COTSWOLD EXPEDITION. 21st June 2009. Entries being taken.

Philip Whiteman

Beacon Roads Cycling Club, proudly presents its

COTSWOLD AUDAXES

21st JUNE 2010

This popular event has become a classic on the Audax calendar and is one of the most successful in the UK, attracting entrants from all over the country. Riders will have a testing day in the saddle that equals many sportive events. It is a great way of exploring the scenary of the Cotswolds by either at your riding at your leisure or as challenge ride. The upper speed limit is 30kph as per audax rules, but you will be lucky to exceed that rate on this course!


There are four rides available

THE COTSWOLD EXPEDITION. 202km. South Birmingham - Broadway - Burford, Shutford - South Birmingham

THE COTSWOLD JOURNEY. 150km. South Birmingham - Broadway - Shutford - South Birmingham

THE COTSWOLD OUTING. 106km. Clockwise and Anti-clockwise. South Birmingham - Welford - Wellesbourne - South Birmingham.


Four hundred riders enjoy the warm welcome and camaraderie of this well-established annual promotion, which now features:

- A great HQ near the M42, with ample parking,
- Changing facilities, showers and catering
- Choice of three distances: 108, 150 and 202 km (67.5, 94 and 126 miles)
- Country lanes almost all the way
- Great scenery, with leafy byways and limestone villages
- Controls at cycle-friendly cafes and pubs
- Free refreshments at the start and finish
- Souvenir water bottle for every finisher

For details on the events and to enter online

http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/audax/cotswold/index.html




Miss this event at your peril

The Beacon

'A Local Club Delivering Extraordinary Events'

ugo.santalucia

Very interesting... but why the 21st of June? There is already an event in the Cotswolds that day: the "circuit of the Cotswolds" sportive, which I have already entered. Sounds a bit of a nonsense organising an audax in the same area on the same day...

Philip Whiteman

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Very interesting... but why the 21st of June? There is already an event in the Cotswolds that day: the "circuit of the Cotswolds" sportive, which I have already entered. Sounds a bit of a nonsense organising an audax in the same area on the same day...

Sorry, we got there first. This event has been scheduled for the Saturday nearest the summer equinox for the last 15 years. It was published on the AUK calendar a long time ago.

jhop

I too am a COTC entrant in June and a 'Corker ' entrant for February . Whilst this sounds a great event so is the COTC and it is one sportive I really don't want to miss.

jhop

I too am a COTC entrant in June and a 'Corker ' entrant for February . Whilst this sounds a great event so is the COTC and it is one sportive I really don't want to miss.

johnbirkby46213

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Very interesting... but why the 21st of June? There is already an event in the Cotswolds that day: the "circuit of the Cotswolds" sportive, which I have already entered. Sounds a bit of a nonsense organising an audax in the same area on the same day...[/quote

You are making a fatal mistake by assuming that an audax is somehow inferior to a sportive. This is THE audax in my humble opinion. And Phil has forgotten to mention that the club makes this event stupid cheap! + downloadable GPX files for the techieriders and of course fantastic volunteer helpers (BeaconRuth being just one!) oh and fabby weather.
No I'm not a club member - I live about an hours motorway driving from the start of the event - but wouldn't miss it for the world.
Hoping to bring STMBO and daughter this time.

dead sheep

2009 will be the forth time that I will have ridden this event. Quite simply, it is brill.

It is easy to take a jaundiced view on the quality and purposes of audaxes but George Barker, who organises this event for the Beacon, has shown how it should be done. At only £6, it is excellent value for money. I reckon if he put the put the price up, it would still justify the cost. Its reputation has often resulted in entries closing way ahead of the event date.

ugo.santalucia

johnbirkby46213 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Very interesting... but why the 21st of June? There is already an event in the Cotswolds that day: the "circuit of the Cotswolds" sportive, which I have already entered. Sounds a bit of a nonsense organising an audax in the same area on the same day...[/quote

You are making a fatal mistake by assuming that an audax is somehow inferior to a sportive. This is THE audax in my humble opinion. And Phil has forgotten to mention that the club makes this event stupid cheap! + downloadable GPX files for the techieriders and of course fantastic volunteer helpers (BeaconRuth being just one!) oh and fabby weather.
No I'm not a club member - I live about an hours motorway driving from the start of the event - but wouldn't miss it for the world.
Hoping to bring STMBO and daughter this time.

I have made no fatal mistake, at no point in my post I mentioned that a sportive is superior to an audax... don't know what you mean with this

Caer caradoc

To my horror, I thought that this event was no longer running. Then to my relief, I realised that I was mistaken with the Redditch audax to the Cotswolds usually held in July :oops: .
I am glad that I fell upon this message.

The entry form is on its way and I can starting pulling contorted faces again about that long, long climb out of Mickleton, up and onto the Cotswolds plateau.

I have not ridden this event for a couple of years and note that the route is slightly altered, instead of taking that steep climb out of Winchcombe, it takes a more direct route from Broadway Tower, down and into Burford. The overarching memory from last time was that horrendous climb out of Kington and upto the Rollstones. It was not steep, just horrendously long. By the time I reached the top, my legs had turned to jelly. My state of weakness was vastly improved after scoffing down bananas at the second control point. My new found energy was just enough to get home to the HQ and pick up the free food on offer. Went home and then slept for a week. I must be a masochist for riding it again!

ledburyloafer

ugo.santalucia wrote:

johnbirkby46213 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Very interesting... but why the 21st of June? There is already an event in the Cotswolds that day: the "circuit of the Cotswolds" sportive, which I have already entered. Sounds a bit of a nonsense organising an audax in the same area on the same day...[/quote

You are making a fatal mistake by assuming that an audax is somehow inferior to a sportive. This is THE audax in my humble opinion. And Phil has forgotten to mention that the club makes this event stupid cheap! + downloadable GPX files for the techieriders and of course fantastic volunteer helpers (BeaconRuth being just one!) oh and fabby weather.
No I'm not a club member - I live about an hours motorway driving from the start of the event - but wouldn't miss it for the world.
Hoping to bring STMBO and daughter this time.

I have made no fatal mistake, at no point in my post I mentioned that a sportive is superior to an audax... don't know what you mean with this

Hi Ugo, not sure wether you meant to or not, but your original post comes across as though you are belittling the audax and its organisers, just reread it, and you have assumed that the CotC was there first! Could argue that its a nonsense to organise a sportive on the same day?

ugo.santalucia

ledburyloafer wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

johnbirkby46213 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Very interesting... but why the 21st of June? There is already an event in the Cotswolds that day: the "circuit of the Cotswolds" sportive, which I have already entered. Sounds a bit of a nonsense organising an audax in the same area on the same day...[/quote

You are making a fatal mistake by assuming that an audax is somehow inferior to a sportive. This is THE audax in my humble opinion. And Phil has forgotten to mention that the club makes this event stupid cheap! + downloadable GPX files for the techieriders and of course fantastic volunteer helpers (BeaconRuth being just one!) oh and fabby weather.
No I'm not a club member - I live about an hours motorway driving from the start of the event - but wouldn't miss it for the world.
Hoping to bring STMBO and daughter this time.

I have made no fatal mistake, at no point in my post I mentioned that a sportive is superior to an audax... don't know what you mean with this

Hi Ugo, not sure wether you meant to or not, but your original post comes across as though you are belittling the audax and its organisers, just reread it, and you have assumed that the CotC was there first! Could argue that its a nonsense to organise a sportive on the same day?

You could indeed

Caer caradoc

I am a tad surprised that these events have collided but nonetheless these sort of things happen especially where one is governed by one body (AUK) and the other by IACO.

Taking a look at the route profile, I would prefer to stick with the Beacon RCC event. Putting aside the obvious issue of cost, the route provides a bit more variety. As well as the Cotswold escarpment and scenic villages, the 202km Cotswold Expedition audax also incorporates some really hard lumpy bumpy roller coaster lanes on the final stint. I believe that the two shorter versions also follow parts of this route. Perhaps the greatest attraction to audax is the great organisational backup behind the event - I have never seen anything like at any other audax event. I see elsewhere on this board that they also run a February.

Ought to watch out though, the audax and CoC share some of the same lanes to the south of Broadway, so by my estimation it may get a bit busy but we should have time to swap notes I am sure that all riders will have a wonderful day.

Philip Whiteman

Hi, there all. I look forward to seeing your entries

And yes, that hill beyond Kingham is an awful drag.

dead sheep

Sorry to hear that the Snowdrop Express was cancelled due to the icy weather. I would love to have made it to yet another Beacon event but the dodgy roads dictated otherwise.

Never mind, the roads for Cotswold Expedition on 21st June will hopefully be be snow free. Otherwise I shall eat my shorts - and that would not be pleasant :shock:

A couple of mates of mine have already decided to enter the Cotswold Expedition. They thought that the Cotswold Challenge was a tad expensive.

See you in June.

skavanagh.bikeradar

It's the CotC for me purely because I can ride to the start and home from the finish! However the subject of this thread looks excellent.

dbg

I don't suppose my entry fee for the cancelled Sunrise can be carried over to the Cotswold Expedition?

Saturn

I've only just spotted this thread so come to this discussion late. Regarding the clash with the CotC, while I understand the disappointment of those that would like to ride both, it's worth pointing out that, while they do share some parts of the same route (at least in the case of the 200km audax), they start at opposite sides of the cotswolds - there's approx 50 miles as the crow flies between the start points so they're not really that local to each other. Furthermore, riders of each event are unlikely to be in the same place on their respective circuits at the same time so there should be no significant clash in that respect.

IIRC, when potential dates were being discussed for the audax, on the other possible dates (a week or two either side) there were clashes with other events that are local to the audax and would have probably represented a more significant clash (affected a greater number of potential entrants) than that with the CotC. It's a shame but it's a busy time of year and you'd never be able to please everybody.

Philip Whiteman

Saturn wrote:

they start at opposite sides of the cotswolds - there's approx 50 miles as the crow flies between the start points so they're not really that local to each other.

Thanks for those comments. Just as a pointer in terms of convenient starting venues. The HQ is ideal for access to the motorway network. Located near to jn 2 of the M42 in South Birmingham, audaxers will be able to get to us very easily from the M5/M6/M40 and M42 corridors. So none of that faffing around trying to find a dusty and dank church hall situated in the back of beyond.

The event attracts a enormous number of riders not just from the West Midlands conurbation but also beyond.

oxoneil

I'm booking a day off work to do the audax ride even though the TOTC starts only 5 miles from my house. Sportives are just way too expensive for what they are IMO.

Philip Whiteman

oxoneil wrote:

I'm booking a day off work to do the audax ride even though the TOTC starts only 5 miles from my house. Sportives are just way too expensive for what they are IMO.

Hi Neil, great to see you on board. Hope you enjoy the day.

eh

Sportives are just way too expensive for what they are IMO.

To be fair CotC is for charity and organised by volunteers unlike some other events which are for profit.

However, I wish both sets of organisers good luck and wish I could attend one of them, as the riding around the Cotswolds is hard but great.

oxoneil

Philip Whiteman wrote:

oxoneil wrote:

I'm booking a day off work to do the audax ride even though the TOTC starts only 5 miles from my house. Sportives are just way too expensive for what they are IMO.

Hi Neil, great to see you on board. Hope you enjoy the day.

Just need to sit down and get the route map converted so I can upload it into my Forerunner. Is t still the same route as shown on your club's site cos that one is from 2007?

Philip Whiteman

oxoneil wrote:

Philip Whiteman wrote:

Just need to sit down and get the route map converted so I can upload it into my Forerunner. Is t still the same route as shown on your club's site cos that one is from 2007?

Yes, it remains the same. The last change to the route was in 2006 when it went started from a different HQ

Saturn

This year's routes still need to be checked but will only change if we find a problem. IIRC there was a tiny change in the middle section of last year's 100km route compared to 2007 because of the closure of the old Halford Bridge which was previously used to avoid a short stretch of main road. You could still get across the old bridge but needed to dismount. It was in a pretty poor state though - I'll find out whether it's still standing on Wednesday when I hope to ride the anticlockwise route.

There are also GPX downloads on the website or you can export a GPX from the bikehike site which I think enables you to tidy the GPX file up first,

dead sheep

What ever route this audax actually follows, it is a classic and one not to be missed.

You'll enjoy the day. I was intending to ride the Cotswolds Challenge sportive but have opted for this one instead having never missed this audax for the last five years.

Does anyone remember the rave at Broadway, three years ago? Now that was a sight I have never seen on audax before. Lots of rather boozed up teenagers looking bemused at the passing flotila of cyclists. Fortunately, the organiser managed to rapidly respond with a minor road diversion to avoid Police closure who actively were 'closing down' the rave. There was no evidence of cyclists stopping and dancing to the trance music

Saturn

Yes, by the time I arrived the police had closed the road leading to the rave and I had to find an alternative route to my control at the lavendar farm. By then the control at Broadway Tower for the 150km event had moved down the hill to a car park. There was a bit of aggro in the car park from some off the yoofs which the police were asked to deal with while I was asking for advice on a diversion so I got my map out instead so the boys in blue could pile in. I only suffered a few shouts of encoragement from a bunch of yoofs up the road - at least I think that was their intention.

Both the 150 & 200 events control at the Tower now so fingers crossed the site isn't picked for a rave again (do such things still take place?)

oxoneil

That's ironic you should mention the lavendar farm as I rode past it today on this route.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2746627

Can you let me know if there is any change to the route as I have already mapped it and put it into my Forerunner?

Saturn

Which route? There are 4 to choose from.

oxoneil

Saturn wrote:

Which route? There are 4 to choose from.

Yeah, good point, I meant the 150Km one. :oops:

Saturn

Good news for anybody doing the one of the 100km events - the old Halford Bridge has been restored and the barriers removed so you can take the pleasant alternative to 300m of A429 without dismounting or risking falling in the river.

No route changes resulting from today's AC100 check apart from reverting to the old Halford Bridge but I've suggested a few changes to routesheet instructions to make them hopefully even easier to follow.

Philip Whiteman

Saturn wrote:

Good news for anybody doing the one of the 100km events - the old Halford Bridge has been restored and the barriers removed so you can take the pleasant alternative to 300m of A429 without dismounting or risking falling in the river.

No route changes resulting from today's AC100 check apart from reverting to the old Halford Bridge but I've suggested a few changes to routesheet instructions to make them hopefully even easier to follow.

Great news and I guess that George Barker will be pleased with your scout - now I know what you do with your weekdays! I think George is also double checking the 200km route just to double that everything is in place there too. So hopefully the route cards and GPX files will be as reliable as ever.

Can't wait for the event. I am already plotting my times down for completing the route in under my 2008 pb of 7:30hrs. Will hopefully complete in 7:15 assuming that I can get another sportiver to chain gang with - possibly the indomitable Messrs Greer and Rice.