I’m thinking of doing my first Audax in early January, I think it’s probably as simple as turning up, getting the route card and riding, but has anyone got any savvy advice (it’s just a 100km one)?

I’ll be riding my Vaya with full mud guards and a Garmin Edge 305 GPS. There isn’t a published GPS route for the ride, so I might print out, hopefully, the correct OS sheets. Anything else I need to take?

(oh and what does ROA stand for?)

Just dont do what i did which was start with a 300k turn up and forget to pick up a route card then spend 150k chasing some very fast guys until i managed to get one off a marshal!!!

good advice here

Note for most rides its recommended to enter in advance, preferably 2 weeks prior. You should get sent a route sheet after you enter.

You could probably find a GPS route somewhere if you want, ie search Bikely or Mapmyride etc, or ask on YACF. Though make sure its the current route, it might have changed since last year.

Also take a pen, in case there’s any info controls.

I think ROA is “Ride Organisers Award”, which just means the organiser has done some rides previously. So you can ignore that if you want.

Don’t do what I did on my first one: sit on the wheels of some fast rides for the first 40 miles then blow up on the first big hill! Work out a pace that you’re comfortable at and stick at it. Which Audax are you planning to do?

Don’t do what I did on my first one: sit on the wheels of some fast rides for the first 40 miles then blow up on the first big hill!

That’s not Audax, that’s ‘sportive’ : )

Cheers guys. I’ve just printed out the completed entry form. It’s for the Audax from Kings Worthy, Winchester on the 13th Jan.

oh… and I’ll pack a pen!

Unless it gets cold I’m prepared for whatever the weather can throw at me after riding to work today…

Enjoy it – it’s not a race, though a lot of club riders seem to use them as training rides.

Glad someone has already mentioned the pen!

If there isn’t a GPS route ready to download, entering in advance should give you time to trace the route on bikeroutetoaster or mapmyride, and then you can upload it.

The average age on an audax is mid-50s, but don’t let the grey hair, beards, tracksters, tandems and trikes lull you into a false sense of security – a very fast mate and I got badly burned by a greybeard on a trike on the Roaches Revenge ride a year or two back.

And if you get the bug, 2013 is the year of the big one – London-Edinburgh-London…

15-17mph top speed on the flat. You’ll be saaarnd

think of it as a nice day out touring, at your own pace, just oer a pre planned route.

DO NOT FOLLOW ANYONE, THEY MAY BE LOST TOO.

enjoy 8)

I did my first audax last year, a 207 km, and really enjoyed it. I agree with the advice about not letting the average age of the other audaxers lull you into a false sense of security! Also, audaxers seem to be a very modest bunch, except for one woman who spent the first half boasting about how good she was and the second half being pushed up every hill by her husband!
My advice is to make sure you eat and drink enough. I got the bonk about 5km from the end and couldn’t be bothered to stop and eat so close to the finish and ended up almost not managing the last mile because I was so dizzy and my eyesight went funny!