Are Audaxes looped or point to point?

matt-h

as per title.
Can't seem to work it out on the Audax uk website

Matt

arthur_scrimshaw

Most are loops but some aren't (eg the LEJOG)

Edit - from my experience!

marcusjb

The very vast majority are a loop, especially for a calendar event.

There's a few special ones (Arrows and Darts) and a few long permanents like LEJOG that are one-way; but these really are the minority and don't worry about them too much unless you really catch the bug.

Which event(s) are you considering?

matt-h

Thanks Guys.
Just looking at Catherington in November and Kings Worthy in Jan at the moment to get a feel and do something on the winter bike.
Feel ready to up my mileage and bored of the over subscribed, overpriced and rubbish food sportives.

Hoping to do a couple of 200km next year at least.
Any recommended for the South? The Poole hardboiled looks great

Matt

marcusjb

matt-h wrote:

Thanks Guys.
Just looking at Catherington in November and Kings Worthy in Jan at the moment to get a feel and do something on the winter bike.
Feel ready to up my mileage and bored of the over subscribed, overpriced and rubbish food sportives.

Hoping to do a couple of 200km next year at least.
Any recommended for the South? The Poole hardboiled looks great

Matt

Both those rides look great - especially the wind-down, goes over some great countryside.

Hardboiled is vicious - hardest 300 I've ever ridden. It is early in the season, it's called the hard-boiled because it starts soft and easy, but the last 100k is very tough, steep little climbs galore and really shitty little lanes, so never any chance of getting your speed back up.

Traditionally, you then ride the Dorset Coast 200 the next morning (in itself, a challenging 200 with nearly 3000m of climbing to get through).

matt-h

Thanks Marcus. A wealth of knowledge as usual.
That sounds insane to me.
The hardest thing for me will be knowing how much crap to take and how to best pace myself.


Matt

marcusjb

A look back at the Hard Boiled - http://marcusjb.wordpress.com/2013/04/0 ... coast-200/

What to take? There isn't a right answer really - it is very personal and you will see people looking like they are off on a world tour and those who are carrying next to nothing. We all feel the cold differently, and I can be riding with three layers on alongside someone in just their jersey, so that makes a difference to what people carry.

At minimum, stuff to fix a flat etc.

Beyond that, it is very personal!

Pacing - a stage is usually between around 40 and 80km on all distances - focus on the stage and don't think about the big picture (especially on the really long stuff, where thinking "I have still got 1000km to go" after a full day of riding, will destroy your mind.

Always ride your own pace - don't try and hang onto the fast riders, unless you know you can!

matt-h

Great read Marcus.

Matt

craker

I remember having read that some time ago and enjoying it, very motivating! I'm doing my first audax of the year next weekend, I've yet to motivate myself to ride an audax beyond 100k though.

matt-h

craker wrote:

I remember having read that some time ago and enjoying it, very motivating! I'm doing my first audax of the year next weekend, I've yet to motivate myself to ride an audax beyond 100k though.

Fair play Cracker.
Please come back or link to this thread and give an account of it.
I would be really interested

Matt