England : Kent Thanet Platinum 200 & 110

[Salty seadog]

I can vouch for Bloomsburys, wonderful quirky place and fab breakfasts but as noted by @smutchin, food is slow to arrive.

 

[SteveF]

OK, looks like me and @Salty seadog are up for this*, my second Audax, I might try and finish in time!
200km looks the be the one.

@SteveF ? @HertzvanRental ? Wanna make it a foursome?

@User21629 Is this of interest? Even if you want to Bail at Ashford on the way home?


*Unless it's absolutely hooning-down....

It's my 1st Audax so as much as I'd like to keep you honourable peeps company 200k is a tad too far for me at the moment so I've plumped for the 110

 

[Salty seadog]

Is the route marked or do we file our own mapping method?
@Fab Foodie has a garmin so I'll be sticking with him.

 

[ianrauk]

Is the route marked or do we file our own mapping method?
@Fab Foodie has a garmin so I'll be sticking with him.

It's an Audax not a Sportive
Routes are not marked.

 

[Salty seadog]

It's an Audax not a Sportive
Routes are not marked.

Never done either but I thought that was the drill.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Is the route marked or do we file our own mapping method?
@Fab Foodie has a garmin so I'll be sticking with him.

There is a gpx file to download the route but will have map, compass and divining rods loaded just in case :-)

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[ianrauk]

Never done either but I thought that was the drill.

Nope.
Audax are unsupported rides, ie self sufficiency.
Go to the Audax UK website, calendar events. Find the event you have entered and download the gpx if available.
Which in this case I think they are.

 

[Fab Foodie]

It's my 1st Audax so as much as I'd like to keep you honourable peeps company 200k is a tad too far for me at the moment so I've plumped for the 110

Look forward to meeting you at the start :-)

 

[Salty seadog]

There is a gpx file to download the route but will have map, compass and divining rods loaded just in case :-)

What could possibly go wrong?

Fishing gear, oh and bring fire too.

Nope.
Audax are unsupported rides, ie self sufficiency.
Go to the Audax UK website, calendar events. Find the event you have entered and download the gpx if available.
Which in this case I think they are.

I've seen the site, I only have my phone and mapmyride to record rides so I'll be relying on Fabbers and his Garmin. . This brings the added benefit that in the case of things going wrong it's not my fault....

Look forward to meeting you at the start :-)

Steve was on the Whitstable ride, you'll recognise him

 

[smutchin]

Is the route marked or do we file our own mapping method?
@Fab Foodie has a garmin so I'll be sticking with him.

As @ianrauk says, no waymarking - apart from anything else, I don't have time to go round putting up signs for a 200km route! You are in fact free to take whatever route you like, the only stipulation is that you visit all the control points within the time limits specified on the brevet card, and get your card stamped or pick up a receipt as proof of passage (or answer the question on the card, in the case of info controls). Brevet cards are handed out to riders at the start - your completed brevet card is what you use to prove you have done the ride (there's no facility to accept a GPS track as proof, audax is very old-school like that).

Navigation is either by traditional printed routesheet or - more commonly these days - GPS. Personally, I like to use both - I like the sense of narrative a routesheet gives to a ride, while the GPS is good for warning you if you go off piste. The routesheet is also useful to carry as backup in case of GPS failure.

The routesheet is in the form of a list of turn instructions, eg:
L at T sp PERRY WOOD (left at T-junction, signposted Perry Wood)
SO at X sp PLUCKLEY (straight on at crossroads, signposted Pluckley)

Routesheets can look a bit cryptic if you're not used to them but they usually make sense when you're actually out on the road. You just need some means of attaching it to your handlebars - I use a Klickfix mini map holder:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/accesso...1-map-holder-9-x-15-cm-with-klickfix-bracket/

The locations of the control points are marked on the routesheet and are also embedded as waypoints in the GPX file.

Both the routesheet and GPX file are available to download from the entry page on the AUK website:
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/18-304/
- although I would suggest holding off on downloading them for now, because I'll be doing a check in the next couple of days and will put final versions up, with any amendments, when that's done. (There are unlikely to be any changes but you never know...)

If you want to see what the 200km route looks like on a map, it's here - you can also download the route as a TCX file from here, if that is your preferred format, but please note that it doesn't include the control waypoints:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/24947881

 

[smutchin]

There is a gpx file to download the route but will have map, compass and divining rods loaded just in case :-)

What could possibly go wrong?

Make sure you pack plenty of spare inner tubes as well. Last year, the weather on the day was superb - really lovely riding conditions - but there had been heavy rain the night before, which had washed a load of crap into the roads and many riders suffered multiple punctures.

 

[SteveF]

Look forward to meeting you at the start :-)

I think we had a brief chat on the Whitstable ride when I was de-layering because I was dragging too much weight up the hill!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I think we had a brief chat on the Whitstable ride when I was de-layering because I was dragging too much weight up the hill!

Bugger! Didn't realise. you should have said :-)

 

[Fab Foodie]

Make sure you pack plenty of spare inner tubes as well. Last year, the weather on the day was superb - really lovely riding conditions - but there had been heavy rain the night before, which had washed a load of crap into the roads and many riders suffered multiple punctures.

Noted....

 

[Salty seadog]

I had never seen anything like it. I stopped counting the number of people at the roadside fixing punctures when I go to about 15.

Are you doing it again?