Couch Audaxing

[velosam]

I thought I would share my thoughts on audax in response to the why we are different thread, and I didnt want to derail that thread.

I am mainly a commuter and potter a bit but only cycle if I have an end in mind.

I pour over people's ride reports and it all sounds like good fine.  Till last week I thought I would someday give an audax a good go.

However last weekend I did my first 100km ride and it was an eye opener.  I found it hard quite hard so that translated to me that mentally I would struggle with anything over 200k.  Also like a mix of road and light off-road.

Something else I found strange is that despite my natural state to be left alone I quite enjoy cycling with others,  not necessarily to chat (thinking back I was the same with motorcycles doing social rides but not really riding without purpose) but for company.

So this ride last week for most of the first 40 miles I rode on my own.  It was only the last section where I met 2 others and could tag that it really helped dragged me to the end.
It did seem that the ones in a group were having a good time.

Upon reflection I think that if I was to go on a ride and do most of that on my own I may as well do that around where I live, as the faff of getting somewhere to ride and then getting home is a hassle.

I think I should try those Friday night rides and the oxford london one when and if it comes around again.

In the meantime I am going to continue enjoying ride reports but thankfully not so wistfully.

That old roads audax is calling me though.

[Wobbly]

Welcome to the slippery slope Sam

[Tail End Charlie]

I know where you're coming from, velosam. (Incidentally my spell checker threw up bemoans for your username, lol). Most of the audaxes I do have been ridden on my own, but it's good to chat at controls with others. Riding them also encourages me to see different areas of the country with the benefit of the local knowledge of the organiser.
Sometimes it seems that to be an Audaxer you must do the long rides of 1000+ km but there are many out there who have no desire to do these long rides. Personally I'm happy with nothing above a hilly 200 and don't do many of them! 100s are fine and these are often a test for me.

[Hummers]

Slightly off topic but a post on the Book of Faces recently extolled the social aspect of Audax and the fact that if you have some form of mechanical at Godforesakentimeoftheday, you will always have someone who can help/hold a torch/lend you a springfuckit etc. 

In my experience, this can be a worthwhile aspect if you have chums of a similar speed and strength to ride with. For example, I was glad of a chum having a spare tyre at the weekend when I had a side-wall blow out (I had a tyre boot anyway) however if you rely on someone else for support, the odds are they won't be there when you need them and this can happen at the worst possible moment.

It is an Audax and being able to cycle on your own, without having to rely on the company/support of others for long periods of time is a definite plus. Besides which, I reckon it makes the controls  look far more appealing when you arrive.

H

[Peter]

If the couch is big enough, you could take a companion for those lonely moments.

[jefmcg]

I thought this was going to be my sort of couch audaxing ....

when I did my first few audaxes, I built my own GPX files by plotting out the route sheet onto a map, and checking all the turns with streetview.  By the time I finished, I was exhausted.  I  didn't even stop for coffee and cake once!

The culmination was when I did the Willy Warmer.  It was snowing, so it was replaced with a perm.  I attempted and only did half of it, so the next weekend Manotoa  otp dragged me around a slight variant of the route.  When we got to Kingsclere, I thought I'd been there the previous week, but realised I hadn't, but the town was familiar to me from checking out the eating opportunities while "couch audaxing"

[vorsprung]

I thought this thread was going to be about riding an audax on a couch.  They have wheels.  I'd like to see one propelled by human effort

[Peter]

See reply 4!

[Clemo]

velosam that seed is sown 

[Fab Foodie]

...... and the oxford london one when and if it comes around again.

Now there's a thought ....

[T42]

It has been done:

http://www.bikeforest.com/cb/cb.php

[vorsprung]

(piccie from article linked to by T42 above)


EXCELLENT!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Riding alone and being with others: one of the good things about audax is that you can ride on your own, with a friend, with a chance-met group, at your own pace or towed along by a faster group, taking it hard or easy - and you can do all of these things on one and the same ride.

You can be the chatty one or the grumpy bastard with the thousand-yard stare. You can eat all the pies or get round a 200km ride on a gel and a bottle of scientific fluid. You can have a pint of beer at (or between) each control or you can be a straight edge type. You can wear lycra or tweed, ride carbon or Pashley. You can follow the route precisely or make your own route as you go along, collect points and chase trophies or not give a damn about cards and stamps.

You can do any or all of these on each ride and nobody really minds.

[velosam]

Riding alone and being with others: one of the good things about audax is that you can ride on your own, with a friend, with a chance-met group, at your own pace or towed along by a faster group, taking it hard or easy - and you can do all of these things on one and the same ride.

You can be the chatty one or the grumpy bastard with the thousand-yard stare. You can eat all the pies or get round a 200km ride on a gel and a bottle of scientific fluid. You can have a pint of beer at (or between) each control or you can be a straight edge type. You can wear lycra or tweed, ride carbon or Pashley. You can follow the route precisely or make your own route as you go along, collect points and chase trophies or not give a damn about cards and stamps.

You can do any or all of these on each ride and nobody really minds.

I dont disagree, I just think where I am on my journey, I struggle to get around without company.  Also while i enjoy an early morning ride on my own, a whole day is not as appealing. Maybe I just need to HTFU.

[jefmcg]

I'm a solo rider, mostly because I am far to the rear of the pack, so if I'm riding with someone then small differences in speed could mean one of could stop the other from finishing.  Or worse we could mess each other up: I paired with someone for a day on LEL and she was slower than me on the road, so I waited for her; and I needed more rest than she did, so she waited for me.  If we had ridden separately, maybe we would have kept meeting in controls an hour earlier than we got there.

But on two audaxes, my superior technology has meshed with someone else's superior riding, and we have met in the last quarter of the ride, when I've been slogging my way round and they've been lost.  I helped them both keep on track, and they have pulled me around the last 50 or so, so we completed with 5 and 10 minutes in hand.  It's a great feeling - that brief companionship, and team work and someone making it impossible for you to give up.

[caerau]

I thought there was a rule that a vehicle for audaxing must be human powered and less than 1 m wide?


A couch is surely not a couch if it is the latter.


That would be armchair audaxing 

[Kim]

I don't recall a width restriction, and AIUI the requirement for human power no longer applies on BPs.

[caerau]

Fair enough, just checked on ACP's website and it just says human powered, dunno where I got that from.


And thanks for ruining my armchair joke 

[Phil W]

I've got a reclining sofa, is that a recumbent? 

[mattc]

I thought there was a rule that a vehicle for audaxing must be human powered and less than 1 m wide?


A couch is surely not a couch if it is the latter.


That would be armchair audaxing 

Very good - deserves at least a  from me.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I read it as couch (grass) Audaxing and was envisioning some weird hybrid of grass track racing and long distance challenges.

[Exit Stage Left]

Un vélo couché, aussi appelé vélo horizontal, vélorizontal ou « vélo Vélocar », est un véhicule à propulsion humaine conçu de façon telle que le conducteur soit en position allongée (couché sur le dos, les jambes à l'horizontale) pour pédaler. Le pédalier est donc situé à l'avant du vélo, et la selle est remplacée par un siège où le dos est appuyé. La roue avant est souvent plus petite. Le guidon se trouve soit au-dessus des genoux, soit sous les fesses.

Le pratiquant du vélorizontal (vh) est un véhiste.

[JBB]

I'm a solo rider, mostly because I am far to the rear of the pack, so if I'm riding with someone then small differences in speed could mean one of could stop the other from finishing.  Or worse we could mess each other up: I paired with someone for a day on LEL and she was slower than me on the road, so I waited for her; and I needed more rest than she did, so she waited for me.  If we had ridden separately, maybe we would have kept meeting in controls an hour earlier than we got there.

But on two audaxes, my superior technology has meshed with someone else's superior riding, and we have met in the last quarter of the ride, when I've been slogging my way round and they've been lost.  I helped them both keep on track, and they have pulled me around the last 50 or so, so we completed with 5 and 10 minutes in hand.  It's a great feeling - that brief companionship, and team work and someone making it impossible for you to give up.

If you're at the back of the pack you have to be prepared to ride on your own and get through the controls briskly. If you find a companion of similar abilities that's great but it doesn't always happen. It's not for everyone. Of course if you are fitter or faster your choices of strategy expand; otherwise plan not to waste time and to get back as the hall is being cleaned and the only food left is what no one else wanted!

HTH
Julia

[madcow]

If you're at the back of the pack you have to be prepared to ride on your own and get through the controls briskly. If you find a companion of similar abilities that's great but it doesn't always happen. It's not for everyone. Of course if you are fitter or faster your choices of strategy expand; otherwise plan not to waste time and to get back as the hall is being cleaned and the only food left is what no one else wanted!

HTH
Julia

The Martini diet-any food, any place, anytime, anywhere. That's why were are at the back in the first place.

[JBB]

If you're at the back of the pack you have to be prepared to ride on your own and get through the controls briskly. If you find a companion of similar abilities that's great but it doesn't always happen. It's not for everyone. Of course if you are fitter or faster your choices of strategy expand; otherwise plan not to waste time and to get back as the hall is being cleaned and the only food left is what no one else wanted!

HTH
Julia

The Martini diet-any food, any place, anytime, anywhere. That's why were are at the back in the first place.

Othersise known as the "see food"  diet...... I'll get my coat.