Maybe the bit I don’t understand is how audax is more than just exercise. I appreciate a normal audax includes social gathering and coffee stops. I am suggesting removing those during times of covid leaving just the cycling and a gold star.
Do you think the number of AUK members doing 200km+ rides would go up if AUK offered validation for solo DIYs/Perms? (I'm sure some AUK members are doing it anyway, without validation.)
If yes then you can see that that kind of Audax is more than just exercise, otherwise AUK offering validation would not affect the numbers of AUK members doing it.
If AUK wasn't "more then just exercise" then there wouldn't be any change, but there have been people on here saying they'd love to keep doing a 200 a month to keep their RTTY going but they aren't doing those types of rides because there's no validation and so little point (and they can maintain their fitness with more frequent shorter rides over a more local area).
I think it is very possible that it woukd, currently rrty is suspended with existing part complete efforts able to resume when validation is available.
Wete valudation to be available some members 10 or 11 months into a rrty effort in March will feel pressure to resume, affirmative members in Scotland and Wales would not be able to, this is less than ideal.
Additionally riders who normally only ride perms may increase the demands on diy organisers, who were already reporting significant increase in workload over previous years.
I would be interested to know,
1) is the board working on the assumption of a one nation approach, where audax only resumes when it is possible in each of the 4 nations
2) is the board considering a return to poems before calendar events
3) is the a thought at what stage of the lockdown process audax might resume. Obviously we cannot commit to dates as everything is moving, but the government's have set out what the gradual steps will be described in various stages.
4) the original announcement gave a clear no rides until date x and we will review later, i think a statement after each review that all events up to date x are cancelled and this will be reviewed on date y would be helpful not least because many people have entered events which are not yet officially cancelled, but which look unlikely to go ahead, but entrants essentially need to consider the event still live until told otherwise, which then leads to training requirements
5) does the board have a view on compatability of single day rides (100/200/300) returning before multi days events (400+)