Audax pet peeves!

[Martin]

X means

Shoestring event few or no facilities or AUK controllers according to the calendar.

Few being the operative word; riders have to go looking for refreshments and receipts at the intermediate controls

That seems to describe the vast majority of rides I've done, many without an X on the calendar facilities list.
Usually just get an HQ start.

Maybe southerners need more TLC. :StirPot

I think X means "get a receipt and some food from somewhere in the town" rather than "get a stamp / sticker from this cafe / pub"

I avoid all fixed commercial controls on my own events, not because I'm shy of asking cafe / pub managers, but because I never know how many riders will actually patronise them, as the managers will usually lay on extra staff to cope. The ones I did like doing were when the entry fee included a set menu at the cafe, so they had enough staff and got paid accordingly whatever. But still hard to know months in advance how many customers they will have.

I also find commercial controls (particularly cafes at breakfast / lunchtime) take a lot more time to pass through which I'd rather spend riding / finishing earlier but that's just me

[S2L]

I also find commercial controls (particularly cafes at breakfast / lunchtime) take a lot more time to pass through which I'd rather spend riding / finishing earlier but that's just me

Cooperative?
I only use towns which have a branch of the Cooperative as controls, but that's still posh, I would expect a real x-rated to have at least one control with petrol station as the only option

[FifeingEejit]

X means

Shoestring event few or no facilities or AUK controllers according to the calendar.

Few being the operative word; riders have to go looking for refreshments and receipts at the intermediate controls

That seems to describe the vast majority of rides I've done, many without an X on the calendar facilities list.
Usually just get an HQ start.

Maybe southerners need more TLC. :StirPot

I think X means "get a receipt and some food from somewhere in the town" rather than "get a stamp / sticker from this cafe / pub"

Still fits...
Although I suppose it does rule out those going via Eskdalemuir, unless the choice between the Old School and Samye Ling isn't considered too prescriptive!

[quixoticgeek]

As a relative outsider looking in, I find it interesting what the Brits seem to consider a minimum standard for an event, and how an X rated event seems to be really looked down upon.

By auk standards, the Dutch, Danish, and Belgian BRM's I've done would all be considered X rated. They nearly all started in a cafe, and almost entirely relied on commercial controls. Some had commercial controls, but with a volunteer sat there stamping cards. All of them had a staffed finish, usually one person sat in a cafe waiting for finishers.

It provides for a really low barrier for entry to organising, which I like.

I'm quite happy for there to be no catering on a ride, I'm able to either forage in commercial sources, or carry enough to see me round.

I appreciate I am not the norm.

No doubt someone will be along to tell me I'm wrong about everything, that I don't understand, that I'm too inexperienced to have an opinion, and then attack me on twitter shortly after...

J

[grams]

By auk standards, the Dutch, Danish, and Belgian BRM's I've done would all be considered X rated. They nearly all started in a cafe, and almost entirely relied on commercial controls. Some had commercial controls, but with a volunteer sat there stamping cards. All of them had a staffed finish, usually one person sat in a cafe waiting for finishers.

I don’t think AUKers could agree which of those are X rated and which aren’t. The AUK definition is broad enough that anything short of full TLC fits it.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Shoestring seems to be open to interpretation.  Some Shoestring events I've ridden have had detailed instructions on where to find food, possible places to sleep etc, and have provided a more comfortable experience than events with manned controls such as village halls but with cold dorms and poor food. 

I have always admired those riders who can live off petrol station food and bonk rations indefinitely.  My preference is for the occasional hot food, especially before setting off on a night section - the pizza at Dalrymple on the Border Raid was ideal - as are the ham & cheese paninis at Taunton Deane services on Brimstones.  If I have peeve on that subject it is the proud sign "Cafe Open" outside a shut cafe. 

[S2L]

As a relative outsider looking in, I find it interesting what the Brits seem to consider a minimum standard for an event, and how an X rated event seems to be really looked down upon.

By auk standards, the Dutch, Danish, and Belgian BRM's I've done would all be considered X rated. They nearly all started in a cafe, and almost entirely relied on commercial controls. Some had commercial controls, but with a volunteer sat there stamping cards. All of them had a staffed finish, usually one person sat in a cafe waiting for finishers.

It provides for a really low barrier for entry to organising, which I like.

I'm quite happy for there to be no catering on a ride, I'm able to either forage in commercial sources, or carry enough to see me round.

I appreciate I am not the norm.

No doubt someone will be along to tell me I'm wrong about everything, that I don't understand, that I'm too inexperienced to have an opinion, and then attack me on twitter shortly after...

J

I understand where you come from... however my impression is that in the continent audax are in essence a thing for "members". Here is different, in that the average taker for anything up to 200 can well be someone coming from club rides and sportives, where there is a bit more in the way of organisation and pampering, so that's what is expected.
When you lower the provision to the bare minimum, typically the number of entrants drops too.

You look at the most popular events in the calendar and they are all heavily catered for (LEL, LWL, BCM, Ditchling Devil... ), whereas you look at the pure x-rated and the number (of validations) drops in the twenties and the teens, or even lower.

Putting up an x-rated event for a dozen hardened randonneurs seems to me a waste of time, as they know the game and could easily just head out for a permanent or a DIY...

[vorsprung]

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

not my experience

[quixoticgeek]

I understand where you come from... however my impression is that in the continent audax are in essence a thing for "members". Here is different, in that the average taker for anything up to 200 can well be someone coming from club rides and sportives, where there is a bit more in the way of organisation and pampering, so that's what is expected.
When you lower the provision to the bare minimum, typically the number of entrants drops too.

For starters, most other national Audax associations don't do anything under 200km. Most are also BRM only. If you filter out all AUK events that are not at least run as BR, then you get a fairer comparison.

You look at the most popular events in the calendar and they are all heavily catered for (LEL, LWL, BCM, Ditchling Devil... ), whereas you look at the pure x-rated and the number (of validations) drops in the twenties and the teens, or even lower.

Putting up an x-rated event for a dozen hardened randonneurs seems to me a waste of time, as they know the game and could easily just head out for a permanent or a DIY...

Not really. I can organise to do a DIY on Saturday, and it'll count towards my points, but it won't be recognised by ACP, or anyone else. If you are working towards a goal that is not purely AUK based, then it being am actual event is important.

The Dutch have had 200km events, in the middle of winter, which would be considered X rated by UK standards, and had over 100 riders validate, coming from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

J

[S2L]

Not really. I can organise to do a DIY on Saturday, and it'll count towards my points, but it won't be recognised by ACP, or anyone else. If you are working towards a goal that is not purely AUK based, then it being am actual event is important.

The idea of organising rides for people who chase points and qualifying stamps fills me with horror... 

[caerau]

Not that I've done an Audax in a while (4years! how did that happen) - but my pet peeve was a queue of 20 randonneurs in front of me in a compulsory cafe all ordering a full English breakfast ahead of me 


You should have seen my loss-of-cool moment at PBP 2015 when some guy held up a queue of 200 hungry randonneurs for 5 minutes at 4 am in a cafe somewhereorother because his lemonade was not cold enough.     (that cafe must have been raided by the locusts randonneurs for hours already  - cold lemonade... might as well have asked for unicorn milk).


I discovered X-rated events suited me just fine     

[bludger]

Not really. I can organise to do a DIY on Saturday, and it'll count towards my points, but it won't be recognised by ACP, or anyone else. If you are working towards a goal that is not purely AUK based, then it being am actual event is important.

The Dutch have had 200km events, in the middle of winter, which would be considered X rated by UK standards, and had over 100 riders validate, coming from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

J

I was playing with trying to qualify for and do pbp this year. It was at the start line of the FFF500 on 28 December literally at 4am that I realised that the ride wouldn't be a help in qualifying in any way as it was 3 days before the new year. I think a few others had a giggle at that ...

[caerau]

That's awesome - love it!


I'm sure it was good miles nevertheless

[Phil W]

Not really. I can organise to do a DIY on Saturday, and it'll count towards my points, but it won't be recognised by ACP, or anyone else. If you are working towards a goal that is not purely AUK based, then it being am actual event is important.

The Dutch have had 200km events, in the middle of winter, which would be considered X rated by UK standards, and had over 100 riders validate, coming from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

J

I was playing with trying to qualify for and do pbp this year. It was at the start line of the FFF500 on 28 December literally at 4am that I realised that the ride wouldn't be a help in qualifying in any way as it was 3 days before the new year. I think a few others had a giggle at that ...

The period for PBP qualifying rides is not based on the calendar year.  It would have counted, assuming BRM.

[quixoticgeek]

Not really. I can organise to do a DIY on Saturday, and it'll count towards my points, but it won't be recognised by ACP, or anyone else. If you are working towards a goal that is not purely AUK based, then it being am actual event is important.

The Dutch have had 200km events, in the middle of winter, which would be considered X rated by UK standards, and had over 100 riders validate, coming from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

J

I was playing with trying to qualify for and do pbp this year. It was at the start line of the FFF500 on 28 December literally at 4am that I realised that the ride wouldn't be a help in qualifying in any way as it was 3 days before the new year. I think a few others had a giggle at that ...

The period for PBP qualifying rides is not based on the calendar year.  It would have counted, assuming BRM.

It's BR, as it's a funny length... So even tho it was in the right window, it wouldn't help...

J

[Phil W]

Not really. I can organise to do a DIY on Saturday, and it'll count towards my points, but it won't be recognised by ACP, or anyone else. If you are working towards a goal that is not purely AUK based, then it being am actual event is important.

The Dutch have had 200km events, in the middle of winter, which would be considered X rated by UK standards, and had over 100 riders validate, coming from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

J

I was playing with trying to qualify for and do pbp this year. It was at the start line of the FFF500 on 28 December literally at 4am that I realised that the ride wouldn't be a help in qualifying in any way as it was 3 days before the new year. I think a few others had a giggle at that ...

The period for PBP qualifying rides is not based on the calendar year.  It would have counted, assuming BRM.

It's BR, as it's a funny length... So even tho it was in the right window, it wouldn't help...

J

It'd help with prep if not qualification in that case

[bludger]

Not sure I'm clever enough for this malarkey

[Martin]

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

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

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Putting up an x-rated event for a dozen hardened randonneurs seems to me a waste of time, as they know the game and could easily just head out for a permanent or a DIY...

This year I was very glad that someone was able to put up an x-rated 600 for a dozen finishers.  It was the only 600 in the calendar I could make due to family/work commitments.  IMHO there's a big difference between a permanent, where you are the only rider, and a sparse calendar event  - I rode in company for 100km and then saw other riders at most of the control points and the overnight truck stop, that was a completely different and more positive experience than 24+ hours totally on my own.   There was a good craic at the finish which would suggest the organisers and other participants that I met also felt it wasn't a waste of time...

[Greenbank]

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

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

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

(I "packed" 2km from the finish of one 100km ride because going to the finish would have meant missing the hourly train home by a few minutes.)

[quixoticgeek]

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

(I "packed" 2km from the finish of one 100km ride because going to the finish would have meant missing the hourly train home by a few minutes.)

People who aren't interested in validation, taking a limited space, where someone who is interested in validation could use it.

Unlikely on a 100, but might apply to some of the really popular rides.

J

[Jeff E]

As Veloboy rightly says, Flashing Front and Rear lights can both be annoying.      Especially IF badly angled.    But they can be made less so.   The Front should be angled Left towards the Pedestrians and Cars that need to be alerted of your presence.  The Rear needs to be angled flat to not blind Cyclists close up behind you, with the maximum brightness saved to alert Cars further away.

Even less annoying is if you can attach your lights to your skewers.    And The Rear light can be positioned close up under your saddle bag.     I have tried to combine all of these ideas by fitting Exposure's  Helmet light on my left hand side Rear Skewer, with Front and Rear both in Pulse Mode.

I have been knocked off my bike three times in the last 3 years whilst wearing bright kit, but with my lights in non flashing mode.     It seems that Flashing lights are the only way to alert car drivers, and therefore keep me Audaxing

[Hot Flatus]

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

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

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

(I "packed" 2km from the finish of one 100km ride because going to the finish would have meant missing the hourly train home by a few minutes.)

Yes, one well-known audaxer once remarked that I was "making a point" by not bothering with my brevet card.

They just go in the bin, so I'm not sure what point he thought I was making, or why he thought it was any of his business.

[mcshroom]

People who abandon, but don't bother to let the organiser know.

As a rider towards the full value end of the spectrum, I've been at the finish a few times with organisers hanging around, only to find out from another rider, or by phoning the missing rider, that they went home hours ago but didn't bother to tell anyone.

[quixoticgeek]

People who abandon, but don't bother to let the organiser know.

As a rider towards the full value end of the spectrum, I've been at the finish a few times with organisers hanging around, only to find out from another rider, or by phoning the missing rider, that they went home hours ago but didn't bother to tell anyone.

This is quite possibly the biggest sin an audaxer can commit. Really bad form!

J