Just entered my first Audax(s)!

[28spoke]

Hi All

Having been lurking for a week or two, i thought i better post something of my own.

I am 39 years old, and currently 12 stones 4 pounds (78.4kg) and have entered my first two Audax events

Reservoir Single BP | 101 km | Saturday 6th July 2013
Rutland Ramble | 207 km | Saturday 10th August 2013

Now, i have a small problem. OK a few large problems.

1) I haven't cycled more than 10 miles in the last 15 years. In fact i have been on a bike probablly 15 times in the last 15 years.
2) I don't own a road bike at the moment.
3) I am about as fit as a person who hasn't cycled more than 10 miles in the last 15 years and an fact hasn't been on a bike more than 15 times in the last 15 years

I used to cycle everywhere, i would regularlly ride with the local cycling club and be able to stay with the race boys on a fast run (15 years ago, i was also 9.5 - 10 Stone(60-63kg))

I reckon, if honest i can cycle the 100k event with minimal hardship, i feel unfit, but don't feel like i will need paramedic support following me. However it would be good to do the ride and feel pretty fresh at the end of it. With the 200k event 5 weeks after it, i would like to be able to cover a 100-120k ride weekly by the time i get to end of July.

Currently i have two bikes. A specialized 29er, 27 gears and monster truck tyres. I also have a Steel Fixie/free with 68" gearing.

My question is how to get "Audax fit" in sevenish weeks. Time constraints are pretty bad. Up at 6am, leave house for London at 7am (sit in car for 2 hours, sit at desk for 8 hours, sit in car for 2 hours) home at 7pm.

I have some Tacx rollers and am getting good at falling off them.

My thoughts are 30mins on rollers tues & friday night. 1 hour on the 29er on a thursday night, 2 hours on the fixie on a sunday morning, see how far i get.

Regards

Will

[Wobbly]

Seems like a plan to me.

Which bike are you planning on riding the Audax events on?

Good luck.

[paul851]

If it's any help last year I did spring into the dales 110km and the Red Rose 200km as my first two Audax , I was 52 year old and had suffered two  heart attacks at 43 and then had to have a double heart bypass at 50  plus hadn't been on a bike for twenty years , yes I had to push the bike up a couple of the hills but the rides where do-able with only thirty or so miles ridden on the bike and a bit of cross trainer work before I jumped in and went for it  As is often quoted on these forums "It's only a bike ride" and my advice would be just get out and ride and enjoy 


Paul

[Dave_C]

Welcome!!

Depending on how hilly your home is I'd be tempted to look at taking the bike to work and getting off ~20 miles from home and pedalling the last section.

If you have/can find somewhere secure like a bike locker at a train station (or at a mates house) you could cycle to it and then cycle home at the end of the day. Start a couple of days a week and build steadily.

Personally I don't have a lot of time to train but am luck that I live 30km from work so cycle both ways now at least 4 days a week. I started off doing one way each day and leaving the bike at work/home in between.

The fixie is the bike to take as you are forced to ride at a certain pace or grind along slowly. There is nothing stopping you getting a couple of smaller chainrings to reduce those chain inches (38 & 46 teeth - for instance) for a while, while you build up your fitness.

Don't think you have to ride a 100 before the ride, I'd suggest lots of short rides each week building upto - 60km a day (30km each way) which will give you more than enough strength to get the 100 out of the way. The 200 will be the same difficulty but just twice as long. If you can do 3 - 4 60km rides (30 each way) a week, you'll breeze the 100 and not notice any aches the days following.

Just build up slowly and regularly. After a couple of weeks aim to try to ride 4 days a week even if its a weekend day.

[Hillbilly]

Basically do as many miles as you can fit in, so your plan sounds fine.

I could waffle on about cycling to work rather than getting the car (or perhaps driving partway and cycling the rest) to get some more miles in.  But not sure how feasible that is (or desirable - cycling in the Big Smoke is not for all; wasn't for me, for example, when I worked there).  Likewise using your lunchbreak, if possible, in the gym (spinning? stationary bike? general exercise?)

I could also suggest doing some basic strength exercises as well (particularly core, so sit-ups and crunchies and plank etc) if it takes your fancy.

You could also, perhaps, look into hooking up with a local cycling club or CTC.  It might give a bit of variety.

A 100k is within most people's reach with a little effort.  The 200k will take a bit more application, but isn't out of the question.  The 100k will be a stepping stone.

[28spoke]

Seems like a plan to me.

Which bike are you planning on riding the Audax events on?

Good luck.

I think it will be the fixed gear bike, unless i can fit some 700c cross wheels to the 29er, i seem to remember that was possible (... goes to google it)

If it's any help last year I did spring into the dales 110km and the Red Rose 200km as my first two Audax , I was 52 year old and had suffered two  heart attacks at 43 and then had to have a double heart bypass at 50  plus hadn't been on a bike for twenty years , yes I had to push the bike up a couple of the hills but the rides where do-able with only thirty or so miles ridden on the bike and a bit of cross trainer work before I jumped in and went for it  As is often quoted on these forums "It's only a bike ride" and my advice would be just get out and ride and enjoy 


Paul

Wow. That is probably one of the most inspirational things i have ever read! how can i not complete them!

Well done (well done, doesn't quite to it justice, but you know what i mean)

[Wobbly]

I think it will be the fixed gear bike, unless i can fit some 700c cross wheels to the 29er, i seem to remember that was possible (... goes to google it)

Why change the wheels? I've just bought a bike with 29" wheels and I plan on riding a 100km Audax on it at some point this year.

This bike in fact...

[mrcharly-YHT]

Why not just change the tyres on the 29er?

Ride on the bike you are most comfortable sitting on for hours.

Don't overdo the training. Maybe one long session a week and two other sessions of mixed intensity.

[28spoke]

Why not just change the tyres on the 29er?

Ride on the bike you are most comfortable sitting on for hours.

Don't overdo the training. Maybe one long session a week and two other sessions of mixed intensity.

The interweb says (will check later) that i have 25mm rims on the 29er. Should i therefore go for 700x35c tires? Seems like a good plan, lots of low gears to keep things simple

I do like the idea of the fixed gear bike, but will keep that for the roller sessions i think

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Great forum 

[caerau]

Not much to add but my best wishes and good luck for your first audax! 

[Greenbank]

Fixed gear audaxing is great fun. Highly recommended.

[Riggers]

Not that I 'do' Audax, but have spent  a fair few hours in the saddle (okay, 'on' it) and I'd say you really need to have spent enough time cycling so your seat bones aren't going to be painful.

My work is done!

[contango]

Hi, and welcome!

The first time I ever rode more than 100 miles in a day it was on a mountain bike. I'd previously done two rides of over 100k back to back on it - 83 miles one day and 65 miles the next. The day I rode 110 miles was two days after doing 70-odd miles on two consecutive days (chalked up something like 260 miles in four days, when the third day was resting). The MTB had reasonable road-friendly tyres on it - a Marathon Plus ATB on the front and a Marathon Extreme on the back.

My wife has completed a couple of 100k rides on her mountain bike - it's the only bike she has and she loves it. She'd probably be faster on a road bike but she got around the course OK. I don't know that I'd want to do a long ride on knobbly tyres but it's easy enough to put smoother tyres on your 29er - maybe something like Schwalbe Marathon Dureme in 29x1.4

If riding to work isn't an option (it took me a long time before I felt confident to cycle in central London) just do what you can do, try and get in a decent ride at the weekend if you can, and give it your best shot. If you breeze through the 100k you know you're probably in good shape for the 200; if you get to the end of the 100k and want to curl up and die you can always bow out of the 200. Personally I find 100k to be a fun ride but a 200 feels like a significant effort, especially towards the end.

[nightrider]

Might be tempted to do the Oundle 100 with you.I will be riding a fixed wheel.It's going to be fun.

[28spoke]

Why not just change the tyres on the 29er?

Just grabbed some 700x38c (Specialized Nimbus Armadillo) and some 'bar ends' so i can shift my position a bit. Will try a pootle on sunday and see how it all feels

Thanks again for all the replies

[DrMekon]

You'll be back at 63kg and doing your first 600 before long.

[Banjo]

Why not just change the tyres on the 29er?

Just grabbed some 700x38c (Specialized Nimbus Armadillo) and some 'bar ends' so i can shift my position a bit. Will try a pootle on sunday and see how it all feels

Thanks again for all the replies

Only thing that really matters on an audax bike is that its comfortable and ideally light as well but comfort is the main thing.

At the end of a 100 I usually feel tired and think I couldnt do that again but oddly on a 200 I get the same feeling at the end but not at the halfway point.I think you set your mind to do the distance then pace yourself accordingly.

What Im trying to say is if you feel knackered after the 100 it doesnt neccessarilly mean you couldnt do a 200.

Good Luck

[caerau]

That is correctamundo.   It's probably best to try riding a couple of 70-80 mile rides (at least) prior to the 200 though - just for peace of mind if nothing else.  I made sure I'd done a 100 mile ride prior to my first 200.

[marylogic]

Hi.

I have been lurking too and am also new to audax. I completed my first 200K a couple of weeks ago, and the longest ride I managed this year prior to it was 72 miles, so not that far off a 100K

My husband  found his road bike really uncomfortable on our training run so did the 200K on his hybrid, with bar ends which he found really useful. He also appreciated the lower gearing.

With young kids the chances to get out were limited mostly to short runs (10- 15 miles max) on weekday evenings and/or weekends.

I found mentally breaking the audax down into the shorter rides between controls helped, as did taking the pace very easy.

Admittedly my husband did say he was never doing it again when we finished but I caught him looking at audax bikes on the internet the next night!

Try and get in the miles where you can, don't stress about it and enjoy yourself 

[caerau]

Hi Marylogic, good to see you here.    Twas me who naughtily directed you here on bikeradar 
Lots of other Scots audaxers around here you'll find.

(Not that it's naughty, they just kept deleting any thread posts that made mention of this site  )

[Wobbly]

And hello to Marylogic from me also. Don't forget you can volunteer for the northern half of the LEL duties. A marvelous way to pick up a few tips from seasoned long-distance riders. Sort of.

[marylogic]

Thanks guys. As someone who is fairly slow but able to keep going, I think I've found my spiritual home in audax. I used to think I could cycle quite far until I saw what some of you get up to 

I had hoped to volunteer for LEL but it coincides with my holiday, so unless they extend it to London- Aviemore-London I'll not be able to this time!

Thanks for directing me to yacf Caerau, my defection is almost complete 

[Marmitegeoff]

Hello and welcome marylogic.

Please accept a warning.  "Audax is very addictive".

Enjoy

[LEE]

Hello and welcome marylogic.

Please accept a warning.  "Audax is very addictive".

Enjoy

It's also 50% ability and 50% comfort.

200km is a long way to pedal and it's a long time to sit on a bike. 

If you are in a lot of discomfort then it's going to make the ride very hard to complete.  If you are comfy but bonk after 100km then it's going to make the ride hard to complete.

Once you get both the fitness and comfort sorted then you can plod along taking in the views and enjoying the company.

Trust me, if you bonk and your bike is causing you some pain..it's going to be a miserable day that you'll remember forever.
If your 29er is all-day-comfy then fit some slicks and use that. 

PS.  I've used Schwalbe Marathon 1.5" tyres on a 26" MTB wheel (never tried 29ers) and they got me round 100/200/300/400/600km Audaxes. 

[jamesld8]

Just grabbed some 700x38c (Specialized Nimbus Armadillo) and some 'bar ends' so i can shift my position a bit. Will try a pootle on sunday and see how it all feels

That`s pretty well how I started back into road riding after spell MTBing---fitted slicks and rode a couple sportives on the bike, also LEJOG over 15 days; worked great. Only other suggestion woudl be to fit rigid front forks, they really lighten up front end / make out of saddle efforst less bouncy.Carbon Cycles Exotic rigid forks are good and good value from my experience.

THEN I got into road riding and spent on a real road frame

Very best wishes with your training !