Does anyone not bother with the brevet card?

[SoloRider]

I've joined Audax UK with the intention of doing 100 to 150k rides. When I read of the time lost at controls and all the queueing I wonder if it is going to be a pain.

So, as I'm not in this for any points or competetive element, I'm wondering if I could make life a whole lot easier by just doing the ride and clearing off afterwards - does anyone do this?

 

[Banjo]

Im new to audaxing as well. I can understand your not wanting to que up but it doesnt seem in the spirit of the thing not to bother. Time limits are pretty generous so its not as if you need to save a few minutes.

In one cafe stop at lunchtime they were taking ages to serve people I couldnt be bothered waiting so went to the front and asked for just a stamp on the card which the girl there did no problem but other than that the que is a good place for a chat with other riders.

Longest one i have done so far is a 160 , hope to do a 200 later in the year if i can but like you i am not really bothered about collecting points and awards, just enjoy the ride and a bit of company out there.

Have to admit it is a nice momento of the ride when your card comes back through the letterbox a few weeks later.

 

[yello]

I also used to be a bit sniffy about brevet cards. That is, it didn't bother me whether the organiser sent my completed one on to me or not. I knew I done the ride and didn't need confirmation. When I received it, I'd toss it into a shoe box with the others.

I'd never NOT complete one on the ride though. That seems a little unusual to me. Why pay the money and ride the audax if you're not going to get your card stamped? That's all part of it, imho. Otherwise, you might just as well go out for a ride by yourself!

I binned them all before I moved to France. 'Why keep them?' I thought 'only bits of card'. I wish I hadn't, they are a nice memento indeed... and an aid to memory! I'll be damned if I can remember what I did and when.

Imho, get them stamped and keep them. They are like album covers; something pleasurable to hold and look at. They'll give you as view chuckles at you look at that stamps and remember!

 

[Baggy]

What Banjo and yello say is sensible - and unless you're up against the time limit due to having loads of punctures/mechanicals hanging around for a few minutes for a stamp won't really have much of an impact. I've ridden quite a few 100s and the longest I've had to wait to have my card stamped is about 10 minutes - the control was only about 20k from the start so everyone arrived at a similar time. There haven't been that many people on the 200s I've ridden, so so far it's never been an issue.

It's a good opportunity to have a stretch and a chat, it's all part of the ride experience and handy to be on nodding terms with other riders just in case you do need a bit of assistance at some point.

However, if you do decide not to bother with the stamps, please spare a thought for the organiser and give them a courtesy call to say you've finished, it spares them from wondering what happened to you (some will just assume you've packed in, others will worry a little more!).

Just out of interest, where did you read about long queues? I'm aware that there can be long queues on LEL and PBP because there are so many people on the rides and Arrivee magazine mention those, but didn't think it was a common problem on shorter rides.

 

[SoloRider]

10 minutes is not so bad I guess, but the British obssession with queueing is not one I share!

 

[Glover Fan]

I'd have to say I agree that it is rather pointless to pay to take part in an event and be disappointed with having to wait to get a card stamped to verify you visited a pre-arranged control point.

I did my first audax earlier this month and the first control point was at 20k and I think we waited about 10 minutes, which was fine as I was replacing an inner tube anyway so let a buddy get my card stamped for me.

 

[Norry1]

I reckon it is all part of the event - rather old fashioned but fun. It kind of epitomises the difference between Audax and Sportive. I enjoy both, just in a slightly different way.

Martin

 

[AudaxUK]

Audax UK gets 20p for each validated brevet card. So, if you hand it in completed at the end, Audax UK benefits a little.

 

[CotterPin]

I have done Audaxes for over a decade now and I have kept all the brevet cards (much to the amusement of some of my friends). They are a nice memento of the event, especially the ones where the ink has run when I was trying to enter the answer to an info control on the side of the road in the pouring rain and it is good to compare completion times over the years (even though that is against the spirit of the event)
Stephen

 

[frank9755]

I can understand where you are coming from. I do audaxes for the ride and getting everything validated only matters for PBP qualification - I don't count up my points. But in practice I've not yet ever found it a problem. I've never had to wait a significant amount of time for a stamp.

 

[fungus]

The one thing with spending time at controls is that when you have been riding audax for a while you get to see the same people on certain rides & there is a whole social side to the event. It's good to catch up with old friends over a cup of tea & slice of cake.

It's not a race so chill out & enjoy your time off the bike as well as on it, we may have a reputation as a bunch of miserable old sod's but that's not entirely true. Well it maybe true at 3am on a cold & wet 400k.

I have all of my brevet cards BTW

 

[bof]

Waiting just for the card to be stamped is rare - most stops I want something to eat and drink anyway, so I'd have to join the queue for food. The only time I have waited more than a couple of minutes to get one is at the Start of Summertime, which is just about the busiest event of the lot and has an early control. If a control is in a town and it looks busy just try another establishment and get a receipt. I have never had a problem when I handed the card ins the few times I have had to do it.

 

[Greenbank]

One thing to remember is that the organisers use the Brevet Cards to make sure that no-one has been lost.

If you don't hand yours in at the end then you may find the organiser is calling your next-of-kin to check that you are ok.

If you're not interested in getting it filled in then tell the organiser at the start, or call them (a contact number will be printed on the card) before the end of the ride, so that he/she doesn't end up worrying about you.

I spent about 10 minutes total queuing to get my card signed on LEL, that's about 30 seconds per control on average.

 

[Banjo]

People have mentioned telling the organizer at the finish. You should tell them before the start or volunteers at checkpoints would have to wait right until the last minute before packing up .

Personally I think if doing an Audax you should do it as intended including getting the card completed.If you dont whats the point of entering at all?

 

[yello]

[quote name]One thing to remember is that the organisers use the Brevet Cards to make sure that no-one has been lost.[/quote]

Not here in France they don't! They don't give a tinker's cuss, not in my experience anyway. They just start you off and you're on your own! You don't provide next of kin details and you don't get signed back in at the finish. I guess they just consider you a DNF if they don't get the card back.

For my brevet on Sunday, there was nobody there at the finish. You just signed your card and dropped it in a letter box. A quite demoralising end of ride tbh, but that's another story! I've done 3 others like that... and I was finishing well within time.