Riding the country bit by bit.

[Wycombewheeler]

Is it possible by audax events? I have a strange desire for my strava heat map to all be linked up. So my thought is to enter only evemts that cover new ground but also cross at some point events I have already ridden.

But it seems to me that most london area events head west and South, not many that go north.

Obviously doing an event like LEL or ACME's 1000 would access new areas but the idea is to gradually spread across the country using 200s and 300s. Can it be done or are there gaps wher neighbouring regions dont overlap?

[Pingu]

Nice idea 

[αdαmsκι]

Here's my map for UK audax rides since 2010. Without intention most is linked up.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/28028811@N08/79we6i

[Wycombewheeler]

Here's my map for UK audax rides since 2010. Without intention most is linked up.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/28028811@N08/79we6i

Impressive set of rides.

I see LeJog windsor-chestor-windsor and LEL are responsible for tieing everything together.

[Greenbank]

Don't think you'd need any DIYs, there's plenty of overlap of existing rides/perms. It's just not obvious where all rides go from the descriptions on the calendar.

Here's my updated heatmap: http://www.greenbank.org/misc/cycling_heatmap_20171015.png

Two bits aren't connected. The Midlander Super Grimpeur is obvious, but less obvious is the Mersey Roads 24h TT as it doesn't quite connect with the Snowdon & Coast 400 north of Shrewsbury: http://www.greenbank.org/misc/heatmap_notconnected_20171015.png

(Heatmap generated from Strava data, without the need for a Premier Account, using http://www.jonathanokeeffe.com/strava/map.php )

LEL helped connect my failed attempt at the Border Raid and a DNF'd DIY 400 down to Cornwall helped connect up the K&SW 600. Living in London and riding out to local events certainly helps.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

With Kernow & South West, the Brimstone, a Dinner Dart to Llandrindod Wells, the Bryan Chapman, Easter Arrow to York, LEL, the Mille Alba, the Flatlands and a couple of not completed Andy Corless 600s I've pretty much got a backbone of rides that links everywhere in the mainland of Britain.  All my other UK rides are connected in some way to this, which includes Cambrian permanents as far as Fishguard, rides around Plymouth, Hull and Harrogate as a child, odd times when I've got out on the bike after work when staying away, and pretty much every other Audax  I'm not quite sure what the furthest part of the UK is from a ride that I've done before, but I would hazard a guess at the Gower Peninsula in Wales or somewhere just to the east of Hunstanton

[bikey-mikey]

My Strava heatmap

https://www.strava.com/athletes/4628735/heatmaps/6ed5ab12#5/54.73654/-1.3045

Basically all AUK riding, though there are some short train station to hotel rides, and hotel to start, and arrivee to hotel, and arrivee to train station...

Not many gaps now....

But of course I’m completely mad..... 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Ivo]

You're not that mad bikey-mikey

Rides since I own a GPS (maps created end of december 2016):

'near' home


everywhere


I create my maps in Mapsource.

[Wycombewheeler]

Nice. Lithuania to Moscow and Uzbekistan. What was that like?

[Ivo]

Nice. Lithuania to Moscow and Uzbekistan. What was that like?

Vilnius-Moscow was a very nice ride with lot's of interesting old towns (It was a 4 week holiday)
Uzbekistan is an audaxing event, there's a report on it here on YACF (search for 'Gates of Timur').

[thesloth]

Wycombewheeler I see you are a Veloviewer user. Have you checked out the Explorer thing?
I recommend getting the Veloviewer Chrome plugin. It makes it easy when planning routes on Strava to see where you've been and where you have yet to go.

Careful ...it's mildly addictive.

[mr ben]

I'm currently hypnotised by heat maps...I hardly use Strava, but I found this website that you can drag and drop gpx files onto which creates beautiful images (I had to do some tinkering with some of my gpx files): https://erik.github.io/derive/

Mine is very modest by the standards here; all my tours plus audax: http://www.sloeburn.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/derive-export-1.jpg

[Wycombewheeler]

Wycombewheeler I see you are a Veloviewer user. Have you checked out the Explorer thing?
I recommend getting the Veloviewer Chrome plugin. It makes it easy when planning routes on Strava to see where you've been and where you have yet to go.

Careful ...it's mildly addictive.

Yes was working at increasing my explorer max square but limited by the Worsley estate. A whole 1km square in one estate. May have to bite the bullet and buy a ticket to the garsington opera and turn up on my bike.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I'd have a problem linking up my brevets. 14 countries in 4 continents to date, some of them fairly farflung.

Linking Perth-Albany-Perth, Great Southern Randonnee and various shorter ones near Brisbane would be about 5000 km riding, though I've done some intervening sections. I can connect Mile Failte to London-Edinburgh-London with shorter brevets (and a ferry) but getting to the Peleponesse via Paris is about 3000 km, though I've done Mille Miglia and a few other brevets between. Then there are sizable gaps to Israel (perhaps 3000 km), India (who knows), Thailand (another 5000 km) and I've no idea how far to Vancouver Island. From there it is about 5000 km down to the Texas Rando Stampede.

[thesloth]

Wycombewheeler I see you are a Veloviewer user. Have you checked out the Explorer thing?
I recommend getting the Veloviewer Chrome plugin. It makes it easy when planning routes on Strava to see where you've been and where you have yet to go.

Careful ...it's mildly addictive.

Yes was working at increasing my explorer max square but limited by the Worsley estate. A whole 1km square in one estate. May have to bite the bullet and buy a ticket to the garsington opera and turn up on my bike.

Indeed. Some of the squares prove very illusive. I found myself doing a predawn dash across an army shooting range, thinking is this really worth it!?

[Wycombewheeler]

I'd have a problem linking up my brevets. 14 countries in 4 continents to date, some of them fairly farflung.

Linking Perth-Albany-Perth, Great Southern Randonnee and various shorter ones near Brisbane would be about 5000 km riding, though I've done some intervening sections. I can connect Mile Failte to London-Edinburgh-London with shorter brevets (and a ferry) but getting to the Peleponesse via Paris is about 3000 km, though I've done Mille Miglia and a few other brevets between. Then there are sizable gaps to Israel (perhaps 3000 km), India (who knows), Thailand (another 5000 km) and I've no idea how far to Vancouver Island. From there it is about 5000 km down to the Texas Rando Stampede.

Hence riding the country, not riding the world. Although I was thinking Robson Luxemburg could be linked with borders of belgium then Paris Roubaix to PBP

[Ivo]

I'd have a problem linking up my brevets. 14 countries in 4 continents to date, some of them fairly farflung.

Linking Perth-Albany-Perth, Great Southern Randonnee and various shorter ones near Brisbane would be about 5000 km riding, though I've done some intervening sections. I can connect Mile Failte to London-Edinburgh-London with shorter brevets (and a ferry) but getting to the Peleponesse via Paris is about 3000 km, though I've done Mille Miglia and a few other brevets between. Then there are sizable gaps to Israel (perhaps 3000 km), India (who knows), Thailand (another 5000 km) and I've no idea how far to Vancouver Island. From there it is about 5000 km down to the Texas Rando Stampede.

Hence riding the country, not riding the world. Although I was thinking Robson Luxemburg could be linked with borders of belgium then Paris Roubaix to PBP

When defining 'country' as a 'reasonable landmass which can be navigated by bike without major risks', then Merselo-Verona was a major push to linking up routes. And my abandoned attempt at Brussels-Paris-Brussels. Actually it was one of my reasons behind cycling to the Gare du Nord after packing, I had cycled frome the Gare du Nord to the PBP campsite before so that would be the missing link between the PBP route and the various more home-bound routes.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

'Riding the country' Which one? Linking my Aussie brevets would require covering at least 4000 km of new roads but I'm not in a big hurry to follow Mike Hall's last wheel tracks. I've ridden a brevet past where he died. It wasn't a fun road.