cumbria audax wilderness

[shaunb]

  It would seem that i live in the one area of England that has no organised audax events , has this always been the case ? Is it just that there is no one prepared to organise anything or have they been done in the past and not been well attended .Surely it cant be just because of the hilly nature of the county. there are many events elsewhere with challenging terrain and they seem to be well attended.
Transport links are generally pretty good with M6 and Main line Rail .

[Somnolent]

Get together with mcshroom and organise one then.
Real life commitments and finances permitting I'd travel from Hampshire for it - cycling in the Lakes is that good.

[mattc]

mcshroom started a similar thread (a month ago )

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=66299.0

[Wobbly]

There used to be rides in Cumbria. I recall riding over Shap a few times. Lovely part of the world.

[shaunb]

Get together with mcshroom and organise one then.
Real life commitments and finances permitting I'd travel from Hampshire for it - cycling in the Lakes is that good.

the reason i was asking was so as to enter my first event . would be a big ask to organise something without experience of riding in one first.
looks like i will have to look further afield,after all.

[Jamiem]

how about seeing whose up for a group perm, as a taster?

[mcshroom]

mcshroom started a similar thread (a month ago )

http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=66299.0

Not guilty - that was Revellinho

There were a few a couple years ago. My first audax was Clarten owwer Caldbeck which was Longtown, Alston, Caldbeck, Cockermouth, Silloth, Longtown.

It got dropped because the numbers fell off (there were six riders only in it's final year), but the organiser is happy to let me have a go at it as a DIY. I'd be open to riding it as a group DIY if people fancy it (though I'd prefer to start from Cockermouth)

Revellinho is also looking to organise a 200k ride through the middle of the lakes, and does have a Perm 100k on the system (which I've said I will ride to check the route - should really get on with that )

[shaunb]

looks like there are just not that many people in the region interested in audax. which from what i've read seems to be against the trend for the rest of the country...

[jogler]

Perhaps these people

http://www.edenvalleyctc.org.uk/

may be interested.

[Revellinho]

just done my own perm route today, bloody cold!  You can start that from Ambleside, Kendal or Eskdale plus the advertised start which is down the road from where I live

look at map of perms on auk site and you'll see it snuck down in S Lakes.  You could do that - or do it with me - I'll need some AAA in Feb and, as usual, will only have 2 weekends to get 'em. (first and last weekends, but doing the cheadle/bredbury 200 in feb too)

Also thinking about ECEing to Mere 200 if you're interested (train back)

I also have an idea for a 200 perm, probably visiting Wasdale Head.  If I run the existing 100 and a future 200 and get a few entries to check the routesheet from a fresh perspective, I'll probably get them on the calendar in 2014.

Note also that there are perms which are startable in Settle, mostly Steve Snook, but also a 200 to Southport and in September there is a big field riding out of Arnside most years.

PM me or post if you have any questions.

edit.  Also Andy Corless does quite a few calendar rides which are not too far to drive to.  First is in March.  Delightful Dales.

[Hedgebanger]

Well done Revellinho on 100km sat. crikey it was cold. I'll be interested in your 200km rides when you get them sorted.
Mcshroom I was that organiser.
There are 4 audax posters on this board from Cumbria, 3 spread along the south of the county (Rev, Mcshroom and ? ) and me  in the north. This probably reflects the sparsity of population of the county as well as the lack of interest from local cycling clubs (Racing, Time trials and Sportives are the 'in thing' ) though I have been asked about night rides by the local club sec!?
Road and rail links are fine in Carlisle/ kendal corridor but tend to be poor to get east/ west. I'm still keen to put an event on in the north of the county if I can get 20/30 riders at the start.
The type of event I have in mind would be 300km; start Longtown at Midnight friday , finish satpm. This wold allow starters  time to travel after work to the event. (Also leaves Sunday free for brownie point collecting)
Anyone interested in this format let me know an we'll see if we can organise a group DIY this year.
Ian D

[Revellinho]

http://goo.gl/maps/kQDEG is my idea for a trip up to some of the lesser visited bits, I shall want to do this once or twice by gps before thinking about it as a perm, then a poss calendar.  Bit main roady in places, but not much choice between Keswick and Thirlmere and Grasmere to Troutbeck Bridge.

I'll always be up for stuff that is relatively local, although Longtown is about the same as going to Manchester for me!  Keswick is probably the most central place.  (btw McShroom is West not South)

[mcshroom]

What is confusing to me though is that there is demand for long distance cycling in the Lakes. The Fred Whitton is not far shy of a 200km, and is over subscribed, along with a set of other Lakes Sportives based on similar routes.

Also Clive's Cumbrian Way which is about 275 miles over two days is also sold out again this June.

I suppose it's about getting clubs interested in audax though.

[Revellinho]

At the risk of turning this into a PhD thesis, my guess is that the thousands of sportive riders that are out (and it is thousands) are often from out of the area and this is just another facet of the area's outdoor tourism.  Such people probably want a professional level of organisation and support and are tuned in to the sportive 'circuit'.  I think that triathalon is big around here too and that tri riders would be keen on doing 50 - 100k but not so much the longer stuff.

A lot of audax riding, almost by definition, is unsupported - there's the routesheet, off you go boys! - and that is not the product that floats their boat.  Those who were on the A Corless ride on the same day as the 3 Peaks ride before Christmas, saw a very clear demo of that as we rode past their start. 

I am not involved with club cycling, but I suspect that they are quite happy with club runs and time trialling, plus forays into cyclo-cross and MTB rides.  Add to that the sparse population compared to central Lancs/Merseyside/G Manchester etc etc and you can see why it is a bit of a backwater.

Again, I'll reiterate an earlier comment - 'there is no them, only us'.  Hence my indications that I will put a few things together, but it will take a bit of time.  No point in rushing something out for 2013 without careful preparation of route/control choices.  However, when ready, with some well targetted publicity, I am sure that the fantastic resource we have will attract a good field from within AUK, from local riders and the outdoor/sporty tourist fraternity - as long as they accept the different challenge and nature of an audax ride - there's the routesheet boys, off you go and don't be looking out for those tent things with no sides every 20 miles with a load of chaps dispensing gels, powders and tablets!

Ever onwards!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Publicity seems to make a big difference. Not many Audax organisers do very much publicity.

[mattc]

I think your PhD thesis is shaping up nicely!

(If people think the FW gets a lot of riders, count up the rides/riders on sportives in - say - Hampshire. Different order of magnitude, the markets are very different)

Again, I'll reiterate an earlier comment - 'there is no them, only us'.  Hence my indications that I will put a few things together, but it will take a bit of time.  No point in rushing something out for 2013 without careful preparation of route/control choices.  However, when ready, with some well targetted publicity, I am sure that the fantastic resource we have will attract a good field from within AUK, from local riders and the outdoor/sporty tourist fraternity - as long as they accept the different challenge and nature of an audax ride - there's the routesheet boys, off you go and don't be looking out for those tent things with no sides every 20 miles with a load of chaps dispensing gels, powders and tablets!

You MIGHT consider putting on an "X" event (with perhaps a very low entry cap) as a trial this summer, just to test out the routesheet and other little things. Even if noone comes, you and your mates can have a ride-round

Then in 2014 LW&B will sort out all your publicity for you - he is the expert in getting hundreds of people to ride long-distance events.

[phil d]

The trouble is presumably that West Cumbria is difficult to get to from pretty much everywhere.  So I would guess that for an audax in that area to be successful and attract riders from elsewhere (South Lancs/Manchester/Merseyside and beyond) the start/finish would need to be on the East of the District for M6 access.  Not very convenient for an organiser living in West Cumbria, I agree but probably the only practical solution.

I have very limited experience of events up there, coming as I do from deep south.  But the Northern Dales events from Arnside (taken on, I see, by Julian Dyson) seemed to have a good entry when I did it (in 2010); I rode with AUKs who had travelled up from Manchester and S Yorkshire.

Of course, one of the problems with any event in the Lake District in the summer is going to be the traffic which would, I should think, make riding some of those fairly narrow roads a bit unpleasant.

[mcshroom]

West Cumbria is hard to get to from anywhere - and so is anywhere else from West Cumbria

[Revellinho]

Yes, getting to W Cumbria can be difficult, by my bit is only 20 mins from J36 

[Hillbilly]

The latest edition of Arrivee whetted my appetite for a ride in the Lake District (what with the picture of the La'al lakes event).

I am probably going to be passing by the area towards the end of May and so thought I would tout for interest in a 200km group perm, probably starting in Kendall and taking in something with a vague resemblance to the Fred Whitton Route (so many of the famous HIGHlights would be on the cards).  I'd probably be looking at a midweek ride, so possibly 30 or 31 May.

For me, this will be in part for fun (so won't be blatting round, instead admiring the scenery) but also in part so I get an appreciation of the climbs involved to inform a decision about whether the Pendle is an event I want to enter.

[Deano]

From looking at the route, and chatting with one of the riders from last year's Pendle, I reckon the North York Moors are the toughest part of the Pendle.