When is an Audax not an Audax

[Jethro]

I recently entered and completed a 100k Audax and although the route was indeed very good and challenging, it appears that the vast amount of riders there were from local racing clubs on carbon road bikes and treating the ride like a sportive or training run. I dont suppose many bothered to stop to get their brevet cards stamped or signed and probably didnt really care as the entry fee was significantly lower than any sportive.

It appears that the first riders to finish took a little over 3-hours, so well quicker than the maximum speed for an Audax event.

I like to ride with others and have a chat along the way and at controls, but this was sadly not possible on this event and appears to be outside the ethos of what Audax is all about in my opinion.

Have others had similar experiences?

[vorsprung]

I recently entered and completed a 100k Audax and although the route was indeed very good and challenging, it appears that the vast amount of riders there were from local racing clubs on carbon road bikes and treating the ride like a sportive or training run. I dont suppose many bothered to stop to get their brevet cards stamped or signed and probably didnt really care as the entry fee was significantly lower than any sportive.

It appears that the first riders to finish took a little over 3-hours, so well quicker than the maximum speed for an Audax event.

I like to ride with others and have a chat along the way and at controls, but this was sadly not possible on this event and appears to be outside the ethos of what Audax is all about in my opinion.

Have others had similar experiences?

No

I wasn't aware that the "ethos" of "Audax" was chatting on short rides.  No offense but don't you think you were just unlucky that no like-minded people started at the same time as you?

[Ben T]

Yes, a few, but they're the minority even among 100s. One in particular is always like that but I just don't enter rides by that organiser any more.

There's plenty of others that are more "friendly".

The more audaxes you do, the more you learn what sort of people tend to frequent each one, and how social or not particular audaxes are.

It's worth saying as well that there will be plenty more audaxes where you do get racing types but only maybe a small %age of the total so just ignore them and mingle with the others.

Also bear in mind that "carbon bike" doesn't necessarily equal "racer".

Also worth bearing in mind that a lot of non-racing types are miserable and don't chat.

I personally like chatting at controls but not really on the road. I'd rather concentrate on the road and if I'm honest I'd rather not ride side by side with someone.

[Banjo]

On some South Wales events we get local cycle clubs and Triathlon clubs using the ride as training rides.Personally I cant see a problem in it. Some enter into the audax spirit  and hand in completed cards some don't either way their entry fees are helping to keep the rides going .Get away from the more densely populated areas of the  UK  and rides don't tend to sell out.

On one ride a triathlon club member had a mechanical issue at the foot of the  Rhigos mountain from the north side. I plodded up from behind and the guy seemed amazed I stopped and got out the tools to get him going again. He didn't seem to understand the concept of someone who really didn't care much about the time .

[whosatthewheel]

It can happen in some BP and 200 BR. Far less likely on the longer distances.
Anything up to 200 km appeals to the club riders/ sunday warrior types and on occasions they end up being the majority out there... even more so when the Audax is actually organised by the club in question.

[LMT]

No I have not, but then again the spirit of Audax for me is to ride your bike and get round, if I talk to someone out on the road or at a control then so be it, if not then I won't lose any sleep over it.

It was what it was with the event you rode, if riding with someone is your preference then pair up with someone you know and agree before hand to ride around together.

[hellymedic]

There are times when I want/need solitude. If my riding is otherwise within the rules then 'deal with it'!

[grams]

So what actually happened? Everyone was faster than you? Or the people who were your pace didn't feel like chatting? It seems very hard to pin this on "the event".

Unless you go out of your way to buy steel or Ti, all but the cheapest drop bar bikes you'll find in shops are carbon now - I think we're long past the point where it's symbolic of anything.

And to me the social aspect of an audax is doing the ride together - no one needs to do much speaking. I sometimes wonder about the people who spend the whole ride yammering away whether they even notice that a bike ride happened.

[citoyen]

Sounds like the Invicta Grimpeur, which IME has always attracted a number of fast club riders using it as a training ride. Doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the ride so I don’t worry about it - as long as there’s still some cake left for me at the finish.

[T42]

Reminiscent of Sunday randonnées laid on by clubs here, where the odd bunch of mighty belters will turn up and do the 60k as a pack then bugger off home for Sunday lunch. They're unpleasant but innocuous, unless you happen to be at a control when they descend like locusts and gobble without getting off their bikes, blocking access to the grub tables for everyone else.

[Steve Orchard]

Some people do confuse/use early season Audax events with "Reliability rides".

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[Hot Flatus]

The ethos of Audax is finishing the ride. Anything else is just fluff in your head.

There's little about a 100k audax that is audacious, other than finishing it in "A little over 3 hours"

[Pickled Onion]

Some would say 100 km is not really an Audax

 

[quixoticgeek]

So one Audax I went to recently, a group from a club turned up, but with little understanding of what a 200km BRM actually is. Not least they seemed confused by the lack of sign posting on the route...

Personally I'd say it doesn't matter, as long as everyone is acting safely and having fun. What would erk me tho is if there was a limited number of spaces, and those who aren't validating and just see it as a training ride, stop those who want to ride an audax, from doing so. I don't know if this happens however.

Personally I see an Audax ride as X riders doing Y distance as solo riders in loose formation. I've done large stretches of the BRM's I've done on my own, but I've also had the benefit of 3 of us doing a 3 way pace line into the wind to eat up the distance a bit easier, as well as a mixed peleton of recumbents and upwrongs who mostly regrouped at controls to eat.

The audaxers I've met have all been friendly.

J

[Paul H]

I don't do many, but I've been doing them for a lot of years and there's always been riders I see at the start and not again. I don't know what they do or how they ride, it has no bearing on my ride at all.  There's also always been rides I'd want to do that get fully booked, if I want to do it that much I'll make sure I book early or take my chances.
If the ethos is defined as being sociable, then those I do as Perms or DIYs wouldn't pass, that's most of them...

[mattc]

Why is an Audax NOT a "training ride"? Surely all bike rides are many things at once - it's part of the beauty of cycling!

Even riding a PBP qualifier is:
- about qualifying;
- about getting some miles in ( "training"?)
- getting away from Real Life for a day
- testing your kit/food/clothes
- seeing some nice views/roads
- many other things, depending on the rider

folks riding time-trials, or CTC group rides, or Reliability Rides could certainly list a different (but overlapping) set of aims/reasons.

It's all good - no need to judge anyone unless they're being a dick and/or ruining another rider's day.

Of course discussing what is the BEST ethos to ride with is part of the fun, but is generally not taken seriously.
(Examples being:
"recumbents - they're cheating surely" On a very flat ride
"recumbents - they're a stupid choice surely" on a very hilly ride
"who needs a carbon bike eh - it's an audax, not a race!"
etc etc ... )

[Flahute]

Not sure that my input will be useful or even welcome ... but can't help myself. Also I'm still pushing out my disclaimer that I'm new to Audax, one x SR etc etc.

First, unless you are a novice working your way up, 100 km isn't really that audacious (dependent on location obviously).

Carbon bikes ? Meh, I was out on a club ride with my french club this morning - a mix of carbon and ally and not 3 tubes or a pump between 'em. The average speed would have seen most hors delai on a BRM. Who really cares ?

It is what it is .... a bicycle ride. The chances of 'That Type' upsetting the apple cart on a 400 or more is next to nil (in my modest experience). 

[Bairn Again]

If I felt that "chatting on the way and at controls" was an essential element of an audax event, Id never ride another one again

[Martin]

Audax events are open to all

end of

[Feanor]

Everyone's doing it for different reasons.

I'm doing a lot of 200s at the moment as 'training rides' for a longer event later in the year.
And no, I won't be stopping to chat.

But others will.

[Jaded]

Everyone's doing it for different reasons.

indeed

Although I'll never have a reason as 'hoping to pick someone up', so chatting is optional.

[quixoticgeek]

Everyone's doing it for different reasons.

indeed

Although I'll never have a reason as 'hoping to pick someone up', so chatting is optional.

Certainly adds a new meaning to long distance relationship...

J

[T42]

IME once the start is earlier than 7 am only the truly Audax-bitten get out of bed in time.

[mattc]

IME once the start is earlier than 7 am only the truly Audax-bitten get out of bed in time.

Ha!

You might have a point there. Getting up in the dark seems to be more of a barrier than the thought of riding-until-it-gets-dark !

(I used to be terrible at early starts - it's the weekend, I deserve a lie-in! - but then you realise that if you want to do certain things with your spare time, there are always compromises; getting up earlier is one of the smaller compromises/sacrifices one can make in life )

[T42]

I can remember riding alone from my hotel to one start at 2 am, thinking "what the hell am I doing here?" and hoping that at any second I'd wake up in my nice warm bed at home.