DNF rate

[Alex B]

• wear Rapha from head to toe.

Rapha is so 2017. The sportive garb of choice these days is Le Col.

[Peter]

I think it was probably in 2013, when I was a volunteer at Eskdalemuir, that three or four Koreans arrived in inclement weather.  They were swathed in cardboard and binbags and slept straight on the wood floor.  They set off in the same garb.  They all finished.  More wrapper than Rapha!  I think that a fair number of the South East Asian riders are young men from the military.

[psyclist]

I think that a fair number of the South East Asian riders are young men from the military.

South Korea requires young men to do national service.

[Notfromrugby]

Are people asking for a sponsored goody bag and a free drinks bottle at the finish?   

i want the opportunity

• to wear Oakleys
• ride a bike that is clean
• wear Rapha from head to toe.
• use phrases such as "pelton", "block headwind" and "drag coefficient"

I would add "to be a dentist" but TBF the last time I did the Brevet Cymru, I chatted with a dentist

Plenty of Oakleys and Rapha on display at Brevets around the country, they tend to travel a bit quicker and that might be the reason why you don't get to see them... they are already in the shower when you finish.
I've seen 5 grand of clean bikes at sportives and I have seen 5 grand of clean bikes at audax events.
It's "peloton" not pelton. I have seen peloton style riding at BCM... it's quite common up to first control, typically getting there too early to get a valid receipt... but again, from the back you don't get to see these things.
At LWL we averaged 35kph to Woodstock, Fiona Kohlbinger was there too.

Basically, you are stereotyping what in essence is a broad church, in the same way as an Audax is a broad church. All sorts of riders do sportives, many of them do audax too. There is fundamentally no difference in the demographic.... you see fewer mudguards, I give you that.

[Peter]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

[Notfromrugby]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

[IanDG]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

[Notfromrugby]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

Agree... if it was there would be people finishing in 6 hours or less.
It's just a reasonable pace of 27 kph, which is a far cry from racing or even from being a fast pace, which means roughly 7:20 of riding, add 40 minutes to get receipts and eat a snack and that's your 8 hours.

[IanDG]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

Agree... if it was there would be people finishing in 6 hours or less.
It's just a reasonable pace of 27 kph, which is a far cry from racing or even from being a fast pace, which means roughly 7:20 of riding, add 40 minutes to get receipts and eat a snack and that's your 8 hours.

6 hrs for a 200? Used to finish 120 mile road races in less than 5 hours when I were a lad

[Notfromrugby]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

Agree... if it was there would be people finishing in 6 hours or less.
It's just a reasonable pace of 27 kph, which is a far cry from racing or even from being a fast pace, which means roughly 7:20 of riding, add 40 minutes to get receipts and eat a snack and that's your 8 hours.

6 hrs for a 200? Used to finish 120 mile road races in less than 5 hours when I were a lad

I doubt you ever raced over that distance, unless you were a pro...

Anyways, yes on a race course you would expect 5 hours even at amateur level, on an Audax route, even at "race pace" it would be hard to break the 6 hours.

For reference, the very fastest guys doing the Fred Whitton go under 6 hours... that's 180 km with around 3400 mt of ascent, it's open roads, but it's marshalled at junctions, so you can go a bit quicker than you would on an unsupported audax.

[IanDG]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

Agree... if it was there would be people finishing in 6 hours or less.
It's just a reasonable pace of 27 kph, which is a far cry from racing or even from being a fast pace, which means roughly 7:20 of riding, add 40 minutes to get receipts and eat a snack and that's your 8 hours.

6 hrs for a 200? Used to finish 120 mile road races in less than 5 hours when I were a lad

I doubt you ever raced over that distance, unless you were a pro...

Anyways, yes on a race course you would expect 5 hours even at amateur level, on an Audax route, even at "race pace" it would be hard to break the 6 hours.

For reference, the very fastest guys doing the Fred Whitton go under 6 hours... that's 180 km with around 3400 mt of ascent, it's open roads, but it's marshalled at junctions, so you can go a bit quicker than you would on an unsupported audax.

Henry Burton Memorial 1980 and 1981 - I was a first cat and raced some pro-am races. Have an RTTC national gold medal and a BCF national bronze medal in my collection and spent 12 months on the National Pursuit squad.

[Notfromrugby]

Henry Burton Memorial 1980 and 1981 - I was a first cat and raced pro-am. Have an RTTC national gold medal and a BCF national bronze medal in my collection and spent 12 months on the National Pursuit squad.

Congratulations!
Then I don't know why you are so surprised if someone very average and with no racing ambitions goes through a 200 in 8 hours... it's not exactly a fast pace, is it?

[IanDG]

Henry Burton Memorial 1980 and 1981 - I was a first cat and raced pro-am. Have an RTTC national gold medal and a BCF national bronze medal in my collection and spent 12 months on the National Pursuit squad.

Congratulations!
Then I don't know why you are so surprised if someone very average and with no racing ambitions goes through a 200 in 8 hours... it's not exactly a fast pace, is it?

In my 60s now. I may ride for 8 hours in a 200km audax but usually finish in around 10. Here's a page from my race diary as I doubt you believe me.

P1020404 by ian, on Flickr

[Notfromrugby]

Henry Burton Memorial 1980 and 1981 - I was a first cat and raced pro-am. Have an RTTC national gold medal and a BCF national bronze medal in my collection and spent 12 months on the National Pursuit squad.

Congratulations!
Then I don't know why you are so surprised if someone very average and with no racing ambitions goes through a 200 in 8 hours... it's not exactly a fast pace, is it?

In my 60s now. I may ride for 8 hours in a 200km audax but usually finish in around 10.

P1020404 by ian, on Flickr

I got a bit bored of doing Audax, but when I did, I always finished a 200 in well under 9 hours... only exception was Phil's KK, chiefly because I kept puncturing!
300 were always 13-14 hours, 400 were 18 hours.
I am very very average... managed to scrape through the Fred Whitton in under 8 hours... just.

[Mick6830]

Have spoke to many riders today from 05.00 to 16.00 in saffron walden so near the end ,most said it was terrifically hard but doable ,a lot said they walked the really steep bits but most who had stopped at the little Tesco’s said they loved it and the weather 👍

[mrcharly-YHT]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

Agree... if it was there would be people finishing in 6 hours or less.
It's just a reasonable pace of 27 kph, which is a far cry from racing or even from being a fast pace, which means roughly 7:20 of riding, add 40 minutes to get receipts and eat a snack and that's your 8 hours.

6 hrs for a 200? Used to finish 120 mile road races in less than 5 hours when I were a lad

I doubt you ever raced over that distance, unless you were a pro...

Anyways, yes on a race course you would expect 5 hours even at amateur level, on an Audax route, even at "race pace" it would be hard to break the 6 hours.

For reference, the very fastest guys doing the Fred Whitton go under 6 hours... that's 180 km with around 3400 mt of ascent, it's open roads, but it's marshalled at junctions, so you can go a bit quicker than you would on an unsupported audax.

Crikey, I'd check someone's credentials before I responded like that.

Ian held records for running, as well as some very impressive time trialling.

I know you are new to this forum, so you probably need a head's up.
Forum members include people from all over the world, some with the right to wear rainbow.

[Notfromrugby]

Wow!  Before I was forced to stop Audaxing, I'd done over 150 of them.  Never saw a shower at any of them.

Me neither... I mean they are in the shower at home!
Somebody reasonably svelte goes through A 200 in 8 hours, someone on the value side might take 13... plenty of time to go home, have a shower, have dinner and head off to the pub for a couple in 5 hours

It ain't a race!!!

Agree... if it was there would be people finishing in 6 hours or less.
It's just a reasonable pace of 27 kph, which is a far cry from racing or even from being a fast pace, which means roughly 7:20 of riding, add 40 minutes to get receipts and eat a snack and that's your 8 hours.

6 hrs for a 200? Used to finish 120 mile road races in less than 5 hours when I were a lad

I doubt you ever raced over that distance, unless you were a pro...

Anyways, yes on a race course you would expect 5 hours even at amateur level, on an Audax route, even at "race pace" it would be hard to break the 6 hours.

For reference, the very fastest guys doing the Fred Whitton go under 6 hours... that's 180 km with around 3400 mt of ascent, it's open roads, but it's marshalled at junctions, so you can go a bit quicker than you would on an unsupported audax.

Crikey, I'd check someone's credentials before I responded like that.

Ian held records for running, as well as some very impressive time trialling.

I know you are new to this forum, so you probably need a head's up.
Forum members include people from all over the world, some with the right to wear rainbow.

...Unless you were a pro...

At the time the system was different and more based on clubs, but these days he would probably be part of some race outfit, so not much different from a pro. Commoners bunch races these days don't exceed 50-60 miles. It's difficult to get authorities to agree and when they do, they allow you a circuit... there are only so many times you can go round...

[Notfromrugby]

... anyway, petty argument... the point I was trying to make is that the herd of randonneurs and the herd doing sportives are not at all dissimilar, so all this sportive bashing talk is utter nonsense...

We are all cyclists, we love the sport, some like going quicker, others enjoy the views... WFT is the problem?

[Paul H]

We are all cyclists, we love the sport, some like going quicker, others enjoy the views... WFT is the problem?

The problem arises when one type start thinking they're the proper cyclists

I have seen on Facebook pictures of the first people going through the last control... they look like proper cyclists... they don't carry 20 kg of extra fat and they travel light...

[IanDG]

For the record, I never said that DNF were disproportionally overweight and carrying to much gear, although I suspect they probably are.
What I said is that THOSE COMPLAINING about the route being too hilly are most likely part of that demographic. This is based on what I have seen at other events, some, like WCW 2019, even by the same organiser (where incidentally people were complaining for exactly the same reasons)

My experience at Brampton was that a small proportion of the "leaner race snakes" made more noise about the tough diversion from Barnard Castle. The slower steady riders (regardless of size) generally commented that it was tough and moved on.

In the few hours I spent on the control desk on the return leg (close to the cut off time) I would not have said that the majority I logged as "abandoned" were overweight.

[Notfromrugby]

We are all cyclists, we love the sport, some like going quicker, others enjoy the views... WFT is the problem?

The problem arises when one type start thinking they're the proper cyclists

I have seen on Facebook pictures of the first people going through the last control... they look like proper cyclists... they don't carry 20 kg of extra fat and they travel light...

I am not alone in that. That seems to be the image the industry portrays too... at 66 kg I barely fit in a medium size, with Castelli I typically need a large. I don't know how many X you need in front of an L if you are 100 kg...

Rightly or wrongly, when I think of a cyclist, they look more like Pogacar than Boris Johnson

[Lightning Phil]

We are all cyclists, we love the sport, some like going quicker, others enjoy the views... WFT is the problem?

The problem arises when one type start thinking they're the proper cyclists

I have seen on Facebook pictures of the first people going through the last control... they look like proper cyclists... they don't carry 20 kg of extra fat and they travel light...

I am not alone in that. That seems to be the image the industry portrays too... at 66 kg I barely fit in a medium size, with Castelli I typically need a large. I don't know how many X you need in front of an L if you are 100 kg...

Rightly or wrongly, when I think of a cyclist, they look more like Pogacar than Boris Johnson

We are all cyclists, it’s just that a 66kg one is lesser than the 100kg one.

[Notfromrugby]

We are all cyclists, we love the sport, some like going quicker, others enjoy the views... WFT is the problem?

The problem arises when one type start thinking they're the proper cyclists

I have seen on Facebook pictures of the first people going through the last control... they look like proper cyclists... they don't carry 20 kg of extra fat and they travel light...

I am not alone in that. That seems to be the image the industry portrays too... at 66 kg I barely fit in a medium size, with Castelli I typically need a large. I don't know how many X you need in front of an L if you are 100 kg...

Rightly or wrongly, when I think of a cyclist, they look more like Pogacar than Boris Johnson

We are all cyclists, it’s just that a 66kg one is lesser than the 100kg one.

only 2/3rd of a cyclist in fact

[IanDG]

Another experience from volunteering at Brampton. On the return leg it was people who were competent audax riders struggling to make the cut off who were asking whether Yad Moss was passable and were prepared to risk DQ and chance it. The more touristy types were more concerned as to closing hours of the popup cafes on the official detour.

[FifeingEejit]

• wear Rapha from head to toe.

Rapha is so 2017. The sportive garb of choice these days is Le Col.

If you're a member of LeCol.cc and Audax you've basically got a permanent 25% discount