I will hopefully see you there. Forecast is looking fairly cool at the moment but at least an easterly means that we do the into wind leg when we are relatively fresh and them we are blown home 👍
First Audax - what to expect...
- Thread starter Mazz
- Start date
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I will hopefully see you there. Forecast is looking fairly cool at the moment but at least an easterly means that we do the into wind leg when we are relatively fresh and them we are blown home 👍
I'm really hoping it stays dry this time!
Last time there was heavy rain the night before and a couple of the roads were tricky to navigate.
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
It's February. Could be icy, floods, sunshine, or any combination of these.
Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
Expect beards. There will be beards.
oldandslow
Veteran
That's what I use for Audaxes. These days, just as a backup to the GPS, but I like to have the route overview that the sheet gives me.
Or sleet. Don't forget the sleet
Yes, when I left home I thought oh no, is this sleet going to get worse during the day. Thankfully, it didn't and it even stopped raining too.
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
'Cos all volunteers many of whom riding next month; healthy riding on the open road, aiming to make ride cost neutral (not trying to make money like running events or sportives), good level of entries spreading to overheads, no superfluous activities like route signing, sag wagon, recovery help, no goody bags, cr@appy t shirts medals etc, minimal club/team type running costs, control points chosen with care and nurtured good relations whether volunteer manned or commercial.
I'm sure several knowledgeable others here can add and elaborate.
You nailed in in a nut shell Alex. Just great organisation without all the gubbins that Sportives seem to provide..
Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
I have always found the audax community to be extremely welcoming. The general ethos is just to organise cheap-to-enter events that are treated by most as a nice day out on well chosen, quiet and scenic roads. They are also an exercise in self-reliance. No money is wasted by the organisers in providing mechanical assistance or wayside direction signage. Just turn up, follow the published route and fix your own mechanicals ..... though I have found other audaxers to be quick to offer assistance.
I have only ever done one sportive event and, while I enjoyed it, it was noticeably very expensive by comparison and you felt very spoon-fed. Photographers were stationed at strategic hill climbs to leap out and take pictures of you ... which turned out to also be very expensive. I just love the friendly, non-competitive feel of audaxes where the challenge is all in completing the course by your own efforts and self-reliance within a generous time limit. They are a great way to discover some roads a little further from home that have been well chosen for their cycleability.
I have only ever done one sportive event and, while I enjoyed it, it was noticeably very expensive by comparison and you felt very spoon-fed. Photographers were stationed at strategic hill climbs to leap out and take pictures of you ... which turned out to also be very expensive. I just love the friendly, non-competitive feel of audaxes where the challenge is all in completing the course by your own efforts and self-reliance within a generous time limit. They are a great way to discover some roads a little further from home that have been well chosen for their cycleability.
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Not at the front, they aren't!
BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
In such discussions I wonder at the success of Sportives, particulary in the Garmin / Wahoo age. Very few people need the sign posting now (sat nav just beeps at you), and food is rather restricted. Possibly due to:
1. The idea that if you pay more you get more, so Audaxes are seen as the poor bretheren
2. Food stops. Maybe of low quality, but the idea that someone is there looking after you and providing you cyclists food gives you a warm sense of being wanted, rather than having to queue up at a regular café and being offered what the general public wants.
3. Organisation and hype get bigger numbers, and a sense of doing what everyone else is doing rather than a niche activity.
4. Being heartily congratulated at the end with a pointless medal, rather than just warm words, but also some 'pedal' pusher persuading you to step up to the next level as 200k* isn't actually that hard. And a chance to **buy** a cloth badge.
* - or 300k, or 400k, or LEL/PBP depending on the ride that you have just finised.
1. The idea that if you pay more you get more, so Audaxes are seen as the poor bretheren
2. Food stops. Maybe of low quality, but the idea that someone is there looking after you and providing you cyclists food gives you a warm sense of being wanted, rather than having to queue up at a regular café and being offered what the general public wants.
3. Organisation and hype get bigger numbers, and a sense of doing what everyone else is doing rather than a niche activity.
4. Being heartily congratulated at the end with a pointless medal, rather than just warm words, but also some 'pedal' pusher persuading you to step up to the next level as 200k* isn't actually that hard. And a chance to **buy** a cloth badge.
* - or 300k, or 400k, or LEL/PBP depending on the ride that you have just finised.
