How fast?

[citoyen]

I had that as "never pedal with clean love" 

Well, yes, it's bound to be cleaner if there's no-one else involved. 

d.

[pdm]

How about: "Never peddle a clean illicit lover" 

[Bendy Bianchi]

Nothing much to add really other than each to their own. Personally if there is a lead pack then I like to ride with it, this typically averages 28 - 32 on the road.  If there is no pack then I'll usually just ride on my own, usually at 26 - 28 ish.

Wow! Lots of tips. I do have a HRM on my Sigma bike computer, but to be honest I turned it off since getting shocked at the 185 bpm I was getting climbing the really steep stuff off road! 

I will time myself over a longer distance, and then probably just enter one and give it a go. Even if I don't finish, I still have achieved something, and will have more to aim for in the future!

Thanks for all the comments - see you on the road 

[GrandMaster Flash]

Always remember why you are riding an audax - to go fast, to enjoy the ride ...  AUKs come in all flavours - some see the control closing time as the time they should be there and they still manage to get round.  Others will be home and changed before most people are at the last but one control.  If you don't know why you are doing the ride then you are more likely to DNF.  If the ride interests you then you 'know' that any bad patch (most liklely you need some more food!) will only last 10-30 minutes and all will be OK again.  The aim is to complete the ride, the time does not matter.

I average around 20kmh including stops and always am amazed if I get a puncture how many people come passed when I haven't seen anyone on the road since the previous control. If you can make steady progress when on the road and don't spend ages in the controls you will finish with plenty of time.

[Jules]

Nice to see what others do. I'm slower that most and mine are:


100km - 7 hours (these are no further than the average club run so I  take a couple of hours for lunch, stop to take photos etc.)

200km - 12.5  hours
300km - 19 hours
400km - 28 hours
600km - 40 hours (yesterday - only done one!)

YMMV

[vorsprung]

Nice to see what others do. I'm slower that most and mine are:


100km - 7 hours (these are no further than the average club run so I  take a couple of hours for lunch, stop to take photos etc.)

200km - 12.5  hours
300km - 19 hours
400km - 28 hours
600km - 40 hours (yesterday - only done one!)

100km 4.5 hours
200km 11 hours (Keep trying to crack 10 hours but always CBA in the last 20km or have a long lunch etc)
300km 17 hours (Elenith, also the "3 Moors")
400km 22 hours (I reckon I could do my "Avalon Sunrise" event in under 20 though)
600km 36 hours (Bryan Chapman, inc 2 hour sleep)

[Bendy Bianchi]

Without it wishing to turn into a "my dick is faster than yours"

100km 3.2 hours
200km  7 hours
300km 12 hours
400km 20 hours, but knew I never wanted to do any further
600km  infinite.

[Greenbank]

OK, based on completed Audaxes, here's life at the back of the field:-

100km: 4h45 (110km DIY) to 7h05 (London Sightseer isn't a blatting ride!)
200km: 10h50 (Muswell Hills 200) to 14h00 (220km DIY from Thorne to Alston with long pub lunch and chain woes)
300km: 16h30 (Flattest Possible 300) to 21h (Dean in 2008 and Midlander Super Grimpeur in 2009).
400km: 26h30 (Severn Across with 45 mins sleep, Snowdon & Coast with 10 minutes sleep) also same time for a 435km DIY 400 - Dorking to the Dun Run and back to Putney
600km: 38h45 (621km DIY 600, less than an hours' sleep) to 40h45 (BCM 600 in non-BRM year, 15 minutes sleep on a bench).

I've gone faster than these with subsections of longer rides (the tailwind on the first two days of LEL helped) but I'm not counting them.

[AikenDrum]

Without it wishing to turn into a "my dick is faster than yours"

Oops.

To the OP - perhaps aim to finish in one piece, having enjoyed yourself along the way.  It's enough for me.

[simonp]

100 4.5 hours
200 9.33 hours
300 15.25 hours
400 23.5 hours
600 36.33 hours

[Weirdy Biker]

Distance; typical, fastest, slowest

100; 4.5, 3.75, 6
200; 11, 8.5, 14
300; 17, 14, 20
400; 24, 20.5, 27
600 36, 34, 40

The faster rides tend to be calendar events on flat terrain, bang on distance (e.g. 100k is 100k route not 116k), in (late) summer.  In the list above, ones like the San Ann Fairy "flat" rides or the Mildenhall Rally rides.

Slower tend to be the opposite characteristics.

Anything with night riding and my average speed drops dramatically due to genuinely lower speed (despite it "feeling" the same - due to loss of visual cues about speed), sleep and navigation (this latter points is helped by GPS with backlight, I found the winter just gone).  One of my "goals" is to ride a 400 in less than 20 hours at some point in my audax "career" and it is proving challenging.

[PloddinPedro]

For *^~#'s sake, stop it with the times things will ya! You're just making me feel all inadequate and depressed! I count myself lucky if I just get around in time. Sleep?! You don't know you're born!

[Bigsybaby]

I like to increase my buffer time by half an hour at each 50km control I arrive at.

[Manotea]

For *^~#'s sake, stop it with the times things will ya! You're just making me feel all inadequate and depressed! I count myself lucky if I just get around in time. Sleep?! You don't know you're born!

Apparently its now 'de rigeur' to have a five hour sleep break at home or a travelodge on a 400km. Assuming you're not home before dark, that is.

[simonp]

For *^~#'s sake, stop it with the times things will ya! You're just making me feel all inadequate and depressed! I count myself lucky if I just get around in time. Sleep?! You don't know you're born!

Apparently its now 'de rigeur' to have a five hour sleep break at home or a travelodge on a 400km. Assuming you're not home before dark, that is.

And if you can do it, why not?

The main reason I have never done a sub 35h 600 is I always have a long sleep stop if I have the time.

[mattc]

A certain local rider did the 7Across 400 at a higher speed than the Barbury Bash 200 (and nearly finished in daylight). Can't find any data for his 600 times, but I doubt he sleeps on those.


[I have no times of my own worth bragging about.]

[GrandMaster Flash]

[

The main reason I have never done a sub 35h 600 is I always have a long sleep stop if I have the time.

Exactly.  This is supposed to be fun.  If it gets dark and you have time in hand it is better to sleep and see the lovely route the organiser has arranged for you in daylight rather than by the light of an LED.

[sub55]

Exactly, Biggers!

What should I be aiming for?

Somthing you can keep up for hour after soul crushing, mind-numbing hour  

I have met some unbelievably old, slow and otherwise unlikely audaxers, but they have all had a number of things in common:

They're comfortable on their bikes
They don't hang about in controls
To the otherwise uneducated, they're miserable sods

As a newbie audaxer, a large amount of your focus should be on keeping your bum off saddle for as little as possible.  Until you're confident that you can get round whatever you're tackling in time, from the moment you get your card stamped at controls, be aware that "time is miles" and that the clock is ticking.

Other than that, you could do well to look to the past and Velocio's code...

1. Keep your stops short and few.
2. Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're thirsty.
3. Never get too tired to eat or sleep.
4. Add a layer before you're cold, take one off before you're hot.
5. Lay off wine, meat and tobacco on tour.
6. Ride within yourself, especially in the first hour.
7. Never show off.

Hope this helps  

Ho seed 

[citoyen]

Just set a PB for a 200 - 8hrs 45mins. My previous best was about 10hrs 30mins, I think. 11-12 hours is normal for me. My slowest was over 13.5 hours.

I think this goes to show how much your times can vary depending on conditions. Everything was indicating a fast ride today - warm weather (but not as hot as last weekend), very light wind and a pretty benign route (a mere 1400m of climbing according to bikely). Plus I was riding a bike fashioned from a nugget of purest Black* - considerably lighter than my fixie, which is pretty much the only bike I've been riding for the past few months.

The fact that I've been riding fixed solidly means not only am I used to a heavier bike, I've conditioned myself to keep pedalling, which I'm sure had a beneficial effect on my average speed - a few times I found myself forgetting that I could coast if I wanted to. 

I didn't do my usual trick of loitering at controls either - and had there not been horrendous queues at the shop in Lenham and the café in Rye, I might have been even quicker.

d.


*copyright M.Malins

[citoyen]

Oh, and another thing: I won! I won! I won! 

I thought I was second, but the chap ahead of me went off route in the last 15km so ended up rolling back into the finish about five minutes after me.

This is actually the second weekend in a row I've set a PB on an audax - did a sub-15 hour 300 last weekend. Again, a very benign route is the explanation for that one. Though I did that on fixed and might have been even quicker on the bling bike.

Slowest 300 was 19.5 hours. That was the Dean 300, which is not a benign route, though to be fair it isn't even close to being in the same league as the 3D or the Elenith or whatever. 17 hours is normal for a 300 for me.

d.

[mattc]

Oh, and another thing: I won! I won! I won! 

No, you were just the first loser back </flatus>