The Annual Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Winter") Challenge Chatzone

[Aravis]

I was starting to feel as though I was heavily responsible for steering the discussion towards Audax, but it seems to be of interest to most so I'll stop feeling guilty. And Lunacy and Audax have quite a strong resonance...

Never say never, but I don't think climbing's for me so I won't be looking at RAAAtY. Following the discussion further up on the various awards available, I notice there something called "Randonneur 5000", which requires 50 points in an Audax year, so it could be done with 25 200s spread however you like. If (a big if) I could do SR with a 200, a 300, a 400 and a 700, that leaves me needing 17 200s (I think), three of which are already done. As I'd probably want to do back-to-back 200s as preparation for the bigger efforts, it all starts to fall into place. I like the idea that the training is also the event. Talk is cheap, of course.

I've just realised that October is in the following Audax year. That's a pity.

 

[Fiona R]

I was starting to feel as though I was heavily responsible for steering the discussion towards Audax, but it seems to be of interest to most so I'll stop feeling guilty. And Lunacy and Audax have quite a strong resonance...

Never say never, but I don't think climbing's for me so I won't be looking at RAAAtY. Following the discussion further up on the various awards available, I notice there something called "Randonneur 5000", which requires 50 points in an Audax year, so it could be done with 25 200s spread however you like. If (a big if) I could do SR with a 200, a 300, a 400 and a 700, that leaves me needing 17 200s (I think), three of which are already done. As I'd probably want to do back-to-back 200s as preparation for the bigger efforts, it all starts to fall into place. I like the idea that the training is also the event. Talk is cheap, of course.

I've just realised that October is in the following Audax year. That's a pity.

Now you're talking audaciously

Lunatic.

But I hadn't noticed that one, I only got 22 points Jan -Sept as didn't ride anything with points Oct-Dec. one 240km ride I didn't submit as DIY as RRtY done that month, and another was 190km so no effort to make 200. so that's 26 points plus Oct-Dec with a few....no, that's silly.

 

[Fiona R]

I was starting to feel as though I was heavily responsible for steering the discussion towards Audax, but it seems to be of interest to most so I'll stop feeling guilty. And Lunacy and Audax have quite a strong resonance...

Well, given it's lunacy off season we have to talk lunacy inspiration if not out doing it.

 

[Bazzer]

I was starting to feel as though I was heavily responsible for steering the discussion towards Audax, but it seems to be of interest to most so I'll stop feeling guilty. And Lunacy and Audax have quite a strong resonance...
.............

Mrs B thinks I am a few slices short of a loaf commuting by bike 17 miles each way and then going out at weekends. She particularly cannot get her head around my love of riding in the dark. I think if I was to discuss with her further altering my lifestyle, to accommodate some of the audax challenges described on this thread, either her head would implode, or it would be a visit to (borrowed from Private Eye) Messrs Sue, Grabbit and Runne.

 

[ColinJ]

Well, given it's lunacy off season we have to talk lunacy inspiration if not out doing it.

It is only off-season for sensible Lunatics. Insane Lunatics ( ) start a new challenge intended to avoid doing longer rides in winter, and then leave doing the last one until winter!

 

[Dogtrousers]

2019 was my first year of AUK membership after letting it lapse because it's just as easy to do the calendar rides as a guest. It was also my first year for a while doing ZERO audaxes. I've renewed for 2020 but that may be a bad omen.

I intend to do a 300k sometime in 2020. If I don't manage to do a calendar event I may do a DIY-by-GPS in order to make it a bit more special. I'm thinking of going sort of round the outside of the M25, but starting/finishing at home (inside the M25) and thus not quite going round the whole of the outside (because that would be well over 300k).

Neither RRTY nor AAArgh RTY are on the cards for me. 200k is too far for a winter day ride for my taste and I don't think I have enough local hills to make an AAA ride* without doing daft things like repeating the same hills over and over, which may be against the rules - not to mention soul-destroying.

* This page https://www.audax.uk/awards-pages/audax-altitude-award-aaa/ says "Provided an event meets the required threshold of climbing, AAA points are allocated at a rate of 1 point for every 1,000m of climbing". Other pages say similar things, but I can't find any page that says what the required threshold actually is.

 

[Aravis]

@Dogtrousers is this the page you want? There are tables of earnest-looking data if you follow the link in the Qualifying Events paragraph. These pages don't seem to be accessible via the main website anymore, which sends you to the less informative equivalents on the new site. Google can still find them though.

 

[Sea of vapours]

@Dogtrousers : from that page you linked above - https://www.audax.uk/awards-pages/audax-altitude-award-aaa/ - there's a link in the second paragraph (AAA points) to https://www.audax.uk/awards-pages/audax-altitude-award-aaa/aaa-points/ which is the new version of the same table @Aravis linked above. Rather less clear, imho, but it does contain the same information and it is more complete, in that it includes every recognised audax distance (150km being missing from the old version of the table).

The new version also contains the following, occasionally relevant, point:
If the whole event doesn't qualify for AAA points, then a section consisting of a minimum of 100km or more may do so. One section only of the event may be counted. Calendar and permanent events like this have both the total climb and the AAA section climb (with corresponding points for the section) recorded on the event page. If an event is shorter than 100km, then the whole event has to qualify.
I'm sure that's on the old web site too, but it's not prominent on the 'rate of climbing page' and just might be pertinent for a DIY involving flat start and end and lumpy middle bit.

 

[Dogtrousers]

@Dogtrousers is this the page you want?

Yes it is.


And it would be relatively easy for me to devise AAA qualifying 100k rides from my home. In fact some of my regular 100k routes already qualify. 200k ... hmmm ... still possible but not something that I would willingly do. (Even using the "100k subsection" rule above)

 

[lane]

This thread set me thinking yesterday evening about how I would go about a 300km. As I said upthread most 300s are too early in the season for me so would probably do a GPS DIY. Then might as well do it from home and pick a nice day for it as well. Make it as easy as possible. Not too many hills. Skegness and back would fit the bill quite nicely. Maybe a day with a westerly wind that is going to moderate in the evening - or I could start at night with a forecast Easterly for the next day. Worth thinking about anyway. I already have some routes.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

This thread set me thinking yesterday evening about how I would go about a 300km. As I said upthread most 300s are too early in the season for me so would probably do a GPS DIY. Then might as well do it from home and pick a nice day for it as well. Make it as easy as possible. Not too many hills. Skegness and back would fit the bill quite nicely. Maybe a day with a westerly wind that is going to moderate in the evening - or I could start at night with a forecast Easterly for the next day. Worth thinking about anyway. I already have some routes.

I've just been looking at doing this (DIY by GPS) - and to Skegness. The route cycle.travel came up with for me is 313km and would take about 20 hours. I have no idea if I'm capable of this as the furthest I've ever ridden is 100km! It'd be nice to do when the weather turns warmer in the Spring.

First step, I think, is to get a couple of 200km under my belt.

 

[Aravis]

Don't forget that when devising longer DiYs you can use your own home as a control. Your full route then becomes a figure-of-eight, or perhaps a shamrock.

Opinions differ on how helpful this is, but I believe it's done quite a lot. Not being intimidated by the huge number of miles still to come is clearly very important when stepping up in distance, and splitting the route into manageable chunks could help. On the other hand you're probably missing the chance to go to places which are normally out of reach.

When it comes to planning the longer distances, involving at least one overnight rest, I always find myself coming back to the "home control" idea. It keeps the simple things simple.

 

[Sea of vapours]

Hmmmm....... I can entirely see the sense in the 'home control' concept, though I suspect I'd be more than a little bit tempted to stay there!

Also worth noting that DIY by GPS doesn't literally require controls (at least two must be named, but they're just places on the route, not 'proper controls' as such).

 

[ColinJ]

Hmmmm....... I can entirely see the sense in the 'home control' concept, though I suspect I'd be more than a little bit tempted to stay there!

I was contemplating something like that for my final 161 km ride... Do a relatively lumpy 100 km loop on my best bike, starting off about an hour before sunrise and sticking to well-lit main roads until dawn. Get home and have a light meal and then go out and do the remainder on the boring flat local roads on my singlespeed. It's the temptation to not bother with the 61 km that puts me off that idea!

 

[Dogtrousers]

When I rode my one and only 400k the ride HQ village hall was a control 130k from the end. Some of the faster riders were catching a bit of sleep there, but I knew that if I lay down and shut my eyes that would be the end of my ride. There would be no way that I'd start again.

I was forced to stop later on for 15 mins shuteye in the morning sunshine at the roadside but that was so uncomfortable that there was no danger of extending it.