Author Topic: What's to dislike about Audaxes.  (Read 40458 times)

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #25 on: 06 April, 2011, 06:54:18 pm »
+1 for early starts.   I'd love a 200 that started at 10am or even noon in the summer.

10am coincides with my post-breakfast reactive hypoglycaemia. I felt dreadful on the only ride I did which started at this time. It was almost sunset by the time I felt human.

I was fine on rides which started at just about any other time.

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #26 on: 06 April, 2011, 07:33:47 pm »
Is there time to complain about riders with flashing rear lights before the thread goes back on topic?

Hmmm ... OK. As long as you don't sneak in any comments about stupidly bright front lights (let alone bright flashing front lights). Or bright rear lights that point upwards (bypassing drivers' eyes, but aimed nicely at those of Audaxers).

I've recently discovered ill-considered rear-lights are a pain even in daylight, if you're riding in a big bunch on skoggy lanes that require one's downward attention.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

dasmoth

  • Techno-optimist
Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #27 on: 06 April, 2011, 07:42:09 pm »
Realizing I've forgotten to bring a pen.  Again.
Half term's when the traffic becomes mysteriously less bad for a week.

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #28 on: 06 April, 2011, 08:00:51 pm »
6. Distance remaining divided by speed plus current time versus Distance divided by minimum speed plus start time is a mensa-like problem at 3am
7. Road signs in miles, route sheet in kilometres
Realising that during the last 200km you were slow eating your time buffer and now you need to pedal non stop for 12 hours through the night to finish in time.

Remebering at 1am that it is a BRM and as such overdistance means time wrap in the vectorial space of control closures.

Actually if it was a vectorial space, it would be linear. A sadistic polish mathematician must have invented clever maths to solve this in a one liner.

Reverting to sums and multiplications, how can clever Maths resurface in my mind since I have long forgotten my uni maths?

Spending one hour trying to estimate what average speed you need to resolve ACP introduced time-space ripples.

Wondering why even after you left France, French administrative quirks follow you in the middle of the night on a Welsh hill rollercoaster.

Deciding that the best option is to pedal as hard as possible until a round number of reminding kilometers is reached to facilitate the maths a 8 year old would manage.

And no, these white lines are still, you are not being attacked!


Maybe there's a demand for an I phone App.

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #29 on: 06 April, 2011, 08:03:09 pm »
The assumption that noobs understand what they are meant to do at starts/controls/finishes.
Slow service at cafes.
That there aren´t a better spread over the school holidays (easier for me to get a weekend pass in the summer).
No badges available at the end (much easier to explain to the kids if I come home with a badge, and my missus always comes home with a medal at any run she does).

I need to do some helping out first, but eventually I´d like to have a go at organising one.

DanialW

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #30 on: 06 April, 2011, 08:40:15 pm »
Lack of information about routes. Much less of a problem then it was.

Actually I used to find it quite exciting turning up and having no real idea of what the day was to bring.

I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

red marley

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #31 on: 06 April, 2011, 08:47:36 pm »
I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

I can see it now. AUK's flagship event in 2013 - the London-???-London. Our very own magical mystery tour.

DanialW

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #32 on: 06 April, 2011, 08:55:33 pm »
I can see it now. AUK's flagship event in 2013 - the London-???-London. Our very own magical mystery tour.

Happily, I'm not doing the routesheet!

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #33 on: 06 April, 2011, 09:04:00 pm »
Lack of information about routes. Much less of a problem then it was.

Actually I used to find it quite exciting turning up and having no real idea of what the day was to bring.

I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

I always look at the routesheet.  Then there is always one crucial moment when I'm thinking about something else - that's where the adventure starts!

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #34 on: 06 April, 2011, 09:33:51 pm »
+1 for early starts.   I'd love a 200 that started at 10am or even noon in the summer.

Organise one then  :P

My only real Audax dislikes are:
 - mistakes on routesheets (thankfully not too common)
 - flashing or too bright rear lights
 - steep descents

Apart from that Audax rides are really very enjoyable.
You're only as successful as your last 1200...

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #35 on: 06 April, 2011, 10:22:56 pm »
Having only started doing Audax's this year, have only found a few thing to dislike so far.

Payment via Post / SAE, the Paypal route is much easier, quite happy to pay a small premium for this, also avoids loads of posting, as all but the return of the Brevet card can be done via e-mail

Route sheet in miles, also goes for the whole road system, KM's are so much easier to deal with.

Consistancy in route sheet design, have done about 10 so far this year, most have stuck to the same basic formula, but one or to have been different, but have enjoyed doing the rides.

The early starts and almost everything else I can deal with.

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #36 on: 06 April, 2011, 10:31:11 pm »
Walking out of a nice warm control on a cold winters night and getting the shivery shakes until I warm up.

Nah, thats the MTFU bit that makes you different from THEM

Martin

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #37 on: 06 April, 2011, 10:39:26 pm »
sitting chatting with the finish controlers then going back out to ride to / wedge your bike back in the car or to a station 10 km away having forgotten that you are soaked through and 'kin freezing.

I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

I never look at routesheets at all unless I need an info location; as cannot work out how to mark these on a GPS

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #38 on: 06 April, 2011, 10:53:44 pm »
Info controls or silly routes to ensure that we have covered the kilometres.  Trust us, for goodness sake.
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

Uncle Eric

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #39 on: 06 April, 2011, 11:13:21 pm »
Riding between 3am and 6am. Mentally tough plus the body screams for sleep.

Passing through city centres around bar closing time.


Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #40 on: 06 April, 2011, 11:30:51 pm »

11. "L no sp" in the dark

In the rain, when there's so much gravel on the road that you can't see what's verge and what's tarmac, and this before the days of halogen, let alone LED. Still one of my favourite rides, though I fear it'll never be repeated.

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #41 on: 07 April, 2011, 06:41:53 am »
Spending more than 4 hours on a bike.....I'll get my coat  :-\

(I get bored and my backside starts to ache)

YahudaMoon

  • John Diffley
Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #42 on: 07 April, 2011, 06:47:31 am »
Spending more than 4 hours on a bike.....I'll get my coat  :-\

(I get bored and my backside starts to ache)

Ha ha ha. Maybe you like racing short distance then ? or your on the wrong forum ??

Your welcome here whatever cycling your into anyway

John

Alouicious

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #43 on: 07 April, 2011, 07:00:17 am »
Lack of information about routes. Much less of a problem then it was.

Actually I used to find it quite exciting turning up and having no real idea of what the day was to bring.

I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

Danial. You would really enjoy Bicycle Orienteering. All you get at the start is a slip of paper with an OS Grid Ref.

Doh, forgot the map.....

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #44 on: 07 April, 2011, 07:14:22 am »
Spending more than 4 hours on a bike.....I'll get my coat  :-\

(I get bored and my backside starts to ache)

Ha ha ha. Maybe you like racing short distance then ? or your on the wrong forum ??

Your welcome here whatever cycling your into anyway

John

 ;) I used to audax (only up to 200k really), but have turned to timetrialling in the last few years. It's a similar net amount of pain, just compressed and intensified into a much shorter timespan  :thumbsup:  (and my backside never gets long enough to ache  ::-))

Alouicious

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #45 on: 07 April, 2011, 07:22:18 am »
Spending more than 4 hours on a bike.....I'll get my coat  :-\

(I get bored and my backside starts to ache)

Ha ha ha. Maybe you like racing short distance then ? or your on the wrong forum ??

Your welcome here whatever cycling your into anyway

John

 ;) I used to audax (only up to 200k really), but have turned to timetrialling in the last few years. It's a similar net amount of pain, just compressed and intensified into a much shorter timespan  :thumbsup:  (and my backside never gets long enough to ache  ::-))

 ;D   Timetrialing is far, far more painful than Audax.  ::-)

If you feel the same after a TT as you did after an Audax, you're not TTing hard enough.

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #46 on: 07 April, 2011, 07:35:58 am »
I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

I can see it now. AUK's flagship event in 2013 - the London-???-London. Our very own magical mystery tour.

That's not such a dumb idea- a 200 in which you only get the routesheet and destination for each stage as you complete the last might be quite fun!

dasmoth

  • Techno-optimist
Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #47 on: 07 April, 2011, 08:05:17 am »
That's not such a dumb idea- a 200 in which you only get the routesheet and destination for each stage as you complete the last might be quite fun!

Would mean bringing a laptop to GPSify the route at each control.
Half term's when the traffic becomes mysteriously less bad for a week.

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #48 on: 07 April, 2011, 08:21:10 am »
Having to buy stupid envelopes, write stupid cheques and prepare stupid SAE's.

Alouicious

Re: What's to dislike about Audaxes.
« Reply #49 on: 07 April, 2011, 08:22:27 am »
I NEVER look at routesheets until I set off. Spoils the adventure.

I can see it now. AUK's flagship event in 2013 - the London-???-London. Our very own magical mystery tour.

That's not such a dumb idea- a 200 in which you only get the routesheet and destination for each stage as you complete the last might be quite fun!

How about an Audax 'Treasure hunt'?

"Where's the next clue?"