A very pathetic recollection

[Nuncio]

On topic, Mrs MSeries wouldn't persuade me to hang on in there, she'd tell me to pack and stop being so stupid by being out there.  So if I really want someone to reassure me it's OK to pack, thereby relieving me of the guilt, I'll call her.

Whereas if you want someone to tell you not to be such a wimp you'll ring Mrs Nesbitt?

[RichForrest]

On topic, Mrs MSeries wouldn't persuade me to hang on in there, she'd tell me to pack and stop being so stupid by being out there.  So if I really want someone to reassure me it's OK to pack, thereby relieving me of the guilt, I'll call her.

Mr Nesbitt, why would Mrs MSeries tell you to pack, and why would you call someone else's wife to relieve you of your guilt.
We need to know

Edit; beaten to it by Nuncio

[urban_biker]

I don't like to pack. I've never done it and I'm very wary starting. I mean once you've opened that can of worms what's to stop you doing it every time. And in fact, why bother starting in the first place.

Its a very slippery slope and its best never to start.  

I read once that the pursuit of happiness is all about laying down memories, lots of memories, good and bad. Audax is excellent for this, each ride filled with a thousand half remembered snippets of thought, mixed with vivid pictures of terrain and pain. These are your memories; ready to be laid down, shared,  and later matured into ennui inducing anecdotes.

That said I will probably now end up packing on my next ride. After that I won't bother getting out of bed . . . ever. I mean, what's the point.

[vorsprung]

I don't like to pack. I've never done it ...

Packing because you are having a bad patch seems wrong

Packing because your bike is down to one gear and there are still 200km of Cornwall left seems fairly sensible

[hellymedic]

I packed when I was out of time due to multiple visitations before first control. It was pi$$ing with rain. Im not a natural packer but there are worse sins.
I had another visitation after packing and was glad I'd packed.

[citoyen]

Packing because you are having a bad patch seems wrong

One of my biggest cycling regrets is packing on the Beast From The East 600 in 2007. I really, really, really was not enjoying it at the time - freezing cold, soaked to the bone, totally knackered and still with the best part of 200km to go - but looking back on it, I don't believe it could possibly have been all that bad. Plus there was Tracy Horsman's food wagon about 30km up the road - I bet life wouldn't have seemed so awful after a decent fry-up.

However, I did later learn that Dave Kahn (who passed me shortly before I threw in the towel) didn't get to the finish until 2am, several hours out of time, so maybe it was the right decision.

The most frustrating thing about having packed is that I'll never know...

d.

[Pete Mas]

I also packed on that ride, my first ever 600km, but  not just due to a bad patch. The fierce headwind meant that I would be out of time soon anyhow. A detour to Reading rail station and a leisurely fast food session seemed a sensible option. Did the Daylight 600 ride from Edinburgh instead - a much more enjoyable experience. 

[mattc]

The most frustrating thing about having packed is that I'll never know...

Let's not forget the self-sufficiency aspect of Audax - you are on the public highway, you are potentially a danger to others, and there is (usually) no broom wagon.

Therefore you cannot just ride until you drop - it's not RAAM. You have to make a sensible judgement, often before you get so tired that you know judgement will become impossible!

This is why the decision to pack can often be a "braver" decision than it appears to the uninitiated.
"But you could still ride, couldn't you?!?"


[I like getting my excuses ready well in in advance ... ]

[Pancho]

DO NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THIS MAN.

HE IS AN FRAUD AND AN SCAMSTER OF THE FIRST ORDER.

I AND A BLOKE CALLED TERRY HAVE RIDDEN A 100K AUDAX WITH HIM AND WE HAD BEER AND EVERYTHING.

HE WHINGED NOT A JOT.

Thanks for listening.

This is true. And it is also true that, IME, any ride with Hummers is unlikely to have many low points.

However, coming across H at the end of a ride is demoralising. I bumped into him in a pub post-IOW and he said something along the lines of, "what, you've been actually riding a bike all that time? You poor sod - we stopped in every pub we passed".

[Redlight]

I confess that I once packed about 5km into a 400.  I'd driven more than an hour to the start (at 10pm), got there in plenty of time to be fed and watered, bike checked etc.  Off we all went and a couple of miles down the road, still in a bunch, I just thought: I don't feel like riding tonight. Turned back, surprised the organiser who was still packing up and drove home only to surprise my partner in bed with the next door neighbour.  Sometimes your mind or body just say no - listen to them.

[LEE]

I find 400 and 600 Audaxes the same as banging my head against a brick wall for many hours.  It feels great when you stop.

I mean that, with some rides, the enjoyment is all about finishing rather than the 20-40 hours spent soaking wet  with freezing hands.

[Bledlow]

I've done so few audaxes (& no 300s, 400s, 600s etc) that saying I've only packed once is pretty meaningless. BUT - I did have a good excuse. Major mechanical failure, that needed a fair bit of professional help to fix.

By the time I got back to the start (mostly by train), to wait for my lift home, my left knee had gone purple & swollen up like a balloon, proving to my satisfaction that I'd made the right decision.

[Ian H]

He won't remember that.

H

I remember sunstroke and a bus shelter.

[urban_biker]

I find 400 and 600 Audaxes the same as banging my head against a brick wall for many hours.  It feels great when you stop.

I mean that, with some rides, the enjoyment is all about finishing rather than the 20-40 hours spent soaking wet  with freezing hands.

Stop trying to pretend you don't enjoy it 

[scampi]

A lot of talk about "packing"...

I "packed" on most of my audax rides last year and I've yet to properly finish a ride this year (by this I mean get the brevet card. Or even have a brevet card, come to think of it).

The earliest "pack" was at km 0 of the Dorset Downs, when I informed the good organiser of my impending "DNF".  I'd already done 100km at that point, though.  I eventually departed homewards from the route about 80kms later.

Similarly, I "packed" at km 0 of last week's Denmead ride and had a great day out, I did about 120 miles, that was fine for me.

I enjoyed all these rides so I guess I'm just a bit odd.

[Hummers]

A lot of talk about "packing"...

*cue the unmistakeable intro of 'REM - Everybody Hurts'*

Hello Friends,

There are times when all of us feel, well, weary. Perhaps a little wet, a little cold and a little lost in unfamiliar countryside too.

At those points, it is not uncommon to think "how much better would I feel right now if I wasn't doing this shit?"

Are you with me? I know some of you are.

At those points, what you have to remember is that there are forces of nature out there that can help you and most importantly, no matter how much you think you are an unloveable failure and massive disappointment to your loved ones or bed-side stuffed toys, that you are not alone.

All you have to do is to reach out to me, either directly or via a caring wheelmate, and through the power of multimedia text messaging, one of the many spiritually uplifting images I have on my mobile phone can be in your possession, imbuing you with fortitude and a strength you thought you'd never see again.

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking "to be honest, I don't really want to see a picture of your dick - no matter how brightly decorated it is and especially if your testicles are bedecked with nipple tassels"

Fear not, thanks to the new 'stealth mode' silent shutter option on my new Nokia, I have a variety of other images willingly and sometimes unknowingly contributed by an assortment of people who, in their small way (and not so small way in some cases) would like to think that they can help you on that last tortured 40k to the Arrivee.

Think on and above all, hold on.

H

*fade to Michael Snipe warbling 'Hold on.... Hold on'*

[cyclone]

   

[arabella]

...
All you have to do is to reach out to me, either directly or via a caring wheelmate, and through the power of multimedia text messaging, one of the many spiritually uplifting images I have on my mobile phone can be in your possession, imbuing you with fortitude and a strength you thought you'd never see again.

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking "to be honest, I don't really want to see a picture of your dick - no matter how brightly decorated it is and especially if your testicles are bedecked with nipple tassels"

Fear not, thanks to the new 'stealth mode' silent shutter option on my new Nokia, I have a variety of other images willingly and sometimes unknowingly contributed by an assortment of people who, in their small way (and not so small way in some cases) would like to think that they can help you on that last tortured 40k to the Arrivee.
...

Aren't I glad that my phone isn't new fangled enow to do pictures.

I can state that last time I was on a ride and unable to to attach the pump to the valve to reinflate a tyre on account of all feeling having departed my hands, it never once crossed my mind that I'd rather be elsewhere.
Strange but true.