Audax pet peeves!

[quixoticgeek]

Riders who being more used to Sportives, loudly complaining while on an Audax event about lack of event signposts pointing the right way... 

"This time on bandcamp^W$Sportiv ..."

"Hey where's the feed station?"

J

[Martin]

People from places where trains are every ten minutes complaining about the trains and event start times.  We don't bother with trains up here in Northern/Transpennine land.

that's nice for you; down here many riders don't have cars

Not a very light hearted thread so far more like a general bitch at unpaid volunteer organisers and your fellow AUKs 

[postie]

I think martin, delph cyclist was more suggesting about the lack on trains at weekends up north , its not unknown for trains on some lines to only start running around 11am on a sunday if at all!!!!

[Martin]

Postie; I've ridden around those parts and the train service can often be as good as we enjoy down South, but as always useful to check train times before hitting the PayPal button 

bot as I say please keep it light hearted peeps 

[hellymedic]

I think martin, delph cyclist was more suggesting about the lack on trains at weekends up north , its not unknown for trains on some lines to only start running around 11am on a sunday if at all!!!!

[Ancient history]

Lincoln was like that when I did rides from there in the '90s. I think tthe first train was after midday.

[fuaran]

Why so many rides on Sundays anyway? Why not Saturday, or midweek? Some people are working, or otherwise busy, on Sunday.

[Kim]

Why so many rides on Sundays anyway? Why not Saturday, or midweek? Some people are working, or otherwise busy, on Sunday.

But presumably not the organiser, and any village halls or similar that might be booked.  Like most of these logistical grumbles, it ultimately comes down to their ride; their convenience.  And pragmatically, if it's a choice between control availability and public transport, I can see why Sunday might make sense.

[chrisbainbridge]

 Sing asked to sponsor someone for an audax ride they want to do

[fuaran]

Why so many rides on Sundays anyway? Why not Saturday, or midweek? Some people are working, or otherwise busy, on Sunday.

But presumably not the organiser, and any village halls or similar that might be booked.  Like most of these logistical grumbles, it ultimately comes down to their ride; their convenience.  And pragmatically, if it's a choice between control availability and public transport, I can see why Sunday might make sense.

Often a lack of controls on Sundays, if shops or cafes are closed. And church halls could be less busy on other days.

Yes, it is up to the organiser, but would be nice to have more of a mixture. Not just assuming it has to be on Sunday, because other rides are.

[Kim]

Eyeballing the next few months of the AUK calendar, and filtering out events over 300km (because multi-day events will be listed by the start day) I'm not seeing an obvious bias - if anything Saturdays are winning.

[S2L]

Often a lack of controls on Sundays, if shops or cafes are closed. And church halls could be less busy on other days.

Yes, it is up to the organiser, but would be nice to have more of a mixture. Not just assuming it has to be on Sunday, because other rides are.

There are good reasons to go for sundays for shorter brevets... firstly, these days pretty much everything is open on a sunday, secondly, there is distinctively less traffic on a sunday morning until 10 AM. Lastly, most kids activities are on saturdays and so are park runs, which means your average club rider is more likely to enter a brevet which runs on a sunday (same day as club rides).
I appreciate trains don't run on sunday morning, but ultimately how many riders train to a ride? In my limited experience, it's 2%

[fuaran]

I appreciate trains don't run on sunday morning, but ultimately how many riders train to a ride? In my limited experience, it's 2%

Cause and effect. Because many rides are not practical to get to by train. If you adjusted the start time, you might get a lot more travelling by train.
And depends on what sort of riders you are targetting. Is it just club riders with families?

[De Sisti]

Being told: "I haven't seen you on one of theses rides before".

[Chamford Sideplate]

Weather forecasts that are wrong*. They are almost always wrong in the bad way. Up-thread someone complained about riders without mudguards. Some of them may have been led to expect dry weather by the Met Office.
* I mean, REALLY wrong - snow instead of sun; hours of rain when none was forecast.

[jimmea]

The look of horror you get when you tell an audax rider that you have zero interest in PBP.

[Philip Whiteman]

Why so many rides on Sundays anyway? Why not Saturday, or midweek? Some people are working, or otherwise busy, on Sunday.

Next year I am moving my biggest event to a Sunday from a Saturday, so why?

- It is more personally convenient. After all I am a volunteer, unpaid and have a life outside of cycling. I shall choose date that is preferential to me.
- Many more supporting volunteers are available on Sundays.
- Logistics at the HQ are easier in terms of car parking etc.
- Traffic is considerably quieter within my locality.

[S2L]

Cause and effect. Because many rides are not practical to get to by train. If you adjusted the start time, you might get a lot more travelling by train.
And depends on what sort of riders you are targetting. Is it just club riders with families?

I run my event on a Saturday, there are trains available, and it's still 2% (which means 2 riders). I would have no hesitation to move it to a sunday, it would even solve some park run related hassle on part of the route.

Anything up to 200 km and you are targeting club riders with families, unless you are happy with small numbers. But with fixed costs in the region of 200 pounds, I can't operate with fewer than 50 riders.
Anything above 300 and you are pretty much solely targeting AUK members, which come in all sorts of ages, but then you are bound to Saturdays, for obvious reasons

[Karla]

Next year I am moving my biggest event to a Sunday from a Saturday, so why?

But Philip, I thought it was so you could allow orthodox Jews to ride 

As a Christian though, Sunday events are not a complete no-no but Saturday rides are much, much better.  I appreciate I represent about 5% of the population here so we don't get to call the shots, it's just a bit annoying.  The attitudes that irk me much more though are no ones like the following:

I appreciate trains don't run on sunday morning, but ultimately how many riders train to a ride? In my limited experience, it's 2%

Millions of people in this country don't drive.  Many more are one car families, where if one parent gets the weekend off, the other will want the car to ferry the kids around.  You know why we aren't on your ride?  Because it's completely impossible to get to.  Thanks for being so considerate.

[bludger]

My last actual peeve is the hard work seemingly required to get into organising.

Chatting with a Belgium resident in my first 400, it seems pretty much any chancer can have a go at organising. But here in the UK, the process seems comparatively Byzantine. Most awkwardly in the way you can't seem to run an event unless you do rides which copy someone else's route for two entire seasons first. I understand the need for route quality control but that is a yawning gap between the cheerful Belgian have-a-go approach which seems to work, and ours.

I am still determined to get into organising, it's just a shame that it looks like a very tricky process in the UK.

[S2L]

Millions of people in this country don't drive.  Many more are one car families, where if one parent gets the weekend off, the other will want the car to ferry the kids around.  You know why we aren't on your ride?  Because it's completely impossible to get to.  Thanks for being so considerate.

It's actually quite easy to get to by train, the staion is a quarter of a mile away, but people prefer to drive (or ride if they live close).
My point is that as things stand, moving it to a Sunday and therefore losing the train option which currently exists from at least two main cities would have close to zero impact on entries. So one has to look at what is more important.

I am looking at all sorts of options to get people off their cars, including allowing folks to start from home (grey area), if they live en route, but I am not necessarily endorsing the use of trains, because I know they won't use them

[S2L]

. But here in the UK, the process seems comparatively Byzantine. Most awkwardly in the way you can't seem to run an event unless you do rides which copy someone else's route for two entire seasons first.

This is completely untrue... read the organiser's manual.. .there is nothing byzantine about it

[jimmea]

My last actual peeve is the hard work seemingly required to get into organising.

Chatting with a Belgium resident in my first 400, it seems pretty much any chancer can have a go at organising. But here in the UK, the process seems comparatively Byzantine. Most awkwardly in the way you can't seem to run an event unless you do rides which copy someone else's route for two entire seasons first. I understand the need for route quality control but that is a yawning gap between the cheerful Belgian have-a-go approach which seems to work, and ours.

I am still determined to get into organising, it's just a shame that it looks like a very tricky process in the UK.

This x1

[grams]

It's actually quite easy to get to by train, the staion is a quarter of a mile away, but people prefer to drive (or ride if they live close).
My point is that as things stand, moving it to a Sunday and therefore losing the train option which currently exists from at least two main cities would have close to zero impact on entries. So one has to look at what is more important.

How on earth do you know how people arrive?

I'm not sure it counts as a "pet peeve", but I find the amount of driving to and especially from audaxes somewhere between depressing and horrifying. I once encountered someone at a control on a tough AAA ride who looked like shit who proudly announced he'd driven four hours to the start and was planning to drive straight back. Normal people who intend to go out and kill strangers try to keep quiet about it.

The organisers handbook actually says parking is "essential for those who have to travel a long way" but nothing about other forms of transport. Are they any organisers who actively discourage driving to their events? I'd happily support them if so.

[S2L]

How on earth do you know how people arrive?

I'm not sure it counts as a "pet peeve", but I find the amount of driving to and especially from audaxes somewhere between depressing and horrifying. I once encountered someone at a control on a tough AAA ride who looked like shit who proudly announced he'd driven four hours to the start and was planning to drive straight back. Normal people who intend to go out and kill strangers try to keep quiet about it.

The organisers handbook actually says parking is "essential for those who have to travel a long way" but nothing about other forms of transport. Are they any organisers who actively discourage driving to their events? I'd happily support them if so.

I do chat to people and get to know how they travel 

I totally agree about the driving. I have made a conscious effort to avoid driving this year, which in turn has resulted in far fewer calendar events (only local ones) and far more DIYs.

Trains are not a practical option for me, anything other than London costs a fortune or it's impractical to reach.
I can see why those living in the capital look at trains, but they are privileged, both in terms of destinations and in terms of fares

[Greenbank]

The organisers handbook actually says parking is "essential for those who have to travel a long way" but nothing about other forms of transport. Are they any organisers who actively discourage driving to their events? I'd happily support them if so.

Manotea's Ditchling Devil does its best to discourage drivers. The finish is 5 miles away from the start. The start has limited parking and closes at dusk, there's no parking right next to the finish. People are repeatedly advised not to drive to the start, it's London (albeit SW London - Wimbledon).