The idiot being me.

I have a few decent gaps in my calendar where there aren’t any suitable rides that I can enter. So I thought the time has come for me to put together some of my own DIYs. (NB Routes and rides would be of the GPS variety) The only trouble is I can’t get my head around some of the definitions on the AUK website and the new DIY section on the website makes littles sense in my tiny brain.

I really can’t distinguish between Mandatory; Advisory and Permanent DIY. And why there are different forms to fill in.

As I see it:

1/ I can either build my own route (I have already planned 3 different routes of 200+km.) I love maps so this is the fun part.

OR

2/ I can ask an organiser if I can use their established route/ride and use or adapt this so I can start from my doorstep or start/finish from the original départ and arrivée.

Sorry @Ian H I am doing my best to understand this fully before sending my entry to you! I can hear you groan with dread already. Pretty sure once I have done one DIY, I will be away.

Thanks in advance to any patient soul out there.

You could just go for a bike-ride and save yourself the headache and paperwork....

 

[Ming the Merciless]

You could just go for a bike-ride and save yourself the headache and paperwork....

I am sorry but the minister of silly bike rides says no.

 

[Aravis]

You could just go for a bike-ride and save yourself the headache and paperwork....

I've spent my entire cycling life doing just that, and seeing little need to jump through someone else's hoops.

But in recent weeks some thoughts have been coalescing in my mind. There is one key conclusion, and with little modification to what I'm doing already, plus a bit of cunning, I'm thinking it could be achieveable.

I want to be a Super-Randonneur!

 

[Ian H]

Burn the witch.

You will be cast into the deepest recesses of Audax Hell, where demons will brand you repeatedly with hot irons bearing abbreviations like ECE, LEL, DIY, BR, BRM, ACP, AUK, SO@X, SR, RRTY, L@RAB, AAA, PBP and so on, all the while you will be flogged with lashes made of obscure terms like "allure libre" by demons each representing the nine* different kinds of control.

* I made that up.

Not at all. Most of the AUK greats have 'just gone for bike rides'. Not many have been avid points chasers.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I've spent my entire cycling life doing just that, and seeing little need to jump through someone else's hoops.

But in recent weeks some thoughts have been coalescing in my mind. There is one key conclusion, and with little modification to what I'm doing already, plus a bit of cunning, I'm thinking it could be achieveable.

I want to be a Super-Randonneur!

Now look what you’ve done! I want to as well now. I have earmarked a 400 and a 600 I fancy trying next year. The 300 is near your neck of the woods might be the same one I did this summer as my first 300. It’s in March if it goes to schedule unlike last year.

*Question for the experienced riders: I couldn’t find the answer on the AUK site, but can these distances for the SR award be DIYs? I could probably manage a 300 and 400 as DIYs, but I would like to do a 600 as a calendar event.

 

[Ian H]

AUK SR can be any BR rides, perm or otherwise. ACP SR requires BRM, as does PBP qualification.

 

[Aravis]

And I thought you were normal ...

So did I. It's your fault for being so damned inspiring.

Now look what you’ve done! I want to as well now. I have earmarked a 400 and a 600 I fancy trying next year. The 300 is near your neck of the woods might be the same one I did this summer as my first 300. It’s in March if it goes to schedule unlike last year.

I'd kind of assumed this!

Have you looked at the new 600 that starts in the same place as the Rough Diamond 300?

 

[Heltor Chasca]

@Aravis Do you mean the Benjamin Allen’s Summer Tour? That looks spectacular, but I was thinking of another new GWR 600 of Will’s called The Steam Express from Bristol. Similar elevation.

Shall we do both? (Ladle fulls of ‘just kidding’ in that comment)

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Well if you are going for an SR next year you may as well consider PBP.

 

[Aravis]

@Aravis Do you mean the Benjamin Allen’s Summer Tour? That looks spectacular, but I was thinking of another new GWR 600 of Will’s called The Steam Express from Bristol. Similar elevation.

Shall we do both? (Ladle fulls of ‘just kidding’ in that comment)

Absolutely zero chance of me doing either!

If I do get as far as a 600 I'm certain it will be something of my own invention. Hence my original interest in this thread, testing whether my reading of the ins and outs of DIY by GPS is accurate. So far it's looking OK.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Well if you are going for an SR next year you may as well consider PBP.

You speak in demon and angel voices at the same time. I knew this would happen.

I have had this conversation with myself, a friend and now I’m typing it out live on a forum. Gulp.

Financiallly I wouldn’t be able to pull this one off quite yet. I’m just coming out the other side of some pretty big life changes and personal circumstances which affect my status on many levels. I would have a better and more enjoyable experience I think, if all this ‘clutter’ was shelved first and my plate was less full. Besides I would like a larger aerobic base to work from too. I’m pretty fit at the moment compared to a year ago, but I would like to build on that for a few years more.

See you in 2023.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Absolutely zero chance of me doing either!

If I do get as far as a 600 I'm certain it will be something of my own invention. Hence my original interest in this thread, testing whether my reading of the ins and outs of DIY by GPS is accurate. So far it's looking OK.

You are always welcome to build in a control at Chez HC if need be. An idea I got from watching Andy Curran’s YouTube videos was to have your own house as the sleep control on longer DIYs so you could eat, shower and sleep in the comfort of your own house. Very sensible. I’m going to do this for DIY 400s. But if I start a 600 I would like to do a calendar event still.