I may look in to DIYs but the idea doesn't grab me. Seems like a whole load of effort to get it validated for no real return. After all I have my own validated records in RWGPS so I can make up my own awards/ use the CC "stars"
You have to pay too, only worth doing if you need the validated points for say RRtY purposes.
I sometimes think the same with respect to both the above, but then, what's the point of audax in general in that case?
The single thing I use audax for is as motivation to do a AAA ride each month for AAARTY. Yes, I could just do it anyway, without the audax validation thing, but there's something a little more motivating about a third party check on completion. If it were just my own stats I might think
"That 1,470m in 100km was probably 1,500m really, so I'll count it"; the external check avoids that ... ummm.... 'dilemma'. As it is, all I get is a nice feeling of another AAA round the year award, but just about no-one other than me remotely cares about that, so it's all about an independent third party ensuring I can't cheat myself.
Comparing DIY and Calendar events:
On a DIY I can leave deciding whether to go at all until the point of getting dressed up for cycling; I can go where I choose; I can start from home; no driving involved. Oh! And there's the whole faffing around with proof of passage stuff on a calendar event. I'm really not up for gratuitous receipt collection, not least since I hardly ever stop and buy anything en route - that would pretty much ruin the ride for me, whereas DIYs can be validated by GPS tracks, which is zero effort and no lost time.
In contrast, on a calendar event I'd have to be at a certain place at, almost without exception, a time of day I'd not remotely consider being awake, let alone on a bike, and some distance from home. Then, I'd have to ride a route I didn't design myself, which is a big downside since planning routes is a considerable proportion of the 'fun' aspect for me. Not only that, but I'd have to do it on a day not of my choosing - I mean, it might be raining or something
The horror.
As to the effort involved in validation, I just tested this and submitting a planned ride took a little under 70 seconds (on-line, mandatory route gpx). Submitting the track took about 50s, for a grand total faffage of less than two minutes. Easy! (Definitely more time involved in an advisory route with checkpoints due to making sure it's long enough, but I've stopped doing those.)
Not that I'm trying to persuade anyone that DIY audaxes are the way to go or anything; it's all down to personal perceived benefits.
EDIT: And as an example of 'cheating' when there's no internal check: I'm probably going to make my annual target, but if I'm 20km short I'll be adding in the 22km I did n Shetland last week on a borrowed e-bike. If I make it to the target without the e-bike distance then most assuredly those 22 kilometres won't count in the total
Fingers crossed.
even thinking about carrying on. In fact if I do another 200 this month I can finish a month earlier next year. 
