Arrivée est arrivé!

[mattc]

mattc......how dare they not listen to you?!?!

I can only assume they are people who don't know about my PhD in gear-hanger failures. Would you like a copy?

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'm all for spicing up Arrivée.

If it was down to me there'd be a Readers' Wives section, and of course a Reader's Husbands, Partners, Boyfriends, Girlfriends and Gender-Fluids section because I'm inclusive and tolerant.

Yebbut you'll need leak-proof containers to stop the gender fluids sticking the pages together. Or is that the Rogerzilla special edition?

[grams]

I've had a mech hanger fail only once in my life. This occurred when a carrier bag got jammed in the rear mech. When it failed it took with it the rear mech and the right side seat stay. Carrying a spare hanger seems a tad pointless in this situation.

My last one was caused by slipping on ice and landing hard on the right side of the bike. The one before that was caused by someone crashing into the back of the bike during a pileup after I made the mistake of joining a large chaotic ad hoc group during an audax. A spare hanger would have been a godsend in either case.

==

My cycling club recently declared helmets compulsory and it was not a pretty sight - it boiled down to "I get uncomfortable when I see an unhelmeted head therefore everyone must comply," except with much more yelling, screaming and acrimony, and several lost members. It's not a can of worms that should be opened casually.

[Oscar's dad]

Spot on.

It’s like when people start banging on about cycling facilities and how we should be like Holland. Let’s just ride our chuffing bikes on the roads we already have, wearing what the hell we want, astride whatever bike we fancy.

I submitted an article which centred around not taking audax too seriously. I haven’t seen the latest issue but it doesn’t sound like it’s been published which is a shame, perhaps it’ll make the next issue, it sounds like some light relief is called for.

[Lee Killestein]

Spot on.

It’s like when people start banging on about cycling facilities and how we should be like Holland. Let’s just ride our chuffing bikes on the roads we already have, wearing what the hell we want, astride whatever bike we fancy.

I submitted an article which centred around not taking audax too seriously. I haven’t seen the latest issue but it doesn’t sound like it’s been published which is a shame, perhaps it’ll make the next issue, it sounds like some light relief is called for.

This ^^

I couldn't agree more. Let's just ride our bikes, that's the most important thing. We shouldn't take audax too seriously, it's just a bike ride! One of the most attractive aspects of audax for me has been that you can ride whichever kind of bike you have, dress in whatever clothes you have and as long as you're friendly you'll make lots of friends. If people are allowed to start dictating what you can and can't ride/wear a lot of the magic of audax will be gone!

Right, I need to start packing my stuff up for the Tewkesbury 200 in the morning! 

[mattc]

My copy has just arrived...

The helmet piece is clearly marked 'Opinion' and and takes up just 1.5 pages, of which a substantial panel is the response from Chris, which remains admirably neutral and refuses to adopt a 'position'. There's also an unhelmeted rider featured prominently on the cover, which you could take as an editorial response to the piece if you like.

Ditto!

I think I'm agreeing with you there. I still think that on balance it was a big mistake to publish this letter, but the overall presentation is a lot better than it might have been.

(I'm tempted to submit a number of absurd opinion pieces and see if Arrivee feel obliged to publish the valid opinion of a member.)

I hope AUK never need to assume the position!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

One of the most attractive aspects of audax for me has been that you can ride whichever kind of bike you have, dress in whatever clothes you have and as long as you're friendly you'll make lots of friends. If people are allowed to start dictating what you can and can't ride/wear a lot of the magic of audax will be gone!

It is interesting to note that PBP and virtually all BRMs and LRMs in other countries require reflective vests or suchlike to be worn at night. Several countries don't allow tribars at all. The magic seems to continue.

I am a fan of choice in this instance.

[mattc]

I've ridden 3 different overseas BRMs. Only PBP had any clothing requirements.  At night the groups were turned from a marvellous international meld into armies of near-identical robots. Shame.

I think it's one of the sh1ter features of PBP, but they can justify it by French road law (IIRC), so I put up with it.

[whosatthewheel]

One of the most attractive aspects of audax for me has been that you can ride whichever kind of bike you have, dress in whatever clothes you have and as long as you're friendly you'll make lots of friends. If people are allowed to start dictating what you can and can't ride/wear a lot of the magic of audax will be gone!

It is interesting to note that PBP and virtually all BRMs and LRMs in other countries require reflective vests or suchlike to be worn at night at night. Several countries don't allow tribars at all. The magic seems to continue.

I am a fan of choice in this instance.

Most countries require medical certificates to ride any organised bicycle event. In the UK it's not necessary and replaced with a disclaimer. I would not call this "freedom" but rather a state that has zero interest in our health and wellbeing and all it cares about is NOT being sued.

[citoyen]

I think I'm agreeing with you there. I still think that on balance it was a big mistake to publish this letter, but the overall presentation is a lot better than it might have been.

 

Personally, I might have taken a slightly different approach to the piece but I wasn't involved in putting together this issue and I respect the decisions of those who were.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Rather more important, to my mind, is Marcia's piece on women in Audax, which gets more than double the space of the helmet piece. Earlier, I was going to comment that the presence or otherwise of helmets in pictures is far less of a problem than the fact that the vast majority of pictures are populated exclusively by middle aged white men, so I'm pleased to see that matter being addressed directly.

Yep. Adding to the diversity, there are even photos of riders... I have to be careful how I say this, but I can't think of a way round it, so:

(click to show/hide)

smiling.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I've ridden 3 different overseas BRMs. Only PBP had any clothing requirements.  At night the groups were turned from a marvellous international meld into armies of near-identical robots. Shame.

Interesting, which countries?

Virtually all of the overseas BRMs that I've ridden have required reflective vests to be worn at night. Usually the countries' ACP agreements require the use of reflective vests at night e.g. https://www.kiwirandonneurs.org.nz/rides/rules/brm-rules

The ACP's Article 6 requires reflective vests at night.
http://www.audax-club-parisien.com/EN/322%20-%20Rules%20of%20BRM%20Worldwide.html

The PBP effect is mostly because a reflective vest is part of the entry fee. We saw the same thing at Mille Miglia, which issued their own cooler reflective vest. In other countries, there is usually a range of reflective vests/ bandoliers, etc. in use at night.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Most countries require medical certificates to ride any organised bicycle event. In the UK it's not necessary and replaced with a disclaimer. I would not call this "freedom" but rather a state that has zero interest in our health and wellbeing and all it cares about is NOT being sued.

Most European countries may require medical certificates for sportives but generally not for brevets. I've ridden brevets in 14 countries to date and so far I've only ever had to produce a medical certificate for PBP (not required in modern times). I believe that I am a better judge of whether I am capable of finishing a brevet than an overworked GP.

[MikeFromLFE]

It has been an admirable facet of Audax UK that the only* rule as regards machines or clothing has been 'obey the Highway Code' or words to that effect. *The notable and controversial exception to this excellent stance was the Mudguard Rule.
It is a mark of AUK's Britishness that we (as an organisation) shouldn't give a flying fuck what people ride or what they wear, how they are lit up or whether they glow in the dark - long may this continue.

[Lee Killestein]

One of the most attractive aspects of audax for me has been that you can ride whichever kind of bike you have, dress in whatever clothes you have and as long as you're friendly you'll make lots of friends. If people are allowed to start dictating what you can and can't ride/wear a lot of the magic of audax will be gone!

It is interesting to note that PBP and virtually all BRMs and LRMs in other countries require reflective vests or suchlike to be worn at night. Several countries don't allow tribars at all. The magic seems to continue.

I am a fan of choice in this instance.

I've yet to 'dip my toe' into any overseas events. Obviously, where's there's a legal requirement or a restriction set by the organiser it needs to be followed. The magic I allude to is in the freedom from the judgement of others. I'm sure that does indeed continue wherever in the world audax exists!

[whosatthewheel]

Most countries require medical certificates to ride any organised bicycle event. In the UK it's not necessary and replaced with a disclaimer. I would not call this "freedom" but rather a state that has zero interest in our health and wellbeing and all it cares about is NOT being sued.

Most European countries may require medical certificates for sportives but generally not for brevets. I've ridden brevets in 14 countries to date and so far I've only ever had to produce a medical certificate for PBP (not required in modern times). I believe that I am a better judge of whether I am capable of finishing a brevet than an overworked GP.

In Italy ANY organised bicycle event needs a full medical (including ECG)... this includes for instance "The Eroica" which is in essence a brevet, although not sanctioned by Audax.

How Audax Italy manages to get away with the law is not clear to me, probably by being under the radar

Medicals are a massive hassle, but the intentions are good. Whether a medical can prevent a heart attack is debateable, but I also find the disclaimer policy just a way to save money.
It is quite clear to me that my GP doesn't even know who I am, let alone care about me of what I do... which is fair enough, but...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Most countries require medical certificates to ride any organised bicycle event. In the UK it's not necessary and replaced with a disclaimer. I would not call this "freedom" but rather a state that has zero interest in our health and wellbeing and all it cares about is NOT being sued.

Most European countries may require medical certificates for sportives but generally not for brevets. I've ridden brevets in 14 countries to date and so far I've only ever had to produce a medical certificate for PBP (not required in modern times). I believe that I am a better judge of whether I am capable of finishing a brevet than an overworked GP.

In Italy ANY organised bicycle event needs a full medical (including ECG)... this includes for instance "The Eroica" which is in essence a brevet, although not sanctioned by Audax.

I rode the long course l'Eroica in 2013 and I think I provided a certificate but did not take an ECG.

[whosatthewheel]

Most countries require medical certificates to ride any organised bicycle event. In the UK it's not necessary and replaced with a disclaimer. I would not call this "freedom" but rather a state that has zero interest in our health and wellbeing and all it cares about is NOT being sued.

Most European countries may require medical certificates for sportives but generally not for brevets. I've ridden brevets in 14 countries to date and so far I've only ever had to produce a medical certificate for PBP (not required in modern times). I believe that I am a better judge of whether I am capable of finishing a brevet than an overworked GP.

In Italy ANY organised bicycle event needs a full medical (including ECG)... this includes for instance "The Eroica" which is in essence a brevet, although not sanctioned by Audax.

I rode the long course l'Eroica in 2013 and I think I provided a certificate but did not take an ECG.

Yep, the law is 2014 or 2015... I did the Eroica in 2011 with no medical at all!!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Some of my early PBPs were covered by certificates from a Doctor of Philosophy. It seemed to do the job.

Apparently the Italian law was 2015 and for l'Eroica the medical certificate must be dated after 02 October. What a pain! I don't think I'll be doing any Italian gran fondos requiring that sort of faff.

[Exit Stage Left]

I suspect the hand of Rapha in this. How can you sell the image of miserable-looking, helmetless, bearded, long-distance cyclists on retro-bikes, when there are still tight-fisted old codgers rocking the look on threepence ha'penny? There are bound to be accusations of inauthenticity while the real thing still exists.

So the best plan is to turn Audax into a bastion of commercialised conformity, so that the retro-merchants can hark back to a golden age. Rapha can then sell us what we had, at a premium.

[Grandad]

those who began cycling recently, seem to think you can shift gears at any time, under any load

Novice son-in-law did just this when using my 10 speed bike. Cost me a new cassette and chain 

[Charlie Polecat]

those who began cycling recently, seem to think you can shift gears at any time, under any load

Novice son-in-law did just this when using my 10 speed bike. Cost me a new cassette and chain 

I have to admit there have been times when on encountering a hill with much more gradient than expected, I was given the option of mashing the gears to get to a lower one, or falling off. I decided the gears needed to earn their stripes.

[Exit Stage Left]

Nice to see one of Ivo's pictures on the back of the current issue. I met Edie (I'm not sure about the spelling) at the sign-on and the finish.



Edit; it's Ede.

[Exit Stage Left]

A nice reference to Martin Pearson on page 26 by Adam Young, at 11.05. I saw Martin and Sandy a few times over the years.
He was a vet and dealt with sheep a lot in Queensland and NSW, one of the reasons there are sheep references in my films, as he and Sandy were always keen to have a DVD of the event. It was our in-joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7pGGfpdHh4

[damerell]

I've not seen the new issue yet so can't comment on the article specifically, but on the point of pictures depicting riders without helmets, I have noted that the vast majority of pictures submitted for inclusion these days are of helmeted riders.

My impression when I used to ride audax regularly was that the faster riders are much more likely to wear them, presumably because many of them also race. I also guess that photographers set up somewhere when they expect riders to arrive and clear off when they've got as many photos as they want, making it unlikely they'll capture bareheaded lanternes rouge like me. Hence, most photos have them.

I do think the article was extremely unfortunate (particularly, given that there seems to be a shortage of material for Arrivee, why not run a counterpiece pointing out the all too familiar errors in it?) but I hope the cover photo means the editor is not actually going to take this nonsense seriously.