mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
It's my experience of Audaxing. Your experience may be different.
England : Kent Is there any rides on 17/18 June in Kent?
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Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
[QUOTE 4846627, member: 21629"]My wish to ride it just has faded away. It'll be 27'C tomorrow, no wind and no clouds so I'll visit Margate beach to pamper my body with the sea water.[/QUOTE]
You probably made a good call. It was a very hot day for cycling. There were some clouds, but they weren't doing their job of blocking the sun. Hope the beach was nice.
You probably made a good call. It was a very hot day for cycling. There were some clouds, but they weren't doing their job of blocking the sun. Hope the beach was nice.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
As, I feel, was the comment suggesting that fun and friendly are certainties, which could cause quite some disappointment. Meeting many new people isn't guaranteed and you could end up riding a long way alone, possibly on fairly big fast roads that you would usually choose to avoid, while other times it's all carnivals and unicorns. Encourage people to go into it eyes open, not Polyanna.
jefmcg
Guru
Yes. And you could die. I think we should mention that.
More seriously, as @User21629 does not have the emotional resilience** to cope with a slightly dodgy GPX file, then I agree that at the moment, Audax is not for her. Audaxiing does require an amount of independence and things can and do go wrong, both from the organisation and more likely from the world itself and most likely from the individual rider.
** I'm not being judgemental. We've all been there. You should try Audax when you feel stronger and better able to cope with obstacles.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Blimey. I didn't know that. I've just updated it with the news from Bez's site. It seems that Audaxing deaths are relatively rare, so I wouldn't let that deter anyone, though. My mention of big fast roads was more because I don't enjoy cycling on them much.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Are audaxes known for big fast roads? It's not something I've ever noticed.
I quite often plunder the auk site for routes, because IME the routes tend to be interesting and avoid big routes. The tend not, however to avoid hills (the last route I nicked was The Shark)
Of course, there's always the risk of axe murderers...
I quite often plunder the auk site for routes, because IME the routes tend to be interesting and avoid big routes. The tend not, however to avoid hills (the last route I nicked was The Shark)
Of course, there's always the risk of axe murderers...
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
They're not known for it, but it seems fairly common at least in the East. I picked the next one on aukweb.net that I know the area well enough, which is the Windmill Ride 120, and it does a few miles on the former A130 and A120, then quite a few on the former A11. While they're now B roads, they mostly still look like old fast A roads and get driven as such IMO. So I can understand someone wanting to review the GPX before committing.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Why is it doom-monger-y to point out that Audaxes ain't always rainbows and cupcakes and that, far from finding it friendly, you may actually need to be self-reliant and independent to complete one?
mmmmartin
Random geezer
No, they're not. All audax routes must be agreed by a representative of the national organisation who will ensure they are as safe as reasonably possible. If that can't be done the organiser is unlikely to obtain permission to run the event. Some will have stretches of main roads because riders will be expected to be on that section in, perhaps, the wee small hours when there's hardly any traffic. One example is the 400 asparagus and strawberries when you ride on a main road from the north norfolk coast 50 miles southward but do it between , in my case, 9pm and 3am when there was hardly any traffic. Another example is on London-Edinburgh-London where the route takes you through the Howardian Hills - because you'll probably be there in the daytime when the alternative main road is very busy. But faster riders can take the main road if they get there quickly enough to ride it at night. This might explain why some audaxers have so many big bright red powerful lights on the back. Having said that, UK audax rules allow you to ride your own route between controls.
jefmcg
Guru
No, I have no doubt of her intrepidness. But if one so frustrated by a single possibly broken GPX file, that they will swear off an entire type of ride (which are all run by individuals so very a lot), then all the annoying things that can go wrong on an audax will be at least as irritating and possibly more so.
Audaxes are often like taking a ride on your own, but with more constraints. It sounds like OMG would be better on her own without the constraints at the moment
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
At the request of the OP, and taking into account that certain people are doing a grand job of thread spoiling, this discussion is being brought to a close.
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