Take a pen or pencil. Useful for filling in the card and signing it, and for noting any info control answers.
jimboalee said:
Back in the early days, organisers arranged the controls so no 'Info' controls were necessary. With only 3 controls on a 200 Rando to worry about, choice of route was to the rider's discretion, but detouring off the routesheet instructions would mean riding further.
Most Audaxes have several different distances associated with them:-
First off there's the absolute shortest distance between the controls. In days of old Audax UK were a little more lax about ensuring this was above the threshold distance (100km, 200km, etc), especially (as we see below) the sensible route is safely over the distance. In order to tighten this up we're now seeing a few more info controls that aid minimum distance enforcement.
It's very unlikely that an Audax follows the absolute shortest distance between controls (for the whole thing at least), mainly because it could involve stretches of not very nice roads (3 lane NSL A-roads, etc).
This leads to the route that the organiser provides on the routesheet. It's going to be at least x00km (or however long the ride is) and will almost certainly be longer than the minimum distance between controls. It'll pick the nice winding lane that runs next to the horrible big A-road.
For example, I'm doing the Upper Thames 200 in early November. I haven't received the routesheet yet, but going from previous years it's 213km according to the routesheet. You can knock that down to 208km if you want a more direct route, but some of the main roads used would be pretty wearing. The organiser has used his local knowledge and experience to pick more appropriate local roads for more enjoyment.
Going off route can make your journey longer, but it could make it shorter. There are several Audaxes that take a longer route around a big hill, just to avoid a gratuitous climb up and over.
For AAA rated events you're expected to follow the exact route although it matters much less if your detour is in a flat area and makes no difference to the climbing you do.
I plot the route in a GPS that doesn't have autorouting, it doesn't even have maps. I just use follow the instructions I've plugged in, when I get to a routepoint it tells me what to do (L/R/SO/3rd Exit/etc) and points me to the next one. One routepoint per routesheet instruction and I don't have to think about it at all.
I still carry a routesheet, and a 1:250,000 map of the area covered by the ride, just in case the GPS stops working.
Mudguards are usually requested because the roads are likely to be muddy or wet and the cafe controls used along the route aren't overjoyed about a bunch of soaking dirty cyclists coming in and making a mess of their chairs. It's as simple as that, some cafes have threatened to withdraw their support because of the mess some Audaxers leave. Also, if it's raining heavily you won't win many friends if you don't have full mudguards (not just raceblades), it's horrible following the wheel of someone without full mudguards in the wet and you'll be less likely to fall in with a group in order to share the work.
I use a Carradice Barley or a rack pack depending on how much stuff I want to take (Barley on the shorter rides, rackpack on 400km+ rides). I dislike bar bags as they affect the handling too much for my liking (some people love them though). Others use a small pannier (15L or so) just as effectively. There are no hard and fast rules. Just use something big enough to carry what you need, but not too big that you end up carrying stuff you don't need.
